The Woodstock Ethics Board has found probable cause for violations of the town ethics law by town-board member Laura Ricci and former housing oversight task force co-chair Kirk Ritchey in complaints filed last year.
In response to a complaint filed by former Woodstock Environmental Commission chair Alex Bolotow, the ethics board concluded there was reasonable cause to believe Ricci violated ethics law by requesting to speak as a candidate at a WEC-sponsored Earth Day event and by participating in a disciplinary discussion regarding Bolotow given Ricci believed she was a victim of Bolotow’s alleged sexual harassment.
The ethics board said the violations it cited had not been intentional. It recommended additional training for town-board members in the ethics law.
Town supervisor Bill McKenna said Ricci had no authority at the disciplinary meeting and did not take part in a vote at the table. Bolotow has been at odds with the McKenna administration over its handling of contaminated fill dumped at 10 Church Road in Shady.
In a March 2023 email to town officials, Bolotow wrote, “We are not looking for vague assurances that the owner is expected to clean it up sometime in the spring. I expected to get boobs in the summer after eighth grade, and yet I am still waiting.”
That reference to a part of the female anatomy was brought up at a disciplinary hearing later that month.
According to Bolotow, McKenna and Ricci told her the “boobs” comment constituted sexual harassment. Bolotow objected to Ricci’s participation because Ricci said she was a victim of the alleged harassment.
Bolotow was given the opportunity to step down as chair. She refused. Later, Chris Compton was appointed chair. Compton died in autumn and was replaced by acting chair Erin Moran.
Bolotow claims she was fired as a result of the hearing.
McKenna disputes that account.
“I had never put her up in January to be to reappoint her as chair. The relationship was unworkable. And so I didn’t put somebody else up, but I didn’t put her up, either,” McKenna said. “So this idea that she got fired is just nonsense. The chair is for one year, and it’s well within the board’s right to switch it up.”
McKenna said issues with Bolotow were mounting. She refused to record WEC meetings and allegedly called McKenna “a fucking asshole” at some meetings.
Bolotow contends her replacement as chair was improper.
“Laura Ricci violated ethics law when she discussed, made a motion about, and voted on my replacement as WEC chair, leading to the appointment of an illegitimate chair,” Bolotow said. “Subsequently, FOILed documents show she colluded with that chair on matters pertaining to the illegal dump at 10 Church Road. In light of this, I am calling for Ms. Ricci to resign from the Woodstock Town Board, and I am calling for a full investigation into why the entire town board was not made aware of this ethics board determination as they are supposed to be.”
Ricci was not available for comment.
The Ritchie finding was far less colorful. The ethics board found reasonable cause to believe Kirk Ritchey had a conflict of interest because he served on the housing oversight task force and as executive director of the Woodstock Housing Alliance, a community land trust.
Ritchey said his role on both the task force and housing alliance was known from the beginning.
“The members of the task force were all chosen publicly and approved by the town board, actually. And those members were all affiliated with housing,” Ritchey said. “That’s why they were chosen. And I was on the housing committee at the time and co-chair of the housing committee, and so that was the reason why I was chosen, and all the other people as well. And that was fully transparent.”
Ritchey said the ethics board was aware of Ritchey’s roles since January because it was on his required ethics disclosure form. Ritchey noted they had known of the dual roles for nearly a year.
The ethics board said that was not enough.
“The law requires full recusal from both voting on and discussing a subject when there is a ‘reasonable appearance of a conflict of interest.’ We further note that is does not matter under the ethics law that the Woodstock Housing Alliance is a non-profit organization, or even that one can believe that the interests of the town and the Woodstock Housing Alliance are aligned,” the ethics board wrote.
Council member Bennet Ratcliff has alleged Ritchey and Judith Kerman have engaged in self-dealing because they served on the task force and were on the housing alliance board of directors.
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