MALDEN — Paul Sagan, the chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education who is facing calls for his ouster after it was disclosed he donated to a pro-charter-school ballot campaign, addressed his critics for the first time in public Tuesday — albeit remotely on a video feed from Eastern Europe.

Sagan, speaking via Skype at a meeting of the board, said he thought about divulging the donations but decided against it because he was worried he would be perceived as politicizing the issue, emphasizing he made the donations as a private citizen.

“On balance, I thought that if I went ahead and announced my donations, that opponents of Question Two would accuse me of using my position as chair of the board as a platform to help influence support for expanding the statutory cap on charter schools. Yes, I did want the vote to go that way because I thought it would be good for more families in Massachusetts,’’ Sagan said.

“But I was clear and unequivocal with these organizations,’’ Sagan said. “I would not help them with fund-raising, and they could not use, or even reference, my involvement with the board in any of their activities, specifically because I did not think that would be appropriate.’’

Sagan’s donations of $496,000 to Families for Excellent Schools-Advocacy came to light earlier this month, following an investigation by the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, which revealed that the group wrongfully solicited donations to support a ballot question to expand charter schools and kept the names of individual donors private.

In announcing the findings of the investigation, which resulted in a hefty fine to the organization, the state campaign and political finance office released the names of the donors and the amounts they gave.

That Sagan’s name was among the donors stunned many education organizations that opposed the ballot question because Sagan took heat last September when it was revealed he had donated $100,000 to support the efforts of another organization pushing for the ballot question.

Many education groups didn’t understand why Sagan said nothing at that time about the other donations.

“It’s easy for some folks to say now they would praise me for making a voluntary and early disclosure, but I doubt that’s what they would have done,’’ he said. “I suspect they would have accused me of politicking.’’

“Again, I’m really sorry if some people are upset with the decision I made,’’ he said.

Sagan said that before he made the donations in August 2016, he sought and received an opinion from the state’s ethics commission. He also said he filed a disclosure with the governor’s office a month after he made the donations out of an abundance of caution and transparency.

The disclosure, however, did not identify the groups he donated to by name and how much he gave.

None of Sagan’s critics, who include the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance and the Massachusetts Teachers Union, spoke during the public comment period.

James Vaznis

The return of Gabriel Gomez?

Gabriel Gomez — the former Navy SEAL, turned private equity investor, turned failed GOP US Senate candidate — is getting more serious about taking another shot at a Senate seat.

And it’s a move that could be a game-changer in the Republican party’s 2018 selection of Elizabeth Warren’s opponent.

GOP sources say Gomez, who lost to US Senator Edward J. Markey in a 2013 special election, is talking to Republicans about the potential of joining the race, which already includes three major candidates. According to his political adviser, Gomez could decide in the next few months.

His presence in the GOP race would be significant. He would be the only candidate with the experience of running statewide, and he has some personal wealth to get his candidacy off the ground.

But it’s a bit tough getting it from the horse’s mouth. Gomez hung up on a reporter seeking comment on his plans.

“I don’t have time to talk to you, I am going somewhere with my wife,’’ he said, putting his phone down.

His political adviser, Lenny Alcivar, confirms that Gomez, who ended his US Senate race with a tense relationship with the state GOP, will make a final decision as early as November.

“He is having active discussions and is committed to talking party leaders across the state,’’ Alcivar said.

Gomez’s problems with his party date back to when, having never run for office, he appeared on the political scene in 2013 and upset a few of the party’s more tenured primary candidates. He excited party operatives, but, displaying the usual missteps of a first-time candidate, he flopped in the general election, losing to Markey by a 10-point margin.

Since then, Gomez has never held to a strict partisan path. After the race, he backed an independent in an critical three-way legislative race, denounced then-presidential nominee Donald Trump, and has not been shy about tweeting nice words about Democrats.

Now he may muddle up the state GOP establishment’s hopes to block state Representative Geoff Diehl, an ardent supporter of Trump, from winning the nomination. The Republican nominee for US Senate will share a ticket with Governor Charlie Baker in 2018.

In a primary, Gomez and two other major candidates — veteran GOP activists and ex-state official Beth Lindstrom and wealthy businessman John Kingston — would be dividing up the increasingly limited moderate base, boosting Diehl.

However, just getting on the ballot could be the biggest hurdle. The GOP convention rules requires that candidates get 15 percent delegate support to appear on the primary ballot.

Frank Phillips

A Barney Frank, Jimmy Tingle link

Jimmy Tingle, the comedian and newly declared Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, has signed up a member of the old guard as his honorary campaign chairman.

Former congressman Barney Frank, who stepped down in 2013 after more than two decades in the US House, will campaign with Tingle, the Cambridge comic said, after “encouraging me for months to get in.’’

Tingle and Frank campaigned and raised money for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton last year at local house parties, where, Frank said, he was the “opening act.’’ After the campaign, Tingle said, the two went out for lunch and he informed the retired congressman about his intentions to run for the state’s number-two post.

“Without missing a beat,’’ Tingle recalled, “he said, ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking.’’’

Frank described himself as “very enthusiastic,’’ and called Tingle “knowledgeable and thoughtful.’’

Frank said Tingle could appeal to young people whose connection to politics comes through comedy shows like “The Daily Show.’’

“He’s funny in a way that takes political points and hammers them home,’’ Frank said.

Democrat Quentin Palfrey, a former Obama administration official, has also announced he’s seeking the lieutenant governor nomination.

Republican Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito is likely to run for reelection.

Jim O’Sullivan

Walsh leans (again) on Beacon Hill

Mayor Martin J. Walsh has named a new budget director for the city, nabbing his newest finance aide from a familiar well of talent — the State House.

Walsh announced Wednesday he has hired Justin Sterritt, who spent the last three years with the House Committee on Ways and Means, most recently as its budget director. Sterritt, who also worked for the state Executive Office of Administration and Finance, will join the city’s Office of Budget Management. He begins Oct. 10.

“Justin brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in managing government finance, and he has a strong track record of balancing complex budgets,’’ the mayor said in a statement.

As budget director, Sterritt will help shape the city’s five-year capital plan, and he supervises his office in coordinating policy decisions.

Sterritt follows in the footsteps of David Sweeney, the mayor’s new chief of staff and former chief financial officer, who worked for the House Ways and Means Committee. Sterritt succeeds Katie Hammer, who also worked for the state via the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and the state Executive Office of Administration and Finance.

Before he was elected mayor in 2013, Walsh served for 16 years as a state representative.

Samuel Tyler, head of Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a city watchdog agency, said Walsh’s habit of tapping finance aides from the State House is not a typical trend, but a welcome one.

“Lately it’s a well-traveled route,’’ Tyler said. “The experience you have at the state . . . it’s good background and experience to be a budget director in Boston.’’

Walsh will have a new financial team in the coming months.

Milton J. Valencia