The DCA’s Local Finance Board would handle all ethics complains filed by or against township employees or board members, she said.
Hamilton Mayor Kelly Yaede leads a directors meeting on Tuesday, December 11, 2012.
Michael Mancuso/The Times
HAMILTON — A state Department of Community Affairs panel could begin serving as the township’s ethics board soon, Mayor Kelly Yaede said today, with township employees and appointees subject to a strengthened gifts policy.
At a press conference this afternoon, Yaede said she was recommending the council abolish the township’s ethics board, which was established five years ago but never once called on to hear a case.
The DCA’s Local Finance Board would handle all ethics complains filed by or against township employees or board members, she said.
“By using the state’s local government ethics board, we’re taking the politics out of the procedure,” Yaede said. “The DCA has the staff and resources to properly operate and has complete separation and independence from (municipal) matters.”
The board can hear cases and make recommendations to the township’s personnel department about any penalties, township attorney Lindsay Burbage said.
Township officials have been promoting good government efforts in recent months, following a corruption scandal that led to a federal conviction for former mayor John Bencivengo.
Bencivengo and two department directors resigned or were fired last year in the wake of his federal trial, which saw him convicted on extortion and money laundering counts.
Officials also said today that the township’s gifts policy, which prohibits all employees from accepting anything of value from vendors, would be extended to include the planning, zoning and redevelopment boards.
The board members, who have authority over rule changes that affect businesses, are appointed by the mayor or council and do not receive salaries.
A potentially corrupt developer could reach out to a planning board member who has a direct vote on the project, Burbage said.
“That developer could very well come before the planning board in the near future,” he said. “Those are the kinds of things that we’re trying to prevent.”
In addition, all employees and board members will receive a copy of the township’s ethics code each year and certain individuals will be required to undergo annual ethics training.