As we shared in our previous blog post, SAVE Colonie created a list of relevant and timely questions for all candidates running for Supervisor and Town Board in the town-wide election that will take place in November 2019. Today we sent our second set of questions, focused on ethics issues, to all the candidates. Below is a copy of the message and questions we sent. We will be sharing the responses we receive publicly, following the September 18th deadline for reply.
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Dear Candidate for Colonie Town Office:
As you know, SAVE Colonie is working to provide Colonie voters with information on town candidates' positions and views on issues of local interest. As with our prior questions on public participation in town governmental functions, we will publish your answers on our popular Facebook site and our SAVE Website, and will furnish them to our email members, as well. So this is a fine opportunity to reach more than 1000 local residents who care about current political issues.
We will publish responses we receive on or before September 18th. If you choose not to respond, we will so state next to your name.
Please reply electronically, and feel free to email me for more information about any of these questions/topics if you need clarification. This set of questions concerns the hot topic of ETHICS in local government.
Thanks in advance for helping inform Colonie's voters.
SAVE Colonie: A Partnership for Planning
SAVE's Ethics Questions
Pay-to-play undermines people’s trust in government. Ethics is important to maintaining the legitimacy of our government. Insider favoritism costs taxpayers thousands of dollars annually in unnecessary expenditures and distorts public policy. The appearance of favoritism is corrosive of democracy.
1. Our research shows that developers and others (such as property owners, engineers, real estate attorneys, landscape architects) with a vested interest in advancing a project often make contributions to officials & candidates within a short time before or after their projects appear before the town. How would you handle contributions from such persons to your campaign?
2. Will you support a change to the land use law to require that applicants identify whether they or their affiliated legal entities and members of their immediate family have made political contributions within 24 months to town elected officials and town political committees and list the amount of the contribution and the recipient?
3. Will you agree to update the Town’s ethics laws including the expansion of the town Ethics Board to 7 members, and include multiple political parties, and provide a process for making ethics complaints?
4. Will you require that the Town review its town designated engineering (TDE) practice and evaluate whether the Town should 1. continue to utilize TDE’s in the current manner; or 2. hire a professional planning staff and employees to conduct these reviews, or 3.expand the eligibility list of engineering firms to more than 2 engineering firms and 4. require that every selected TDE firm will not represent clients in the Town of Colonie?