By James F. Russell, Correspondent BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker has lost confidence in Republican Michael Valanzola, who is no longer chief operating officer at the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, after allegations of wrongdoing that a state investigation targeting his cousin revealed.

The cousin, Jared Valanzola, is a personnel officer at the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Telephone calls placed Thursday to Michael Valanzola’s home in Wales were not returned. As the COO at the EOEA, Mr. Valanzola oversaw the agency’s human resources department, which covers the DCR, where his cousin works.

Mr. Baker’s administration confirmed on Wednesday that Mr. Valanzola had resigned, and in a written statement said that restoring credibility required his departure — and they plan to terminate his cousin's employment.

The Baker “administration believes it is not possible for Michael Valanzola to remain in his role and execute his duties as chief operating officer, which includes direct oversight of the agency's human resources function, and believes his resignation is necessary to restore confidence in the human resources function for the secretariat,” the statement said.

Mr. Valanzola ran for state Senate in 2014 and narrowly lost Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex District election to Sen. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer. She replaced Democrat Stephen M. Brewer, who did not seek re-election.

After his defeat, the EOEA Secretary Matthew Beaton, a Shrewbury Republican and former state representative, appointed Mr. Valanzola as the agency’s COO.

According to the Baker administration, Mr. Valanzola resigned after an investigation focused on whether his cousin sought to dissuade Cynthia Lewis’ fiance, Southampton Democrat J.D. Parker-O'Grady, from running against Sen. Donald F. Humason Jr., R-Westfield, the Senate minority whip. Ms. Lewis is a program coordinator with the state environmental police and previously was a correction officer.

The Baker administration said of its plan to fire Jared Valanzola:

“Jared Valanzola was found to have misrepresented his role in Cynthia Lewis' hiring process to investigators and offered accounts of his behavior that were inconsistent with other credible witness statements. In accordance with the governing collective bargaining agreement, EEA is moving to terminate Jared Valanzola,” the administration said.


Before working at the DCR, he was a legislative aide to Republican Sen. Robert Hedlund, who is now the mayor of Weymouth.

Payroll records show Michael Valanzola was paid $91,590 in 2015.

Michael Valanzola is also chairman of the Tantasqua Regional School Committee. The school district encompasses Brimfield, Brookfield, Holland, Sturbridge and Wales.

Sisk resignation

Five days ago, DCR commissioner Matthew Sisk resigned after a video surfaced showing him using the lights and sirens of his state vehicle in an alleged attempt to circumvent traffic. Sisk and DCR commissioner Leo Roy were both suspended for a week earlier in September for using state resources to plan and host a private party at a condo owned by Ron Kaufman, the state's Republican national committeeman.

Mr. Baker said his administration would make additional announcements about the department "sometime in the next few days," involving "some folks who have many, many years at DCR moving into some senior positions" under Mr. Roy.

"While there are certainly some issues - which as I said on a number of times at a minimum disappointed me but frankly astonished me - and I believe we've acted quickly on those, I don't want to paint a brush that says everybody who works at DCR doesn't know what they're doing, because a lot of the people who are there do," the Swampscott Republican said. "I will say this: anybody who engages in any of the kinds of activity that have been associated with either this investigation or some of the stuff that's been reported on with respect to the misuse of state property and all the rest, we will deal with that and we will deal with it aggressively."

The investigation that led to Jared Valanzola's firing began in August after Ms. Lewis alleged that her transfer from a Boston office of the environmental police to Fall River was a result of her fiance's decision to run against Mr. Humason.

Mr. Humason was surprised and disappointed when he learned of the allegations, according to Baker, who said the senator called him once the news broke and said, "I have nothing to do with this; I want you to do the investigation."

The investigation found Ms. Lewis' transfer was not politically motivated, but that Mr. Valanzola "stated to Cynthia Lewis that her employment opportunity within EEA would be adversely affected by her fiancé's decision to run for political office," officials said.

While investigators found no conclusive evidence that Michael Valanzola sought retaliation against Ms. Lewis, the administration accepted his resignation.

Third employee
A third employee, Energy and Environmental Affairs program manager Tim Sullivan, was issued a warning and will "undergo appropriate training" after Ms. Lewis said in a statement that he "invaded her personal space while speaking with her about the transfer."

Mr. Baker said he has "a lot of faith" in Mr. Beaton, the Energy and Environmental Affairs secretary, who oversees state environmental agencies, citing his work on energy legislation and an executive order focusing on climate change adaptation.

"Secretary Beaton was toe-to-toe with us all the way through this investigation," Baker said.

Ms. Lewis is on administrative leave at her request, according to Mr. Baker's office. The governor said he has not spoken with her directly but investigators did.

- Material from State House News Service was used in this report.