KINGSTON – The City of Kingston’s Common Council sent their new version of Local Law #5, an amendment to the city’s existing ethics law, back to the drawing board during the legislation’s second reading and vote Tuesday evening.
Alderman-at-Large and Council Chairman James Noble Jr. said he believes
problems with the disclosure provision, and the current process regarding
it, were the key issues leading the legislation to be defeated.
“The way it is now, and this would have addressed it, is the disclosure form that you fill out, and a lot of department heads and people on boards are required to do it, is probably too far reaching that all these individuals have to do it and maybe they could have streamlined it a little bit, and they were hoping to possibly do that,” he said.
Noble added that the way the current disclosure provision is operating lacks a mechanism for the disclosure to occur. In other words, once individuals have filled out the proper documentation and sent it to the comptroller, the comptroller cannot open those documents according to the legislation, leaving the disclosure null.
Alderman Lynn Eckert said the disclosure provision was a“bureaucratic
travesty,” but there were still even more problems regarding the
legislation.
Eckert used Alderman Davis, who had to recuse himself due to the legislation’s conflict of interest provision during his work with the gun range bill, as an example of how that, too, is another reason they had to vote in favor of the law going back to committee.
“In that instance, that’s an example of how overbroad the conflict of interest provision really is and if we are serious about applying the current ethics law, what’s going to happen, and I’m not sure previous administrations were serious about applying it, we’re going to have some dysfunction in committees where there need not be because the conflict of interest provision is overbroad and it is unclear,” said Eckert.
She also said she wanted to make it clear that she is not opposed to having a conflict of interest provision, but wants one that is more reasonable in its applications.
Since the law has been sent back to committee to be redrawn, it will have to undergo the entire process once more. It is estimated that the first reading, of the new bill drawing, will take a month at minimum, with a vote following the month of the first reading.
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