ETHICS BOARD TO PROBE BAER'S ALLEGATIONS


Mike McCagg
ccSCOOP News

01-25-11 - The Columbia County Ethics Committee will take up allegations of misdeeds on the part of county officials made by Hillsdale Supervisor Art Baer.

Baer’s allegations were made in a letter to media outlets including ccSCOOP that was distributed last month. That letter was penned in response to an unprecedented opinion piece written by the heads of the county GOP, Conservative and Independence parties that demanded Baer, then the county’s budget officer, be removed from county responsibilities and alleged economic missteps on the former board chairman’s part.

Columbia County Board of Ethics Chairperson Valerie Bertram, who is supervisor of the town of Stuyvesant, confirmed for ccSCOOP that the panel will take action on three topics when it next convenes, including the allegations made by Baer in his letter to the media. It is unclear which allegations will be specifically investigated, however Baer said his allegation of “an attempted quick ‘flip’ of land for a new County Commerce Park property at twice the price paid for it” by “county insiders” is being looked at by the panel.

“The (allegations) are one of three separate issues the Board of Ethics will address,” Bertram said.

The Board of Ethics is a five-member board that consists of Bertram, another supervisor and three other people. It issues purely advisory opinions on matters. The advisory opinions can be sent to the Board of Supervisors, District Attorney, Attorney General or other agency or organization, Baer said.

According to county resolution, “the advisory opinions of the Board of Ethics of the County of Columbia shall not be made public or disclosed unless required by the Freedom of Information Law (Public Officers Law Article 6) or required for use in a disciplinary proceeding or an appeal of the designation of a policy making position pursuant to this Article and involving the officer, employee or other appointed official who requested the advisory opinion.”

Bertram said a meeting of the board will occur as soon as the members – who were appointed or reappointed by the full Board of Supervisors in mid-January – are all sworn into office.

Besides Bertram, the board consists of attorneys Jason Shaw and John Friedman, as well as John Finley and former Austerlitz Supervisor George Jahn, county officials said.