Brian Sharp

@SharpRoc

Whether City Councilman Adam McFadden faces an ethical conflict in leading the Rochester Housing Authority will not be decided at least until Dec. 9, after the city's ethics board deliberated but tabled the matter Tuesday.

The question appears to hinge on what role the RHA executive director plays in setting salary increases for authority employees, which City Council then ratify, according to state law. Other interaction between Council and RHA is otherwise limited, both in the number and size of contracts, officials said.

City Council member Jackie Ortiz sought an advisory opinion from the ethics board in the wake of the RHA board's firing of now-former executive director Alex Castro and immediate appointment of McFadden last month.

In her request, Ortiz raised 11 points along with a procedural matter. The latter involved RHA board member Calvin Lee also serving on the ethics board. Citing the potential conflict, Lee recused himself from discussions on Tuesday.

Board members, acting on the advice of Brian Curran, the city's deputy corporation counsel, found that only four of the concerns that Ortiz raised fell within their authority. They found no conflict existed on three — a member of the city law department serving as an RHA board member, the wife of McFadden's legislative aide serving as an RHA board member, and an elected official leading a federally funded agency. For elected officials, the board found no blanket prohibition existed.

That left the question of whether a conflict exists for an elected official also leading RHA.

Board chairman Carl Steinbrenner phrased the matter as whether the interactions between the city and RHA, and more specifically City Council and RHA, are such that McFadden would be substantially impaired or limited in his Council role. And that led to the board wanting more information about the wage and salary matters.

McFadden, in his role as interim director, listed the need to settle the union contract as one of several to-do items when he spoke to the RHA board on Monday. When City Council last signed off on wage and salary increases for non-bargaining unit employees, meeting minutes note the adjustments were "as approved by the Board of Commissioners of the Rochester Housing Authority." Some ethics board members questioned whether salary matters were a board issue or a task of the executive director.

The board briefly considered deliberating in executive session, as matters involved potential ethical breaches by certain employees and city officers. They ultimately decided against it. Said board member James Antonevich: "Closed doors got us into this mess."

BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter.com/sharproc