Posted: 1/21/2011 12:45:00 PM EDT
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A person "donates" a large sum of money to a gated community board member so his company can possibly get a contract in said community.
The person happens to also be a part time elected official of a political sub division. The person did not use his political powers to influence anything. Is that unethical or unlawful or neither? The gated community is private after all. Specific to NYS has anyone heard of or been privy to this type of situtation? |
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Violation of the NYS Public Officers Law.
Also would be required to declare gifts and refuse any significant gift trinkets. Hell you cannot accept a meal even if you're the guest of honor recieveing an award at a banquet. Sounds like a three way conflict of interest. It may muddle things somewhat. some phrases I recall from the class I sat through eons ago, conferring a personal benefit for being a public official, agency code of conduct generally prohibit the mere appearance of impropriety. You could always inquire at the Attorney General's office to see what they think. They're the ones who investigate things like that. |
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Violation of the NYS Public Officers Law. Also would be required to declare gifts and refuse any significant gift trinkets. Hell you cannot accept a meal even if you're the guest of honor recieveing an award at a banquet. Sounds like a three way conflict of interest. It may muddle things somewhat. some phrases I recall from the class I sat through eons ago, conferring a personal benefit for being a public official, agency code of conduct generally prohibit the mere appearance of impropriety. You could always inquire at the Attorney General's office to see what they think. They're the ones who investigate things like that. Only if somoene is a true "public official." What does the OP mean by "elected official of a political subdivision" ? Like a neighborhood/community/condo president? Or an actual elected official like a mayor? Either way it's illegal. The law that is broken if there is no public official I believe is called "commercial bribing," or "bribery not involving public servants." N.Y. Penal Law § 180.00 http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article180.htm |
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The one who did the "donating" happens to be a fire commissioner (elections are held every year for the position) of a volunteer dept. The person who received said donation sits on the board of a private gated community. Think co-op or condo board. Clearly not POL then. Your mention of polical subdivision is normally read as cities/towns/villages/counties. I think you're misusing the term. As far as I know any fire department with elections is only a quasi public entitiy, in my neck of the state, they're all private corporations with contracts for the fire district from the township(s) and villages covered. Penal Law is where you need to look. Damn, good call Dave. |
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The one who did the "donating" happens to be a fire commissioner (elections are held every year for the position) of a volunteer dept. The person who received said donation sits on the board of a private gated community. Think co-op or condo board. Clearly not POL then. Your mention of polical subdivision is normally read as cities/towns/villages/counties. I think you're misusing the term. As far as I know any fire department with elections is only a quasi public entitiy, in my neck of the state, they're all private corporations with contracts for the fire district from the township(s) and villages covered. Penal Law is where you need to look. Damn, good call Dave. Ok...sorry for the ambiguity. The Fire DISTRICT is a political sub-division of the State of NY. The DISTRICT handles the NYS TAX MONEY side of things There are 5 commissioners elected in a PUBLIC election. There is also a volunteer fire DEPARTMENT with it's officers and chiefs elected by the MEMBERS of the actual DEPARTMENT. The person involved is a publicly elected fire commissioner. He allegedly donated several thousand dollars to a a board member of a gated community to influence a work contract. Is this unethical? |
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The one who did the "donating" happens to be a fire commissioner (elections are held every year for the position) of a volunteer dept. The person who received said donation sits on the board of a private gated community. Think co-op or condo board. Clearly not POL then. Your mention of polical subdivision is normally read as cities/towns/villages/counties. I think you're misusing the term. As far as I know any fire department with elections is only a quasi public entitiy, in my neck of the state, they're all private corporations with contracts for the fire district from the township(s) and villages covered. Penal Law is where you need to look. Damn, good call Dave. Ok...sorry for the ambiguity. The Fire DISTRICT is a political sub-division of the State of NY. The DISTRICT handles the NYS TAX MONEY side of things There are 5 commissioners elected in a PUBLIC election. There is also a volunteer fire DEPARTMENT with it's officers and chiefs elected by the MEMBERS of the actual DEPARTMENT. The person involved is a publicly elected fire commissioner. He allegedly donated several thousand dollars to a a board member of a gated community to influence a work contract. Is this unethical? Consult the AG's office. Way better than your District Attorney's Office for this kind of stuff. It doesn't pass the smell test but that's all I will say on it. |
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In what capacity was the board member accepting the "donation?" As a member of the gated community's board? A corporation? Personally as a gift? They person who accepted sits on the community's board and convinced the other board members to accept his contract. |