Politics & Government

Council Declines Valley Hospital Gift, Cites 'Terrible Timing'

Councilman Tom Riche personally pledged to find $8,150 to fund an updated emergency preparedness guide.

The funding for a new emergency preparedness guide won't be coming from Valley Hospital after council members determined it would violate the spirit of the "gift ordinance."

The last emergency preparedness guide was issued to citizens in 1999 but recent storm situations demonstrate a need for an update, Village Manager Ken Gabbert said Wednesday night. 

The hospital funded the current guide and agreed to do so once more. The booklet was proposed to be available online, with postcards sent to older residents to sign up for the e-notice system. Some books would be printed.

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But the request was pushed back, and came through just days after the hospital officially submitted plans for another proposed expansion at the planning board.

"Perhaps if this had come a little sooner and we didn't have an application in front of us it would have been a no-brainer," Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh said.

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The gift ordinance was first passed in 2008, stipulating that anyone in front of a board would have to wait 90 days after a ruling on the application before offering a gift. It was amended in 2010 to strip the 90 day provision; acceptance requires the council to pass a resolution on a case-by-case basis. 

(Noted philanthropist David Bolger was upset at the ordinance in 2010 and vowed to never again donate to the municipality.)

That mattered little to the council, who agreed that the spirit of the ordinances was clear – if you're appearing before a board with an application, the village won't accept your donation.

"I think the rule we have in terms of people making doantions who are making applications to the board is hard and fast and we shouldn't deviate from it," Councilman Tom Riche said. "I think it's that important. I will personally commit to doing whatever I possibly can to go out and find that $8,150 from other sources for the donation."

Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli doubted that accepting the gift would influence officials.

"I don't honestly think there is too much of a chance it would ever affect the outcome of the kind of application one way or another."

But like all four of his colleagues, the deputy mayor agreed even the appearance of influence would be a mistake.

"I think we should be clear to Valley we appreciate the offer and we're doing this out of an abundance of caution," he said.


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