FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 22, 2024

Ethics Advisory Task Force Announces Public Open Session on September 5, 2024

KINGSTON, NY – The Ethics Advisory Taskforce is pleased to announce a Public Open Session will be held on Thursday, September 5 at 6:00pm (PLEASE NOTE NEW TIME: 6pm) at City Hall in Council Chambers.

During the session, team members will discuss the City of Kingston’s Ethics Code in general, explain the team’s recent work, and lead a Q&A with members of the public. The Common Council and the Ethics Board established the Ethics Advisory Task Force to review the City of Kingston’s Ethics Code and related documents. Members include Council President Andrea Shaut, Former Alderman Carl Frankel, Ethics Board Member Charlotte Adamis, Ethics Board Member Michael Decker, and Assistant Corporation Counsel Matthew Jankowski.

The team’s review process involved carefully examining the current code’s language, comparisons to the Model Code of Ethics for Local Governments and Ulster County’s Code of Ethics, reviewing General Municipal Law, and in-depth discussions that members shared from their experiences and conversations with Kingston citizens.

The team reviewed not only the ethics code but also the financial disclosure form and the complaint form. Aside from the substance of the language, the team worked on developing more readable documents in both content and format.

Council President Andrea Shaut said, “The City of Kingston’s Ethics Code is not just a set of rules but a cornerstone of our civic responsibility. It sets the standard of conduct for government officials, a standard that carries the significant weight of public trust. In a time when public trust in government is at a low ebb, the task force has made it their mission to create documents that will help restore confidence in the City of Kingston. The team’s review process was not just meticulous but comprehensive. This thorough approach underscores the task force’s commitment to its mission – to ensure the government and the people it serves have trust in the documents. Feedback gathered during the Public Open Session is crucial in shaping the final documents. I encourage the public to attend the open session and be a part of this process.”

The Chair of the Board of Ethics, Allen Nace, said, “The reason for requesting this was the expressions of confusion about the Code of Ethics and the understanding of it that reasonable, well-intentioned residents, employees, officials, and Board members shared. Clarification of the code and its purpose was needed so that a clear understanding of the code and what actions may violate it could be understood. That will go a long way toward preventing good people from being exposed to violations of the code. It may also reduce the complaints and displeasure of those filing complaints with the Board that do not fall within the code. The review and revision requested and now being delivered, along with the educational component, will go a long way toward achieving that goal.”

After receiving and reviewing the feedback from the Public Open Session, the Ethics Advisory Task Force will present its final work to the Common Council for review. All Common Council discussions will be held in open meetings.

The draft Ethics Code, Financial Disclosure Form, and Complaint form can be found at https://kingston-ny.gov/EthicsBoard.