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TOWN OF WEST SENECA CHAIRPERSON Michael Teager VICE CHAIRPERSON Kayla Leonard MEMBERS Theresa Funk West Seneca Anna Parkes Ethics Board December 31, 2025 Dear Town Board: Below is a brief summary of the Ethics Board’s work in 2025. I am pleased to note that the Town Board passed a revision to the Ethics Code at its June 23 meeting. The Ethics Board is grateful to the Town Board for its attention to and consideration of said revision this year. We on the Ethics Board believe the revision to be an improvement, and we thank the Town Board for its time on the matter. One outstanding item related to the above is the pending consideration of an updated disclosure form for contractors and vendors. Updating this document is what initially prompted our seeking to amend the Ethics Code in 2021, as a change to the form required a change to the code. While such a code change is no longer required after the 2025 Ethics Code revision, any update to the disclosure form is still subject to the Town Board’s approval (see §13-5 C). Our hope is that an official adoption and implementation of an updated form may alleviate confusion that accompanies the current form and related processes. Our reviewing and handling Individual financial disclosure forms for elected officials, appointees, and department heads continued without issue throughout 2025. In compliance with the training and educational requirements specified in the Ethics Code (§13-3 P), the board members completed a series of four webinars by the United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Institute for Ethics in Government on the subject of gifts. The series was initially presented as part of the 2014 National Government Ethics Summit on September 16-17, 2014. While this is a federal body with separate laws and jurisdiction, the content was illuminating and applicable to ethics practices broadly. The Town’s Ethics Code has its own clause regarding gifts (see §13-3 E), and a granular look at the various facets of same was deeply informative. The ~2.5-hr. webinar series included: a straightforward discussion of “gifts” as commonly understood; a focus on outside employment (particularly relevant to the Town with many part-time and volunteer positions); widely attended gatherings, from social functions to conferences and the like; and various possible exceptions to a gifting clause. Mr. Lawrence Kavanaugh, Jr. resigned from the board on October 28, 2025 after several years of dutiful service. His term was set to expire at the close of 2025. We thank him for all of his time and energy through the years. He was particularly helpful in crafting the proposed update to the contractor disclosure form. Page 184 of 201