Breaking somewhat from tradition, on April 7 Mayor Peter Bee announced the new makeup of the village's board of ethics. Village Justice Allen Mathers will now chair the board, serving along with residents Charles Menges Jr. and Maureen Clancy.

Trustee John Mauk was former chair of the board.

Trustee Tom Lamberti, who has been fighting to give the board "more teeth," again argued the way in which potential conflicts of interest are handled. He pointed to three issues in particular that resident Kevin Curtin raised at a recent meeting, involving Mayor Bee and Trustee John Mauk and their business relationships. Trustee Lamberti sought to have those issues referred to the board of ethics but when village counsel advised him he was out of order, he withdrew his motion.

According to current ethics code, a village employee or officer with the potential conflict of interest must bring it before the board, a self-referral.

"I find it interesting that the opinion of the attorney general was not sought," Trustee Lamberti said. "He has oversight and does opine over this."

He again offered a resolution at the April 7 meeting that would have enabled village officers and/or employees the power to seek an opinion of the board of ethics and enabled the board to have investigative and supoenea power and the power to hold hearings.

"... I am most troubled with the issue of the Village of Mineola and the mayor serving as lawyer to its planning board ... I have issue with how the mayor has conducted himself and how this government has conducted itself," he said. "I'm not the board of ethics but if you have knowledge of the project, that is time to step up and say I have a conflict. If I had not pulled this out of the wastebasket, so to speak, no one would've spoken at that public hearing," Trustee Lamberti continued, referring to a public hearing on The Winston project in Mineola.

Mayor Bee, finding himself on the defense again, shot back: "It is of course hard to remain objective when you are accused of behaving in an unethical and improper manner. And so I guess I should begin by saying, I'm not objective. I feel insulted and feel I'm being made the brunt of almost a McCarthy-like aura of suspicion ... There's no allegation being made I can directly confront."

The mayor added that for several years he has worked for the Village of Mineola's ADRB (Planning) board, which he noted The Winston project has never come before. "When [Trustee] Lamberti placed the item on the agenda, that is when I recused myself," he explained. "Now there's a pattern of events where [Trustee] Lamberti raises questions regarding a lack of confidence in village government. I do not feel that way ... I think my knowledge of municipal government is an asset. If I felt the need to get an opinion of the board of ethics I would do so. So far I haven't felt it necessary."

Trustee Nick Episcopia assured that no matter how many letters the village could have written in opposition of The Winston, it would have made no difference. "The only authority we have is the planning commission's authority - not the authority of the board of trustees. Their authority is to approve or disapprove a subdivision plan. If Mineola wished to put an apartment complex there, there is nothing we can do about it," Trustee Episcopia explained. "You're trying to make a case for the fact that the mayor tried to stop this when this was in front of all of us ... If we went to the first or second hearing it wouldn't have done any good. They had made up their minds that this was good for Mineola and they were going to do it."

Trustee Gerard Lundquist, who's served on the board for the last 9+ years, wanted to put the conversation to rest once and for all. "Certainly if there was an ethics violation on the board I would demand that it be brought forward. I have never seen the mayor acting in any other way other than in the public conscience ... If any truth or substance of something someone feels to be a breach of ethics, it should be brought forward, addressed and we should move on. We have a lot more important things to do than to keep rehashing this issue," he said to rousing applause.

Trustee Robert Rothschild agreed. "I consider this a major waste of time," he said. "I give him credit for serving on the school board and then doing this for what, 14 years? Fifteen years he's been on this board. I don't care who's in the audience you haven't spent as much time and effort as this guy ... I don't have any feeling that that has ever happened, especially with Peter Bee ... I'd like to discontinue this conversation."

Trustee Lamberti shot back, stating that an air of righteousness has fallen over the board. "I don't think it's an issue of personalities. There is a sense of righteousness - I don't have to be scrutinized because I serve, because I am a volunteer, because I'm your neighbor."

Board members shot down Trustee Lamberti's resolution 7 to 1, with Trustee Don Brudie absent.