Ethics Controversy Continues





By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

An attempt by Second Deputy Mayor Thomas Lamberti to increase the powers of the Board of Ethics failed when none of the other six trustees present at the April 7th meeting of the Garden City Board of Trustees voted for his resolution. Trustee Donald Brudie was absent.

Lamberti’s resolution directed Village counsel to make changes to the Village’s Code of Ethics by giving more authority to the Board of Ethics. The Village’s Code of Ethics, adopted in December of 1970, is pursuant to the state’s General Municipal Law. Section 808 of that law has been interpreted two different ways. Village Counsel Gerard Fishberg, who consulted with five other attorneys on the matter, claims only individuals can request an advisory opinion from the Board of Ethics on possible conflicts they may have.

Lamberti wanted the code changed so that any Village officer can request an opinion. He also wanted the Board of Ethics to have the power to investigate possible conflicts of interest by issuing subpoenas and holding special hearings when necessary. Lamberti said the BOE should also be permitted to hire outside counsel. Village counsel, he said, should not be issuing opinions as to possible conflicts of interest.

“The proposed resolution to allow ethical issues to be referred to the Board of Ethics by any Village official or employee is simply good governance,” he said in an e-mail to the Garden City News.

Fishberg said there are a wide variety of ethics codes. Some municipalities allow any Village employee or officer to seek an advisory opinion on another employee or officer. Some ethics boards also have subpoena powers.

Every municipality has a Code of Ethics but is not required to have a Board of Ethics. The county Board of Ethics can render an opinion in areas where there is no Village Board of Ethics. The Village Board of Ethics can also request an advisory opinion from the county.

Lamberti said he is particularly troubled by Mayor Peter Bee’s part-time position as attorney for Mineola’s Architectural Design Review Board/Planning Commission. Lamberti claims the mayor waited until February to announce he was recusing himself from any vote or discussion on the proposed Winston condominium project when he had several other opportunities to do so dating back to late November.

“I have an issue of confidence in how this government conducts itself and how the mayor has conducted himself,” Lamberti said. “I’m not the Board of Ethics, but the way I look at it is if you have knowledge of a project for a period of time, as soon as you have knowledge, in my mind that was the time to step up and say, ‘I cannot deal with this as mayor. I have a conflict and I’m turning it over to Deputy Mayor Mauk to deal with this.'”

At the Feb. 7th Board meeting, Mayor Bee recused himself when the Board voted to have a representative from the Board and Village planning consultant Buckhurst, Fish & Jacquemart, Inc. attend the Feb. 13th public hearing of the Mineola Village Board. Lamberti raised the issue of the hearing and voiced his concern about the negative effect it would have on Garden City.

“If I had not pulled this out of the wastepaper baskets, in effect, no one would have appeared at that public hearing,” Lamberti claims. “The mayor is the chief executive officer of this Village and under the rules and procedures sets the agenda. In my mind there was a failure of good government.”

Mayor Bee defended himself. “It is hard to remain objective when you are accused of behaving in an unethical and improper manner and so I guess I should begin by saying I’m not objective,” he said. “With that qualifier, I feel insulted and I feel that I am being made the brunt of an almost McCarthy-like aura of suspicion that when statements are made about the issues surround this, or questions are asked, there is no allegation being made that I can directly confront other than to say that I am employed in a part-time job by the Village of Mineola. I have been for several years. It is not a secret. It is a matter of public record. I do work for the Architectural Design Review Board, which is also simultaneously the Village of Mineola’s Planning Board. The Winston project has never come before it.”

Mayor Bee said when he first learned of the Winston project in November he asked Village Administrator Robert Schoelle, Jr. to distribute a public hearing notice. At that time, there was nothing for the Board of Trustees to vote on or discuss. “Therefore there was no matter on which to recuse myself,” said Mayor Bee.

Every trustee had the same set of notices regarding the issue and could have brought up the project at any meeting. Mayor Bee is not the only person who can put something on the agenda; any trustee, as well as the mayor and village administrator, can place an item on the agenda to be discussed.

“However, this specific project aside, I do feel that there are now a pattern of events where Trustee Lamberti has chosen to raise questions, or claim that there are issues, or that there is a lack of confidence in Village government. I do not feel that way. I do not feel that there is a lack of confidence on the part of our public in Village government,” he concluded. Mayor Bee said as a municipal attorney, he contributes his knowledge and experience to the Village, as well as the relationships he has with his municipal clients, and sees it as an asset.

Some of the other trustees voiced their support for the mayor. Trustee Nicholas Epsicopia said Mayor Bee has never tried to influence his decision by raising his relationships with other municipalities. Episcopia attended the Feb. 13th Mineola hearing, and said it did not matter when the Village’s consultant voiced opposition since the overall sentiment expressed by Mineola residents and the Mineola Board was in support of the project.

In addition, the Village of Garden City has no formal legal authority to take any action on the project. Once the project is ready to be subdivided, the developer must seek approval from Garden City’s Planning Commission since the Village’s border is less than 300 feet away from the proposed building.

Deputy Mayor John Mauk emphasized that no one on the Board, himself included, has had a Code of Ethics violation. He chose to resign several days after the February 7th Board meeting when Ed Keating, a member of the executive committee of the Committee to Save St. Paul’s, announced that Mauk’s employer, CB Richard Ellis, has a business relationship with AvalonBay Companies. Mauk claimed he never knew about the relationship.

Former mayor and current trustee Gerard Lundquist said the trustees as a group have over 100 years of volunteer community experience. He said if he ever suspected anyone of having a conflict he would demand it be made public. “I have never seen the mayor to act in any way other than in the public conscience,” he said. “We have a lot more important things to do than to keep rehashing this issue.”

Trustee Robert Rothschild said he also considered the discussion a “major waste of time.” He said if he suspected another trustee of having a conflict of interest, he would approach him privately. “I don’t have any feeling at all that has ever happened, especially with Peter Bee.”

Lamberti argued that the public should have a Board of Ethics that can take action because the Board is not immune to conflicts of interest. He is disturbed by what he calls an “elevated sense of righteousness” among some trustees that he interprets as meaning “because I serve, because I’m a volunteer, because I’m your neighbor, I don’t have to be scrutinized in any way.”

Mayor Bee told the Garden City News that he chooses to presume that the trustees have a high sense of honor and integrity.

“The argument advanced by Mayor Bee and Trustee Mauk that they, as well as any other Village official or employee, can self-police conflict of interest issues is insufficient,” Lamberti said in an e-mail to the Garden City News. “If we are to have transparency and accountability, our Board of Ethics must have the authority and the power to ensure that the Village’s ‘rules of ethical conduct for public officers and employees…must be observed.'” Lamberti quoted from the Village Code of Ethics.

Mayor Bee took the opportunity of it being the annual organization meeting to change the composition of the Board of Ethics. The Board will now be comprised of Village Justice Allen Mathers, who will be the chairman, and residents Charles P. Menges, Jr. and Maureen E. Clancy. The BOE was previously chaired by Deputy Mayor Mauk. Clancy is replacing James F. Dooley, who is moving out of the Village.




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