Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos and Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman exchanged verbal barbs over the past week after Kaiman sent Maragos financial records for the Clinton G. Martin Park District in New Hyde Park last week.
Maragos called Kaiman’s submission of financial documents to his office last week a “stunt,” while Kaiman called the county’s continued efforts to audit the records “a political show.”
The park district’s financial records have been the focus of a legal battle between the Republican county comptroller and the Democratic town supervisor since Kaiman resisted Maragos’s efforts to audit the financial records two years ago. The town filed a lawsuit against Maragos, lost the first two rounds and is now filing a second appeal in the New York State Court of Appeals as the rhetoric between the two sides heats up.
“Not only do the documents presented by the town not address our subpoena, but the town submitted a letter indicating it will not participate in any formal audit by the comptroller’s office,” Maragos said. “This stunt continues the town’s pattern of failing to comply with the unanimous decisions by two state courts upholding the comptroller’s subpoena and power to conduct a formal audit of both the park district and the town. A political stunt, such as the photographing of a submission of documents, is exactly what our residents are tired of. We expect to conduct a formal audit once the latest appeal by the town is resolved in court.”
A letter from Kaiman accompanying the documents said he found Maragos’s accusation that the town was “concealing” records “disturbing.” He said the town would make any records requested available on request, but repeated that the town “declined” to participate in an audit unless the state Court of Appeals directed it.
A letter from town attorney John Riordan accompanying the documents said the records the town was giving Maragos included minutes of all town board meetings regarding Clinton G. Martin Park from 1984 to 2010, the town’s lease agreement for a building at the park and financial statements for the park district for 2009 through 2011.
Maragos spokesman Jostyn Hernandez said the records were “incomplete.” He said what was missing included audited financial statements for fiscal 2009 and 2010, the current charter of the park district, and the park district’s current accounting policies and procedures, current procurement policies and procedures, cash receipts and disbursement journals and payroll registers from January 2009 to the present.
“All our financial statements are audited statements – independently audited. So that’s not true,” said Kaiman “If they want different records, we would turn them over in a day. God forbid they would pick up the phone and ask to see the documents.”
Kaiman repeated his contention that the case turns on whether the county has the right to audit financial records of the town or any of its subdivisions, such as special park districts. He has said the county has never audited any town and has pointed to a 1990 case when the Nassau County Supreme Court ruled the county lacked jurisdiction to audit the Inwood Fire District.
“The bottom line is, this is all part of political show. We don’t think this was ever about the Clinton G. Martin records,” Kaiman said.
The attempted Maragos audit was sparked by Lakeville Estates Civic Association President Marianna Wohlgemuth’s charges that the town was not current in its financial obligation on an annual $15,000 lease of a building at Clinton G. Martin. Kaiman had acknowledged the town had fallen behind on its payments during the administration of his predecessor, May Newburger, but maintains the town has now paid the park district what it owed.
Kaiman said he tried to make up the shortfall with a lump sum in-kind payment with construction of platform tennis courts several years ago for $80,000. He subsequently said the cost of the platform courts had mistakenly been charged to the park district, but said subsequent installation of propane tanks at the park district’s pool facilities for $65,000 had made up the difference and brought the town’s payments current.
Wohlgemuth said Kaiman should not allow private tennis lessons to be offered in Clinton G. Martin Park. Revisiting an allegation New Hyde Park Civic Association leader John McHugh made during a confrontation with Kaiman last week, Wohlgemuth said she doesn’t believe the town has the financial records the county comptroller’s office is seeking.
“The problem goes back to the beginning,” she said, referring to the lease agreement while Newburger was supervisor before Kaiman
Kaiman’s sudden announcement to reporters that he was sending the financial records to Maragos followed a heated argument between Kaiman and McHugh over the financial records during last week’s Tuesday night town board meeting.
McHugh questioned whether it could be verified that the town’s 30 percent share of fees from tennis lessons to be offered at Clinton G. Martin Park by a private firm would be retained by the park district as Kaiman promised.
“We for the past 12 years have been refused that information,” McHugh said of the park district’s financial records.
“That’s actually untrue. We’ve made those records public,” Kaiman told him.
Reacting to Maragos’s criticism about his release of the records, Kaiman said he thought it “pretty odd” that the Republican comptroller had attempted to obtain the records in an election year. Kaiman, a Democrat who said he was considering a challenge of Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, said he thought the move was not aimed at him personally, but was intended to have an impact on local elections in the town. He also said a court-sanctioned county audit of the town’s park district could have profound implications statewide.
“It’s a hell of a thing to say the county has authority over the town’s districts. It opens a Pandora’s box,” Kaiman said. “It’s more money, more time, more aggravation and more innuendo. It seems to me they’ d better off just doing a better job.”
