The Nassau County Legislature’s Democratic caucus on Monday pledged to block $275 million in capital spending until the county further reforms its highly scrutinized contract process.
None of the seven Democratic Legislators will vote to approve the county’s 2016 capital budget until the Legislature creates a position for an independently appointed inspector general to oversee all county contracts, Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead) said.
“We need independent, fresh eyes as we go forward, and without that, this process continues to be flawed,” Abrahams said at a press conference in Mineola Monday.
The capital budget funds road, building, sewer, infrastructure and other improvements and requires 13 votes to pass the full Legislature. Without at least one Democrat on board, the 12-member Republican majority could not approve it.
About 90 percent of county contracts are tied to capital projects, Abrahams said, and Democrats say they don’t want such a large amount of public money going through the contract process without independent oversight.
Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) said the move is “almost like tough love as a parent.”
“If we continue to allow for these incredible amounts of money going to these projects without any type of reform, we’re enabling the process, and I think that’s what each and every one of us has a problem with,” she said.
District Attorney Madeline Singas recommended the county create an independent panel to hire an inspector general with the power to review and investigate any contract after her review of the county’s contracting system last year in the wake of former Republican state Sen. Dean Skelos’ indictment on corruption charges that involved a contract with Arizona-based AbTech Industries.
Democratic Legislators have introduced legislation to create the office.
But Mangano and Legislature Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) said the county’s Commissioner of Investigations and Director of Procurement Compliance — a position created upon the recommendation of a panel Mangano commissioned to review the contract system —- already fulfill the role an inspector general would have.
“(S)tonewalling the capital plan is reckless and unrelated to Nassau’s contracting process — which is the most transparent in the state,” Gonsalves said in a statement.
As commissioner of investigations, County Attorney Carnell Foskey has the same investigative power in Nassau as the state inspector general has on the state level, Mangano said in a March 2 letter to the Democratic caucus.
The county is still searching for the first procurement officer, who will oversee all county contracts and help prepare requests for proposals, Mangano’s letter said.
Officials were in the final stages of hiring Joseph LaRussa of Hauppauge to the position before he reportedly pulled out when asked about an inconsistency on his resume.
Former County Comptroller Alan Gurien is holding the position in the interim, Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin said in an email.
“The position of Commissioner of Investigations and Director of Procurement Compliance are two distinct positions with very different responsibilities: the first having full investigative authority; and the latter having oversight responsibilities,” Mangano said in the letter.
The Democratic Legislators said at Monday’s press conference the offices lacked independence because the county executive hired them.
Abrahams questioned Foskey directly at Monday’s meeting of the Legislature’s rules committee, asking whether he acts independently and how a problem in his office would be investigated if it involved himself.
Foskey acknowledged the commissioner can’t investigate himself, but said, “It has not occurred. When it occurs, we’ll deal with it in a manner that’s ethical and in a manner that’s consistent with the charter and consistent with the powers of the investigator.”
The Rules Committee also voted Monday to lower the threshold for legislative approval of personal service contracts from $25,000 to $1,000 a measure County Executive Edward Mangano proposed last week in an effort to improve contract transparency.
Under the law, the rules committee would have to approve all contracts worth $1,000 or more by a majority vote.
A Newsday review last year found the county executed hundreds of contracts below the $25,000 threshold, including many between $24,900 and $25,000.
Mangano called the measure “belt-and-suspenders transparency” in an interview with Newsday last week.
He has also reportedly started sending the Rules Committee all pending contracts to post on its agendas.
Democrats credited Mangano and GOP Legislators for the measure, but said they think their calls for contract reform over the past year pushed the step.
