The Cicero Police Department has run into a dead end in its investigation into who leaked to the press the advisory opinion of the Cicero Ethics Board calling Supervisor Jessica Zambrano’s relationship with the town engineer a conflict of interest.
After interviewing all parties and following up on all leads, Investigator James Meyers has no suspects and no further leads. Meyers conducted interviews with all members of the town board and all members of the ethics committee, as well as other individuals associated with the case. The Star-Review obtained copies of Meyers’ interview notes through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request.
Robert George, an attorney who lives on Lakeshore Road, brought a complaint against the supervisor at the Cicero Town Board’s April 9, 2014, meeting. George stated that Zambrano’s romantic relationship with Douglas Wickman, the senior principal for C&S Engineering and town engineer for the town of Cicero, constituted a conflict of interest. The two have been romantically involved since 2011 and share a residence within the town. Zambrano denied any impropriety, stating that she had cleared it with the town’s attorney and that she had already been absolved in the matter by a previous investigation. The matter was referred to the town’s board of ethics for an investigation. The board submitted its final word on the matter to the town board on Dec. 10, 2014.
At the Dec. 10 board meeting, town board member Mark Venesky distributed copies of the report in sealed envelopes to town board members Vern Conway, Michael Becallo and Tim Burtis. According to the board members, they entered into executive session after the meeting. Becallo suggested discussing the report. However, since not all of the board members had read the report yet, they chose to table it for the time being. Because the board did not adopt the report, it did not become part of the public record and the board was not under any obligation to release it. Under normal circumstances, members of the ethics committee could have released it of their own accord. However, under Cicero town law, committee members were bound by a confidentiality clause to keep the record secret.
The Star-Review filed a request for the board of ethics’ decision on Dec. 11 through FOIL, but the request was denied. However, a copy of the decision was mailed anonymously to Eagle Newspapers, as well as to other media outlets, later that week. According to the town board, because the board of ethics was bound by a confidentiality clause, the release of the document constituted a misdemeanor, sparking the police investigation.
Ethics Board Chairman William Bradley said the only one to have an electronic version of the document was Carl Putzer, attorney for the ethics board. The members of the ethics committee met at Putzer’s office on Dec. 10 to obtain hard copies of the report; Putzer also provided four copies in sealed envelopes to Mark Venesky at that time.
Two additional copies were given to ethics board member Robert Tomeny, who gave one to town clerk Tracy Cosilmon and one to Zambrano. Cosilmon then provided an electronic copy to town attorney Robert Germain, and Zambrano provided a copy, either by fax or by email, to her personal attorney, Robert Durr.
Initially, Cosilmon had several extra paper copies ready to go in anticipation of FOIL requests. But because the board didn’t adopt it, Cosilmon said she called Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, for advice.
“He advised me that the ethics report could not be sent out since the town of Cicero board had not made any decision on the report,” she said in her statement.
She shredded any additional physical copies she’d made.
In his report to Meyers, Bradley said Cosilmon called and said Councilor Michael Becallo had requested an electronic copy of the report.
“I advised Cosilmon that I would rather he not get an electronic copy,” Bradley said in the statement. “Tracey [sic] stated ‘I already did’ [give him a copy].”
Bradley said reporters were calling him about the report the next day.
All town board and ethics board members denied sending the decision to members of the media. Becallo retained attorney Andrew Pappas, who accompanied him during his interview with Meyers. Pappas said Becallo “was paranoid about the investigation as he feels like the outcast.” Becallo, too, denied releasing the report.
Ethics board member Robert Tomeny, former editor of the North Syracuse Star-News, told Eagle Newspapers that Venesky had accused him personally of releasing the report. However, he vehemently denied doing so.
Tomeny, who was interviewed twice by Meyers, said the committee was given “draft working copies” of the report, which was the only copy he had of the document. But Bradley told Meyers that wasn’t the case.
“There were absolutely no working copies of the ethics committee report,” he said in one of his two statements to Meyers. “The only printed document was the final report.”
Bradley also said Tomeny, had no authority to speak to the media.
“No member of the ethics committee was supposed to talk to the news media at all,” he told Meyers. “All contacts were to go through me as the chairman. This was made very clear to all of the committee.”
Tomeny gave no comments on the report after its anonymous release.
“I did not reveal any information to the news at all,” he told Meyers. “the reason I called the news was to tell them that we would be glad to talk with them after the report was released but [I] told them we could not give them any information prior to that.”
