Glen Cove Councilwoman Urged To Quit Or Have Wife End Lawsuit

GLEN COV E, NY — A Glen Cove City Councilwoman — placed on notice for a conflict of interest last week — said she was asked to decide whether to resign or have her wife withdraw a lawsuit challenging a development approved by the city.

Silverman said that on Friday afternoon she received a letter signed by City of Glen Cove Mayor Timothy Tenke and the city council informing her that her wife’s lawsuit against the city creates a conflict of interest and her remaining on the council violates New York State General Municipal law. The letter went on to “direct” her to choose between resigning or having her wife, Roni Epstein, withdraw the lawsuit which challenges the city’s decision to approve the Livingston housing development, she said.

In the letter, which was provided to Patch, the city council cites state law and informs her that “no form of abstention, recusal, or disclosure can cure” the conflict of interest.

The council demanded inform its members whether she will be "resigning or otherwise arranging for discontinuation of the lawsuit" by 5 p.m. on Monday, according to the letter. "The undersigned parties reserve all the rights and remedies,” the letter concludes.

Silverman requested additional time to make her decision but was denied. She was informed in a follow-up communication that if she did not comply, there could be “further escalation of the issue," she said.

Silverman does not intend to resign her position or have Epstein withdraw her lawsuit.

Instead, Silverman called the city’s move a “strong-arming tactic” and said that she decided to air the matter out in public because it could have repercussions for constituents willing to assert their own rights in the public forum. “Any action taken that suppresses meaningful public participation is not supportive of a democratic society,” she said.

She made the allegations before a zoomed press conference during the blizzard on Monday.

In a statement released by the city’s public relations office, Mayor Tenke said Silverman was not given “an ultimatum to resign from the council or have her spouse withdraw her Article 78 petition.” Instead, Tenke offered that the city informed Councilwoman Silverman of her “prohibited conflict” of [New York State] General Municipal Law Article 18, and “gave her an opportunity to cure it, prior to the city incurring expenses.”

The city council agreed to hire outside council to represent them against Epstein’s lawsuit on Tuesday. They have not yet taken any action against Silverman, she said.

Silverman said that the city’s letter to her concerns a passage of state law prohibiting municipal officers and employees from having an interest in a contract with their municipality if they also have the authority to negotiate or approve the contracts, or audit payments on the contracts.

But Silverman says that is the not the case with her post on the city council because she has recused herself from discussions and votes concerning Epstein’s lawsuit in the past, which has satisfied her legal and ethical obligations. The city is “struggling to insist any legal proceeding — in this case a petition to review a Planning Board ruling — qualifies as a contract under this provision of state law,” Silverman said.

“It doesn’t require in-depth legal analysis to recognize this argument as nonsensical,” she said. “The First Amendment grants all of us the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. No section of state or city law and no oath of office surrenders that right.”