Town board

Riverhead Town's ethics code, first adopted in 2004, has many gaping holes that allow questionable conduct to continue unabated, as we've seen repeatedly over the years. It's time to fix it.

Riverhead Town omitted a local church food pantry from its Community Development Block Grant funding application, with board members and community development department staff at odds over the request.

The proposed 3,000-square-foot, single-story home, to be built on a wooded one-acre lot, would house six residents, according to AHRC Suffolk.

The chief's new $180,792 base salary — which is up $13,000 since 2013— only tells part of the story of his compensation package. Other payments, many of which are tied to his base pay rate, boosted his regular earnings to more than $215,000 last year — before a $112,000 sick and vacation time "buy back" brought his total compensation to more than $327,620 for 2014.

The town board — and Supervisor Sean Walter in particular — got an earful Tuesday afternoon on a proposed ethics code amendment that critics said was motivated by retaliation against the Riverhead Republican party leader.

A Niles Rodgers summer music festival got a green light from the town board. Sonoma Grill made its case for a tavern permit, which would allow it to have music and dancing on the weekends. And flyboarding regulations were finally adopted after months of debate.

What's wrong with Riverhead Town Hall? Maybe the answer is in the paycheck and bennies. You pay a political job like a career instead of public service and you get career politicians, not public servants.

Groups request funding through town's 2015 Community Development Block Grant, town board approves monthly low-cost spay/neuter clinic at Pfeifer Center, agreement with Costco site developer, zoning and parking code changes and a bunch of special event permits for 2015.