Edison council revives township ethics board Six will serve on body that hears, investigates ethics complaints BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer EDISON - The township will have a fully staffed ethics board for the first time since the previous board disbanded about a decade ago. During the Township Council meeting on Dec. 12, the council unanimously passed a resolution officially forming the new ethics board. This six-person board will be composed of Robert Maurer of Monroe Avenue, James Lenox of Hidden Hollow Court, Thomas Pittarese of Chatsworth Court, Hugh Gordon of Dale Drive, Aimee Szilagyi of Rockoff Court, and Edward Graham of Beech Lane. According to Councilman Anthony Massaro, the board has three Democrats and three Republicans. The board will hear and evaluate formal ethics questions and complaints and, if deemed by the board to be relevant, will be able to make recommendations to the necessary township entities, whether it's the business administrator or the council. Councilman Robert Karabinchak said the board will not be a purely deliberative body - - it will also have the ability to launch investigations if deemed necessary. The position is volunteer - no members receive any compensation. During the Dec. 12 meeting, Massaro called the ethics board "something I've been advocating for more months than I'd care to count." He compared being on the ethics board with being a firefighter - members wait for something they hope will never come: a formal ethics complaint. Szilagyi, one of the newly appointed board members, said that people began interviewing for the board over the summer. The process consisted of interviews with the board, mostly about the candidate's background, in order to determine whether that person could be fair and make objective decisions. Szilagyi, who had run for council under the Republican ticket in the most recent election, said she was proud to serve on the board. "I feel honored that they chose me and feel that I can be a fair person, so I feel good about it," said Szilagyi. Councilman Robert Diehl, who headed the appointment subcommittee, said that many more people had expressed an interest in being on the board than were spaces available, a fact that greatly impressed him and other members of the council. "I was amazed at how much talent we have out there," said Councilman Sal Pizzi. The previous board had dissolved about 10 years ago. According to Pizzi, Trenton had intervened because the body was not using state standards for such entities. "I guess the structure was not," Pizzi paused and thought a moment before continuing, "legal … . The state found there was a flaw in the setup, so it deemed it, well, they weren't doing things right, or there was a flaw in the structure." Pizzi said he was not familiar with the specifics of the breakup of the last board, because it was before his tenure on the council. Massaro was more candid on the fate of the last ethics board, saying that it had become a "dysfunctional mess" by the time the state stepped in, "all prior to my time on the council." The problem, he said, was that the board had eventually become too politicized to function and had therefore lost its credibility. "In hindsight, it appeared as if the last committee had people who may have had a vested interest in serving on the committee, an agenda of sorts," said Massaro. During the meeting, council President Charles Tomaro agreed, stating that for that very reason, he had had strong reservations about the re-formation of the ethics board. "I had a very bad taste in my mouth from what happened to the last ethics board," said Tomaro, but noted that he was eventually won over by the course of the selection process. Massaro said several measures were taken to prevent the new board from repeating the past. One was the selection subcommittee specifically making sure no municipal employee was on the committee. Another was adopting the state standards, which the last board had failed to do. Finally, Massaro said that those selected were those who could generally be trusted not to have a political agenda. "The council members who recommended these six people to serve are quite sure none of them have a political agenda, and they all seem to be well-reasoned people," said Massaro. Tomaro asked residents to only turn serious complaints over to the ethics committee. "Make sure the complaints have some merit. … Don't waste these people's time," said Tomaro.