MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ETHICS

TOWN OF GREENBURGH

September 7, 2010

Greenburgh Town Hall

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

Others Present:            Joseph Malara (counsel); Francis Apicella (counsel); Gary Sastow (counsel); Judge Herb Rosenberg; Hal Samis.

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

The agenda was accepted without any revisions except for the addition of a complaint emailed by a resident against a Department head. Mike Sigal emailed the resident an explanation of the proper procedure for filing a valid complaint. The question was also raised by a representative from the Town Attorney’s office as to whether the Civil Service law requires an ethics complaint to be kept confidential. The Town Attorney has been asked to research this issue to provide members of the Board of Ethics with a copy of any legal basis for any claim of confidentiality.

The Minutes of the June 30, 2010 meeting were adopted.

Mark Constantine reported on the ethics charges brought against Congressman Charles Rangel by the U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee. Issues were raised regarding the Congressman’s purported solicitation of donations for the “Rangel Center” from various foundations and the purported use of Congressional resources in connection with those solicitations. There are also issues regarding the completeness and accuracy of financial disclosure forms filed by the Congressman in connection with a vacation property and several rent controlled apartments.   Mr. Constantine will continue to follow the matter and report back to the Board of Ethics as to any developments in the ongoing ethics investigation and trial of Congressman Rangel.

Eric Scott reported on his review of the report prepared by Chief Judge Judith Kaye in connection with alleged activities of Governor David Paterson relating to a criminal complaint lodged against one of his aides. The report examined whether the Governor attempted to influence the complainant to cease pursuing her complaint against the Governor’s aide. The report referred the investigation to the Albany County District Attorney and did not provide any guidance on the ethics issues currently before the Board of Ethics. It was therefore determined that the report lacks relevance to the complaint under review by the Board of Ethics filed against the Town Attorney.

A letter was received from Supervisor Feiner requesting that a Board of Ethics member join a Citizen’s Budget Advisory Committee. Discussion took place as to whether a Board of Ethics member should participate. Jack McLaughlin was designated as the Board of Ethic’s representative, and it was decided that Mr. McLaughlin would report back to the Board of Ethics for further discussion if the commitment is too time consuming, or if conflict issues arise, or if it appears they would.

Discussion took place regarding the Financial Disclosure forms for Applicants. The Code of Ethics requires the posting the names of Town Officials and Agency Members who have not complied with the filing requirement. Mark Constantine spoke with First Deputy Town Attorney David Fried who agreed to prepare a list of the persons who have not filed the disclosure form. 

Gary Sastow will contact Mr. Fried regarding the proposed new Financial Disclosure Form and seek his assistance in circulating it to department heads for the purpose of eliciting comments.

Jack McLaughlin reported on the statutory amendments. The Board of Ethics Subcommittee will be meeting in two weeks with the Town Board Subcommittee (Town Supervisor Feiner and Councilman Sheehan) and will report back at the next meeting.

Walter Rivera reported as to a written communication received from First Deputy Town Attorney David Fried explaining that the televising of Board of Ethics meetings faces budgetary and personnel issues that can be best addressed in a face to face meeting between the Board of Ethics and the Town Board. The Board of Ethics subcommittee will address this issue with the Town Board subcommittee at the next joint meeting.

A letter was received from a resident complaining about the use of a Town car. The resident was advised by letter from Mark Constantine how to file a proper complaint with the Board of Ethics.

Discussion took place regarding a new complaint filed by Mr. Samis regarding soliciting and accepting a contribution from the spouse of an uncompensated agency member. The subject of the complaint was previously addressed by the Board of Ethics in Opinion 2010-3 and Opinion 2010-4. The only difference is that Mr. Samis has cited a different section of the Code of Ethics. Mr. Samis was given the opportunity to discuss his complaint. Mr. Rivera was concerned about a complainant coming back with essentially the same complaint multiple times simply by referencing a different Code section. Mr. Rivera noted that allowing repetitive complaints results in a waste of precious resources and is not fair to the party who is the subject of the complaint. Jack McLaughlin recommended dismissing Mr. Samis’ complaint and all agreed. Discussion took place about amending the Rules of the Board of Ethics to prohibit multiple complaints based on the same operative facts.   The issue of amending the rules will be put on the agenda for the next meeting.

Joseph Malara provided follow up on the investigation regarding the alleged solicitation/acceptance of refreshments at community meetings held on the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. Jack McLaughlin recused himself and left the room during the discussion. Responses to Section 12 follow up inquiries were received from Councilman Sheehan and Commissioner Madden. Responses from at least one other Section 12 inquiry is expected by October 10^th. Mr. Samis amended his complaint by dropping his complaint as against Councilman Sheehan. He also requested that the value of the refreshments be determined. The matter was otherwise adjourned until the next meeting.

The Board of Ethics addressed the complaint filed by Hal Samis against a Town Official allegedly threatening the Board of Ethics. Initially the Board members were of the view that the complaint should be dismissed, as it did not appear to implicate the provisions cited in the complaint, to wit, Sections 12 and 13. After hearing comments from the complaining party, additional discussion took place regarding the applicability of those sections to the operative facts at issue. The matter was adjourned until the next meeting.

Eric Scott will make inquiry with the Town Attorney regarding the ethics training requirements.

During public comment, Mr. Samis and Judge Rosenberg made comments. 

The meeting adjourned at 9:50 pm.

The next meeting was scheduled for October 19, 2010.

Submitted by:             Walter Rivera, Secretary and

Gary S. Sastow, Esq., Administrative Counsel