KINGSTON, NY – Kingston, N.Y., Mayor James Sottile has stuck to his pledge to give written permission to employees who take home vehicles, an act he says was required under a rule adopted by the Common Council more than 30 years ago, according to the Daily Freeman newspaper. Sottile also said that a majority of those who take home city vehicles had approved contracts allowing them to do it, and that his permission for those employees was virtually unnecessary.

Earlier this month, some city officials had called for a policy should be developed after it was reported that Sottile had allowed his son, Jamie, a member of the Mayor’s Task Force, to take home a city pickup truck. The mayor then produced a Common Council resolution adopted in 1972 that he said gave him the power to decide who gets a take home vehicle. But the resolution also required the mayor to give his permission in written form, something Sottile had not done.

Sottile said he had given permission to 23 employees to take home city vehicles. Fourteen are employed in the police department.

Sottile said that there is a “strong possibility” that he will continue to allow for task force workers to take vehicles home according to the Daily Freeman report. Sottile said task force members are called out on matters that need quick attention, and noted that the pickup truck in question was previously damaged while parked in city lot.