CARMEL – Carmel Republican Town Committee Chairman Nick Fanin is criticizing the Republican-controlled Putnam Legislature over a provision in recently adopted legislation governing appointments to the county’s Board of Ethics.
At its regular monthly meeting last week, lawmakers voted 5-3 to approve a resolution giving the legislature control over selecting the five members to the board.
Previously, the county executive appointed board members, subject to confirmation by legislators.
The issue came to the fore in June when the division of the executive and legislative branches of government became evident after the lawmakers failed to confirm two members to the Board of Ethics who had been appointed by County Executive Kevin Byrne.
The ethics board ensures that government actions and decisions adhere to proven ethical standards by protecting public trust, promoting integrity, and preventing misconduct.
The approved resolution cuts board members’ terms from three years to two and keeps the ban on appointing lobbyists or political party officeholders. It also removes the requirement that at least one board member be a county officer, employee, or elected official, instead barring anyone in those roles from serving. If all nine legislators belong to the same party, the county chair of the “non-controlling party” will select the minority-party nominee.
Fanin voiced opposition to the change because “it formally injects partisan political power into what is supposed to be an independent ethics oversight body. Granting a political party chair, or any non-governmental political actor, a formal role in nominating members to the Board of Ethics undermines the board’s credibility and sets a troubling precedent. To my knowledge, no other county in New York State grants this level of political party involvement in Ethics Board nominations. I researched the appointment processes across all 62 counties and sent that research to the Legislature weeks ago,” he told .
Under the new provision, two members of the board will be nominated by the county executive, one member by the chair of the legislature, one member by the simple majority of the legislature and one member by the minority leader of the legislature with all nominations confirmed by a simple majority vote of the legislature.
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