Conflict of interest is an issue in Patten project
It appears to be mushroom season now
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Chris Patten has a problem with his latest proposal that goes beyond the drabness of his recent projects in Glens Falls, his history of misleading the city’s planning and zoning boards and his determination to tear down a historic and currently occupied house.
Patten’s architect for the 60-unit, three-building complex he wants to squeeze in between Glen Street and Harlem Street appears to have a conflict of interest.
His architect, Ethan Hall, who recently presented the project to the Planning Board, is the chairman of the Planning Board.
“I've been a member of the city Planning Board for over 20 years. Originally appointed by Mayor Reagan to fill the seat vacated by my late father in-law. I have presented over a dozen projects to the Planning Board over the years,” Hall wrote to me in an email.
“Before I even took the position I cleared it with the city attorney to ensure that there would be no conflicts with my doing work in the city. I have been assured that as long as I recuse myself from voting on any project that I am involved with then there is nothing improper with that,” he wrote.
When he was appointed chairman, he reconfirmed with the city attorney the propriety of his presence on the board, he said.
But it seems to me, after reading the law and talking to an expert in the field of municipal conflicts of interest, that Hall and the lawyers who gave him the OK and the local politicians who have assumed the arrangement was proper are all wrong.
Section 805-A of the state’s general municipal law, Chapter 24, Article 18, under the heading “Certain action prohibited” says that “no municipal officer or employee shall receive, or enter into any agreement, express or implied, for compensation for services to be rendered in relation to any matter before any municipal agency of which he is an officer, member or employee …”
Getting paid to work on a project that comes before a municipal board of which you are a member is prohibited — that is the plain language of the statute.
Lawyers excel in interpreting plain language in obscure ways, so I’m not confident my reading will be accepted.
Karen Judd, the city attorney, refused to make a quick judgment.
“I’m going to look into it,” she said.
Mayor Bill Collins promised the same.
“If it’s wrong, I’ll address it,” he said.
It’s an awkward situation. Planning Board members are accustomed to looking to Hall’s experience and expertise for guidance, trusting he will act in the best interest of the city. But, now and then, he gets up from his seat to stand next to a developer who is paying him to win over the board.
My argument is not that architects or other professionals in the building field are excluded from service on the city’s planning and zoning boards (or the Common Council), but that, if they do serve, they cannot accept projects in their private practice that will come before those boards.
The Common Council should address Hall’s conflict before any decisions are made about Patten’s Glen-to-Harlem street project. If it moves ahead, it and his gloomy complex on Washington Street will throw a pall over the whole northern side of downtown.
One of the city’s selling points is its cheerful appearance — its varied architecture, tree-lined and flower-strewn streets and small and large parks.
We must insist that Patten and other developers follow every rule and also make their projects fit the pleasant, pedestrian-friendly, colorful and welcoming look and feel of the city.
We must preserve the loveliness of Glens Falls, which adds so much to our quality of life. Let’s start with this: Ethan Hall has to stop representing clients in front of the Planning Board or step down.
I’ve noticed a lot of mushrooms around recently as Bella and Ringo and I have walked in the woods. We stopped recently at the Nicholson Preserve in Queensbury — one of the town’s many walking trails — and mushrooms were everywhere.
The preserve is an odd duck of a walking trail. It twists around like a curvy maze through a small, densely wooded plot. Once you’ve started and are more than a few steps in, you have little choice but to continue for the full mile of the trail, out of fear that any attempt at a shortcut will leave you lost. But just when Bella and I were wearying of the back and forth, we emerged to the little parking lot on 370 Luzerne Road.
You are absolutely right. Bob said it, it is at least the appearance of conflict of interest. However, as the architect of the project, the Chair is clearly guilty of conflict of interest. Members of boards, elected officials, judges, etc. all sign conflict of interest documents at the onset of their service. Thank you, Will Doolittle, for digging into this. Journalism at its best.
I wonder how many clients have signed up for attorney Hall’s services because he is chairman of the Planning Board and can get their Glens Falls project approved?