Yorktown Needs an Ethics Law With Far Greater Transparency
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Timothy Glass, Laurie Noonan and Susan Siegel
On paper, Yorktown’s ethics law requires all town officials to adhere to high ethical standards. It also creates a non-political ethics board with a mission to carry out the law.
Yet, since the law’s enactment 12 years ago, we have seen that in practice there have been major problems with enforcement. Based on our experience we strongly believe the current ethics law needs to be amended.
Although our elected Town Board members have openly stated their desire for transparency, a major shortcoming of our current law is its lack thereof. Secrecy is written into the law, and this secrecy is controlled by the Town Board.
In 2019, the ethics board advised the Town Board that one of its board members had violated the ethics law. Their report became public only when the Town Board member who filed the complaint disagreed with the action his colleagues had taken in a closed session. He publicly accused his colleagues of a coverup and, citing transparency, said that the ethics board report should be released.
Two years later, the ethics board submitted its report on alleged violations by a sitting member of the Planning Board. With a different political party now in the majority, the existence of the Ethics Board’s report only became public when the report was leaked to the Yorktown News. Unlike the incident two years earlier, this time the Town Board never publicly acknowledged the existence of the Ethics Board’s report.
In both cases the failure to publicly air a credible complaint that required investigation, as well as the Town Board’s actions in response to the investigation, created the impression of a coverup and a failure on the part of the Town Board to uphold high ethical standards.
If violations of the ethics law can be kept secret, and if there are no consequences for violating the law, then why have an ethics law? Why have an ethics board at all?
Secrecy even extends to those who file complaints with the ethics board. Complainants are never advised if their submission will be investigated, nor are they told the outcome of an investigation they set in motion.
As a former member of the Ethics Board and residents who have interacted with the board, we are advocating for an ethics law that is free from the political winds that change with each new administration. We believe that an ethics law should require transparency and, at the same time, protect the privacy rights of individuals.
For starters, we believe these are the four most important amendments that are needed.
- Transparency. Ethics board reports of investigations shall be made public within 30 days of their submission. Documents gathered during the course of an investigation shall remain confidential. The Town Board shall continue to have the sole responsibility for imposing sanctions upon the subject of the complaint should it see fit.
- Notification. The ethics board shall notify the person who filed the complaint that the complaint will be investigated and if not, why not.
- Timeliness. Ethics board investigations shall be conducted within six months.
- Annual Financial Disclosure Statement Review: The Town Board shall annually make public the ethics board’s report of its review of the disclosure statements identifying the town employees and officials who are in violation of the ethics law 30 days after receiving the report.
Yorktown’s current ethics law needs fixing. It needs to become more transparent. If you agree that the people who serve us in Town Hall should be held to a set of high ethical standards, then let our elected officials know that when it comes to ethics, you expect transparency over secrecy. Let them know that you expect them to begin the process of amending our outdated ethics law.
Let’s get started. Now. Let’s not wait for the next ethics scandal.
Laurie Noonan served as ethics board secretary for eight-plus years. Timothy Glass and Susan Siegel have filed complaints with the board. Siegel served as town supervisor in 2010-11 and councilwoman in 2015.
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