In Wellington, Ethics have been put out to pasture

By Rhonda Swan

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wellington Mayor Bob Margolis and Village Councilor John Greene are thumbing their noses at the very ethics they campaigned to uphold.

Mr. Margolis said former Mayor Darell Bowen’s nonchalance toward a government contractor giving village employees gifts prompted him to challenge Mr. Bowen last year. “That really started my vision and my desire to return to council,” he said, “to clean it up.”

Soon after the election, Mr. Margolis accepted $6,500 in gifts from Victoria McCullough and Neil Hirsch, lobbyists who had business before the council, for his legal defense fund. So much for that “vision” to clean things up.

The Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics found probable cause that Mr. Margolis violated the county’s ethics code by accepting $4,000 from Ms. McCullough, but dismissed the complaint because he said he would return the money. The commission bought the dubious claim that Ms. McCullough’s July check was a replacement for one she wrote in March that would not have violated the code.

In fact, Mr. Margolis was a member of the Planning and Adjustment Board in March, and accepting a gift of more than $100 in that position violated the ethics code. Ms. McCullough’s attorney had lobbied the planning board. Also, why would Ms. McCullough write a check in March to a legal defense fund that Mr. Margolis didn’t set up until May?

Mr. Greene actually did get a $4,000 check from Ms. McCullough in March. The ethics commission cleared him because he had yet to be sworn in, and Ms. McCullough supposedly had yet to meet the definition of a lobbyist. Mr. Greene also was excused for accepting thousands of dollars in gifts from Mr. Hirsch because he allegedly had resigned as a director for the Wellington Equestrian Preservation Alliance. The alliance, which opposes an $80 million village project proposed by developer Mark Bellissimo, employs a lobbyist.

That project, and their disdain for it, unites the councilors, Ms. McCullough and Mr. Hirsch. The commission failed to note that Mr. Hirsch backdated his resignation, filed with the state in August, to June 8 — one day before Mr. Greene took his gifts.

“I just want to make sure that the council is doing their due diligence,” Mr Greene said as a candidate, “and disclosing their relationships.” Why, then, did he not disclose to the ethics commission that Ms. McCullough and Mr. Hirsch are board members of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Foundation when he sought an opinion on whether he could accept employment as a fund-raiser? Mr. Greene earns $5,125 per month plus bonuses for the nonprofit as a consultant. As board members, Ms. McCullough and Mr. Hirsch are his employers.

Mr. Greene did not respond to requests to disclose details about these relationships. Mr. Margolis also did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Greene promised “zero tolerance for unethical behavior” and backed Mr. Margolis because he “has the values that would restore some of that faith and public trust in government.” Residents and employees of the village would beg to differ. Sources tell us that Mr. Margolis, Mr. Greene and Matt Wilhite, the new council majority, get involved in personnel matters best left to the village manager and his department heads. Ethics? That’s so last year.

Rhonda Swan