Donation raises ethics concerns among city councilors

A donation of car wash vouchers worth $5,000 to the city workers and unlimited car wash vouchers to the Waltham Police Department is raising ethical concerns as it goes before the City Council for approval. 

The donation comes from Prestige Car Wash, which had a special permit change approved late last year by the City Council. 

Members of the City Council’s Finance Committee at their meeting last Tuesday moved to accept the donation, and did so without discussion. 

However, some other city councilors said they will not support accepting the donation when it comes before the full City Council for final approval. They said they will vote to reject the donation because of ethical concerns and questions around the optics of accepting a donation from an entity that has recently been before the City Council and could be again. 

Prestige Car Wash is no stranger to the City Council. The Elm Street business went before the city around a dozen times between last June and December to hash out the details of a special permit modification. 

Those appearances came after Prestige Car Wash was found to be in violation of several aspects of its special permit. The city’s Building Department reported this finding, triggering a six-month-long process of collaboration between the business and the city to solve the issue. 

The City Council approved the requested special permit modification on Dec. 23.

Prestige Car Wash offered a donation to the city a month later.

In the donation letter to the city, a Prestige Car Wash spokesperson wrote, “It is with great pleasure and gratitude that we extend our appreciation for the unwavering support the city has shown us continuously.”

The business offered $5,000 worth of car wash tickets to public servants in Waltham and stickers for unlimited car washes to the Waltham Police Department “to assist in keeping their vehicles clean and to help save costs associated with maintaining their fleet.”

Councilors debate the optics of the gift

Councilor-at-Large Kathy McMenimen said donations from local businesses to various city organizations are not unusual but that the timing of this donation might raise ethical questions from citizens and leave people asking, “Why now?”

Ward 9 Councilor Robert G. Logan took issue with the prospect of Waltham police cruisers having Prestige Car Wash stickers on them. 

“I don’t want our police cruisers or any of our city vehicles to be driving around advertising a business,” said Logan. 

Logan said he also has an issue with the general premise of the donation. 

“We’ve got an operation down there that was found in violation of their special permit, and even now there’s still problems down there. One of the agencies that would have jurisdiction over responding to some of the problems there would be the Police Department,” Logan said. 

He continued: “Even if it’s not technically a violation of any law, which it probably isn’t, it just doesn’t pass the smell test. We had all sorts of problems with them, and now they’re throwing money at us.”

Ward 8 Councilor Cathyann Harris also raised concerns, saying accepting anything of monetary value from an entity that might need City Council approval could create an “appearance of a conflict of interest.” 

Harris said she will not support accepting the donation when it goes to City Council for a vote.

Waltham resident Saul Blumenthal criticized the proposed donation in a letter to Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy and the City Council. 

“For the car wash management to be donating to the very department that would be overseeing [complaints about it] smacks of impropriety,” Blumenthal said.

Councilor Joey LaCava, who represents Ward 5, where Prestige Car Wash is located, said the conclusion of the special permit should clear any concerns about the optics of accepting this donation. 

“The optics would matter if they were coming in for a special permit before us that hadn’t already been through a seven month process,” he said. “Let’s not even try to pretend that this was something that was shoved through with no time. They were going for a minor modification that took over seven months.”

LaCava recently submitted a resolution to the City Council to have the city study the Elm Street train crossing with the goal of alleviating traffic issues. Prestige Car Wash is located at 101 Elm St., near the train crossing. 

LaCava said traffic issues involving queued cars from the car wash blocking the street brought his attention to the Elm Street intersection and its traffic issues. But he also said he does not expect the resolution, including the potential removal of newly placed granite curbing, to affect the car wash’s function or business. 

“The backing up of traffic onto the street definitely opened eyes to how that intersection is inadequate with the granite now. However, part of their special permit does not allow them to back up onto the street. If cars continue to back up onto the street, the special permit language is quite clear that the Building Department is able to shut them down and pull their permit,” said LaCava.

The Waltham Times contacted Prestige Car Wash multiple times for comment and has not received a response.