This past Monday evening the Mayor and Tritec proposed extending its expired site plan for 291 rental apartments. Given the fact that Tritec has contributed heavily to the Mayor’s campaign, I advised the Mayor and his board members who are running for re-election that, as a matter of law, they were not able to vote on the site plan extension.
We know from records that Patchogue 2012 have filed with Village Hall for this election cycle alone, that Tritec and its affiliates have contributed at least $3,000.00 to the campaign for re-election of Mayor Pontieri, Trustees Krieger and Devlin. This figure does not include substantial and numerous in kind contributions for paid advertisements to the Long Island advance made by Tritec in furtherance of their campaign for re-election.
Section 40-5 of the Patchogue Village Code states clearly that “No Village officer shall take any action on a matter before the Village when that officer has received a material benefit in the previous 24 months having an aggregate value in excess of $1,000.00 See Patchogue Village Code 40-5(2)(f). Furthermore, Section 40-12 of the Patchogue Village Code clearly states that “Any applicant who makes a submission to the Village shall disclose, in writing, as part of the submission: (1) The name of any Village officer or employee to whom the applicant has made one or more campaign contributions totaling $100 or more within the previous 24 months. This submission is to be filed with the Village Clerk and maintained pursuant to § 40-11. No such submission has been made by Tritec to the Village Clerk.
The law provides that any contract entered into where there is a conflict of interest is null, void and wholly unenforceable (General Municipal Law, § 804). In addition, any municipal officer or employee who willfully and knowingly violates any such provision is guilty of a misdemeanor (General Municipal Law, § 805).
The vote for the extension was tabled because Tritec failed to file the disclosure of its financial contributions to the Mayor’s campaign with the Village Clerk. Residents should know that we will continue to fight on their behalf.
