Less than a month after announcing his campaign to run for governor, Sen. Dan Wolf (D-Harwich) took to Facebook Wednesday afternoon, vowing to continue his candidacy after the State Ethics Commission claimed last week that his stakes in Cape Air serve as a "conflict of interest."
Wolf, who was elected Senator in 2010 and ran unopposed in 2012, founded the employee-owned Cape Air company in 1989. The Barnstable-based airline has since grown to become the largest independent regional airline in the country.
Wolf received notice on Friday from the Commission that he would have to make one of two decisions: Either discontinue the connection between Cape Air and Logan Airport, or "divest all interests" in the company.
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Terminating the relationship with Logan Airport would "destroy the company," which he "spent 25 years building up," Wolf wrote.
"In the Commission’s opinion, short of taking one of these drastic steps, I could not serve as Governor and also would have to resign as State Senator," Wolf wrote.
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"The two Cape Air agreements with Massport in question date back to 2002. They automatically renew month-to-month and year-to-year respectively. Let me be clear: Massport took no affirmative action on these contracts while I was a State Senator and Cape Air took no action on these contracts while I was State Senator. There is no discretion to do so, based on federal standards and requirements."
He added, "I disagree with this opinion and will be working to rectify what I believe to be an unfortunate conclusion based on a flawed process. I look forward to maintaining my ambitious campaign schedule and having an open, transparent conversation with the voters about this and every issue."
To read the full statement, visit Wolf's Facebook Page.
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