The Board of Ethics convened Thursday morning to once again review the matter of Mayor Doug French’s alleged building violations at 13 Richard Place, as well as the unwarranted STAR exemption he received for over a decade on that home he rents out.
By Jim Byrne
The Board of Ethics convened Thursday morning to once again review the matter of Mayor Doug French’s alleged building violations at 13 Richard Place, as well as the unwarranted STAR exemption he received for over a decade on that home he rents out.
But, after a closed-door executive session that lasted close to 90 minutes, the Board of Ethics (BOE) offered no answers – publicly, at least – to the questions Deputy Mayor Peter Jovanovich submitted last week. On hand for the meeting were Board members Ted Dunn, Beth Griffin Matthews, Judge John Alfano, City Manager Scott Pickup, and Corporation Counsel Kristin Wilson. Neither Mr. Pickup nor Ms. Wilson recused themselves this time, as they had done at the previous BOE meeting, basing their decision on the specificity of the questions posed.
City Assessor Noreen Whitty and Building Inspector Maureen Eckman, subjects of the “preferential treatment” questions Councilman Jovanovich asked, also attended the meeting, along with members of the press and Ray Tartaglione, who originally brought the matter to light. Ms. Mathews asked the press and public to leave the room after the initial public session, so that the BOE could discuss in executive session, since it had to do with personnel.
Members of the press and Mr. Tartaglione waited outside the Mayor’s Conference Room during executive session, but were not alerted when public session eventually resumed. The meeting had already been adjourned, and BOE members filed out without obliging to requests for comment on whether a decision had been reached.
Ms. Mathews said before executive session that it’s not up to Mr. Tartaglione to accept or not accept whatever determination was made. On a need to create a public record, Mr. Alfano added, “If parties or the City doesn’t like the conclusion they then have a record so they can go to an Article 78 or another procedure … it has to be a black and white on-paper record.”
Mr. Pickup interjected that the BOE needed to start with the two “very distinct questions” and that any other issues would then become self-evident. Ms. Wilson agreed, saying the Board’s obligation was to answer those two questions, notwithstanding what the public or anyone else may think or like. “The process has so far followed what is written in the City Code, and our job is to look at it and respond.”
Said Judge Alfano, “When I got the letter [from Deputy Mayor Jovanovich] my gut reaction was to kick it back to him and say, ‘What are the facts?’ I know everyone is interested in resolving this, and that the Council doesn’t want things to trickle on.”
Ms. Wilson replied, “Since we have two staff members here that pertain to both questions, the best way to start is to ask questions we might think we need answers to. I think that is the initial first step. If we need more experts then we go there but that might be jumping the gun.”
The BOE was charged with answering the following: 1) Did Mayor French seek or receive preferential treatment by City employees in the granting of STAR exemptions for his properties at 13 Richard Place and 46 Meadow Place? 2) Did Mayor French seek or receive preferential treatment from City employees in the manner the City and its Building Department handled a complaint regarding a potential violation of the building code at 13 Richard Place?
Right before the BOE went into executive session, Mr. Tartaglione read a lengthy statement that concluded, “I have supported an unbiased, objective, transparent investigation headed by parties independent in both appearance and in fact. These individuals must gather all the evidence available, consider the merits of everything above in a transparent process and render a judgment that the public can understand and accept. Anything less will give the appearance of being a whitewash and yet another impropriety.”
Minutes of the meeting will be made available within the week.
