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Overcast Town of Oyster Bay strengthens disclosure requirements following Inspector General Brian Noone's resignation
The Town of Oyster Bay took a step to reduce the risk of fraud and conflicting interests among town employees and officials on Tuesday as it passed a resolution which included requiring all town vendors and contractors to disclose the names and percentage of interest of all partners, members or stakeholders.
This resolution comes on the heels of the resignation of Brian Noone, the town’s former inspector general, who resigned on June 23 after an investigation was launched due to allegations of ethics violations.
The new resolution passed unanimously during the Aug. 15 town board meeting, and follows previous changes they had made to the office of inspector general. Changes include prohibiting the inspector general from having any direct or indirect financial relationships with town vendors or contractors and prohibiting the inspector general from receiving any gifts or services from the same.
Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said that the new reform is meant to strengthen transparency in the town’s financial and business dealings. This is especially pressing, as Noone, who was the first and only inspector general appointed by the town since the position’s creation in 2019, is accused of ensuring cyber security request for proposals from the town went to his business partners and associates.
“This reform is designed to unmask ownership that is not readily apparent while adding transparency and allowing a greater due diligence to prevent conflicts of interest or the appearances thereof by instituting these new disclosure requirements,” Saladino said. “By instituting these new disclosure requirements, we are further protecting our taxpayers.”
Sea Cliff resident Arthur Adelman asked what the exact changes proposed in the resolution were. Upon his request for more detail, the board deferred to Town Attorney Frank Scalera to explain in more detail what the resolution contained and how it would further prevent further instances or appearances of misconduct.
Adelman, who spoke out about concerns regarding Noone before the investigation, also asked whether additional resolutions regarding transparency by town residents would be considered. He mentioned that he believes the current resolution leaves a loophole regarding contributions made by political action committees to individuals.
“I would like to know what these new enhancements and disclosures are, and I’d like to have them read into the record,” Adelman said. “It’s important that everything be disclosed.”
Scalera explained that there are several aspects of the resolution. The most important one is the aforementioned disclosure of all stakeholders, partners and members of businesses that wish to work with the town as vendors and contractors.
Additionally, while all prospective vendors and contractors previously had to fill out disclosure forms, Scalera says he and his office have tightened up the language therein. They also added new sections, including a direct reference to section 30 of the town code, which contains the town’s code of ethics, although he did not go into detail regarding the exact changes.
“There could be partners that were not necessarily disclosed in the past,” Scalera said. “We’ll now vet any other owners to ensure that the whole company, in our collective opinion, is operating in good standing.”
Despite this, there are some in the community who believe that the changes have come too little, too late. Jared Behr, the Democrat candidate running against Saladino for the office of supervisor, said the changes proposed in the resolution should have been made during the creation of the office of inspector general, and highlight ongoing failures in the town’s financial transparency.
“The proposed reforms are a day late and a dollar short,” Behr wrote in a statement. “That the Town Board had to carve out these new requirements, which are basic, commonsense disclosure rules, is alarming and raises serious questions about its existing operations. They also do nothing to address the issues surrounding the ethics board and outside ethics counsel, which rubber-stamped Brian Noone’s actions.”
Behr added that one of his goals if elected would be to ensure that the inspector general’s office would function as a non-partisan and independent entity while complying with all town and state ethics requirements.
In the meantime, a permanent replacement for Noone has not been selected, although Brian Nevin, the town’s public information officer, wrote in a statement that the town board is currently collecting resumes to select a new inspector general.
“The process of identifying a new Inspector General is underway,” Nevin wrote. “Residents can be assured that multi-step oversight continues, thanks to retired Justice Angelo Dellagatti and the town attorney’s office.”
Nevin did not specify the process or a timeline by which the new inspector general will be selected.
