Scranton council solicitor: Park lease appears to violate ethics code
But this leads to a question of whether the less-restrictive state ethics law trumps the city's ethics rules, said council solicitor
Councilman
Conflict of interest: A city employee shall not participate in negotiation or administration of any contract in which the employee has a financial or other interest.
Disclosure: An employee with any private financial interest in any business or transaction pending before any municipal authority or agency shall disclose such private interest to city council.
Use of public property: An employee shall not use any public property for personal benefit or profit.
Minora gave his legal opinion
"On the face of our code of ethics there are violations, and there are pre-emption problems," Minora said in a phone interview. "Whether our code of ethics is what we're governed by is another story." In other words, if state law pre-empts the city code, the matter essentially is moot.
The state Ethics Act says it's the baseline of ethics rules and any governmental body may adopt additional requirements. But if there are conflicts between the state code and any other statute, ordinance, regulation or rule, the state Ethics Act is the controlling law.
Efforts to contact Hinton were unsuccessful.
Citing Hinton's lease as a personnel matter, Mayor
"It's a personnel issue. I'll have to discuss it with our solicitor, so I can't comment," Courtright said in a phone interview.
After Gaughan raised the issue of ethics, Hinton amended his Statement of Financial Interests for 2017 to disclose the lease. Initially, Hinton checked a box on the ethics form saying he did not have any financial interest in any business. He had called it a minor omission, saying he didn't disclose the lease because the shop is not open.
The state ethics law forbids public officials or employees from entering into contracts with associated governmental entities, "unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process, including prior public notice and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and contracts awarded."
The authority followed an open public process regarding leasing the building to Hinton.
LIP director since 2014, Hinton previously said he asked the recreation board in 2014 or 2015 to consider his coffee shop idea. In
A 12-year lease executed in
Gaughan on
Hinton's coffee shop proposal to the recreation authority, provided to the newspaper by authority solicitor
"The building's location is ideal for a serene and peaceful escape," the proposal said. "Unlike other coffee shops, this cafe will embrace the park atmosphere and will be an exciting addition to not only the park and its visitors, but to the greenhouse, hospital and local colleges."
The former restroom building is in the southern part of
The yearly rent figure of
"I can't speak to the board members' evaluation of the market, but I know that the amount of money
Corbett also provided to the newspaper minutes of authority meetings. Minutes from the
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570-348-9100 x5185;
@jlockwoodTT on Twitter
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