Second Mount Kisco Planning Board Member in Ethics Flap
The senior member of the Mount Kisco Planning Board was found to have violated the village’s Code of Ethics, the second time this year a member of that board ran afoul of the code.
Ralph Vigliotti, who is completing his 23rd year on the Planning Board, was cited in a Sept. 29 advisory opinion by the Board of Ethics, which agreed with one of two allegations brought to them by an unnamed resident. Last Monday, the conclusions were upheld by the Village Board.
The complaint, brought to the Board of Ethics on June 4, alleged that Vigliotti publicly discussed proposed zoning amendments with the intent of influencing a possible Planning Board vote on a matter where he had already recused himself.
“Once Mr. Vigliotti stated that he intended to recuse himself from voting on the amendment, he should not have continued to discuss the matter extensively at Planning Board meetings,” the Board of Ethics’ conclusion stated.
Reached last Thursday, Vigliotti said the issue stemmed from discussion by the Planning Board of a rezoning of a portion of North Moger Avenue to accommodate the proposed mixed-use Kirby Commons project.
Vigliotti, who owns a small house on North Moger, said despite his recusal, he wanted to make a point that he and other property owners on the street would be hurt by the project.
“I felt compelled to do that, and also as a property owner, to say you’re hurting the properties by the parking garage being within 30 feet of your property lines with, the road being on the property lines to get to the parking garage,” Vigliotti said.
The Village Board also concurred with the finding that Vigliotti did not commit an ethics offense when he appeared before the Village Board as a resident to speak on the matter.
Twice this year, the Village Board narrowly rejected the contract with developers Gotham Organization, Inc. and Charter Realty & Development to build a combined 229 apartments, about 34,000 square feet of retail space and two parking garages on the North and South Moger avenue municipal lots.
Mayor Gina Picinich read the board’s determination before the close of the Oct. 18 meeting. None of the village trustees commented.
Last February, Planning Board Chairman Doug Hertz resigned after an ethics complaint was submitted. Hertz is a principal with Sunrise Solar Solutions in Briarcliff Manor, which brought an application for the controversial solar farm proposal at 180 S. Bedford Road. About a month later he was found to also have violated the Code of Ethics.
Vigliotti, who served on the Village Board for about eight years before moving to the Planning Board, will be leaving the board when his term expires on Dec. 5.
However, last week Vigliotti said he believed he was the victim of politics. Nearly three years ago, he was reappointed, but Picinich abstained from that vote.
He said the mayor helped engineer the ethics complaint against him.
“At the end of the day, we have so many wonderful volunteers in the village, but if you get too close to the fire politically, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done,” Vigliotti said. “We’ll go after this guy and this was political. This was political. This wasn’t somebody out of the clear blue sky saying we don’t like what Ralph said at these meetings. This was we’ve got to get rid of Ralph. Let’s get a complaint against him to get him off the board.”
However, after he was reappointed by the Village Board to his current term, Vigliotti said he decided it would be his last go-round.
Picinich dismissed Vigliotti’s allegation calling it “a laughable, fanciful notion.”
She said she did not support Vigliotti’s reappointment to the Planning Board three years ago because she does not believe any board member should serve for more than 20 years.
“It’s unfortunate that Mr. Vigliotti will not be accountable for his own actions and would rather deflect it onto me,” Picinich said. “I had nothing to do with this process, other than as a member of the (village) board, as all other members of the board, received the Board of Ethics’ advisory opinion.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
