Hein urged to veto ethics board change
Speakers at hearing say altering appointment process would give Legislature too much power
Proposed changes to how members are appointed to the Ulster County Board of Ethics were drew harsh criticism Thursday, with speakers at a public hearing saying the move would “obliterate the protections inherent in the theory of separation of powers,” give the county Legislature the ability to manipulate the board and possible violate state law.
The hearing was called by the County Executive Michael Hein so that he could collect input before deciding whether to allow the bill to become law or veto it.
In a 17-5 vote earlier this month, the Legislature voted to change the county charter to take away from the county executive the sole ability to recommend appointments to the five-member body and give to the Legislature control over three of those appointments. Under the county charter, adopted in 2006, the executive nominates individuals for all five seats on the board and the Legislature confirms those appointments. In a written statement, former County Attorney Bea Havranek urged Hein to veto the measure, saying it “underminds the notion of good-government and erodes the checks and balances that are contained in the charter.”
“By allowing the Legislature to appoint a majority of the members of the Board of Ethics and to also confirm those members presents no check on the Legislature’s power,” Havranek wrote.
More alarming, she said, would be the ability given to the Legislature to remove any board member by a simple-majority vote.
“This process provides for the inherently dangerous opportunity for an individual to be removed based upon his or her decisions as a board member,” she wrote.
Cynthia Bell, president of the Mid-Hudson League of Women Voters, also urged Hein to veto the bill, saying the proposed
changes would give legislators full control over the board and would enable the Legislature to “manipulate the board for political gain.”
That concern was echoed by Dare Thompson, president of the League of Women Voters of New York State and a past president of the Mid-Hudson chapter. She said the charter, which lays out the procedure for appointing members to the ethics board, is a carefully thought-out document. She called the changes “a solution in search of a problem.”
Derek Spada, chairman of the Board of Ethics, read a statement from the board questioning the legality of the proposed change. The statement said the law could be in conflict with general municipal law, which calls for members to be appointed by the executive and confirmed by the Legislature.
Spada said the board has issued dozens of advisory opinions and that, with one exception, the opinions always have been followed.
Freshman Legislator Joseph Maloney, who sponsored the measure to change the appointment process, has said people don’t believe they can get a fair shake before the Board of Ethics because its members are appointed by Hein. He accused Hein of launching a behind-thescenes campaign against the change that resulted in the League of Women Voters weighing in on the matter.
Maloney, D-Saugerties, was one of two individuals to receive advisory opinions from the board earlier this year. In a highly redacted copies of the decisions, the board recommended each recuse themselves from voting on any matters pertinent to the office in which a relative is employed, “including those that concern funding.”
Maloney’s wife, Elizabeth Weredyk works for the county Comptroller’s Office. Maloney recently voted to approve a labor contract that would benefit his wife. He has defended his vote, saying his wife is one of more than 1,400 employees covered by the contract.
If the measure withstands an executive veto, the proposal will go on the November ballot for voters for a final decision on the change.
In a separate public hearing held Thursday, the Hein administration was urged to sign a Human Rights Law for the county, saying such a law is long overdue.