The recent wave of subdivision proposals flooding the dockets of town planning boards in our region has raised concern among many residents that town officials could find themselves torn between their public duties in reviewing the proposed developments and their private financial interests.
State law provides some guidance on particular arrangements that constitute “financial conflicts of interest” and offers specific measures that public officials should take to disclose and manage these conflicts. But the law has little to say when it comes to a multitude of “potential” or “perceived” conflicts likely to crop up in the daily workings of small town government, deferring instead to more vague, qualitative standards of ethics.
"Public officials are obligated to avoid circumstances which compromise their ability to make impartial judgments solely in the public interest,” the New York State Attorney General’s Office has written in promoting suitable standards of conduct for local government officials. “Even the appearance of impropriety should be avoided in order to maintain public confidence in government."
It is public opinion, rather than legal sanctions, that seems to be the final arbiter of many suspected conflicts of interest. Few town officials have ever been sued or indicted for committing an “apparent” impropriety. But many whose financial dealings have stirred public suspicion have later paid the penalty at the ballot box.
One case in point, which has raised significant outcry, is now under scrutiny in the northern Dutchess County town of Pine Plains. The town supervisor, Gregg Pulver, has agreed to sell his home and adjoining land owned by his parents to the developer of Village Green, a large proposed subdivision abutting his property. If the subdivision is approved by the Town Planning Board it would transform the town’s main hamlet with 280 residential units and 150,000 square feet of commercial space.
The sales price for the Pulvers’ house and 16 acres fronting on Route 83 is $900,000, according to a portion of the contract that Mr. Pulver disclosed after requests by local newspapers. Though he has not released the entire contract, Mr. Pulver said that, under its provisions, he would finance $435,000 of the sales price at a 6% annual interest rate for up to 30 months. He and his family would also be able to continue living in the house for no payment other than property taxes for that 30-month period.
The supervisor emphasized that the sale, which has yet to close, is not contingent on Village Green receiving any approvals from the Planning Board.
The contract, which with interest and rent-free allowances is worth close to $1 million, values the Pulvers’ house and land at roughly twice the amount paid for comparable properties in the area, according to local realtors. The developers apparently find significant extra value in the property because it would give Village Green the access it needs to County Route 83 in order to channel traffic into the heart of the subdivision.
There are no laws, according to several attorneys interviewed, that prevent the supervisor from selling his property. As long as Mr. Pulver discloses the existence of the sale, which he has, and recuses himself from any Town Board proceedings involving Village Green, which he has promised to, there is little that residents can do under the law to challenge the sale or even to force disclosure of further details of his contract. But the ethical issues are more complex.
The Pine Plains Code of Ethics, in boilerplate language adopted by many small New York towns in 1975, states that a town employee “shall endeavor to pursue a course of conduct which will not raise suspicion among the public that he is likely to be engaged in acts that are in violation of his trust.”
Many town residents have complained that by selling this particular property, which now becomes a crucial cornerstone of the Village Green plan, Mr. Pulver is reaping a financial windfall at the expense of the town and is demonstrating his support for the rapid growth, increased traffic and higher property taxes that Village Green and other proposed developments would bring to Pine Plains.
“I don’t believe that people who have a civic responsibility and are in a position of trust should be negotiating for their personal gain with developers,” said Connie Young, a full-time Pine Plains resident since 1995 and a former secretary to the Town Planning Board. “If he wants to sell his property—fine. But he should first resign as town supervisor. He should go for the money or the job.”
Mr. Pulver disputed the view that the sale is unethical or in any way biases his view of the Village Green project.
“It’s a family business decision,” he said, explaining that the developer first approached Mr. Pulver’s parents to sell the acreage they own surrounding his home.
The developers “felt they needed the access to the rest of the property from that location. My parents wanted to sell,” Mr. Pulver said. “I was left with the option of living next to something I may not want to live next to.
“Something will happen to that (Village Green) property someday and it could devalue my property by half,” he added.
Now in his second term as supervisor, Mr. Pulver comes up for re-election again this November. Noting his career of public service and years of volunteer work in the town, he said, “My record stands on its own, and I’m willing to let the voters decide when the time comes.”
