Feiner awaits ethics ruling
By JOSEPH AX
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: October 19, 2004)
GREENBURGH — Supervisor Paul Feiner is awaiting word from the town's Board of Ethics on whether campaign contributions he accepted in the spring violated the town code.
But several residents, notably Bob Bernstein, who first brought the contributions to light at a public Town Board meeting last month, have criticized Feiner for asking the board about only one donation in a letter to the panel's chairman, former state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Facelle.
In a lengthy letter of his own to Facelle yesterday, Bernstein said Feiner had been "less than candid" and had deliberately omitted relevant facts.
Feiner, however, yesterday said he expected the ethics board's opinion on the donation in question would also apply to other donations, making it unnecessary for the letter to cover every questionable contribution.
Feiner sent the letter on Oct. 6 — three weeks after he originally said he would do so. The letter focused on a $1,000 contribution Feiner received from D'Alessio Enterprises at a March fund-raiser.
D'Alessio Enterprises had an application to cut down trees on an Edgemont property in front of the Town Board at the time. Town code prohibits officials from "soliciting" contributions from individuals or companies with pending applications before town agencies.
The letter, however, makes no mention of several other contributions that have recently come under fire, including:
• A $1,000 donation from Peter Gilpatric, the senior vice president of LCOR, which owns a massive office complex off Old Saw Mill River Road, where several New York professional teams practice, and has had applications for various approvals pending for years.
• A $250 donation from the Greenburgh Health Center, which had an application to move its facility to Tarrytown Road before the Planning Board.
• Two $250 donations from Martin Berger and Robert Weinberg, the principals of Robert Martin Co., which has proposed the multimillion-dollar housing project known as Avalon II.
In addition, Bernstein had questioned a number of donations from law firms that represented applicants but were not applicants themselves. Mark Weingarten, a White Plains lawyer, organized the fund-raiser; Weingarten represented D'Alessio at the time.
In his letter, Feiner argued that he had not "solicited" the donations, adding that he had not even been aware of the roster of guests until he arrived at the fund-raiser. But Bernstein, a lawyer, has contended that even if Feiner himself did not actively pursue the contributions, his campaign did so, which represents a violation. It is unclear when the ethics board will meet.
Members of the board could not be reached for comment.
Reach Joseph Ax at jax@thejournalnews.com or 914-694-5064.