Manorhaven Mayor Calls For Ethics Law Update For Public Office

MANORHAVEN, NY – Manorhaven Village officials are calling for updates to the ethics law regarding eligibility requirements for public office.

At a work session Thursday night, Mayor Jim Avena read a statement regarding efforts to change the Village's ethics law and code of conduct.

"We need more stringent disclosure requirements in order to increase transparency in Village government," Avena said.

Avena said he is looking at changing the Village Code by local law in order to ensure that convicted felons are not allowed to hold office in the village without the public being aware of their records. Avena also recommended amending the code and policy to make sure criminal background checks are conducted before anyone is appointed to any public board in the village.

"I recently discovered certain public records indicating that a former candidate for Village Trustee had a felony conviction in the State of Florida," Avena said.

In his comments, Avena said he had recently become aware that Walter Peters was convicted of child abuse/neglect. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, the offense occurred in 2000 and Peters was sentenced to three years and six months in November 2003. According to state records, Peters was incarcerated from November 2003 to January 2006.

Peters was on the Sept. 15 village election ticket with mayoral candidate Vincent Costa, who ran as a part of the Manorhaven Liberty Party, which has expressed concerns about development in the area, including what it sees as over-development and an inequitable favoring of builders over neighbors.

"Mr. Peters is welcome to prove to me that it is not the same person if he disagrees," Avena said in his comments.