Whenever a Town officer or employee is required to recuse himself or herself under the chapter, he or she: (1) shall promptly inform his or her department head, if any, and the Town Attorney; and (2) shall promptly file with the Town Clerk 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 department head and to the Town Attorney 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, dependent or household member, a relative of his or her spouse, or a spouse of his or her child or sibling and any private organization when he or she, or his or her relative, dependent or household member, a relative of his or her spouse, or a spouse of his or her child or sibling is an owner, partner, member, director, officer, employee, individually or in the aggregate, 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.
[Amended 7-2-2019 by L.L. No. 52-2019, effective 7-18-2019]
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, 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, engineers, architects, accountants, auditors and real estate agents employed by the Town;
(4) 
Code enforcers, licensed inspectors, licensed inspector trainees, and investigators;
(5) 
Town officers or employees holding a policymaking position;
(6) 
Candidates for elective Town office; and
(7) 
Town political party chairs.
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 decision-making 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. 
Form of statement.
(1) 
All reporting persons shall file a disclosure statement in the form annexed hereto as Appendix A, as such form may be modified from time to time by resolution of the Town Board.
(2) 
The Board of Ethics shall recommend any amendments to the forms of financial disclosure statement that it deems warranted or that may be required by law, and shall submit such recommended amendments, in the form of a resolution, to the Town Board for consideration.
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 or, if later, on or before the 30th day following the commencement of Town service.
(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 Election Law.
E. 
Designation of officers and employees required to file annual disclosure statements.
(1) 
No later than the last day of March of each year: (i) the Department of Human Resources shall cause to be filed with the Board of Ethics, with a copy to the Town Attorney, 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 § 38-23A(1) through (4); and (ii) the Town Attorney shall notify all such officers and employees of their obligation to file an annual disclosure statement.
(2) 
No later than the last day of March of each year: (i) the Town Attorney shall cause to be filed with the Board of Ethics a list of the names and offices or positions of all reporting persons required to file annual disclosure statements pursuant to § 38-23A(5), (6) and (7); and (ii) the Town Attorney shall notify all such persons of their obligation to file an annual disclosure statement.
(3) 
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 application or upon its own initiative, grant an exemption from filing based upon the criteria set forth herein.
F. 
Maintenance and public inspection of disclosure statements. All statements filed with the Board of Ethics shall be available for public inspection and copying; except that:
(1) 
The Board of Ethics may, on its own initiative, to the extent permitted by the Freedom of Information Law (Article 6 of the Public Officers Law) withhold from public disclosure particular information, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; or
(2) 
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 Public Officers Law).
(3) 
Upon receipt of a request made pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law for inspection or copying of an Annual Statement of Financial Disclosure ("disclosure statement"), the Board of Ethics or its designee shall: Inform the filing person of the FOIL request; advise the filing person that the Board will delete from public disclosure the filing person's home address, the names of the filing person's dependent children, and the categories of amounts set forth on the disclosure statement; permit the filing person to identify such other information set forth on the disclosure statement that the filing person believes would result in an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy if disclosed; determine whether the Board has the discretion to deny access to the information so identified pursuant to Freedom of Information Law § 87(2) and, if so, whether the Board will exercise its discretion to do so, and advise the filing person of its determination before making the disclosure statement available for inspection or copying.
(4) 
Disclosure statement filed by a Town elected officer shall be published on the Town's website within 30 days of the date of filing, except that prior to such publication, the Board of Ethics or its designee shall: Inform the Town elected officer that the disclosure statement will be published on the Town's website; advise the Town elected officer that the Board will delete from public disclosure the Town elected officer's home address, the names of the Town elected officer's dependent children, and the categories of amounts set forth on the disclosure statement; permit the Town elected officer to identify such other information set forth on the disclosure statement that the Town elected officer believes would result in an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy if disclosed; determine whether the Board has the discretion to deny access to the information so identified pursuant to Freedom of Information Law § 87(2) and, if so; whether the Board will exercise its discretion to do so, and advise the Town elected officer of its determination before publishing the disclosure statement.
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. 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 applicant disclosure statements.
(2) 
If the Board of Ethics determines that an annual disclosure statement, or a transactional 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.