As Judge Mark H. Fandrich sorts out whether a private citizen (Terry Wasilenko of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness - NAMI) can be subpoenaed to testify before the county's Ethics Board - this might be the best time for Auburn to look at its own dormant Ethics Board. For more than 16 years, the board has been without members and inactive.

The last time the city's Ethics Board was active was during the controversial handling of a review of the actions of former City Engineer Michael O'Neill in the early 1990s. At that time the toothless board was unable to subpoena witnesses nor did it have a rigid time line to make decisions. City officials were asked over and over to again fix the flawed structure and did nothing. A reform effort that followed couldn't get a majority of the city council's support and the last three mayors (one Democrat and two Republicans) did nothing, not making appointments to the three-member board nor trying to fix its shortcomings.

While Cayuga County's Ethics Board is far from perfect and may have made some questionable decisions in the past - at least it exists. Under the city's current rules the mayor can make appointments to the board. He should, but only after some changes are made to the current set up. First and foremost, like the Auburn Industrial Development Authority, the mayor should name a chair and members, but the city council should consent to their appointments.

It is also time for the city to revamp the board's powers and give it the ability to really investigate allegations of wrong doing. That includes the power to compel employees to testify under oath and provide documentation when subpoenaed. At the same time, city officials and employees have to be protected from long, drawn out investigations (as was the case with the former city engineer.) There needs to be a time line for conducting reviews and submitting their findings to the appropriate superiors (whether it is the mayor and council or the city manager.)

What may make this the best time to appoint new members and to fix its significant shortfalls is that there seems to be no pending issues that might drive decisions of who is appointed and what powers they get.

The city should have an Ethics Board that the public can have faith in, that will look into allegations, do it with a process that is fair and honest and that employees have faith in as being one that gives them due process protections and the right to not be the targets of malicious witch hunts. A delicate balance - but something that the mayor and the city council should strive for.

Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be contacted at cozguytho@aol.com