Can he hold 2 posts?
At issue: Can a village of Scotia official have a Glenville board seat?
A Scotia official’s candidacy for Glenville Town Board is questioned./
With Election Day looming, a debate largely split along party lines has emerged around village Public Works Superintendent Andrew Kohout’s bid for a seat on the Glenville Town Board.
Kohout, a Democrat is running with Eric Buskirk against Republicans Gina Wierzbowski, an incumbent, and Jim Martin, who has previously ser ved on the board. Incumbent John Pytlovany is retiring.
Republicans hold a 3-2 majority on the Town Board, but next month’s election outcome could change that.
Glenville Republicans contend it ’s a blatant conf lict of interest for Kohout to be employed by the village and at the same time serve on the Town Board, and that the village code of ethics and standards makes that clear.
Glenville Supervisor Chris Koetzle, a Republican, and others also cite a 1985 Attorney General’s informal opinion under the heading ‘Highway Law’ that states a person may not
ser ve simultaneously as a town board member and as a highway superintendent of a village in that town.
There’s also a similarly worded 1989 opinion on the matter.
Kohut insists those documents don’t apply to his situation because he ser ves as Scotia’s public works superintendent and not its highway superintendent.
He instead pointed to an informal opinion by the attorney general’s of fice in 1977 that he asserts says there is nothing incompatible “per se between the two of fices of town councilman and village superintendent of public works of a village ly ing within the town” stemming from a case in Moreau and South Glens Falls.
Koetzle said “the village law is what Andrew should be held accountable to” not a 42-yearold opinion that was subsequently reversed.
Scotia Village Attorney Lydia Marola said there is no conf lict of interest.
“The superintendent in our village is an employee, not an elected of f icia l, so it ’s not a question of dual of fice holding,” she said, adding that even if he had been elected, he would not be precluded from running for Town Board. “He doesn’t have, in the village, the abilit y to enter into contracts or make decisions on issues that would impact the town.”
Koetzle disag rees with that assessment.
He recalled leng thy contract negotiations in Fire District 4, located in Glenville that town