Ethics probe comes to a close

State Ethics Commission investigators recommended no further action against a Smith Township supervisor who investigators said returned payments from the township to his family’s auto repair business, as long as he complies with an agreement he reached with state investigators.
In an order announced Tuesday, the commission found Supervisor Timothy Green breached the state Ethics Act by “regularly reviewing/approving” invoices from Green’s Road and Towing Services Inc.; signing checks from the township to the company and voting on monthly lists of bills and payments that included disbursements to the business between January 2014 and June 2016.
In its March 31 order, the commission said it would take no further action against Green as long as he complies with terms including not accepting any further reimbursement from the township in connection with the money he repaid.
Green conceded he “did wrong” and wasn’t aware of the requirements of the law at the time.
“You learn from your mistakes,” Green said. “If I would have known, I would never have done that.”
According to the commission’s 23-page final adjudication and order, the Greens’ business was one of three the township paid for vehicle repairs between January 2014, when Green became a supervisor, and July 1, 2016, when supervisors adopted a formal policy for selecting vendors to repair township vehicles at a special meeting after the commission initiated its investigation.
During the first 2 1/2 years of his tenure, Green voted to approve monthly bill payments that included ones to Green’s Road and Towing on 30 occasions.
The township paid the business a total of $13,175 during that period. Of that amount, Green, as township secretary, personally signed 25 checks totaling $12,361 for work by the company.
Of those checks, investigators said Green signed 15 after an auditing firm flagged his actions as a potential conflict of interest in a February 2015 audit report, and initialed his approval on three invoices from the company following the report.
Following the July 2016 special meeting, which Green didn’t attend, he submitted two checks totaling the full $13,175 from the family business to cover parts and labor. The township later reimbursed the business for $9,396 in parts the company installed on its vehicles during that time.
The commission’s order also requires Green to correct discrepancies on ethics forms he submitted to the township for 2014 and 2015 “to the extent he has not already done so.” Green said he was planning to submit amended forms this week.