July 6, 2010

Executive’s Filing of New York State Form, as Required by Law, Complies with Local Statute, Says Mark Davies

Hauppauge, NY – Perhaps the most prominent ethics authority in New York State today verified that Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy’s submission of New York State financial disclosure forms – as he is required to file as a member of the Pine Barrens Commission – complies with state regulations and satisfies the local financial disclosure filing requirement.

According to Mark Davies, who served as Executive Director of the Temporary New York State Commission on Local Government Ethics at the time Suffolk adopted its local code, the county executive need only file a copy of his New York State financial disclosure report with the Suffolk County Board of Ethics. Levy is required by state law to file the state form as a sitting member of the Pine Barrens Commission, a state agency.

Davies called the interpretation of New York State General Municipal Law, section 811 (1) (b) “crystal clear.”

“a person who is subject to the filing requirements of both subdivision two of section seventy-three-a of the public officers law and of this subdivision may satisfy the requirements of this subdivision by filing a copy of the statement filed pursuant to section seventy-three-a of the public officers law with the appropriate body, as defined in section eight hundred ten of this article, on or before the filing deadline provided in such section seventy-three-a, notwithstanding the filing deadline otherwise imposed by this subdivision.”  (General Municipal Law Section 811(1)(b).)

Davies wrote: “Since State law supersedes County law, the County has no power to mandate that the County Executive (or, indeed, any other officer or employee of the County who files a financial disclosure report pursuant to Pub. Off. Law Section 73-a) file a separate County financial disclosure report with the County.  State law MANDATES that the County accept a copy of the State financial disclosure report in lieu of the County form.  The County has no discretion in this matter.”

Davies added that this rule applies in New York City, where he presently serves as Executive Director of the Conflicts of Interest Board, and applies in every other municipality in the state with financial disclosure statutes.

“It has been wrong, unfair and factually inaccurate for some to have suggested that Suffolk Ethics Director Judge Lama and the Suffolk County Ethics Commission ‘gave a pass’ to me, or ‘allowed me to be waived’ from disclosing a duplicative county form,” said Levy. “It is also unfair to imply that Judge Lama had discretion in the matter, when in fact he was merely reciting already existing state law. This statement from Mark Davies clearly shows that the local County authority has no discretion in this regard and that the county is mandated to accept the state form, and confirms that Judge Lama is owed an apology from those who have impugned his integrity.”

Mark Davies is frequently cited as an expert in ethics in government, including in pertinent McKinney’s law books and in 1987 Ethics in Government Act: Financial Disclosure Provisions for Municipal Officials and Proposals for Reform, 11 Pace Law Review 243-279 (1991).