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Greeley seeks reelection, denies his firm worked for ex-Symmes developer

Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 March 2013 10:04 | Written by Bob Sprague |

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Greeley

Kevin F. Greeley is seeking to the Board of Selectmen. In an announcement he made at the Monday, Jan. 7, board meeting, he also addressed a claim that his communications company worked for JPI, the former developer of the Symmes project.

Greeley, the current chairman and a selectman for 24 years, responded to a report in Truepersons.com, a blog managed by an owner who remains anonymous. On Dec. 26, a report by "Menotomy Observer" said a $19,000 bill from JPI was owed to Greeley Communications, Greeley's company.

Asked about the bill in a telephone interview on Jan. 6, Greeley said his company has never worked for JPI. "It's shocking for me to hear this," he said, adding he know that such works would be a conflict of interest.

Greeley said he decided to seek reelection partly in response to the issue Truepersons.com raised. He took out papers Jan. 2, and since December has said he was unsure he would return papers. Now he will, he said.

Meanwhile, YourArlington has learned that the money may be owed to John Greeley, a special-education teacher in Framingham who is no relation to Kevin. John Greeley worked for JPI in 2007 and 2008 as a community representative.

"I served as NPP [neighborhood protection plan] coordinator and neighborhood liaison for the development team during the preconstruction and demolition phases of the project," John Greeley wrote in an email Jan. 6. "Unfortunately, along with a number of other small contractors, I continued to be owed money for my work on the project."

In a phone conversation Jan. 7, he that when he submitted bills, he did so only to JPI as "Greeley Communications," without knowing about Kevin's company. He said he is still owed $19,000.

Tom O'Brien, a former JPI executive, said in an interview Jan. 3 that John Greeley, who he said is from the South Shore, handled neighborhood issues in 2007-8. He said the $19,000 bill could be from 2008.

Truepersons bases its report on a document listing businesses to which JPI owed money after it withdrew as the Symmes project developer in 2009. The document was among those that Chris Loreti, the former Redevelopment Board member, received after a 17-month effort.

The report by "Menotomy Observer" includes no quotation from Kevin Greeley and provides no indication that a reporter tried to reach him. Kevin said no one had tried to talk to him about the story before YourArlington did.

YourArlington learned about the document listing the $19,000 in December before publishing the first account of Loreti's effort. The publisher received the document on Dec. 28 from Loreti. In an interview, he expressed surprise at what the document appeared to show and speculated whether this was a reason that town officials resisted supplying the documents.

Redevelopment Chairman Bruce Fitzsimmons has again been asked for an explanation about the resistance to providing the developer documents about Symmes. Fitzsimmons and Carol Kowalski, town planning director, have not responded to requests for comment emailed before Christmas. Fitzsimmons has promised a response.

YourArlington emailed Greeley on Jan. 2 asking what work his company had done for JPI. With no response to the email, a phone call to Kevin Greeley followed Jan. 6. Told about the document, he said it was news to him. "I will make the books of my company open," he said.

Loreti said he also gave the document reflecting the $19,000 bill to Stephen Harrington. Harrington has not yet responded to a request as to whether he was the author of the Truepersons’ report.