Clifton Park officials are looking to adjust how the town’s ethics board members are chosen.
Under the current rules, the five members on the Clifton Park Ethics Board are nominated by members of the Town Board. The Town Board then votes to approve the ethics board nominations, and unanimous support is required before a three-year ethics board term is approved.
With just one “no” vote, the decision to fill any Clifton Park ethics vacancy goes to the Saratoga County Board of Ethics.
Now, with a Democratic majority on the Clifton Park Town Board for the first time in three decades, members have proposed changing the way the town’s ethics members are chosen. Democratic Town Board member Zabed Manir was elected in 2023.
“Every Ethics Board member has to be nominated by anonymous votes within the Town Board. If, by any chance, if we cannot reach a conclusion with a unanimous vote the county makes the decision on who is going to be ethics board member,” said Manir.
Manir says the town’s ethics board, which investigates any instances of official misconduct, among other responsibilities, needs to be chosen by local leaders. He introduced a resolution to schedule a public hearing to consider amendments to the Town Code.
“Any ethics board member, which is the town board’s business, should be elected or selected by the town board majority,” said Manir.
Manir’s proposed changes would give the members of the ethics board the power to elect their own chair – a move that also currently requires unanimous approval? -- and remove the requirement for unanimous approval for new members.
“Basically, my point is very simple, it’s any decision which is town business should be made by the town’s legislative body instead of the decision being made by the county. Therefore, people elected us to make a decision and work on the legislative issues and I believe a majority—we are a democratic body, and therefore we should be run by majority vote,” said Manir.
Republican Town Supervisor Phil Barrett, who has served on the Town Board since 2001 and has led the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors since 2024, did not respond to WAMC's requests for comment.
In January, Barrett announced he would not be seeking reelection, and in a blog post emphasized the decision was not influenced by Democratic gains in Clifton Park.
The public hearing for the proposed code amendments is set for February 24.
