Small town officials say Cuomo’s ethics rule is misplaced

Published 6:44 pm Friday, December 2, 2016

ALBANY — An ethics rule advanced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo requiring all elected officials to disclose their personal incomes is meeting resistance outside the capital where critics question why small town leaders must pay for the sins of state officials.

The Democratic governor has provided no details of the initiative other than to suggest there should be no exemptions or thresholds. Thus thousands of local officials not now required to disclose their personal incomes would have to report.

Cuomo said as much Nov. 16, when he recommended a list of measures six days before his former top aide, Joseph Percoco, was indicted on charges of extortion and soliciting bribes.

Plattsburgh town councilman Marty Mannix said he would have no trouble giving over his information, but it amounts to an overreach that doesn’t address the corruption that has stained state government.

“If we’re going to kill the stag, why are we shooting every other deer in the forest?” said Mannix, a former Clinton County Democratic chairman.

New York has 62 cities, 932 towns and 532 villages. All are governed by residents elected to public office.

Gerry Geist, director of the New York Association of Towns, said Cuomo’s proposal will have a “chilling effect” on many who might consider throwing in their name.

“It’s become harder and harder to get people involved in civic affairs, and the more impositions we put on people the more difficult it becomes to get them to participate,” he said.

Elected officials from cities with populations larger than 50,000 already face ethics rules, he noted, and all elected officials are governed by laws directing them to avoid conflicts of interest.

A spokesman for the state Association of Counties noted that county-level officials are also bound by ethics codes.

“We already have these ethics guidelines and by and large the system isn’t broken at the local level,” said Mark LaVigne, who did not outright oppose Cuomo’s proposal.

Some counties already force officials to disclose. Niagara County Legislator David Godfrey, R-Burt, said he regularly reports his income, as do other officials there, and the information is available to anyone who asks under the Freedom of Information Law.

Godfrey said he’s concerned about the effect that mandate could have on small towns, however.

“To have Albany prying into your private life could definitely be a deterrent for some people wanting to serve their local governments,” he said.

Davenport Town Supervisor Dennis Valente, a Democrat who has spent more than two decades on his town board, said folks in the Delaware County community already know he owns a local garden center and rental property.

Cuomo’s proposal should be shot down by state lawmakers, he said, adding that officials there recuse themselves when they sense a conflict on a vote.

“This is just another thing that shows the people running Albany have no regard for us working out here for these towns,” he said.

Cuomo’s ethics reform measures comes at a time when many members of the Assembly and Senate were hoping for a deal awarding them a pay raise. On Friday, rumors were rife at the Capitol that a special session would be held this month to address lawmakers’ pay, though officials said no definitive plans have taken shape.

Cuomo’s appointees to a commission studying lawmaker salaries have said any increase must be accompanied by limits on outside income. Lawmakers get base pay of $79,500 for their part-time jobs.

In his November, Cuomo said he’s been shaken by recent criminal charges that suggest corruption within several state-sponsored economic development projects.

“People will commit venal and greedy acts. I have seen it myself, and I have been shocked and hurt by it,” he said.

The governor is also advocating for legislative terms increased from two to four years, while imposing eight-year term limits on lawmakers.

Assemblyman Pete Lopez, R-Schoharie, whose political career has included stints in village and county government, said he sees some benefits to Cuomo’s income disclosure requirements, saying “it could make people think twice” before taking action to profit personally.

However, he added, “My first instinct is that Albany should clean up it’s own house first.”

In Plattsburgh, Mannix agreed with that order of priorities, but he said lawmakers may end up going along with Cuomo’s plan, while doing nothing to improve transparency of their own earnings.

“My opinion is we will end up with legislation that will affect elected officials throughout the state – except for the people it was supposed to affect,” he said.

Blair Horner, the legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group, agreed that lawmakers may be tempted to go along.

“It s always easier to pass reforms on people who aren’t doing the voting, and then tout it as reform,” he said.

Unless the dispute over legislative pay is soon resolved, he observed, Cuomo will likely enter the new year dealing with cranky lawmakers.

Joe Mahoney covers the New York Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at jmahoney@cnhi.com

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