NORWICH – A state audit of ethical oversight in Chenango County has found inadequate provisions for hiring and supervising relatives, a lack of ethics training, loose financial disclosure requirements and insufficient monitoring of conflicts of interest.
Members of the Chenango County Safety and Rules Committee went into a lengthy executive session last month to address the findings, and on Monday, the full Board of Supervisors adopted a corrective action plan.
In the plan, Board Chairman Richard Decker countered that the existing provisions for ethics under local code are appropriate for the county’s small population:
“Many of (our) population are members of large extended families. The existing civil service related recruitment procedures and supervisory procedures are adequate to address any issues relating to family relationships. Arbitrary provisions barring family relationship would deprive the county of particularly well qualified candidates for both entry level and promotional positions.”
The audit was released in March after an investigation last year by the New York comptroller’s office, Division of Local Government and School Accountability. Officials interviewed county employees, reviewed the county’s code of ethics and evaluated oversight structure for ethics for the period Jan. 1, 2009 to Sept. 29, 2009. Chenango County was one of 31 municipalities selected last September to be analyzed in the audit.
Upon learning of the proposed audit last November, county officials quickly appointed a three-member Ethics Board, which later convened to determine a possible conflict of interest issue with the hiring of the county’s natural gas consultant. Decker stated in the county’s corrective action plan that the newly formed board would meet again shortly to address any filing deficiencies.
“The Board will review the ... forms and make any recommendations it feels warranted ... for legislative action. The county is proud of the established integrity of its local officials and employees and will continue vigilance to continue this tradition,” the plan states.
Chenango County has operated without an ethics commission for many years despite New York state mandates that require one. A board of ethics was established in 1990, but never convened. Later, in May 2002, when the county revised its code per state requirements, it did not include provisions on constraints on future employment, and hiring and supervising relatives.
In particular, according to the audit, no one reviewed the annual financial disclosure statements. Thirty of the 87 individuals required to file these statement in 2009 did not do so, including six Board of Supervisors members. They were: Town of Norwich Supervisor David C. Law, City of Norwich Supervisor Linda E. Natoli, Town of Oxford Supervisor Lawrence Wilcox, Town of Pitcher Supervisor Jeffrey Blanchard, Town of Preston Supervisor Peter C. Flanagan; and Town of Smithville Supervisor Allan Johnson.
Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli wrote in his report: “This is particularly troubling because members of the Board of Supervisors should be setting an example for the county officers and employees. ... When annual financial disclosure forms are not filed and reviewed, officials cannot be sure that those officers and employees who are acting in the public interest are not using their positions to further their private financial interest.”
Decker wrote to Comptroller DiNapoli that persons who are required to complete and file annual financial disclosure forms are individually reminded each year. He also declined to begin new training programs.
“The county does not feel it necessary to conduct specific training for whistle blower protections and notes that the overwhelming majority of it employees are represented by collective bargaining unions who are aggressive in the protection of membership rights,” he stated in the plan.