HopNews
HopNews received the following letter to the editor from an anonymous source today.
State Ethics Commission
2-11-2025
To Whom it Concerns:
On December 15, 2024, in Hopkinton, MA, Select Board Member Mary-Jo LaFreniere was arrested for Operating Under the Influence of Alcohol after crashing her vehicle in Hopkinton. The arresting Officer was Sgt. Aaron O’Neil. Mrs. LaFreniere was arraigned on December 16, 2024.
On February 4, 2025 Sgt. Aaron O’Neil and Sgt. Matthew McNeil were both promoted to the rank of Lieutenant by the Hopkinton MA Select Board including Mary-Jo LaFreniere as a voting member. Not only was Mrs. LaFreniere a voting member, I believe she was the member who made the motion to promote both Sergeants to their new rank.
I find it a significant ethics violation that Mary-Jo LaFreniere partook in this process and voted to promote Sergeant, Aaron O’Neil, who arrested her. I find it ethically wrong whether the criminal case was open or closed.
I request the Massachusetts Ethics Commission look into this violation.
Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of HopNews. Letters may be edited for clarity, grammar, and length.
Not for nothing as a pipefitter welder I get very dirty at work but after a hot shower I’m as clean as the day I was born. A dirty politician or cop can never become clean. Death doesn’t remove the dirty.
Just spoke with an attorney in our office. Just basing on the article he said that she absolutely should have recused herself from the proceedings. Ethics complaint seems warranted.
Both should be removed immediately. Brian Herr needs to step down as chain for allowing this to occur. There are so many places this should have been caught BEFORE the vote.
Mary Jo should have simply abstained and there would be no questions.
Even if this is a negligent error, it smells like corruption. It smells like there could be a quid pro quo arrangement – it taints both the Hopkinton Select Board as a whole and the entire legitimacy of Hopkinton Police Department.
Porter, Brennan, Bennett, and now O’Neil. Has the entirely of the HPD completely lost their ethical compass?
This type of behavior seems in line with our new administration, the new reality. Or this is just another Mary Jo hit piece. Her apology was sincere.
Tim Brennan never lost his moral compass.