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PRESENTATION
Conflicts of Interest Board presentation on rules for high-discretion officials
0:46:01
·
4 min
Alex Kipp discusses COIB rules pertinent to officials with substantial policy discretion, like the commissioners ("high rollers").
He covers the two-year post-employment ban on paid appearances before the CRC (largely moot as the CRC disbands) and restrictions on political fundraising for local NYC races and current city officials seeking other offices. Kipp also explains rules against holding high-level political party positions and outlines recusal requirements: commissioners whose non-profit employers speak at public meetings need not recuse (but should clarify their role), but must avoid non-public meetings; if the employer is for-profit, recusal from the relevant part of the public meeting is required.
- A two-year post-employment ban exists but is likely moot.
- Commissioners cannot solicit contributions for NYC local elections (Mayor, Council, Comptroller, etc.).
- Commissioners cannot solicit contributions for any race a current NYC elected official is running in.
- Commissioners cannot hold high-level executive positions within political parties.
- Recusal rules depend on whether the commissioner's outside employer is non-profit or for-profit and whether the meeting is public.
Alex Kipp
0:46:01
Next slide, please.
0:46:02
Does this work?
0:46:03
Okay.
0:46:04
Is that the next one?
0:46:05
Oh, okay.
0:46:06
Leaving city service.
0:46:07
Okay.
0:46:08
This is largely moot.
0:46:09
I'm gonna do this super fast, but you might remember that in the charter revision process a couple of years ago, remember when we had these back to back charter revision commissions during the de Blasio's, you're there's one mayoral and there's the council one that, followed through the next year.
0:46:21
The council, kinda motivated with a non mayoral one.
0:46:25
There was a slight change to the charter, which technically affects people in this room, but in in probably gonna be a moot point.
0:46:31
And what happened was the one year post employment ban for members of boards and commissions and other high level people, heads of agencies, people like that went to two years.
0:46:43
So for two years upon leaving service at the Charter Revision Commission, I would not may be able to make a paid compensation back to the Charter Revision Commission.
0:46:52
And you know why this is moot?
0:46:53
Because once your work is done, there's not gonna be any more Charter Revision Commission.
0:46:57
So while there would be a two year ban, there's not anybody to make representation to after you leave, so let's move on because that doesn't really apply.
0:47:03
And now let's go to political activities.
0:47:04
Okay.
0:47:05
So these are the standard ones that we think about.
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We don't solicit people that we've got juice over.
0:47:11
We don't even ask our subordinates to do anything in terms of a political activity.
0:47:16
Let's get to the high roller section.
0:47:18
The high roller section is this.
0:47:22
Those of us who have substantial policy discretion, we face a restriction on asking other people for money for local races.
0:47:33
What does that mean?
0:47:34
So, anybody running for council, for mayor, for comptroller, for public advocate, for borough president, We cannot ask anyone in the world to contribute to those races.
0:47:45
We can write our own checks within whatever the campaign finance limits are for the races or whatever, but we can't have a house party if that house party is to ask other people to donate to those campaigns.
0:47:57
You can't do it.
0:47:58
I have I might have a friend who's living in Australia.
0:48:01
I haven't seen him in ten years.
0:48:02
I cannot call him and ask him to fund, a race for one of those city offices.
0:48:07
And the other kind of race that we cannot, ask other people to fund is any current city elected official who's running for any other office, and this increasingly happens because we've got term limits.
0:48:21
So, back before there were term limits, this happened in my neighborhood, Brooklyn, Bessborough.
0:48:25
Right?
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So down where I live, major Owens was my, congressional representative for a long time.
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He retired.
0:48:33
And, during that, after his retirement, Yvette Clark was a sitting city council member, and she ran for his seat.
0:48:40
We would not have been able to ask anyone in the world to contribute money to her race because she was a sitting city elected official who was running for another office.
0:48:50
So that's what that means.
0:48:51
And the other thing is political activities in terms of, executive or office positions in the county parties.
0:49:00
So, this what it says basically is you got substantial policy discretion.
0:49:06
You can't have a high level position in the political parties.
0:49:09
And you might scratch your head while I go, wow.
0:49:11
That sounds like hypers why?
0:49:12
Why is that?
0:49:13
Well, a lot of times ethics laws are kind of responding to the context out of which they come, and this is probably one of those times.
0:49:23
You might remember, there was a huge scandal involving Queensborough President Donald Mannes in the mid eighties.
0:49:31
And this is kind of a small part of that, but one of the things in charter revision that they noticed was, oh, Gomez was was Queensborough President, but he was also head of the Queen's Democratic Party at the same time.
0:49:43
And maybe that's not a great fit.
0:49:45
Maybe people with substantial policy discretion shouldn't also be very high up in the, political parties.
0:49:52
And so there's now a restriction that says we can't hold those high level positions in the parties.
0:49:58
It's been the same for a long time.
0:50:00
I think it was challenged maybe by Howard Golden.
0:50:02
I don't know when.
0:50:03
Before I worked in city government, he got a couple votes in the court of appeals, I think.
0:50:07
But in any case, it's been, the same long time.
0:50:11
Okay.
0:50:11
Now last thing we need to touch on is the very core notion of the conflict of interest law, which has to do with misuse of position.
0:50:18
I'm not supposed to use my city position in a way that would benefit any private entity, that, that I am associated with.