Matter of Ethics

The Board of Ethics has decided in the case of RyeTV employee Andrew Dapolite. It is no longer pursuing his allegations of unethical behavior against two City officials.

By Jon Craig

The Board of Ethics has decided in the case of RyeTV employee Andrew Dapolite. It is no longer pursuing his allegations of unethical behavior against two City officials.

In its one-page report to the City Council, the Ethics Board said it considered a separate out-of-court settlement as resolution to Dapolite’s complaint: public tampering charges against City Manager Scott Pickup and RyeTV Public Access Coordinator Nicole Levitsky.

The ethics report said the incidents damaged public trust in City government and its officers and employees, concluding: “The atmosphere of collegiality and mutual respect, which has prevailed in the past, was lost as various parties exaggerated this incident and other matters well beyond necessary.’’

The board met four times to discuss Dapolite’s allegations.

Dapolite complained his supervisor, Levitsky, secretly taperecorded a January 25 meeting of the Rye Fire Department and later lied to City Council members about whether the public meeting was recorded.

Pickup issued a written reprimand to Dapolite a day after Mayor Doug French asked the Board of Ethics to investigate. In an Article 78 petition to the state Supreme Court, Dapolite called the reprimand an illegal retaliation for detailing his concerns in a March 12 letter to City Council.

In a written statement after the Board of Ethics decision, Pickup said, “I appreciate the thorough review of the circumstances and the serious attention that the Board paid to the issues in the complaint.’’

Dapolite resigned as a City employee hours after the Ethics report was released.