New ethics questions arise for nonprofit
Potential conflicts found on board
He stepped up to restore stability at a troubled nonprofit after its longtime executive director stepped down amid allegations that he used taxpayer dollars to pay extravagant salaries to himself, his girlfriend, and a handful of top staffers.
But now Gary Garmon, a longtime member of the board at the Chelmsford-based Merrimack Education Center, is facing ethical questions of his own after the state inspector general revealed that he was the co-owner of a Lowell furniture store that sold at least $9,000 in goods to the center in 2004.
Garmon’s business connection is one of a growing number of potential conflicts of interest investigators are focusing on following accusations by the inspector general that the center’s executive director, John B. Barranco, fleeced a separate but related public agency that educates special needs students of more than $10