A complaint filed with the city’s ethics board alleges that the hiring of a former alderman and Kingston Democratic Committee member to oversee pandemic recovery efforts is both a conflict of interest and a violation of state law governing the employment of state retirees in public service.

But Mayor Steve Noble said that hiring was done in full compliance with state law and city ethics codes.

Bill Reynolds represented the city’s Seventh Ward on the Common Council from 1994 to 2011 and spent 14 years as the council’s majority leader. Prior to his recent retirement, he spent 33 years employed by New York State, working in communications for agencies including the Office of the State Inspector General, the Department of Transportation and the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs.

Earlier this month, Noble announced that Reynolds had been hired as project manager to oversee the implementation of dozens of projects and programs funded through the city’s $17.3 million award under the American Rescue Plan Act. The job pays $70,000 per year and is expected to last for four years.

The complaint, filed by a person identifying themselves as Amber Mollica, claims that Reynolds’ hiring represents a conflict of interest under the city’s ethics code. Reynolds is a longtime member of the Kingston Democratic Committee. Noble won the committee’s endorsement in 2015 and went on to beat fellow Democrat and incumbent mayor Shayne Gallo in a primary. Noble secured the committee’s endorsement again in 2019 and has announced plans to seek a third four-year term next year. The city’s ethics code prohibits all city officials from using their post to provide a “personal financial benefit” to members of their families or households, outside employers, customers or clients of an outside business that they own. The conflict of interest section does not reference members of political committees to which the city official belongs or supports.

“I believe that Mr. Noble's appointment of Mr. Reynolds to this highly paid position is a violation of the code of ethics as Mr. Noble is giving Mr. Reynolds a job with the city in exchange for a personal benefit to Mr. Noble; that benefit is Mr. Reynolds' support for Mr. Noble’s next term as Mayor,” the complaint reads.

Mollica also alleges that Reynolds’ hiring violates a section of state law that limits government employment by retirees drawing state pensions. Under the law, state retirees who make more than $35,000 a year from government employment are subject to have their pensions garnished or suspended unless they obtain a special waiver. The so-called “Section 211” waiver is only granted if the employer can document that a “good faith effort” was made to find a non-retiree for the position.

But in an emailed response to Kingston Wire, Noble said that the Section 211 waiver isn’t needed since Reynolds, who started work this week, would not earn more than $70,000 in the current year. Noble added that next year he would seek the waiver and he expects it would be granted.

Noble also denied that Reynolds had been hired without conducting a thorough job search. The position, the mayor wrote, was advertised on the city’s website and social media, mentioned in Noble’s weekly newsletter several times, and posted on the website of the New York Financial Officers Association and the SUNY New Paltz Job Center.

The ethics board is expected to take up the complaint at a later date.