OLD SAYBROOK - Last November, Grant Westerson asked the town's Ethics Commission for an advisory opinion about whether he had a conflict of interest. The question was if it were a conflict for him to be on the Board of Finance while he also received stipend pay from the Police Department for driving the police boat.

After weighing the facts and the town's ethics ordinance, the Ethics Commission recently issued its advisory opinion. The commission ruled that for Westerson "both serving on the Board of Finance and having a contractual per diem relationship with the Police Department is specifically prohibited by Section III, 3 of the Code of Ethics."

When contacted about the Ethics Commission decision, Westerson responded that he would abide by Ethics Commission by shedding one of his two roles.

"I will not work on the police boat," said Westerson.

Westerson said he was upset that he hadn't received a copy of the Ethics Commission advisory opinion before others, since he was the one who had requested it.

When asked, he said that despite his past service to the Police Department, he will be able to make independent judgments about Police Department budgets as a member of the Board of Finance. He doesn't feel that his past stipend payments for driving the police boat would influence his Board of Finance decisions affecting the police department budget.

Mary Hansen of Old Saybrook, based on recent comments she made to the Board of Selectmen recently, appears to have a different view.

"[T]he perception is: Grant Westerson is and has been demonstrating, a special interest in the Police Department and therefore, represents Police Department interests on the Board of Finance," said Hansen.

Hansen believed it a conflict of interest for Westerson to serve on the Board of Finance overseeing town department budgets while getting paid by the town for driving the police boat. Unlike Westerson's choice, she thought he should resign from the Board of Finance to eliminate the conflict of roles.