Whenever a Town officer or employee is required to recuse himself
or herself under this chapter, he or she:
A.
Shall promptly inform his or her immediate supervisor, if any, and
the Board of Ethics; and
B.
Shall promptly file with the Town Attorney a signed statement disclosing
the reason for recusal, or if a member of a board or commission that
maintains a public record of its proceedings, shall promptly state
that information upon the public record of the board or commission.
A.
Where a Town officer or employee, or his or her spouse, knows that
he or she has or will have an interest in any actual or proposed contract,
purchase agreement, lease agreement, or other agreement, including
oral agreements, with the Town, the officer or employee shall publicly
disclose the nature and extent of that Interest in writing to his
or her immediate supervisor and to the Board of Ethics as soon as
he or she has knowledge of the actual or prospective interest.
B.
For purposes of this disclosure requirement:
(1)
The term "contract" shall mean any claim, account or demand against
or agreement with the Town, express or implied; and
(2)
A Town officer or employee shall be deemed to have an interest in
the contract of his or her relative or household member, and any private
organization when he or she, or his or her relative is an owner, partner,
member, director, officer, employee or directly or indirectly owns
or controls more than 5% of the organization's equity or debt, whether
in the form of outstanding stock or otherwise.
A.
Every application, petition, or request submitted for a variance,
amendment, change of zoning, approval of a plat, exemption from a
plat or official map, license or permit, pursuant to the provisions
of any local law, rule or regulation constituting the zoning and planning
regulations of the Town shall state the name, residence, and the nature
and extent of the interest of any officer of the state, or any officer
or employee of the County of Nassau, or of the Town, or any party
officer as defined by New York Election Law Section 2(4), in the person,
partnership or association making the application, petition or request
to the extent known.
B.
For the purpose of this disclosure requirement, an officer or employee
shall be deemed to have an interest in the applicant when he or she,
his or her spouse, domestic partner, or their brothers, sisters, parents,
children, grandchildren, or the spouse of any of them:
(1)
Is the applicant, or
(2)
Is an officer, director, partner, or employee of the applicant, or
(3)
Legally or beneficially owns or controls stock of a corporate applicant
or is a member of a limited-liability company, partnership, or association
applicant (except that ownership of less than 5% of the stock of a
publicly traded corporation shall not constitute an interest for the
purposes of this disclosure requirement, or
(4)
Is a party to an agreement with such an applicant, express or implied,
whereby he or she will receive any payment or other benefit, whether
or not for such services rendered, dependent or contingent upon the
favorable approval of such application, petition or request.
A.
Persons required to file annual statements of financial disclosure.
The following Town officers and employees ("individually and collectively,
"reporting person") shall file an annual statement of financial disclosure
with the Board of Ethics:
(1)
Elected Town officials,
(2)
Department heads, deputy department heads, and division heads,
(3)
Attorneys serving in the Town Attorney's office,
(4)
Compensated employees appointed by the Town Board,
(5)
Town inspectors,
(6)
Candidates for elective Town office,
(7)
Town Officers or employees holding a policymaking position.
B.
Policymaking positions. For the purposes of this section, a person
shall be considered to hold a policymaking position if he or she exercises
responsibilities of a broad scope in the formulation of plans for
the implementation of goals or policy for a local agency or acts as
an advisor to an individual in such a position. In determining whether
a person holds a policymaking position, the following factors shall
be considered, applied to the powers and duties of the position as
set forth in the job description or any applicable law or regulation
as well as the actual duties performed by the person:
(1)
Whether the position permits meaningful input into the governmental
decisionmaking process on issues where there is room for principled
disagreement on goals or their implementation;
(2)
Whether the powers and duties of the position are broadly defined
and require more than the exercise of simple ministerial competence;
(3)
Whether the position permits the person to exercise control over
other officers or employees;
(4)
Whether the position involves the establishment of priorities or
the development of programs;
(5)
Whether the position requires or authorizes the conducting of studies
or entails a significant degree of involvement in the preparation
of budgets or budget requests for a local agency or municipality;
(6)
Whether the position authorizes the person to speak on behalf of
local elected officials or other policymakers;
(7)
Whether the position entails frequent contact with local elected
officials or their principal deputies.
C.
D.
Time for filing.
(1)
Reporting persons other than candidates for elected Town office shall
file financial disclosure statements with the Board of Ethics on or
before May 15 of each year.
(2)
Candidates for Town elective office shall file financial disclosure
statements with the Board of Ethics within 30 days of nomination or
designation pursuant to the applicable provisions of the New York
Election Law.
E.
Designation of officers and employees required to file annual disclosure
statements.
(1)
Within 90 days after the effective date of this chapter, and no later
than the last day of March of each year thereafter, the Office of
the Town Supervisor shall: cause to be filed with the Board of Ethics
a list of the names and offices or positions of all officers and employees
of the Town required to file annual disclosure statements pursuant
to this chapter; and notify all such officers and employees of their
obligation to file an annual disclosure statement.
(2)
Any person designated as a person required to file an annual disclosure
statement solely by reason of holding of a policymaking position as
that term is used in this chapter, may apply to the Board of Ethics
for reconsideration of his or her filing status and the Board of Ethics
may, upon reconsideration, grant an exemption from filing based upon
the criteria set forth herein.
F.
Maintenance and public inspection of disclosure statements.
(1)
The Town Attorney shall transmit promptly to the Board of Ethics
each disclosure statement filed with the Town Attorney pursuant to
this chapter.
(2)
All statements filed with the Board of Ethics shall be available
for public inspection and copying; except that:
(a)
The Board of Ethics may, on its own initiative, to the extent
permitted by the Freedom of Information Law (Article 6 of the New
York Public Officers Law) withhold from public disclosure particular
information, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy; or
(b)
A reporting person may request that such information be withheld
from public disclosure, and the Board of Ethics, in its discretion,
may grant such request to the extent permitted by the Freedom of Information
Law (Article 6 of the New York Public Officers Law).
G.
Review of lists and disclosure statements.
(1)
The Board of Ethics shall review:
(a)
The lists of officers and employees required to file annual
disclosure statements pursuant to this chapter, to determine whether
the lists are complete and accurate. The Board of Ethics shall add
the name of any other officer or employee which the Board of Ethics
determines should appear on the list and shall remove the name of
any officer or employee which the Board of Ethics determines should
not appear on the list.
(b)
All annual disclosure statements to determine whether any person
required to file such a statement has failed to file it, has filed
a deficient statement, or has filed a statement that reveals a possible
or potential violation of this chapter.
(c)
All transactional disclosure statements.
(d)
All applicant disclosure statements.
(2)
If the Board of Ethics determines that an annual disclosure statement,
a transactional disclosure statement, or an applicant disclosure statement
is deficient or reveals a possible or potential violation of this
chapter, the Board of Ethics shall notify the person in writing of
the deficiency, or possible or potential violation and of the penalties
for failure to comply with this chapter.
