Ethics board: DA candidates can't take police union money
ALBANY — The Suffolk County Board of Ethics said candidates for district attorney who accept campaign contributions from police unions are violating the county Code of Ethics in part because the prosecutors must investigate police misconduct cases, according to an opinion released Wednesday.
"Because the Suffolk County Code of Ethics is designed to foster public trust in government, the appearance of impropriety in organizational interaction and oversight of police conduct leads this board to determine that receipt of campaign contributions from an organization representing police or law enforcement agencies … is violative of the code," the ethics board stated. The decision was effective as of Feb. 16.
But the board wouldn't act on another question: Whether the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association violated election law by exceeding the $5,000 limit on campaign contributions from an incorporated entity.
The opinion of the board, which is made up of two Democrats, a Republican and a member not enrolled in a party, was prompted by Legis. Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), a retired Suffolk County police officer. He has argued that hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions over the last decade from the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association and its political action committee and super PAC are improper. He specifically questioned the PBA contributions to former Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini, a Democrat, in his 2021 campaign.
"An appearance of impropriety deals with public perception," said John Gross, counsel to the county Ethics Board. "The Board's advisory opinion instructs a candidate for district attorney, or an incumbent district attorney, that in the future acceptance of campaign contributions from a law enforcement union or a related political action committee creates an impermissible appearance of impropriety."
Future violations of the code could result in a $1,000 civil fine after a complaint process or a referral to the district attorney's office, which could prosecute the violation as a misdemeanor, according to the county ethics code.
The PBA and its political action committee contributed $14,900 to Sini in 2021 and $17,500 in 2020, according to state Board of Elections records. In 2020, Sini also received $1,000 each from the county Deputy Sheriffs PBA and the county Detective Investigators PBA.
On the broader question of whether the PBA contributions were improper, the board said it wouldn't determine whether Trotta was correct in arguing that the union is limited to $5,000 in campaign contributions per year. Trotta has cited state election law that restricts incorporated entities to $5,000 in annual contributions. Unlike many police unions, the Suffolk PBA is incorporated, which provides certain tax benefits.
The board found there is no "definitive determination" in either the courts or by the state Board of Elections that an incorporated union spending above the $5,000 level "violates or does not violate" election law.
The Ethics Board said it has referred Trotta’s concerns to the state attorney general’s office, the county district attorney’s office. the Internal Revenue Service, the state comptroller’s office and the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
The state Board of Elections said it hasn’t yet been asked for an opinion "and we typically don’t issue opinions unless formally asked for one," said spokesman John Conklin. "This is not an issue that we have given an opinion on previously."
In March 2021, Newsday reported that the Suffolk County PBA and its subsidiary agencies have become one of Long Island’s most powerful political forces by contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to campaigns. The recipients include district attorneys, mayors and county executives, including Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, who negotiate labor contracts with police.
Campaign spending limits are intended to curb outsized influence and political corruption among special interests. The union's influence extends to Albany by supporting candidates who opposed efforts, for example, to disclose disciplinary files of officers.
Neither Sini nor the PBA responded to requests for comment.
The Ethics Board’s decision included a footnote in which an attorney hired by the PBA argued that "contributions exceeding $5,000 are permissible based upon existing ‘practice.’"
"That’s like saying I can break into your house and if I never get caught, I can continue do it," Trotta said.
The ethics board stated that the "practice" appears to be permitted by the state if the sole purpose of the entity is for political fundraising, and the ethics board noted the PBA is engaged in far more services than fundraising for its members.
Trotta called the ethics decision is "groundbreaking."
"I just think that this is peeling back the onion," Trotta said in an interview. "Newsday has done stories on the inability of the county executive and police commissioner to discipline people."
The Republican who defeated Sini, former federal prosecutor Ray Tierney, didn’t receive any contribution from police unions.
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
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