Summary of a Scandal
North Country Advocates
The composition of the Burke, NY, Town Council as of 1/8/08 is as follows:
1. Darrel Bushey, Supervisor, no known connection to the wind developers
2. Donald Smith, new member, no known connection to the wind developers
3. Arnold Lobdell, contract with Horizon Wind Energy since August 16, 2006
4. David Vincent, contract with Noble Environmental since December 29, 2006 (paid $27,090)
5. James Otis, continuing member, foreman for a sand & gravel company doing a brisk business with Noble Environmental on Noble’s current Clinton County windfarms.
The composition of the Burke, NY, Zoning Board of Appeals as of 1/8/08 is as follows:
1. James Lobdell, Chairman, contract with Horizon Wind Energy since August 16, 2006
2. Silas Vincent, contract with Noble Environmental since December 29, 2006 (paid $27,090)
3. Matthew Carey, contract with Horizon Wind Energy since June 9, 2007
4. As best we can tell, the remainder of the ZBA consists of a vague and fluctuating group of other individuals. It is unclear to what extent these other ZBA members were consulted in drafting the proposed Wind Law.
Petition:
Burke, NY, does not have a municipal code of ethics. In the absence of a municipal law, it is our understanding that New York State law becomes automatically operative. In this case, the relevant law would appear to be NYS Public Officers Law, Section 74, “Code of Ethics.”
Suffice it to say, the above identified members of the Burke Town Council and ZBA are in gross violation of the State Code of Ethics.
In accordance with Article 4 (“Violations”) of NYS Public Officers Law, Section 74, we herewith petition the Franklin County District Attorney or the State Attorney General to remove these individuals from office, and we ask that the currently proposed Burke Wind Law be declared illegal and illegitimate.
We further ask that Attorney Carl J. Madonna be removed as counsel to the Town of Burke in this matter, for negligence in his duty to properly advise the Town Council about conflicts of interest, and that all monies paid to Mr. Madonna by the Town of Burke be refunded to the Town.
North Country Advocates
1/8/08
Download “North Country Advocates to District Attorney Champagne” [1]
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/alerts/2008/01/08/summary-of-a-scandal/
URLs in this post:
[1] Download “North Country Advocates to District Attorney Champagne”: http://www.wind-watch.org/alerts/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/nca-to-champagne-1-8-08.pdf