Greenburgh Board of Ethics May 19, 2009

 

 

 

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD of ETHICS

TOWN OF GREENBURGH

 

May 19, 2009

Greenburgh Town Hall

 

Members Present:        Mike Sigal, Jack McLaughlin, Walter Rivera, Eric A. Scott

 

Others Present:            David Fried; Glen Eisen; Heather Murray (Reporter for the Scarsdale Inquirer); Hal Samis

 

The meeting was convened at 7:10 p.m. A quorum of the Board of Ethics was present.

Ms. Heather Murray, Mr. Glen Eisen and Mr. Hal Samis were present throughout the meeting and participated in the discussions.

 

The agenda was accepted with one revision to reflect a request to be made by the Board of Ethics to the Town Board for permission to access the code for the use of the copier during the meetings held at Town Hall in those instances when David Fried and/or another staff member is unavailable to do so. Following a discussion, the Board of Ethics agreed to make such a request to the Town Council.

 

The Board of Ethics discussed the content and recommendations contained in the Annual Report for 2008. Three members of the Board of Ethics voted to authorize the release of said report to the Town Council.

 

Elections for new Officers of the Board of Ethics were held following which Michael Sigal was re-elected as Chair and Walter Rivera was elected as Secretary.

 

It was agreed that David Fried will make another request to the Town Council for the list of persons who are subject to the disclosure requirements of Section 570-8 E of the Code of Ethics.  

 

It was noted that the response rate from the six elected officials required to file disclosure statements was 100% in 2008.

 

The Board of Ethics considered a verified resident complaint regarding an alleged solicitation of refreshments for the outreach Comprehensive Plan community meetings by Thomas Madden and Francis Sheehan. The e-mails comprising this complaint were compiled by Michael Sigal and the complaining party agreed that it was a complete set. The complaining party stated that Michael Sigal should unrecuse himself, and after discussion in which the complaining party and other members of the Board of Ethics participated and expressed their views, Michael Sigal unrecused himself. The complaining party also stated that Jack McLaughlin should also unrecuse himself. The Board of Ethics determined that the complaint has been properly verified pursuant to Section 5 (c) (2) of the Greenburgh Board of Ethics Internal Rules. Under Section 5 (c) (4) of the Internal Rules, the Board of Ethics will request that the Town Clerk provide the Town Board with a copy of the verified resident complaint. Under Section 6 (a) (1) of the Internal Rules, the Board of Ethics has determined that there is good cause to proceed with a Phase 1 investigation. In addition, it was agreed that a request will be sent to Mr. Madden and Mr. Sheehan for all e-mails in their possession related to the allegations made in the complaint pursuant to Section 570-12 of the Code of Ethics. Jack McLaughlin and David Fried did not participate in the discussion of this matter.

 

The Board of Ethics unanimously adopted the Notification Forms to be used under Sections 5 (c) and 6 (a) & (b) of the Board of Ethics Internal Rules and Regulations.       

 

After public discussion, the Board of Ethics approved the draft of Advisory Opinion 09-1 issued in response to a request from John A. Kapica, Chief of Police, regarding a potential conflict of interest regarding a Town employee. It was noted that despite having been given notice of the agenda for this meeting, Chief Kapica, Mr. Gerard P. Tenner and Mr. Nana, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works, opted not to attend the meeting. 

 

The Board of Ethics considered a verified resident complaint regarding a contribution made by a Library Board Member to the Town Supervisor. The Board of Ethics determined that there has been no violation of Section 570-4 A (1) (b) because the Library Board Member was not an agency member at the time of the contribution. The Board of Ethics was unable to reach a determination as to whether the contribution violated Section 570-4 A (2). In this respect, the Chair will send a request to the Town Supervisor and the party who made the contribution pursuant to Section 570-12 of the Code of Ethics asking them whether a solicitation was involved and whether there were other contributions made to the Town Supervisor by the same person.

 

The Board of Ethics discussed and considered a verified resident complaint regarding a contribution made by an independent contractor engaged by the Town of Greenburgh to the Town Supervisor. It was agreed that the Town Supervisor will be notified of the Board of Ethic’s completion of the Phase 1 investigation and its tentative conclusion that the contribution was made within the time proscribed by Section 570-7 A (1) of the Code of Ethics. The Town Supervisor will be afforded the opportunity to appear at the next meeting in accordance with Section 6 (b) (3) (ii) prior to an opinion being issued.   

 

David Fried reported that he received a copy of a check from the Town Supervisor reflecting the Town Supervisor’s return of a contribution to the Manocherian family.

 

Mr. McLaughlin will provide an updated report as to the BOE statutory refinement project at the next meeting.

 

The date of the next meeting of the Board of Ethics is Tuesday June 23, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall.

 

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:20 p.m.

 

Submitted By:             Walter Rivera, Secretary