End Gas Conflicts, Otsego 2000 Asks Chairman, Powers

Both Stand To Benefit, Dillingham Says


By JIM KEVLIN : COOPERSTOWN

The chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives and the chairman of its Gas Advisory Committee stand to benefit from natural-gas leases, and that is a conflict of interest, Otsego 2000 has declared.
In a Feb. 7 letter to chairman Sam Dubben, R-Middlefield, Otsego 2000 President Nicole Dillingham write, “Many have been aware that you have leased your lands for gas drilling.  Repeatedly you promised to address your conflict through a transparent process.  This has not yet occurred.”
Further, the letter continues, county Rep. Jim Powers, R-South New Berlin, who Dubben named to chair the Gas Advisory Committee, “told me that he had placed his land in a coalition currently negotiating to lease lands for gas drilling.”
Dillingham said Powers also told her he intends to invite lawyers representing the Unatego Area Landowners Association to brief the county board, and “that he intended to vote pro-drilling on all matters before the committee.”
Contacted Tuesday, Feb. 8, Dubben said he has referred Dillingham’s letter to County Attorney Ellen Coccoma for guidance on how to proceed.
“I have a lease and I disclosed that,” he said, adding, “To my knowledge, Jim Powers does not have a lease ... I’m not sure that being a member of a landowners coalition is a problem.”
In her letter, Dillingham said that since Dubben “personally stood to benefit financially” from gas drilling he should “fully and publicly disclose his conflict and consult the county attorney with respect to the application of the county Rules of Ethics.
“Mr. Powers told me he had no intention of doing so as ‘everyone knows how I stand on this issue.’”
Dillingham asks that the Gas Advisory Committee chair be appointed by someone “whose does not have a conflict of interest on this issue,” an apparent reference to Dubben.
“And we ask that all members of the Board of Representatives disclose once and for all whether they have any financial interest with respect to gas drilling in our county.”
The county board was scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, and Dubben said the matter might be discussed as soon as then.