The following was released by the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund:
GLOUCESTER, Mass. – September 18, 2012 — The Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund has retained Scott Harshbarger, the former Massachusetts Attorney General and national president of Common Cause, to conduct an independent assessment of the governance, policies and operations of the five year old organization.
The nonprofit Fund, which since its founding in 2007 has worked diligently to safeguard and enhance the economic engine of Gloucester and Cape Ann, asked Harshbarger to perform a rigorous, independent review to fully address questions and insinuation raised regarding potential conflicts of interest or an appearance of a conflict, among its board and leadership and the Fund’s relationships with other like-minded organizations.
Harshbarger and his team at Proskauer, which specializes in such independent reviews of nonprofit organizations, were chosen by the fund after they received a letter from state Senator Bruce Tarr and state Representative Ann Margaret Ferrante concerning alleged complaints by “some in the industry.”
“We are going to get to the bottom of these vague but serious allegations made by some in the community about the governance of the Fund and the perceptions they have created,” said Harshbarger, senior counsel to Proskauer, the global law firm with offices in Boston. “We will work with the Board to analyze their governance to ensure they have the strongest possible structure, best practices and policies, consistent with their role and mission and ensure the Board and the Fund function effectively with best practice conflict policies, including the least possible appearance of conflict.”
Fund board member Dale Brown, said. “We look forward to working with such a noted and respected expert in this field and to moving forward with a better public understanding of the operations of the Fund.”
As part of his independent review, Harshbarger has already begun analyzing internal operations of the Fund and interviewing Board members. The review will also include interviews with community leaders and others in the fishing community.
The Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund was created in 2007 to oversee a fishing permit bank to benefit the historic and vital economic mainstay for Gloucester and Cape Ann. The proponents for two offshore liquefied natural gas terminals were directed by the Commonwealth to fund the novel community permit bank concept with $6 million each ($12 million total) as a condition of the necessary Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection permits.