Word: howe
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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However, even if it is his son who is the actual beneficiary, Howe would still seem to be involved in conflict-of-interest, because he is the beneficiary's legal custodian. Howe denies this, saying his wife could be the custodian instead. But according to several legal sources, including one in the state Attorney General's office, if the state Taxation Department finds that Howe's family tax break was unjustified, the assessor could be fired by the Department for violating the state's conflict-of-interest statute...
...Marie Howe says she bought the Charnwood Road property after her brother lowered the assessment by $2000 as an act of charity toward the previous owners, whom she says were "in deep financial trouble." She denies asking her brother to change the property's assessment, and says that those who charge the family with conflict-of-interest are "sick...
Several months after Marie Howe bought the Charnwood Road property, her brother raised the assessment by $900. He says he did this because the property had increased in value after his earlier assessment because it was no longer vacant. But Alderman Puglia charges that Howe raised the assessment only when he found out he was being investigated for conflict-of-interest. "After they became aware that I was snooping around, they took a pencil and tried to cover their tracks by changing the assessment," Puglia charges...
...June 5, 1976, Howe raised the assessment on the business property of Cosmo Capobianco by $1000. Howe says he increased Capobianco's taxes because of building improvements on the property. But Capobianco says it's been more than four years since he made any building improvements on his property, and that his taxes were raised at that time. Capobianco is a friend and campaign contributor to former Somerville Mayor Lester Ralph, a long-time foe of the Howes who defeated Marie in the 1971 mayoral race. Marie Howe, in an interview with The Crimson, called Capobianco a Ralph "crony...
Three days earlier, Howe had raised by $800 the assessment on property owned by Paul and Doris Griffin. Howe says he raised the assessment because he thought the Griffins' house was a three-family dwelling. Doris Griffin was also a friend of Ralph, Marie Howe's persistent opponent: she had worked as a door-to-door canvasser in his mayoral campaigns, and later was appointed by Ralph to the Somerville Board of Appeals. "Howe said that the reason he raised our assessment [from a two-family dwelling to a three-family dwelling] was because he ... saw some curtains...