As Thursday’s legislative session wound down, Sen. Kurt Vialet moved to bring sanctions against At-Large Sen. Angel Bolques Jr. to the floor. With no time for debate, senators approved a formal reprimand and a 30 working-day suspension — 15 unpaid days beginning Aug. 18, with 15 more held in abeyance through Dec. 31, and imposed only if he violates Senate rules in that window.
The vote followed the Committee on Ethical Conduct’s late-July action, when members accepted Bolques’s no-contest plea to violating his oath of office and said they would send a reprimand recommendation to the full Senate. That recommendation formed the basis of Thursday’s original bill.
The inquiry began with a March 26 complaint and a committee formed on March 28. According to previous releases, investigators interviewed current and former staff, and consulted the Legislature’s human resources and finance units. Ultimately, several allegations were dismissed under Rule 810(e) — the 60-day filing rule — leaving the oath-of-office violation. “If he had challenged the charges then we would have gone into a full hearing,” Sen. Kenneth Gittens said in a call with the Source, adding that because of the rules governing the process, the committee was “timebarred” in dealing with certain portions of the complaint, which has not been made public.
Gittens said that after caucusing behind the scenes, a majority of senators agreed to toughen the penalty, which prompted an amendment in the nature of a substitute pairing the reprimand with the suspension: 15 unpaid days now, and 15 held in abeyance — to be triggered immediately, and without pay, only if Bolques violates the rules before Dec. 31.
Thursday, Sen. Carla Joseph raised a procedural objection to the amendment under Rule 511-C2, which requires that any amendment be submitted to the Office of the Legislative Legal Counsel at least 48 hours before it is offered and distributed to each senator at least 24 hours in advance. Joseph argued the rule had been violated, noting that the amendment in question was presented “just five minutes ago.”
After a short recess, legislative legal counsel Amos Carty defended the timing of the amendment in a detailed procedural explanation.
“Pursuant to Rule 511-C3 of the rules of the 36th Legislature, it requires that amendments must be distributed to each senator not less than 24 hours before the time the amendment is offered,” counsel stated. “If, however, the legislative legal counsel distributes an amendment to the senator less than 24 hours before the session commences, the third requirement of Rule 511-C3 is not applicable.” Counsel argued the rule didn’t apply in this case because the amendment was tied to a bill that had been special-ordered that day, making it impossible to prepare and distribute 24 hours in advance. Under those circumstances, counsel said, the rules allowed the amendment to proceed.
The amendment passed by a narrow margin of 7-6, with Bolques himself voting against it. The final vote on the resolution as amended maintained the same split, with senators including Dwayne M. DeGraff, Novelle E. Francis Jr., Alma Frances Heyliger, Gittens, Franklin D. Johnson, Milton E. Potter, and Vialet supporting the measure, while Marvin A. Blyden, Bolques, Ray Fonseca, Hubert L. Frederick, Joseph, and Avery L. Lewis opposed it.
Two senators (Marise C. James and Clifford A. Joseph Sr.) were absent for both votes. Following the final vote of the day, Potter declined to allow further discussion, citing consideration for “essential staff and employees who’ve been grinding this thing out all day.”
Asked after about public concerns that the committee wasn’t transparent in its process by not releasing the initial complaint and settlement terms, Gittens said, “No, it was taken seriously — that’s why we kept the public abreast at every point.”
