Federal law enforcement authorities are looking into properties linked to a former member of Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeal, according to an independent audit of the ZBA released by city officials Friday.
The audit, conducted by the law firm Nixon Peabody, was commissioned by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh after a former city employee, John Lynch, pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe to influence an unnamed ZBA member to approve zoning variances for a development on H Street in South Boston. Lynch was an employee with the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) at the time of the bribe.
The audit found no evidence that any current ZBA members had any knowledge of, or participation in, the criminal bribery scheme, nor that any current members engaged in inappropriate conduct.
But the audit also notes, multiple times, that two former board members, Craig Galvin and Anthony Pisani, refused auditors’ interview requests — and that federal authorities have requested documents pertaining to properties linked to Galvin’s real estate company for an ongoing inquiry.
The audit also states that Lynch and Boston developer Steve Turner — the owner of the H Street Properties at the center of the bribery allegations — refused interview requests.
WGBH News reported last month that Craig Galvin was a listed real estate agent in the sale of multiple properties that had been granted zoning variances by the ZBA while Galvin was on the board. In some of those cases, Galvin had voted to approve the variances.
Real estate brokers typically receive a commission of any sale; real estate documents do not show whether or how much Galvin or his company, the Galvin Group, may have earned in any of those sales.
Galvin, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, declined by phone to comment, but referred WGBH News to a spokesperson who provided a statement on Galvin's behalf.
"We are encouraged by the results of the report provided by the city of Boston as it relates to the Zoning Board of Appeal. As clearly and correctly stated in the report Mr. Galvin tendered his resignation ... in September to focus his time and attention on his own real estate practice," the statement read. "While it is not appropriate to comment on specifics of any case we remain confident in the ongoing process."
The audit does not state that Galvin acted improperly in the 2017 ZBA votes regarding the H Street properties, whose outcome Lynch allegedly sought to influence.
The property’s owner, Steve Turner, had been denied a requested zoning variance when he failed to appear at a ZBA hearing in May 2017.
When the H Street properties re-appeared on the ZBA’s agenda, several weeks later, Galvin “quickly made a motion to grant a one-year extension and, with little discussion, the Board unanimously voted to grant the extension,” the report states.
The report does not indicate how the H Street properties came to be re-listed on the ZBA’s agenda after the board had already voted to deny zoning variances.
But the report found no improper conduct by other ZBA members still sitting on the board: “It appears to us that none of the current ZBA members had any involvement with Lynch’s improper conduct related to these May 2017 hearings,” the report states.
Walsh and BPDA Director Brian Golden both released statements condemning Lynch's behavior but did not directly address the ongoing federal investigation into properties tied to former ZBA member Galvin.
Walsh called Lynch's actions "completely unacceptable."
"John Lynch had an opportunity to work for the city that he called home," Walsh's statement read. "What he chose to do with that opportunity was decidedly reckless, unethical and, unfortunately as we now know, criminal.”
Golden said Lynch’s criminal offenses were a surprise to the agency and that the BPDA conducted its own internal investigation.
“Although [Lynch] is no longer an employee, we immediately began a review of his email records and I am even more disappointed by what we have learned," Golden said. "In addition to the criminal violations that he has pled guilty to, it is clear that John Lynch was violating the state ethics laws that we are all bound to follow.”
This article has been updated with a response from a spokesperson for Craig Galvin.
Isaiah Thompson is a reporter at WGBH News. Follow him on Twitter @isaiah_thompson.
