KINGSTON — The chairman of the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center oversight committee said three Democrats broke the law when they met with state auditors last week.
In requesting a hearing by the county Board of Ethics to examine the conduct of three Democrats on the oversight committee, Chairman Michael Stock, R-Bearsville, alleged they broke the law by divulging confidential information and, in turn, may have violated their oaths of office.
The request came two days after Stock demanded the Democrats resign from the committee. They refused.
The root of the allegations is in last week's meeting at Democratic headquarters in Kingston among two auditors from the state Comptroller's Office; Legislators Tracey Bartels, D-Gardiner, Peter Kraft, D-Glenford, and Richard Parete, D-Accord; and Democratic Committee Chairman John Parete, Richard Parete's father and a former county employee familiar with the jail project.
Stock criticized committee Democrats for violating public trust by creating an appearance of impropriety. To support his position, he has cited the state Comptroller's Office's decision to replace the two original auditors of the jail project because of their meeting with Democrats.
Stock told the Board of Ethics "there is a need to find out if ... information had been intentionally withheld from the oversight committee."
Committee Democrats have repeatedly stated they said nothing new at their meeting with auditors.
"I told Mike everything I said at the meeting, which I've said in a public forum," Bartels said.
'He's grasping for straws'
Though he said he will go through with an ethics hearing, Richard Parete criticized Stock for requesting the hearing in the first place.
"I don't know what's wrong with him. He's grasping for straws. ... He wants to divert attention from the public eye that the jail's going to be two to three months behind," Richard Parete said.
Committee Democrats have speculated the Law Enforcement Center, scheduled for completion Sept. 21, will suffer further delays. The project is 18 months behind schedule and about $12.4 million over budget.
Board of Ethics Chairman Robert Aiello, R-Saugerties, said he plans to schedule a hearing as soon as possible. Three private citizens serve on the board, in addition to Aiello and Legislator Brian Shapiro, D-Woodstock.
"In the time that I've been on the board, this is probably the most serious of opinions that's been asked for us to render an opinion to," said Aiello, who's served on the board for six years.
For that reason and because the matter involves several people, Aiello said the hearing process will likely take some time, though he could not say whether that means days or weeks.
Hemmy So can be reached at hso@poughkeepsiejournal.com