Tartaglione Requests Recusal of Entire Ethics Board
Ray Tartaglione sent the Rye City Council a well-timed letter requesting the recusal of every member of the City Council Ethics Board in any potential review of Mayor French's STAR exemptions.
Just in time for the first City Council meeting of 2012 and the delivery of Mayor Doug French's State of the City address, frequent adversary Ray Tartaglione has sent a letter to the entire Rye City Council charging all five members of the City Ethics Board have conflicts of interest that should disallow their participation in any potential ethics review of several issues related to Mayor French's primary residence as well as a second property.
Tartaglione sent a copy of the letter to Rye Patch.
At the December 21 meeting of the City Council, city manager Scott Pickup said members of the Ethics Board had been notified of Tartaglione's allegations and request for offical review, but did not say whether a formal ethics review had been requested.
Only "city employees or officers" may request an official ethics board review, according to the city municipal code. The code also specifies that any such review "shall publish its advisory opinions with such deletions as may be necessary to prevent disclosure of the identity of the officer or employee involved."
Ironically, despite or even because of Tartaglione's very public request for an ethics review of French's actions, any report issued by the ethics board might not be lawfully disclosed to the public since the code specifies the identity of the party reviewed not be disclosed. Consequences for a breach of ethics include potential fines, suspensions or removal from office.
Tartaglione's letter gives specific reasons why he believes ethics board members former Councilman John L. Alfano, former Rye Mayor Edward Dunn, current city manager Scott Pickup and city corporate counsel Kristin Wilson should step down, but does not mention a specific reason why remaining ethcs board member former Councilman Elizabeth Griffin Matthews should also recuse herself from any review of matters involving Mayor French.
Because Alfano and Dunn have prior relationships with Mayor French through the Rye City Republican Party, and Tartaglione charges, Pickup and Wilson may be directly involved in the matters he believes the ethics board should consider, the Council should require their recusal.
Tartaglione charges the revelation Mayor French improperly received STAR exemptions on both his primary residence and a secondary property constitutes a significant breach of ethics as defined by the city municipal code. In addition to the tax exemption issue, Tartaglione also accuses Mayor French of "apparent violations of Rye City building laws, zoning laws and property tax assessment laws."
At the December 21 Council meeting, Mayor French said that he was waiting for confirmation from City Assessor Noreen Whitty regarding the amount and years involved with the STAR exemptions on the two properties he owns. STAR exemptions for French's two properties may have been improperly granted for a period of ten years. Pickup said a change to the STAR program had delayed calculation of possible penalties.
RyeDad
4:57 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The reporter fails to mention that Pickup specifically said he was referring the French matters to the City of Rye Board of Ethics.
The reporter also fails to mention that the Rye Board of Ethics is meeting tomorrow at Rye City Hall.
The reporter wants to refer to well timed correspondence? When is she going to report that the Board of Ethics is meeting tomorrow? On Friday? Very well timed indeed.
Renea Henry
6:06 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Video of the December 2011 City Council meeting during which Mr. Pickup made his comments is available on the Rye City website.
Mr. Pickup said, at that time, that he made the remaining members of the Ethics Board aware of a letter submitted by Mr. Tartaglione at that time. Mr. Pickup did not indicate whether, in addition to making the board members aware of the letter, a formal ethics review had been requested. If such an ethics review has already or may occur in the future, as the code further stipulates, the identity of the subject would not be disclosed when the report is published.
The subject of this post is the submission of the Mr. Tartaglione's letter. It is predominantly concerned with the recusal of members of the ethics board members and is addressed to the members of the City Council. Whether the council addresses the submission of Mr. Tartaglione's letter and whether the upcoming ethics board meeting would concern any of the matters raised therein cannot be reported until the council addresses the matter at tonight's meeting, if in fact that discussion occurs.
RyeDad
7:04 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Did the reporter ask what the agenda is for tomorrow's Board of Ethics meeting at 10 a.m. at Rye City Hall?
Did the reporter ask Pickup if he is providing French with information he is not supposed to be providing to him?
Did the reporter ask if it has been determined how much French owes for his 10 year illegal STAR exemption? Apparently French was the only one who lost his STAR exemption this year. It has been a month and a half or so since the double dipping became public. How long does it take?
Bob Zahm
12:29 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
RyeDad - Mayor French is not the only person who lost his/her exemption this year. Give it a rest.
Howard Deixler
12:53 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
I'm kind of agnostic on this ethics question and am curious to see what develops however, "Give it a rest" does not seem like an appropriate response to RyeDad's questions.
Bob Zahm
8:17 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Howad - I, too, am agnostic about this particular issue. If Doug French did wrong, then he owes it to the community to put all of the facts in front of the City, pay any damages, and get this past, quickly. It has already dragged on far too long. One of the primary lessons from disasters is avoid a cover up. Number two is get the facts out quickly and early. Doug has not done that.
However, I stand by my point about "giving it a rest". Hiding behind a pseudonym, RyeDad has repeatedly posted about Doug French. That’s fine if the posts provide new information or insight, but they don’t. They repeat essentially the same point without advancing the discussion. Click on the pseudonym from one of the RyeDad posts to see the long list of items essentially echoing each other without providing new insight. Look at the abuse of the reporter in this thread. For RyeDad, this does not seem like a pursuit of facts, but an attempt to prosecute personal animosity in any public forum [s]he can find. And on top of it, "RyeDad" does not have sufficient courage in his/her beliefs to post under their real name. Nice. Not.
RyeDad
7:15 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The enclosed was sent by Pickup to the Rye Board of Ethics on January 4, 2012. It was in response to a correspondence concerning whether or not a Board of Ethics inquiry of French was taking place. In reading Pickup's response one can certainly make the determination that this matter has been referred to the Board of Ethics.
City of Rye Board of Ethics Members:
Please be advised of e-mail inquiries concerning a matter that has been referred to your attention.
Scott Pickup
City Manager
RyeDad
9:23 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Bob:
I guess a correspondence from Pickup acknowledging that he has referred French to the Board of Ethics, which is contrary to what the reporter wrote or perhaps what City officials told her, is not considered a new thread by you. And I guess calling the reporter out on this is abuse according to you.
I was advised that the City Attorney, in response to a FOIL, indicated that French was the only one removed from STAR last year for double dipping. Is that new insight?
The reporter needs to do a better job of reporting instead of taking City of Rye officials at their word and printing it. Wait, is that abuse Bob?
This has dragged on too long. Is that my fault too?
Renea Henry
10:25 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Gentleman, I was actually pointing out, perhaps too subtly, that referring a letter to a body is not equivalent to requesting a formal ethics review. It is my responsibility not only to report 'what I am told' but also maintain a reasonable amount of discernment about what I'm told. It seems you are accepting what you have been told or have read in Mr. Pickup's correspondence and assumed that since he referred the letter to the Ethics Board, there will necessarily be a formal review. My reading of the municipal code did not find that the Ethics Board was obligated to launch a review on every matter or letter that they have been made aware of, but if you have some documentation that indicates otherwise, please allow me to review it.
I foresee there will be a potential obstacle in verifying whether such a review takes place and the consequent findings. The ethics board and council are obligated to take every measure to protect the identity of the person under review. Given the very public narration of the allegations, timeline and factors, the report that must be published will be redacted to such an extreme that the only thing left to see will be that there was a review.
If the City Attorney informed you, in writing, that Mayor French is the only person in this dilemma involving STAR exemptions please send me that documentation.
I no longer respond to your evaluations of my reporting, you are entitled to your opinion.
tedc
12:01 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Renea,
I’m hearing that the Ethics Committee did not recuse themselves - but instead met and figured out that there was nothing they could or should do? Will you be reporting on the meeting later?
RyeDad
12:41 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Ted C:
I'm hearing the ethics board said they could not make any decisions because Pickup says he only forwarded Mr. Tartaglione's complaint to the ethics board and did not technically refer his own complaint to them.
The question now becomes why didn't Pickup refer the allegations that are still pending against French to the ethics board?
Can all Rye residents double dip on STAR exemptions and violate building code violations with impunity?
Renea Henry
4:03 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
It seems whoever your source may be communicated to you what is in my story. Forwarding a letter is not equivalent to requesting an ethics review. Mr. Pickup apparently did refer the letter to the ethics board. Only a city employee or officer may request an ethics review. If that request was not made, to answer tedc, then no ethics review would proceed. I will definitely follow up for more information about the ethics board meeting.
RyeDad
2:12 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Here is what I believe to be a very good, objectively written news story.
http://myryesoundshore.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2165:seldom-used-ethics-board-convenes-over-mayors-alleged-missteps&catid=34:news&Itemid=53
Renea Henry
4:04 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
I agree.
tedc
2:13 pm on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Renea,
FYI – It’s been 7 days. What’s up?
ETHICS BOARD WON’T RULE ON MAYOR FRENCH
http://bit.ly/y8wTCt
You can watch the very short public portion of this Ethics Board Meeting here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWbejVFyN7A
RyeDad
2:27 pm on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Former Supreme Court Judge and former City of Rye Mayor John Carey is calling for an independent review of the circumstances surrounding the serious allegations pending against French.
I guess this doesn't warrant any coverage by the Rye Patch. Maybe they should call this site Eye Patch or even better, Eye Patches.
tedc
2:42 pm on Thursday, January 19, 2012
RyeDad – so testy! Chill.
Maybe Renea is out on vacation. And maybe she’s taking a real one unlike Corporation Council Kristen Wilson who is gone but not quite so gone as to try and misrepresent FOIL requests about other STAR violators in Rye from afar. Too bad she got zapped badly in return on that one. Better I think for her to stay out on the beach longer and breathe deeply.
I’m sure Renea will address the story. After all, rumor has it that big traditional media types are in full production mode and Rye Patch is nothing if not competitive…