At the Rye City Council meeting on Wednesday evening, Rye Mayor Josh Cohn is expected to advance a move to review the City’s Board of Ethics and related code. While the Mayor apparently believes he has the support to hire outside counsel to support the review, sources tell MyRye.com it is unlikely he has the votes to move ahead.
The Mayor is termed out and some see the move as the Mayor looking to vindicate himself and his allies before he departs the main stage at the end of this year. Back in early 2023, the Rye Board of Ethics found Mayor Josh Cohn and three city council members (Councilwoman Carolina Johnson, Councilwoman Julie Souza and Councilman Ben Stacks) violated the City’s Code of Ethics.
The violation centered around the city council’s emergency meeting on Monday, February 6th, 2023 that was called to protect trees on Turf Avenue, a property immediately adjacent to Mayor Josh Cohn’s home on 24 Green Avenue on Milton Point. Things kept getting uglier and in the summer of 2023, the Mayor filed suit against the Ethics Board. By the end of 2023, the Mayor’s voting block of four had dwindled – Ben Stacks resigned and Carolina Johnson pursued a last minute and unsuccessful write-in vote.
Now the Mayor’s only constant ally is Councilmember Souza. He would need two of the remaining five to support the review. Politics sometimes makes for strange bedfellows, but it is hard to see two among Cunningham, Henderson, Jensen, Nathan and Ward that are up for rehashing what many see as old wounds.
Agenda item #12 – after what could be a lengthy discussion on leaf blowers – is a “Resolution authorizing the Corporation Council to retain Steven G. Leventhal for legal assistance in reviewing the City Code of Ethics.” for an amount “not to exceed $10,000”.
Leventhal is a lawyer with Roslyn, Long Island firm Leventhal, Cursio, Mullaney & Sliney, LLP. He is a co-author and editor of the 2016 book Municipal Ethics in New York: A Primer for Attorneys and Public Officials, published by the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA).
