A.
There is hereby established a Board of Ethics for the Town. The Board
of Ethics shall consist of five members. A majority of the members
of the Board of Ethics shall not be officers or employees of the Town,
but at least one member must be a Town officer or employee.
B.
The members of such Board of Ethics shall be appointed by the Town
Board, be residents or officers of the Town, and serve without salary
or compensation for their services as members of the Board of Ethics.
The Board of Ethics shall annually elect one member of the Board of
Ethics as the Board Chair. At least one member of the Board of Ethics
shall be from each of the two major political parties.
C.
Except for the first term after the adoption of the Code, four members
shall be appointed to staggered four-year terms, such that no more
than one member's term shall expire in any given year. The fifth member,
which shall be a Town officer or employee, shall be annually appointed
for a one-year term. During the first terms after Code adoption, members,
other than the fifth member (the Town officer or employee member),
shall be appointed to partial terms of one, two, three or four years
in order to establish the staggered terms which expire at the end
of calendar years.
D.
The Town Board may remove a member of the Board of Ethics for cause
shown, including and limited to for repeated absences from meetings
of the Board (defined as absence from 50% or greater of the Board
of Ethics meetings in a given calendar year), violation(s) of this
Code of Ethics, and/or for conviction of a felony. In the event the
Town Board seeks to remove a Board member for cause, it shall issue
a notice to the Board member detailing the basis for cause. The Board
member has 14 days from the issuance of such notice to rebut the cause
alleged, either in writing and/or via a meeting with the Town Board.
After the 14 days has passed and any rebuttal timely submitted from
the Board member has been considered, the Town Board shall make a
determination on whether to dismiss and terminate such Board member
for cause.
E.
In the event of a vacancy on the Board of Ethics, the Town Board
shall fill the vacancy for the remainder of the vacant term.
The Board of Ethics shall:
A.
Render advisory opinions to Town officers and employees with respect
to Article 18 of the General Municipal Law and this Ethics chapter
at the request of the Town officer or employee who is considering
or engaging in the behavior of the matter to be advised upon. Such
advisory opinions must be rendered pursuant to the written request
of any such officer or employee under such rules and regulations as
the Board of Ethics may prescribe. Such advisory opinions shall be
confidential to the extent permitted by law, but the Board of Ethics
may publish such opinions, provided that, without his or her express
written consent, the name of the requesting person and other identifying
details shall not be included in such publication.
B.
Render advisory opinions to the Town Board on any matter the Town
Board deems appropriate for review by the Board of Ethics given the
particular experience, duties and expertise of the same, upon formal
request by the Town Board to the Board of Ethics.
C.
Act as the sole and exclusive repository, in a secure location provided by the Town Clerk on Town Hall premises, for all requests, complaints, advisory opinions, related documents, and completed annual financial disclosure statements filed pursuant to Article III of this chapter. All such documents shall be retained in accordance with the Town document retention policy.
D.
The Board of Ethics shall review all completed financial disclosure statements filed pursuant to Article III of this chapter for possible conflicts of interest and improprieties and advise filers of the same.
E.
Review allegations raised by any persons alleging violations of Article I of this chapter by a Town officer or employee, and render advisory opinions to the Town Board concerning the same, subject to the following procedures, and such additional rules and regulations not inconsistent herewith as the Board of Ethics may adopt.
(1)
Allegations to be reviewed by the Board of Ethics shall be made,
in writing, to the Board of Ethics and:
(2)
Upon receipt of a written allegation, the Chair of the Board of Ethics
shall call a meeting of the Board to consider whether to proceed with
review. The Board shall review the allegation and consider the following
when determining whether to proceed with substantive further review
of the allegation:
(a)
Whether the allegation cites to and actually concerns a specific provision of Article I of this chapter;
(b)
Whether the allegation concerns a specific identifiable employee(s)
or officer(s) of the Town; and
(c)
Whether the allegation contains at least a minimum amount of
information reasonably sufficient to proceed with further review.
(4)
During review of an allegation, at the discretion of the Board of
Ethics, nonmembers may be asked to voluntarily participate in the
Board's review for purposes of collecting information, etc. Such persons
may be required to sign confidentiality agreements in order to participate.
(5)
Upon completing its review, the Board of Ethics, upon a vote of a
majority of its members, may take any of the following actions:
(a)
Issue a nonbinding and advisory written report to the Town Board
advising of its findings and conclusions and, where appropriate, any
recommended actions to be taken by the Town Board, which recommended
actions may include:
(b)
Refer the matter to law enforcement;
(c)
Refer the matter to the State of New York, including the State
Attorney General;
(d)
Refer the matter to Human Resources;
(e)
Decline to further review the allegation for reasons including,
but not limited to, lack of information, lack of resources, or lack
of jurisdiction.
(6)
Upon request, copies of any written advisory opinion issued hereunder
may be provided to the Town officer or employee against whom the allegation
was made, the complainant, and/or the public, with redactions where
appropriate (which may include but are not limited to withholdings
or redactions that would be permitted under the Freedom of Information
Law[1]), or a summary of the current status of the matter may
be provided in lieu of the same (i.e., "The Board of Ethics rendered
an advisory opinion to the Town Board for further action."), all at
the discretion of the Board of Ethics, upon advice of legal counsel.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Public Officers Law § 84 et seq.
A.
The Board of Ethics shall:
(1)
Promulgate rules and procedures for the performance of its duties
not inconsistent with this chapter, provided that:
(a)
No meeting of the Board of Ethics shall proceed without the
presence of a quorum of at least four members;
(c)
Executive session proceedings shall be confidential, except
as may otherwise be provided herein or in law, and the failure of
any member to maintain confidentiality may result in the member's
removal and expulsion from the Board of Ethics by the Town Board.
(2)
Maintain appropriate records of its opinions, proceedings and actions.
(3)
Prepare an annual report to be submitted to the Supervisor and Town
Board during the fourth quarter of each calendar year summarizing
its activities for the year, which may include recommendations with
respect to the drafting and adoption of amendments to the Code of
Ethics.
B.
The Board of Ethics may:
(1)
Request such additional information from any person, Town officer
and employee as necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter;
(2)
Have the advice of legal counsel, which may include the Town's legal
counsel;
(3)
As necessary, and where available per the Town Board, request support
staff and assistance, to be considered and approved by the Town Board
or Supervisor in furtherance of its duties and responsibilities.
