The Broadalbin Town Board is considering getting rid of the town ethics board because it rarely meets to take up ethics complaints.
Town officials say the board hasn’t met in more than two years. Supervisor Lee Hollenbeck supports abolishing the group.
We think ending it would be a mistake. Every municipality should have an ethics board, whether it’s called upon to deal with an ethics complaint or not.
If the ethics board has no cases before it, it at least should meet once or twice a year to talk about ethics issues and keep the board active. There is no harm in Broadalbin or any other municipality maintaining an ethics board, which can play a significant role in protecting the public from politicians who try to abuse their power.
If municipalities are finding it too difficult to find people to serve on their ethics boards, we have another possible solution.
The Fulton County ethics board, which reviews county government ethics complaints, could serve as the ethics board for some or even all of the municipalities in the county.
The five-member county committee meets infrequently about ethics issues. The group last reviewed a case in 2007 involving former Board of Supervisors Chairman Peter Stone’s personal connection to a county water line project. The county committee easily could handle the few cases each year from the other localities.
County ethics committee member George Manchester of Bleecker agrees the single board probably could serve all of the localities. The idea “might make sense,” he said.
Longtime county ethics board member Arthur Spring, who also serves as the county attorney, said one county board serving all of the municipalities may be feasible, depending on the number of cases coming before the board.
Manchester pointed out the change would be another example of consolidation of services. We agree.
In addition, the county ethics committee may be more impartial than the local ethics boards when considering cases in the various small communities.
County supervisors should give the idea some thought. Ethics are important. A mechanism should be in place to discourage local politicians from behaving improperly.
