{"id":15227,"date":"2022-04-29T02:01:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T02:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/?p=15227"},"modified":"2022-04-29T02:01:11","modified_gmt":"2022-04-29T02:01:11","slug":"calls-for-ethics-investigation-into-myrick-ripple-through-council-former-mayor-denies-wrong-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/?p=15227","title":{"rendered":"Calls for ethics investigation into Myrick ripple through Council; former mayor denies wrong-doing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>ITHACA, N.Y. \u2014 City of Ithaca Alderperson Cynthia Brock announced that she has asked the Tompkins County Ethics Advisory Board to investigate former Mayor Svante Myrick\u2019s role in payments made by a \u201cthird-party entity\u201d to Eric Rosario and Karen Yearwood, among other points of inquiry. Rosario and Yearwood were co-leaders of the Reimagining Public Safety (RPS) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ithacavoice.com\/2022\/03\/city-introduces-long-awaited-plans-for-department-of-community-safety-in-sweeping-recommendations-report\/\" rel=\"noopener\">working group tasked with providing recommendations on how to develop and implement the new Department of Community Safety and other major reforms of the plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The request by Brock is currently being reviewed by Tompkins County Attorney Bill Troy, who told <em>The Ithaca Voice<\/em> that he is reviewing whether the county\u2019s Ethics Advisory Board \u2014 which is chaired by Tompkins County Legislator Rich John \u2014 has jurisdiction on the matter, before forming a recommendation to the board to exercise their authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The statement from Troy stands in contrast to a claim that Brock made that \u201cTompkins County indeed agrees that there is likely an ethics violation here, and will be initiating the ethics advisory board to review this situation,\u201d regarding Myrick on a host of allegations.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n<aside id=\"newspack-ads-widget-8\" class=\"widget_newspack-ads-widget clearfix\" \/><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI did not form an opinion one way or the other at that point,\u201d said Troy.<\/p>\n<p>Former Mayor Svante Myrick said he would be glad to cooperate with any ethics investigation into the Reimagining Public Safety process, but that he had not been contacted by either Common Council members or anyone from the Tompkins County Ethics Advisory Board about the matter as of Thursday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>A tainted process?<\/h2>\n<p>Brock\u2019s comments came on Wednesday, during the discussion of a resolution before Ithaca\u2019s City Administration Committee which would move the city to pay Rosario and Yearwood each $10,000 for their effort leading the 15 member group during the nine-month Reimagining process that has most prominently produced, at this point, the plan to restructure the Ithaca Police Department under the Department of Community Safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The payments had been promised to the two co-leaders by Myrick verbally at the start of their work in 2021. The existence of a contract or written agreement dating prior to February 2022, close to when the working group\u2019s work had finished, appears nonexistent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There was a strong discussion at Wednesday\u2019s meeting on the value that Rosario and Yearwood provided to city in the form of their service, and the importance of compensating that work. The proposed city payments of $10,000 to Rosario and Yearwood each would go against the practice Ithaca has set in not paying volunteer work within its government, such as the volunteers on city commissions, or the planning board.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n<aside id=\"newspack-ads-widget-10\" class=\"widget_newspack-ads-widget clearfix\" \/><\/aside>\n<p>But, adding additional confusion to the situation, the payments were revealed to have nearly been fulfilled without the approval of Common Council during the City Administration Committee meeting. The contract for the payments had apparently been signed by members of the City Comptroller and Attorney\u2019s offices, and would have been processed if not for City Administration Chair Robert Gesualdo Cantelmo noticing that the payments were supposed to hinge on the approval of the Common Council.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t aware of where those funds had been authorized from and I reached out to city staff to learn more about this,\u201d Cantelmo told <em>The Voice,<\/em> \u201cAnd it became clear that not only were the contracts sent to me prior to funding being released from restricted contingency, but that there were other irregularities and improper procedures involved in the overall work of the working group.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/RGC1282021.jpeg?ssl=1\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"i-amphtml-intrinsic-sizer\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyBoZWlnaHQ9IjY0NCIgd2lkdGg9IjU1MCIgeG1sbnM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzIwMDAvc3ZnIiB2ZXJzaW9uPSIxLjEiLz4=\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/RGC1282021.jpeg?resize=550%2C644&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"644\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/RGC1282021.jpeg?resize=771%2C904&amp;ssl=1 771w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/RGC1282021.jpeg?resize=336%2C394&amp;ssl=1 336w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/RGC1282021.jpeg?resize=768%2C900&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/RGC1282021.jpeg?resize=400%2C469&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/RGC1282021.jpeg?resize=427%2C500&amp;ssl=1 427w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/RGC1282021.jpeg?resize=85%2C100&amp;ssl=1 85w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/RGC1282021.jpeg?w=981&amp;ssl=1 981w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Fifth Ward Alderperson Rob Cantelmo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Near the start of the discussion surrounding this resolution on Wednesday, it was revealed that it had become shared knowledge among the councilors on the committee, and Acting Mayor Laura Lewis, that \u201cthird-party entities\u201d had made payments to Rosario, Yearwood, and other members of the working group, to a total of $35,000, without the knowledge of common council. Whether the council did know or not, these direct payments to volunteer working group members is a violation of the city\u2019s ethics policies.<\/p>\n<p>Myrick disputed the notion that the payments for the working group co-leads was improper, or that accepting the work of the Center for Policing Equity free of charge inherently tainted the process.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cYou can compensate people for work they did for the city, and you can accept pro bono work for the city,\u201d Myrick said. \u201cBoth are appropriate. [\u2026] This was a big enough lift, and Karen and Eric both have day jobs that this would take away from, and I thought it made sense to give them a stipend, and I still do.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n<aside id=\"newspack-ads-widget-11\" class=\"widget_newspack-ads-widget clearfix\" \/><\/aside>\n<p>Further, Myrick disputed that an expenditure of that size \u2014 $10,000 for each working group co-lead \u2014 does not necessarily have to come before Common Council. He said he agreed to the payments with Yearwood and Rosario at the very beginning of the working group process last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019d never go to Council for something like that, ever,\u201d Myrick said. \u201cIf we did, every meeting would be \u2018We need new tires for the firetruck.\u2019\u201d Myrick said as he understood it, decisions involving less than $30,000 could be made administratively, while anything involving money larger than that had to be approved by council.<\/p>\n<p>Both Rosario and Yearwood were unable to immediately respond to a request for comment or interview.<\/p>\n<p>Rosario supplied the following comment to <em>The Ithaca Voice<\/em>: \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t throw out the baby with the bathwater: we should learn from this experience how this could have been done better, and continue to explore how the City can support community members asked to donate their time and share from their lived experiences alongside City employees paid to do so.\u00a0 It\u2019s unfortunate that this is distracting from the hard work done to improve and strengthen public safety for our community, especially those who are most marginalized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yearwood commented to<em> The Voice<\/em>: \u201cAs we continue to Reimagine Public Safety, I\u2019d like us to refocus on the recommendations for the Department of Community Safety and changes we need as a community and a nation.\u00a0 Our working group members worked on this initiative based on our lived experience with integrity.\u00a0 When asked to be a working group member of the City\u2019s Reimagine Public Safety initiative, the only expectation was time commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n<aside id=\"newspack-ads-widget-14\" class=\"widget_newspack-ads-widget clearfix\" \/><\/aside>\n<h2>The scope of the investigation request<\/h2>\n<p>Brock has emerged as the harshest and most vocal critic on Common Council over the lack of transparency and potential conflicts of interest within the RPS process, as well as part of the proposed reforms as well.<\/p>\n<p>Brock is asking for an investigation into Myrick on a number of fronts: on the point of promising city funds to compensate Rosario and Yearwood; potentially soliciting funds from third parties to pay working group members; and soliciting donations in the form of services from the Center of Policing Equity.<\/p>\n<p>The working group relied heavily on donated work and expertise from the Center for Policing Equity CPE, which remained a major but largely uninterrogated figure throughout the duration of the formation, adoption, and early developments of RPS. The non-profit research center is based at Yale University and is dedicated to addressing and improving social and racial disparities within policing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Among other services, the working group utilized data analysis from CPE\u2019s contractor, Matrix Consulting, rather than through a competitive process, as <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ithacavoice.com\/2022\/04\/op-ed-we-should-do-better\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Alderperson Cynthia Brock wrote in an op-ed<\/a>. She has stressed that this \u201cgift\u201d was not adequately reviewed for potential conflicts of interest, or potential ulterior agenda CPE might have in trying to remold Ithaca\u2019s police department, constituting a failure of the city to process this favor.<\/p>\n<p>Brock has also asked for Myrick to be investigated regarding a period of time she said the former mayor was serving in both the role of Mayor of Ithaca and as a paid employee of People for the American Way \u2014 though his employment with PFAW, starting in 2017 as part of the Youth Elected Official program, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ithacavoice.com\/2017\/01\/ithaca-mayor-svante-myrick-appointed-director-within-people-american-way\/\" rel=\"noopener\">was disclosed publicly when it began<\/a>. Brock alleges a potential ethics violation during this supposed period of time when she alleges Myrick may have been raising funds to lobby in support of RPS.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-5    \">\n<aside id=\"newspack-ads-widget-13\" class=\"widget_newspack-ads-widget clearfix\" \/><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThe very legislation that he had put forward as mayor for us to consider,\u201d Brock said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cynthia_brock.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"i-amphtml-intrinsic-sizer\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyBoZWlnaHQ9IjUxNCIgd2lkdGg9Ijc3MSIgeG1sbnM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzIwMDAvc3ZnIiB2ZXJzaW9uPSIxLjEiLz4=\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cynthia_brock.jpg?resize=771%2C514&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cynthia_brock.jpg?resize=771%2C514&amp;ssl=1 771w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cynthia_brock.jpg?resize=336%2C224&amp;ssl=1 336w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cynthia_brock.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cynthia_brock.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cynthia_brock.jpg?resize=750%2C500&amp;ssl=1 750w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cynthia_brock.jpg?w=1560&amp;ssl=1 1560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/cynthia_brock.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>First Ward Alderperson Cynthia Brock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Wednesday, Brock repeated her support for the tenants of RPS, but condemned the third party payments, saying it \u201cundermines the integrity of the entire process,\u201d a criticism she has leveled before, though less formally. She has asked Lewis to initiate an investigation into the \u201cinternal controls\u201d of city government to identify where the government \u201cfailed\u201d to properly check the grievances that had been evidenced.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, this line of criticism was echoed by Cantelmo, Jeffrey Barken, and George McGonigal who now openly support the investigations Brock is calling for.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Not all Common Council members have been reached in order to gauge their support for investigating Myrick on the points Brock has been pushing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>The third party payments<\/h2>\n<p>Common Council as a whole was made aware of the existence of these payments on April 3, via a mass email from Acting Mayor Laura Lewis in response to a set of inquiries posed by Brock. The email was also sent to the whole of the Tompkins County Legislature, Sheriff Derek Osborne, District Attorney Matt Van Houten, Ithaca Police Department Chief John Joly among other staff and officials from the city and county.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-6    \">\n<aside id=\"newspack-ads-widget-12\" class=\"widget_newspack-ads-widget clearfix\" \/><\/aside>\n<p>According to Lewis\u2019 email, Rosario and Yearwood received $10,000 each from the Park Foundation, working group members were eligible to claim a $2,000 stipend, and subcommittee members were eligible to claim a $500 stipend. City and county employees were ineligible to receive funds \u2014 Yearwood and Rosario are neither city nor county employees.<\/p>\n<p>The third party organizations which the funds came from are the Park Foundation, which supplied $20,000 to the working group through the Dorothy Cotton Institute. An additional $15,000 was supplied to working group members by the Dorothy Cotton Institute.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"i-amphtml-intrinsic-sizer\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyBoZWlnaHQ9IjUxNCIgd2lkdGg9Ijc3MSIgeG1sbnM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzIwMDAvc3ZnIiB2ZXJzaW9uPSIxLjEiLz4=\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058.jpg?resize=771%2C514&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?resize=771%2C514&amp;ssl=1 771w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?resize=336%2C224&amp;ssl=1 336w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?resize=1568%2C1045&amp;ssl=1 1568w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MG_7058-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Laura Lewis speaks with members of the public in Ithaca\u2019s Press Bay Alley after announcing her campaign to fill a one year term as Mayor of the City of Ithaca. (03\/10\/2022) <span class=\"image-credit\"><span class=\"credit-label-wrapper\">Credit:<\/span> Jimmy Jordan \/ The Ithaca Voice<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While the matter of compensating working group leaders with funds from city coffers\u00a0 could have been remedied by passing a resolution through committee, then onto Common Council for approval, the notion of doing so was on-the-whole deemed inappropriate by the City Administration Committee on Wednesday, considering that third party funds had come into the pockets of Rosario and Yearwood, and other working group members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCouncil is being asked to consider the contract payments against the backdrop of other improper conduct,\u201d said committee chair Cantelmo. \u201cCouncil has learned that members of the working group, including the co-leads, were paid by a third party organization, and in my reading this is a violation of city policy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Myrick said he thinks the call for an ethics investigation is a distraction by Brock, who he labeled as an opponent of the proposal to restructure the Ithaca Police Department, and that it would be a disservice if the allegations served to stop or alter the progress on police reform locally.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-7    \">\n<aside id=\"newspack-ads-widget-15\" class=\"widget_newspack-ads-widget clearfix\" \/>\n<aside id=\"newspack-ads-widget-17\" class=\"widget_newspack-ads-widget clearfix\" \/><\/aside>\n<p>As for the involvement of the Dorothy Cotton Institute and the Park Foundation, Myrick said those donations were made to defray the costs of the payments to the co-leads of the Working Group.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The resolution to pay both Rosario and Yearwood $10,000 with city funds failed to pass 4 \u2013 1 in the City Administration Committee, with Alderperson Ducson Nguyen voting in favor.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a comment to<em> The Voice<\/em>, Nguyen wrote, \u201cI think it would have benefited the former mayor and all of us to be more open and transparent about the decisions to hire CPE and get funding, because the goals were laudable: pay volunteers for their time, including the non-council\/non-city employee members of the working group. I don\u2019t think we need an ethics investigation to acknowledge and understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u201cIt\u2019s all a bullsh*t distraction.\u201d<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"i-amphtml-intrinsic-sizer\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyBoZWlnaHQ9IjUxNCIgd2lkdGg9Ijc3MSIgeG1sbnM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzIwMDAvc3ZnIiB2ZXJzaW9uPSIxLjEiLz4=\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"771\" height=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675.jpg?resize=771%2C514&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?resize=771%2C514&amp;ssl=1 771w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?resize=336%2C224&amp;ssl=1 336w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?resize=1568%2C1045&amp;ssl=1 1568w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ithacavoice.s3.amazonaws.com\/ithacavoice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20210722_2675-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>(Photo by Dominick Recckio)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The improper transfer of funds raised concern among counselors that the perception of the working group\u2019s intentions, and of RPS at large, would be compromised. Transparency has been a difficult issue for the group, since its status makes it exempt from open meetings laws, as well as inner documents and communications that can be gained through New York State\u2019s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). It\u2019s a double-edged sword, affording privacy for group members to speak openly about their experiences around law enforcement, while keeping the public guessing as to what occurred behind closed doors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fourth Ward Alderperson Jorge Defendini said on Wednesday he was concerned about how the optics of these payments will legitimize unfair criticisms of the RPS process as a, \u201cconspiratorial process when that\u2019s not what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-8    \">\n<aside id=\"newspack-ads-widget-16\" class=\"widget_newspack-ads-widget clearfix\" \/><\/aside>\n<p>Cantelmo said, \u201cI think that the procedural errors in [the RPS] process don\u2019t diminish the need for responding to issues that our community members have highlighted, and the need to really scrutinize how we can improve public safety in our community. I really sort of urge that people weigh whatever policy is discussed on its own merits against the improper conduct that may have occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alderperson Jeffrey Barken said he thinks that the whole RPS process needs to be \u201cunraveled\u201d due to a lack of transparency from the onset of it. Barken said that moving forward with the payments from the City for Rosario and Yearwood would only \u201cvalidate public concerns about the process\u201d of RPS.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout doing our due diligence and investigating this thoroughly just speaks to the idea of ramming this through without real consideration for all that we should seek to preserve in the way that our precedents have aligned over the past,\u201d said Barken.<\/p>\n<p>During the meeting, Lewis did not speak to her leaning on launching an investigation, nor directly to the third party funds that had been distributed. Lewis was unable to immediately respond to a request for comment or interview.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis said on Wednesday, \u201cI\u2019m interested in us moving forward, not ignoring the issues with how this came about, but moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Myrick said he is willing to participate in any reviewer investigation, but reiterated that he doesn\u2019t feel it\u2019s necessary and that the complaints are being made in bad faith\u2014along with the misguided claims that the process abolishes the Ithaca Police Department, fueled by the Ithaca Police Benevolent Association.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t feel like I need to [defend the process],\u201d Myrick said. He expressed that he views the objections in the ethics report as invalid. \u201cThe process was fine and the report is great. If they had any substantive arguments with the report, they would be making them. [\u2026] It\u2019s all a bullsh*t distraction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-secondary-background-color has-background\"><em>Ithaca Voice Managing Editor Matt Butler Contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/ithacavoice.com\/2022\/04\/calls-for-ethics-investigation-into-myrick-ripple-through-council-former-mayor-denies-wrong-doing\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ITHACA, N.Y. \u2014 City of Ithaca Alderperson Cynthia Brock announced that she has asked the Tompkins County Ethics Advisory Board to investigate former Mayor Svante Myrick\u2019s role in payments made by a \u201cthird-party entity\u201d to Eric Rosario and Karen Yearwood, among other points of inquiry. Rosario and Yearwood were co-leaders of the Reimagining Public Safety [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[45],"tags":[376,6080,6332,5255,5630,1456,7670,265,7671],"class_list":["post-15227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ripple","tag-calls","tag-council","tag-denies","tag-ethics","tag-investigation","tag-mayor","tag-myrick","tag-ripple","tag-wrongdoing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ithaca_City_Hall-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15229,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15227\/revisions\/15229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}