SECOR HOMES CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC.
P.O. Box 550, Ardsley, New York 10502
GREENBURGH BOARD DUCKS ETHICS INQUIRY FILED BY CIVIC ASSOCIATION; SHCA PLANS CITIZENS’ WATCH
Contact: Carol A. Wielk, Secretary, SHCA
Phone: 212-686-9147
Fax: 914-693-1792; 212-779-9307
E-mail: cwielk@worldnet.att.net
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 27, 1999
The Secor Homes Civic Association, Inc. (SHCA) charged today that the Greenburgh Board of Ethics failed in its responsibility to follow up on an ethics complaint filed by the SHCA over two months ago. It questioned whether indeed there is a functioning ethics board in Greenburgh, or whether the Board is just another window dressing of the Paul Feiner administration.
SHCA was incredulous at the April 21, 1999 handwritten response from Thomas Facelle, Chair of the Greenburgh Board of Ethics, to the two-month old complaint from Stephen Gosik, President of the SHCA. The letter to Gosik from Facelle stated that the Ethics Board had referred the matter to the Supervisor to "have the Planning Commissioner review the interpretation of the terms of the site plans conditions and advise you accordingly."
SHCA never asked the Ethics Board to review and interpret the site plan terms. Rather, SHCA in its February 23, 1999 letter to the Board of Ethics, asked for a review of the Town Engineer’s inappropriate involvement in the matter because he was rendering decisions on the buffer area favorable to the interests of his former employer, the developer of Westchester View Estates. It was only recently that Brett Auerhahn, the Town Engineer, and former site engineer and employee of the developer, Dominic Pizzuro, gave the okay for Pizzuro to build a house which destroyed the buffer on Westchester View Lane. This recent contact between the Town Engineer and the developer substantiates the ongoing relationship which accrued to the benefit of Pizzuro.
The buffer area was established by the Greenburgh Planning Board in March, 1987. Under Paul Feiner’s administration, the Town has effectively abrogated the Planning Board stipulations. In so doing, Paul Feiner has also condoned and supported the inappropriate actions of his Town Engineer in rendering decisions in which the engineer had a clear conflict of interest.
For the Ethics Board to dismiss this case without a proper review, "demonstrates clearly that there is no functioning ethics board in Greenburgh," states Carol A. Wielk, secretary of SHCA. In fact, Mr. Facelle’s response to the SHCA is substantially different from his comments to the press where he maintains that the "board can convene to open a case only if requested by a town official or employee." However, SHCA points out that Section 570.11 D clearly authorizes the ethics board to "render reports and recommendations to the Town Board…relating to conflicts of interest…." Furthermore, Section 570-1 states unequivocally that Town employees "exercise independent and impartial judgment….and avoid even the appearance of impropriety."
Based on the dismissive attitude that residents have encountered with the Town’s governing authority, SHCA has established a watchdog committee to monitor and track how residents’ concerns are treated in Greenburgh. SHCA will seek support and information on similar cases and incidents in the wider Greenburgh community for the purpose of developing a white paper on how the Town carries out its mandate to govern with fairness and justice.
SHCA is hopeful that, armed with the facts and figures on the numerous incidents it has heard about unresponsive government in Greenburgh, it can begin to address these many concerns through appropriate avenues of redress. "As active citizens," states Tony Costa, SHCA treasurer, "we must assure that our Town government functions in an open and democratic manner and not be used to promote either inappropriate political agendas or protect unacceptable behavior of Town employees."
For the entire text of the Greenburgh Code of Ethics, see: http://home.att.net/~grassrootsforgreenburgh