Ethics Board finally set: One resignation in early going

The new and expanded Shelter Island Board of Ethics had a resignation only weeks after it was brought back to life.

Michael DeSanctis quit his appointed position, implying that there could have been possible conflicts of interests, telling the Reporter “it was 100% my choice to resign,” and “that the Board brought a few things to my attention in terms of the appointment. I would never want this appointment to reflect badly on the Town Board.”

According to the Town Code, members appointed by the Town Board “shall render advisory opinions to Town employees on written request and, upon request of the Town Board, make recommendations to such Town Board.”

At the April 8 Town Board meeting, the code was changed to expand the Ethics Board from three members to five, and Peter Beardsley, Shelby Mundy and Robert Raiber, DDS, were named, joining Deborah Grayson and Duff Wilson, who had previously been appointed.

At least one member of the Ethics Board has to be an elected or appointed Town Employee, which had been Mr. DeSanctis, who works for the Building Department. His replacement is Ms. Mundy, who works in the supervisor’s office as “the account clerk,” she said, with part of her duties dealing with finances and the budget. Being in an oversight role is natural for her, she said. “It’s part of my job with the Town.”

She was approached by a member of the Town Board following Mr. DeSanctis’ resignation, and asked if she was interested. There was no hesitation to join, she said, noting it’s an opportunity “to give back to the community.”

Mr. Beardsley bought a house here three years ago and is member of the Comprehensive Planning Advisory Board. He, like Ms. Mundy, was approached and asked to consider joining, and like her, willingly agreed. “I’m always happy to get involved,” Mr. Beardsley said. “I didn’t grow up here and felt that [the Ethics Board] would benefit from someone with little or no family or business connections.”

Mr. Beardsley is a partner in a Manhattan law firm, but works remotely most of the time, he said.

Dr. Raiber has a dental practice in Manhattan, but is at his office only two days a week, he said. He’s been coming to the Island since the 1970s and has had a house here since the mid-1990s.

Dr. Raiber was urged to join the Ethics Board by Mr. DeSanctis’s brother, Father Peter DeSanctis, the pastor of Our Lady of the Isle. “I play golf every Friday with Father Peter,” Dr. Raiber said. “I had thought about it, but he encouraged me to join.”

Dr. Raiber has experience looking into ethical issues, serving as Ethics Facilitator at Columbia’s and New York University’s Dental Schools from 1994 to the present.

Assessors

The Town Board is in the process of streamlining one area of town government — the Board of Assessors. If the Board votes to approve a resolution, there will be a single, appointed assessor rather than three that are elected by the voters. The Board has called for a public hearing on the proposed change for April 29.

Shelter Island is one of only about 40 municipalities statewide that still elects assessors.

Currently there are two Town assessors, Patricia Castoldi and Judith Lechmanski, who were elected to their posts. Craig Wood resigned his post as an assessor in December 2021 and his position has not been filled.

In a resolution passed April 8 calling for the public hearing, it was stated that advantages of having a single appointed assessor would allow a longer term of office and “a consistent approach to assessing.”

In a discussion earlier this year, the chairs of the Democratic and Republican parties appeared before the Board to appeal for the change.

No vote

An extremely rare “no” vote was recorded at the meeting. A vote on a resolution to reappoint James Eklund to the Water Management Advisory Council was taken, and all members voted “aye” except Supervisor Gerry Siller, who said “nay.”

After the meeting, Mr. Siller told the Reporter, “I would like to keep my reason for my no vote to myself. I’ll discuss it with James if he asks, and I’ll honor the Town Board’s decision.”

Mr. Eklund told the Reporter he had no comment.