Disqualifying Conflict of Interest

Disqualifying Conflict of Interest

The Yorktown Chamber of Commerce does not belong in the debate business. It never did. Nor would any organization with 3 active candidates on its board, all from the same party.

The ethical conflict is glaring, obvious and undeniable. The good faith of the Chamber's proposed debate moderators or other Chamber personnel is not in question, but also not relevant. Because no amount of good intentions suffice to cure the transparent conflict of interest.

Judges who know a party recuse themselves from that case. Jurors who might have an interest in a matter do not sit. Former Attorney General Sessions famously recused himself from supervising Mr. Mueller's investigation.

These types of recusals are routine, standard ethical practice. These officials do not remove themselves because they are incapable of being fair or because they intend to be unfair. Their good intentions are not relevant. They step aside because sound ethical standards demand it.

It is true that the Chamber has historically run Yorktown debates. It is also true that this practice is an extraordinary outlier in the county. Yorktown's Chamber is the only one in northern Westchester involved in debates.

The League of Women Voters sponsors, manages and moderates the debates in virtually every other neighboring community. They are a universally recognized neutral arbiter. They employ internal standards and procedures that ensure fair debates.

The Chamber should remove and recuse itself from the debate question. That is the right thing to do. And the Republican party needs to step up now and join with us to organize a League of Women Voters run and moderated debate.

We have provided Republican leadership with the League's contact information for that purpose. We await their response. The voters of Yorktown deserve a debate process that is above reproach and in keeping with the standards of surrounding communities.

Elliot Krowe & Ron Stokes

Co-Chairs, Yorktown Democratic Committee