DECISION AND ORDER Petitioner The Board of Ethics of the City of Mount Vernon (“Petitioner” or the “Board”) brings this Petition to, in essence, compel the Respondent Mayor Richard Thomas, the Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon (“Respondent” or the “Mayor”) to pay a civil penalty of $5,000. The Board voted to impose such penalty upon Respondent in a meeting held on December 3, 2018 as a result of Respondent’s failure to cure what the Board had previously determined to be deficiencies in the 2017 Financial Disclosure Statement submitted by him to the Board.Factual and Procedural BackgroundThe pertinent facts as set forth by the Board in its Petition are straightforward and, in the main, not disputed. The Board was created pursuant to the Mount Vernon City Charter (the “City Charter”) and Section 808, et seq. of the New York State General Municipal Law. (The “GML”). Under the City Charter, one of the responsibilities of the Board is to “[r]eview completed financial disclosure statements” (City Charter §24-7 G(1)) required to be annually filed by several Mt. Vernon officials, including the Mayor. (See Charter §24-11(A) (1).On July 30, 2018, Respondent submitted his 2017 Financial Disclosure Statement (the “2017 Disclosure Statement”) through his then attorney, Randall W. Jackson, Esq. The Board proceeded to review the Disclosure Statement and determined that it was deficient in several respects. The Board then sent a letter to Mr. Jackson, dated September 14, 2018, in which the Board described the several alleged deficiencies in the Disclosure Statement, including the absence of any details concerning gifts and a loan Respondent listed as having received, rental income he had realized and the source of funds for a real estate purchase. The Board requested that additional information be provided within 15 days, and advised Mr. Jackson that “[t]he Mayor’s failure to fully disclose the requested information will constitute a violation of Sections 24-7 (H) and (J) [of the City Charter] and subject him to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 or he may be referred to the appropriate prosecutor for prosecution.” (The “September 14 Letter”, Pet. Exh. 2). Respondent’s attorneys — first Mr. Jackson then his successor as counsel to the Mayor, Benedict Kuehne, Esq. — each requested and received extensions of the Board’s deadline up to November 30, 2018. However, no amendment of or addition to the 2017 Disclosure Statement was ever submitted. Indeed, other than the request for extensions, no response to the September 14 Letter was ever made.On December 3, 2018, the Board met and “voted unanimously that Mayor Thomas had willfully refused to respond to the Board’s September 14, 2018 letter to correct the deficiencies in his 2017 Financial Disclosure Statement and imposed a civil penalty of $5,000 pursuant to City Charter Section 24-7(J).” (Pet. 19). By letter to Mr. Koehne dated December 17, 2018, the Board notified Respondent’s counsel of its action and advised him that Respondent “has thirty days to pay the penalty” imposed by the Board (the “Dec. 17 Letter”, Pet. Exh. 4). The penalty was not paid and has not been paid to date. On January 28, 2019, the Board voted to “seek the Court’s assistance in enforcing its civil penalty.” (Pet. 22). This Order to Show Cause and Petition followed. Respondent opposes the Petition by his Answer In Opposition to Petition, dated February 19, 2019 submitted by his attorney Douglas J. Martino, Esq. acting of counsel to another attorney of the Mayor’s, Michael J. Prizzi, Esq. The Answer indicates that Mr. Prizzi is seeking pro hoc vice status. In any event, Mr. Martino is, as far as the Court is aware, a member in good standing of the New York State bar and has appeared for Respondent.Respondent argues, in essence, that the language of the penalty section of the Charter (§24-7(J)) authorizes the imposition of a civil penalty only if there has been a complete and utter failure to file, or if a filing that was made contains a knowing and wilfully false statement. (Res. Ans.,
