It appears that there is an honest difference of opinion among the members of the Garden City Board of Trustees regarding the role of Boards of Ethics in villages. The state law governing their creation is not specific and municipalities have interpreted it in different ways across the state. (The entire body of New York State law can be found with a simple internet search these days.)

That said, it seems that the majority of the Board gets to decide which form the Ethics Board should take, although the step of asking for advice from the State Attorney General sounds prudent.

In reviewing state law, however, we did come across information that hasn't been discussed locally. According to the New York State Committee on Open Government, Boards of Ethics are subject to the Open Meetings Law and the Freedom of Information Law to the same extent as other governmental bodies.

In an advisory opinion to the Town of Southold, Bob Freeman, Executive Director of the Committee stated, "An ethics board or committee is a creation of law, and it clearly conducts public business and performs a governmental function for a public corporation, a town. That being so, I believe that it has the same obligations as a governing body, such as the Town Board, regarding openness and the provision of notice of meetings, for example, as the Town Board, as well as the same authority to conduct executive sessions when it is appropriate to do so."

Properly, meetings of the Garden City Board of Ethics should be held in public, with prior notice. While there may be times when the board may then retire to executive session, the reasons for those sessions are circumscribed by law. For example if the Board is discussing the "medical, financial, credit or employment history" of any person it may be done in private. However, if the Board is discussing policy, that's a subject that should be public.

We hope the Board of Trustees takes this information into consideration if it makes any changes to the ethics board.