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General News: COH Mayor Cleared by Ethics Board

Mayor Gross at a village board meeting earlier this year.
Mayor Gross at a village board meeting earlier this year.
December 10, 2009

The new ethics board of the village of Cornwall-on-Hudson has found there is no basis for ethical charges against the mayor of the village, Joseph Gross.

In its first case, the three-member board had been asked to look into whether Mayor Gross violated the code of ethics in his handling of building permits required to build an addition to his house on Lafayette Street.

In a September letter to the ethics board, Cornwall-on-Hudson resident Lee Murphy, who also serves on the village planning board and is chair of the Master Plan Committee, questioned why the mayor had not paid annual renewal fees for his permit, which was first issued in 2004. He also asked the ethics board to look into the estimated cost of the 360-square foot addition, which Mayor Gross had set at $9.500, a figure that did not go up when he included the addition of a wood-burning stove. In addition, Murphy questioned why the Mayor had not obtained a certificate of occupancy after five years of construction, a move that could result in an increase in the assessed value of the property.

The ethics board discussed the allegations in a closed-door executive session for an hour and a half on Wednesday night before coming out to announce its advisory opinion that no unethical actions occurred and no disciplinary action will be taken against the mayor.

Following the meeting, Murphy noted that the three members of the ethics board had been recruited by the mayor and advised by attorneys hired by the village, calling them a “virtual defense team.”

Murphy also said that the inequity in treatment persists. “I think it’s a sad day for Cornwall taxpayers, when a newly-appointed ethics board finds nothing wrong with a mayor who fails to pay fees required by law and then undervalues his own renovation work in an apparently successful effort to avoid paying the same fees and taxes the rest of us are required to pay.”

Murphy said he is considered what steps he will take next and said the issue could go to the county ethics board.






Comments:

Politics is dirty business. It's a damn shame how one person can get away with shafting others by not paying their fair share of taxes.
As soon as the Mayor sells his house watch how fast he


posted by P W on 12/10/09 at 11:38 AM

plumbs out the heat and the new owners will pay the real fair share of taxes


posted by P W on 12/10/09 at 11:38 AM

I believe he claims the living space is 800 sq. feet not counting the rental property to the elderly lady he collects rent from. 800 sq feet of living space. It's no wonder the village has a deficit when MANY are not paying their fair share of taxes and others are paying TOO MUCH. Just not fair.


posted by P W on 12/10/09 at 11:42 AM

Please...don't we have better things to concern ourselves with? I don't remember an uproar from Lee Murphy when The River Bank was pushing the edges of the envelope on zoning restrictions. Lets move on to more important issues and stop being so petty.


posted by MaryVance Duggan on 12/10/09 at 12:54 PM

of course not! murphy is upset because he is not getting his way in transforming the village.
Remember how it was before Joe opened things up ?


posted by j b on 12/10/09 at 2:20 PM

Mary Duggan
"Lets move on to more important issues and stop being so petty."

I don't consider it petty when someone is NOT paying their fair share of taxes. Go up to the assesors office and check out what our Mayor pays in taxes. Go ahead it's your right and it is certainly not petty. Once he decides to sell instead of 800 sq' it will be over 2000 sq ' once he plumbs out the heating. I call that a scam or at the very least unethical.

It is also not petty that the Municipal Lot exit by COHES was blocked off so the Public Works Dept wouldn't have to do a 5 minute shovel job to make it safer for the parents and 5 to 10 year old kids going to school. Now they are forced to enter and exit the same way the cars enter and exit. It's easy to be callus towards your constituents when you think you are superior to them. Shame on Mayor Gross for not caring about our kindergatners thru 4th grade kids. A complete SHAME on you.


posted by P W on 12/10/09 at 4:33 PM

Stephan,

"Plumbs out the heat" just refers to laying out the baseboard and hooking it up to the boiler. All in all an easy and fast job. So if you want to pay half the taxes you do now just remove half your baseboard and it will not be considered living space. MMMMmmm I wonder about all that wood in front of the Mayors house. My first house I could heat with just my woodburning stove and never needed my baseboard and it was over 2000 sq '.


posted by P W on 12/10/09 at 4:54 PM

someone needs a hug


posted by j b on 12/10/09 at 5:17 PM

John,
I seem to remember, a few years ago, a speeder on your street came near your child who was on his bike and the police were called. There was quite a todo over that in the neighborhood. Perhaps all you and your wife needed were hugs and to be more watchful of your kids. No tickets were issued. You either advocate for childrens safety or you don't. The luxury to pick and choose lies with the adults not the children.


posted by P W on 12/10/09 at 7:26 PM

Stephan,
Yes I guess so. I am and always have been an advocate for kids. I even took John's side and agreed that the speed limit of 30 mph was much to high for a residential street. I will always advocate for kids. I still believe 30 MPH should be changed to 20/25 on our side streets. We don't need to see kids hurt by drivers speeding. I don't think people realize how many deaths and injuries occur by automobiles. I'm just really sore at our Mayor for not putting our children first. That poor kid hit on 9W and killed. I always told my wife someone would get hurt there by a car someday. Really sad.


posted by P W on 12/10/09 at 7:58 PM

peace everyone Have a wonderful holiday season!


posted by j b on 12/10/09 at 8:06 PM

The ethics board reviewed ALL of the facts when making our determination, not just the sensationalist items that Lee Murphy chose to emphasize. Anyone who knows me knows that I have never been nor I will I ever be-anyone's tool or de facto defense team and I resent Lee Murphy's disparagement of MY name and reputation as well as those of my fellow committee members. We were selected to make an impartial judgment and we did. End of story.


posted by Elisabeth Hellwege on 12/13/09 at 3:26 PM

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