Oyster Bay ethics lawyer: Candidates fail to file disclosures

Independent and third-party candidates for Oyster Bay Town supervisor have failed to file income disclosure forms, in violation of the town’s ethics code, the ethics board’s attorney said Thursday.

Republican incumbent Joseph Saladino and his Democratic challenger, Marc Herman, both filed the forms, reporting outside sources of income in 2016, but Reform party candidate John Mangelli and independents Jonathan Clarke and Robert Ripp have not, ethics board attorney Steven Leventhal said. Calls to Mangelli and Ripp were not returned.

Clarke said Thursday that he didn’t learn of the requirement to file the disclosure form until after the legal challenges to his getting on the ballot were withdrawn on Sept. 22.

“My assumption was that it was 30 days after they withdrew their challenges,” Clarke said, adding he received a letter from the ethics board last week and plans to file his disclosure form.

The town ethics code, which the Town Board adopted last year, requires candidates for elective office to file the forms within 30 days of being nominated or filing their petitions with the board of elections. That means the deadlines to file financial disclosure forms passed in August or September.

“All candidates for town elective office are required to file, and any candidate for town elective office who did not file is in violation of their obligations under the town code of ethics,” Leventhal said.

Candidates must disclose sources and amounts of income — within bracketed categories — but those amounts were redacted by the ethics board in forms obtained by Newsday through a Freedom of Information Law request.

Republican and Democratic candidates for town board and town clerk filed their forms, while the five independent and third-party candidates for town board failed to file.

“The purpose of the financial disclosure requirement is so that members of the public can determine for themselves whether town officers, employees or candidates for town office have conflicts of interest,” Leventhal said.

Saladino, a former state assemblyman, reported that he is a member of Riverhead-based Aladin Realty Management LLC and received income from the company as well as from rental real estate in Oyster Bay.

Herman, a dentist, reported that in addition to his dental practice, he received rental income and reimbursements from Nadent, a Colorado-based dental consulting firm.

Under the town’s ethics code, Oyster Bay officials, employees and contractors can be fined up to $10,000 for violations. The penalties don’t apply to candidates who are not town officials, employees or contractors.