HYDE PARK – Town Supervisor Al Torreggiani and three of his fellow Republicans on the Hyde Park Town Board are claiming that former Democratic Town Councilman Neil Krupnick committed a crime while in office and they are referring the matter to law enforcement for review. Lone Democrat Linda Ruggiero, representing the Second Ward, voted against the resolution.
At a recent board meeting, the board voted 4-1 in favor of a resolution that accepts the town ethics committee’s report indicating that Krupnick, while serving as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, and continuing when he served on the town board, violated the town’s Code of Ethics (COE) and the New York State General Municipal Law (GML). The report says the result of Krupnick’s actions equates to official misconduct, which is a misdemeanor under state law.
Torreggiani says the matter will be turned over to “the appropriate law enforcement agency.”
While serving on the ZBA followed by the town board, Krupnick also had contracts with the town to serve as the town’s webmaster in exchange for compensation. The resolution says that Krupnick should have resigned from the ZBA or not taken the contract for maintenance of the town’s website. The resolution also says “Krupnick’s employment as the town’s webmaster and remote meetings producer created a conflict of interest as it may have impaired Krupnick’s judgment and interfered with the discharge of his official duties, in violation of the town’s COE. The ethics committee says that Krupnick’s employment violated the GML which prohibits any municipal employee from entering into any agreement for compensation for services rendered in relation to any matter before any municipal agency of which he is an officer, member, or employee.
A member of the public spoke at the recent town board meeting and decried the resolution, saying, “I find it divisive in the community to pursue this resolution. The violation was a technical error by the previous town administration.”
The resident’s sentiments were echoed by Ruggiero, who railed against the bill. “I see no proof of evidence that there was a willful and knowing violation and there is no intent to deceive that I could find.” That statement was rebuffed by Town Attorney Kyle Barnett who noted that the statute for official misconduct does not require “intent” to be in violation of the law.
Ruggiero also said “I see harm in this resolution. I see it as very divisive for the town.” Indicating that she believes this is a politically-motivated act, she also said “It appears to me to be frivolous and defamatory, and divisive and I cannot vote to accept the resolution.”
In approving the resolution, the GOP members also took a shot at the other Democrats on the previous town board, by asking the ethics committee for an advisory opinion determining if other former town board members violated the COE or the GML when they voted to approve the various Krupnick contracts.
