The headline of this article says it all. The entire Ethics Board has been dissolved by the Mayor with no real explanation.
Frankly, this is an outrage. It does not pass the smell test. The Ethics Board made significant findings against a former Alderman and major supporter of the Mayor and he dissolves the Board.
It almost sounds like a scene from a cheap supermarket novel.
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Ya think?...kind of coincidental to remove current ethics board when the council was about to review the ethics law. Who is he getting his advice from? If it is his current corp counsel got to wonder about their qualifications. Same crew he listened to for sales tax negotiations?
Mayor wouldn't talk about it on Thursday, but issued a press release the next afternoon, Fri. May 20th. Steve Noble's explanation makes no sense, because a charter revision cannot take place until referendum next November. Until then, no ethics board would exist. But the law is still in effect. Any complaint henceforth, especially one levied against the mayor himself, might be sent to civil court for adjudication. Meanwhile, Brad Will's alleged "waiver" does not exist, because the ethics board never approved it. Mayor Steve Noble, in reality, signed off on a falsehood concocted by corporation counsel Kevin Bryant. In fact, paperwork shows that Noble's memo is dated two days prior to Bryant's notification. So all these improprieties appear to have only one true purpose: protecting the pecuniary interests of citizen Bradford Will. Another noteworthy consideration is the mayor's "quasi-judicial" role in approving all ethics board decisions. Technically, in terms of ethics matters at least, the mayor is himself subject to very strict judicial guidelines, and ust avoid even the mere appearance of impropriety. In other words, following the letter of the law isn't good enough, there must be no public doubt whatsoever that the process is tainted in any way. Also, democratizing the selection process of board members is meaningless, when the code itself becomes gutted, such as removing the revolving door restrictions. See for example NYC's "Orange Handbook of Ethics." http://nyc.gov/ethics
So the mayor exercises his authority under the ethics bill as written. He removes all members at his discretion so that he can refill the positions with new appointments that are made through an application process. He essentially states that he is giving three of his appointments to the common council so that he is also accountable to the board. And all of this is a bad thing?
The board that was dissolved acted only on complaints by or against Brad Will and was essentially a tool for the political vendettas that went both ways. Brad has resigned and there are no complaints left to address. This has been the Brad Will committee and Brad is gone. Time to put a board in place whose focus is ethics issues rather than political issues. The only way to accomplish this is with objective unaffiliated members who are selected through an open process with shared responsibility in the council.
That's what needs to be done and that is what is being done. Just stay tuned.
BS, Tom. His motives are clear and obvious.
What a foolish move.
5:45 -
If Noble's intention was to create a more transparent appointment process while maintaining a decent level of ethics oversight, he would have terminated the current members as of the appointment of the new members rather than allowing the City to go without an Ethics Board for an indeterminate period of time. Better still, he would have replaced the members one at a time (while allowing them to continue serving until the replacement is sworn in) to provide for a fluid and far smoother transition process over a period of 5-10 months.
Noble did not do so. He summarily dismissed everyone and now the City has no Ethics Board until who knows when.
This is not a responsible exercise of power. It is a Politburo-style purge.
Good call Rich....This is standard Tom "talk". and we all know who you mean.....
Brad Will claims he was not aware of the ethics rules or perhaps he was just plain stupid to what he was doing. Just the simple fact that Will was the liaison to the planning board that night and then literally switch seats to sit next to Bob Carey to advocate for him & the Irish Culture Center was so flagrant it was almost laughable.
For the Pike Plan Project Alderman Will was an involved party. Any person with common sense who was associated with the design process even if you were just an employee or sub contractor and now you represent the city(taxpayers) in an action ,should recuse themselves.
Duh!
And where is the new corp counselor in all of these matters..I would have advised the Mayor to allow the process to work as revisions went thru Laws and Rules committee. But then I am not a lawyer, just a taxpayer and a spectator to the comedy of amateur hour at City Hall.
Did not always like how Gallo handled issues but his parting statement of "God Help Kingston" with the new administration coming in is ringing truer each day.
BS, Tom. His motives are clear and obvious.
What a foolish move.
What happens now, if somebody files ethics charges against mayor Noble, for allowing comrade Brad to violate the revolving door restriction, with a phony waiver? Or if someone files charges against corporation counsel Kevin Bryant, for issuing a false statement to the mayor when he pulled the alleged waiver out of thin air? Joey Di remains livid over Uncle Jim's false testimony to the ethics board last year. Bartenstein works for the school district, is that a conflict of interest when he advises the city regarding Dr. Sawyer's gun range? All these things brewing beneath the surface, but the book is closed after Brad Will leaves the building. What is he, Elvis? Like Ricky Ricardo once said, "you got some 'splaining to do Lucy."
Mayor Noble said, "I have decided to relieve the board members of their duties so that we may complete the Ethics Law revisions and launch a board appointment process that is most effective and appropriate.”
This statement tells us a lot. We know that at least one of the board members' resignations was accepted early this year. Why did the Mayor convince him to come back, only to fire them all?
The planning board has not been disbanded during the making of the Kingston Master plan. The Zoning Board has not been disbanded during the rewrite of the Zoning laws. I haven't heard the Mayor call for resignation of the Common Council while the administration tries to gut key provisions of the Ethics law.
There is no reason this board cannot continue to “function effectively” until after the current law is changed, unless their mere existence as a board is some sort of pediment or threat to the administration's political goals.
The Ethics Board serves at the pleasure of the Mayor. It is obvious that this board did not please Mayor Noble. Without transparency, or even the common courtesy of thanking them by name, these are the public servants Mayor Noble dismissed
Chairwoman Jean Jacobs, former School Board President and 2011 candidate for Mayor.
Karen Clark-Adin, Owner of uptown's Bop to Tottom.
Reverend Doris Edwards Schuyler, Pastor of Riverview Baptist Church.
Brad Jordan, Owner of Herzog's and the Kingston Plaza.
John Reinhart, Officer in the Kingston Fire Department.
They have served on this board since its inception. It is disrespectful and disingenuous to the board, and a disservice to people of Kingston, to praise the board while dissolving it, and to tell us they cannot serve honorably while this Mayor makes "revisions" gutting key provisions of the Ethics Law, to benefit his administration at the cost of the taxpayers.
This smells like retribution and political shenanigans.
Andrew Champ-Doran
"Ethics in local politics in Kingston." No more splainin' needed to do!!! The two things are mutually exclusive concepts. But good idea--probably the wrong century or epoch(take your pick).
12:12: Can you "splain'" to us all what the gun range has to do with Mr. Gartenstein's working for the school district? Maybe it does have something to do with this, but whatever you think it is, it seems rather obscure.
Interestingly enough, Brad Jordan is still seated on the Police Commission when he should have been booted off. His business involvement with just about every police officer and city departments should be enough to warrant a conflict of interest. Why isn't that Commission being gutted too?
I think what 12:12 is trying to say is that Gartenstein works for the school board/Kingston high school regarding some legal matters. Not sure of the exact title but he is retained by them. The school board is the entity who is vehemently opposed to the indoor gun range being close to the 1000 ft distance that is required. If that wasn't the excuse they would probably find another reason. That distance is still debatable. Gartenstein , Kingston corp counsel, is advising council thru the Laws and Rules Committee of the amendment that was originally proposed by the Alderwoman Brown and then with Alderwoman Mills adding another revision in regard to indoor ranges.
So where is the ethics board of Kingston opinion on this.?...oops, they have been disbanded by the Mayor and now that same attorney is "helping" the common council in the revisions of ethics law for Kingston.. It was reported in the Freeman and his name is in the mix.
Am I missing something but isn't this a little questionable all the way around?
good question, 1:35! The Mayor's transparency and open government is a joke. Open for who? Does he think we are stupid.? We all know it is business as usual. New young face..same game.
One commentator (May 20, 5:45 PM) on CahillonKingston.com suggested this was the “Brad Will committee”, appointed by Mayor Gallo to deal with the one Alderman. I see where the suggestion is trying to lead us, but I believe we are all more thoughtful than to be fooled by it. When the law was brought before the Common Council, Brad Will was living in Bearsville, NY. When it was passed, Brad Will hadn’t even turned in a nominating petition to run for office.
The "Waiver" granted by Mayor Noble gives Brad Will a payday that could be worth anywhere from $200,000 to $300,000 or more. Much of that will be from publicly funded State grants, if Assemblyman Kevin Cahill's website is accurate.
I will tell you this. Brad Will resigned from office while facing a myriad of charges under local, county, state, and federal laws. According to Kevin Bryant’s report, Brad Will admitted to all of the charges. Illegally representing clients in front of City Boards and voting on issues he has a financial interest in were only the start. Would you expect a transparent government to at least tell us about the seriousness of those charges?
-Andrew Champ-Doran
No more obscure than alderman Davis.
Who alderman Davis?
Tony Davis represents the 6th Ward on the Kingston Common Council. He was appointed by former mayor Shayne Gallo to replace Alissa Ball, after she resigned and moved out of the city. Davis was re-elected shortly thereafter. He works for the KCSD, but openly makes his affiliation known and recuses himself from voting on school matters. Dan Gartenstein, as assistant corporation counsel for the city, prosecutes all administrative matters before city court. This role makes his position "quasi-judicial," because he can use his discretion to settle or dismiss pending charges against individuals. Therefore, he is subject to stricter ethical guidelines, including avoiding the mere appearance of impropriety. At the very least, he ought to disclose his affiliation as KCSD's student disciplinary hearing officer.
10:06 That is why Dan Gartenstein wants to amend the law so quick. That's why he took the council in the backroom and came out with a typewritten list of changes for the Ethics Law. Ethics in Kingston--don't make me laugh..
What?? So let me get this straight...Alderman Davis works for the school so he has to recuse himself from voting on an amendment regarding indoor shooting ranges. But Gartenstein who is also employed by the Kingston School system gets to advise the common council on a sticking point of the school against the indoor range.(distance and other bogus arguments...)
So who has greater conflict? I see more so on Gartenstein as he is in a legal capacity for both employers. School and City Hall. Davis is only a teacher and doesn't advance or write policy as an employee of Kingston School system. Has his freedom of speech been taken away by school board.? Isn't that a bit of an over reach from the school and its board. His constituents have no voice in this matter.
Am I the only one seeing this? Where is the new Mayor on this open government info policy? He espoused it all during his campaign. Have another press conference as he likes to inform the populace And then open it up to a Q&A afterwards with reporters and other spectators in the audience.
Lets get to the bottom of this.. In normal circumstances we could refer this to an ethics Board.. But that is now defunct. Perhaps this has been the plan all along.
Wrong. Davis was not "re-elected" but elected for the first time after initial appointment to fill a vacancy. In two years if he runs, he will be up for re-election. And what "school matters" come before the council? You don't say, kerfuffle. Maybe some do, but for the benefit of the reading audience, what may these be perchance? If there are some, it will be an education for us all to learn of them.
Ok..I get that Mr. Gartenstein is retained by the school district. I get that the school district has an opinion on the shooting range, and I get that this issue comes before the council. It is a potential conflict of interest, sure. Is it an actual one? Where is the proof that it is? Much ado about mostly nothing thus far, seems to me....
Having said all that, the reality that you cannot have ethics enforcement without an active ethics board--or task force or something-- is obvious. The Mayor is obviously wrong on this and "transparently so." I doubt that the "guilt-by-association" argument made here makes much sense though. If I'm wrong, educate me.....
I have received some posts referencing the spouse of someone involved in city government. The spouse is not someone involved at City Hall or a politico.
I deleted them. I will not publish any comments attacking a spouse or family member unless the person attacked is a politico, involved in City Hall, etc.
Same blogs may permit this. I do not.
I think the Mayor and his supporters are trying to put the city into financial crisis. Spending money like a drunken sailor. Or giving away property to his supporters for a $1. That way they can make a move to introduce a City Manager form of governing. Get the council to decide who to hire but before that time they will get the "left" candidates in place on the council. Will go to show incompetent Mayors cannot manage or administer a multi million dollar budget. Time to call the #One Kingston squad to push that agenda. Wake up people..your city is being run by a few individuals with connections to the Mayor. They pull the puppet's string and he falls instep. I don't even think he knows he is being manipulated.
BTW... Great sales tax deal...Kingston gets the short end of the stick.... Why don't you just hand the city over to the county? After a month of secretive negotiations is this what we get?
Yes, 8:24 am, This is the tactic Gartenstein used when the council had to make a decision about the Rea $300,000 payout. He whisked them into a private room to guide them, no I mean, threatened them into voting for the payout. Keep in mind, he was the prosecutor in this case, preparing briefs and knew that the case would not end up in federal court. In fact, the judge was ready to render a decision in the city's favor. Dah!!! The city didn't have to be on the hook for $300,000. Gartenstein was protecting his selfish interests (he needs his paycheck) and didn't care at who's expense. Now, he's strutting around City Hall calling the shots. Not bad for someone who slept through law school and has a conflict of interest working for the city and being on school district payroll. You can't serve two masters!!!
I have always found Mr. Gartenstein to be an ethical attorney.
I have always found Mr. Gartenstein to be an ethical attorney.
Non sequitur counselor. Is this the same Gartenstein who orchestrated the option to purchase flood plain property for the new high school some years back? How much taxpayer funds went to the Jordan family on that folly?
How is it that you didn't cover the Republican convention last night. How pathetic for the Republican Party that the Daily Freeman doesn't have any coverage of what happened. Only Jeremy Blaber's blog does. Why is this? Richard are you conceding that the Demorats are going to win Mary Work's seat and allow them to have it another ten years? Promote the fact that there are two great candidates running. Can you confirm Peter won at least? I don't believe anything Blabermouth has to say if he wasn't the only one putting out interesting information I wouldn't even read his garbage. I'm not talking about the trash on there, I'm talking about the history and background that he seems to know better than you Mr. Cahill. Please update more frequently Rich, all I'm asking.
As I have said before, I do not care what Blaber writes on his blog.
As for GOP convention, the question is whether there will be a primary. Nomination just refers to who the County Chair wants.
To give you a report on the GOP covention, the big contested race was Matera over Barnett.
This was no surprise. Anyone with even a basic understanding of politics knew that the powers that be were backing Matera.
The question now will be whether Barnett goes to primary AND what the Conservative Party does.
7:28 I must agree with the blog owner in that you are making accusations without offering proof. It reads like yesterday's "All My Children." The point of it all is to attack Mr. Gartenstein but your accusations fall flat on the blog owner and me as well in this regard.
I am hoping that Barnett goes for a primary. For all that Barnett has done to help the party(stepping in to take over the deceased Coutant position in Port Ewen). I feel the vote at the convention was a slap in his face. Some old man got up and started in on the virtues of Peter Matera and The Chairman of the Republican party did not shut him down. This all happened just before that vote. The Chairman Roscoe should have ruled him out of order. Not only was that guy singing the praises of Matera but he was critical of Kyle Burnett's job and career as an attorney. Seriously?? The people who had nominated Matera should apologize to Barnett as he did not have an opportunity to defend himself after that onslaught. Better yet.. get voters to sign a Barnett petition if he decides to primary Matera. what a circus... I didn't know who I was going to vote for but after that scene I cast my vote for Barnett. He was a picture of Grace under fire.....
Just back from the parade. Disappointed to see it as a campaign promoter for Mr.Yanik for congress. They carried signs in the parade, gave out campaign stickers. Parades, especially ones that honor vets, should not be allowed to have candidates to march. Previous parades have stated that no political candidates can walk in the parade. Only the elected officials. As a registered independent I would have considered Yanik but not now. Goes to character as this day was for the Vets and for their service and losses. Also saw Graff and McGinty supporters in the march. I believe they are all Democrats?
TO 6:52 YES
In other news, that "gilded slum" over on West Chestnut is about to be condemned. Shocking details will emerge.
And that, my friends, is why Kingston never changes for the better. It's the same group of swindlers, operators, shammers and crooks who always and only take care of their own self serving interests.
you mean the bed bug infested property on W.Chestnut? good riddance.... LOL..Gilded slum...good description. Like putting lipstick on a pig.
The gilded slum was allowed to skate, now continues operating thanks to corporation counsel. It should be noted that the landlord is a very vocal advocate of mayor Noble's election campaign. The tenant, advised to "step up to the plate" for the sake of the community, promised swift action by the city, now hung out to dry, is being openly retaliated. Threatened with eviction, denied the right to use the house garbage, and ordered to place his belongings out in the rain. Medical supplies for life support equipment ordered out of the basement in 24 hours. Threats to call dialysis center to interfere with home treatment. The case exposes blatant contempt of court injunctions, there is litigation with the city ongoing from Gallo administration, only seven tenants allowed not fourteen as current on property. For those who don't know what's going on, here's an old article, from when the NH State AG went after him. Read and let it all sink in... http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20040817/news/308179975
Everything 5:04 states is true.....except that city hall under Gallo administration worked hard to shutdown that slum. New Mayor doesn't seem to have that priority...appears not to want to offend in his progressive administration...wimpy! Not sure if this new corp counsel is up to the task either. Taking their orders from the kid Mayor.
Current owner of the gilded slum is playing the legal system. I think he should be made to live there 24/7 and experience those conditions first hand. Many years ago a NYC judge ruled that a landlord and owner of a slum in NYC with all kinds of deteriorating conditions reside in his own hell hole of a building. Amazingly the conditions improved somewhat quickly.
Sangi, aka San Giovanni, is sunk. He just doesn't know it yet. The reason is simple. he lied about who owns the house. And he would have gotten away with it too, but for you meddling kids. An ounce of phone book is worth a pound of shoe leather, as they say, Scooby.
Since you are discussing housing....how come the banks are not charged significant fines if they do not clean up their zombie houses in the city? According to the article below, the state is paying 22 million to fix up zombie houses in the state.
If Kingston charged fines, the city could get some revenue and also fix up the city's appearance.
In another article earlier this week the DPW removed 4,180 pounds worth of trash from the driveway of a zombie house. But unless I am reading this wrong the only charges were --$215, $250 and $300. Do you think these charges are high enough to make a bank take notice and fix the property?
This weeks Kingston Times features an investigative article on the financial disclosure forms that are required to be filed out by senior city officials,
common council members and six volunteer boards/commissions.
The article found one third of the forms were not turned in including the former ethics board.
The article lists detailed information about who did and did not turn in forms.
Do you think it is significant that many did not file?
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