Greenburgh Board of Ethics June 23, 2009

 

 

 

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD of ETHICS

TOWN OF GREENBURGH

 

June 23, 2009

Greenburgh Town Hall

 

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

 

Others Present:            David Fried; Glen Eisen; Janet Belkin; Hal Samis

 

The meeting was convened at 7:15 p.m. A quorum of the Board of Ethics was present.

Mr. Glen Eisen and Mr. Hal Samis were present throughout the meeting, and Ms. Janet Belkin was present for part of the meeting, and participated in the discussions.

 

The agenda was accepted with one revision to add a discussion about the taping of citizens by Town officials.

 

It was noted that 27 out of 45 Boards and Commissions members have filed disclosure statements in 2008, constituting a 60% response rate, and 50 out of 59 of Management constituting, an 85% response rate. It was agreed that David Fried will send a reminder extending the filing date to July 15, 2009. It was noted that a request was previously made to the Town Board on May 21, 2009 for the list of persons who are subject to the disclosure requirements of Section 570-8 E of the Code of Ethics. Aside from a limited response by Councilman Sheehan, a response has not yet been received by the Board of Ethics. It was agreed that David Fried will make another request to the Town Board for this information and highlight the need for a consistent application of the disclosure requirements.    

 

Mr. McLaughlin, who has led the BOE statutory refinement project, summarized the main provisions of the current draft of the statutory refinement project report. Discussion of the main provisions of the current draft then followed. The main topics discussed were: (1) 570-4 P Additional standards for members of the Town Board and members of the Board of Ethics regarding recusal; (2) 570-7 Prohibited political activities; (3) 570-9 (Penalties for violation(s) of the Code of Ethics); (4) 570-11 A(1) regarding Membership on the Board of Ethics & Term of Office, D., F. (to correct a typo) , and I; (5) 570-11 A, a proposed section providing for Alternate Members.

 

It was noted that the Board of Ethics considers that it has the inherent authority to refer a complaint to the District Attorney where warranted under the circumstances.

 

It was agreed that Mr. McLaughlin, alone or with another BOE member, will schedule meetings with members of the Town Board who have requested such meetings to discuss and get feedback on the provisions under consideration.  

 

The Board of Ethics also agreed to discuss the following two issues at a later date: (1) Gifts to the Town; and (2) Guidelines for the taping of citizens by Town officials and for the use/dissemination of such taped materials.   

 

The Board of Ethics approved the draft of a Finding to the effect that contributions made to the Town Supervisor by Larry and Allegra Dengler prior to the appointment of Allegra Dengler as Environment Conservation Coordinator for the Town of Greenburgh are within the 12 month time requirement of Chapter 570-7A(1) of the Code of Ethics. The Board of Ethics concluded that a Phase 2 investigation is warranted pursuant to 570-11-I and J and Greenburgh Board of Ethics Internal Rule 6(b). It was agreed that a request will be made to the Town Supervisor to notify the Board of Ethics by July 7, 2009 as to whether he wishes to attend the Phase 2 meeting on this matter scheduled for July 29, 2009.   Mr. Scott will prepare a final draft of the Finding to be circulated to the Town Supervisor and the parties involved in this matter.

 

It was agreed that Mr. Sigal will send a follow up request Mr. Madden, Commissioner of Community Development and Conservation, for all e-mails in his possession related to the allegations made in the pending complaint pursuant to Section 570-12 of the Code of Ethics with a final deadline of July 7, 2009. The notice will also advise Mr. Madden that his failure to respond by the due date will result in a violation of the Code of Ethics independent of the merits, if any, of the underlying complaint and will also allow the Board of Ethics to make adverse evidentiary presumptions in reaching a determination on the underlying merits of the complaint. Jack McLaughlin and David Fried did not participate in the discussion of this matter.

 

In addition, the Chair will send a follow up 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. This matter will be discussed at the next meeting.

 

The date of the next meeting of the Board of Ethics is Wednesday July 29, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall.

 

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:07 p.m.

 

Submitted By:             Walter Rivera, Secretary