State AG subpoenas county on Sandy

Dan Glaun

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office has issued subpoenas to seven Nassau County agencies, including the office of County Executive Edward Mangano, in an ongoing probe of debris-removal contracts issued during the cleanup from Hurricane Sandy.

The subpoenas, disclosed to Newsday by unnamed county officials and confirmed by County Executive spokesperson Brian Nevin, also target the county Legislature, the clerk of the Legislature, purchasing, public works, the county Legislature’s office of budget review and the office of Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos.

“We look forward to working with the attorney general. All administrators have been directed to assist the attorney general with his inquiry,” Nevin said to Newsday,

“The Attorney General’s office was here a couple of weeks ago and we were cooperative with them then,” said Maragos spokesperson Jostyn Hernandez. “And we plan on continuing to be cooperative with his investigation.”

The investigation is centered on Looks Great Services, according to Newsday – a debris removal firm which received nearly $70 million in county contracts after Sandy, and which has been the subject of criticism from Democrats who allege that improper billing may have occurred. 

Maragos’ office announced that it had completed its latest audit of Looks Great billings, and that it had notified the Attorney General’s office and the Nassau District Attorney’s office of its review prior to approving the payout of a pending $11.9 million invoice.

“Prior to releasing this payment, as an added safeguard of taxpayer money, I have requested that the DA and the AG be given notice of the pending payment and requested to be  advised within 30 days if they have any reason to hold this payment due to their ongoing investigations,” Maragos said in a statement. “The payment has met all the requirements for full reimbursement by FEMA to the county. Under the current contract, the county must make payment in a timely manner if all of the obligations have been met by the vendor.”

Democrats seized on the Looks Great payments in the months following the storm, saying that the Mangano administration was not being fiscally accountable.

Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) said in an April press release that the nearly $70 million contract had never appeared before the finance committee, and accused Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) of preventing Maragos from appearing for questioning before the Legislature.

“It’s been over six months since Superstorm Sandy devastated Nassau County, and while hundreds of millions of dollars has flowed in to help rebuild our county and the lives of our residents, today we are left with more questions than answers about the work conducted by the Mangano administration. Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves has refused our repeated requests for a public hearing into the clean-up process and how the federal aid we received has been spent,” said Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead) in a May 13 press release. “We commend the effort by other officials to investigate the procurement and payment of Sandy contractors hired by the county. However, it would be an abdication of our responsibility as legislators to refuse to hold a public hearing and get answers to these questions, especially since the limited answers we have received from Mangano administration officials has proven to be factually incorrect and misleading.”

Republicans have said that the payments were appropriate, and that the billing of Looks Great was vindicated by an Office of Legislative Budget Review memo that was “not meant as an endorsement or criticism of the FEMA funding and approval process in totality” but noted that the comptrollers office welcomed the review.

“While a few of the legislators on the Democratic side of the aisle have spent the last few months making unfounded and irresponsible allegations, I hope that this report will end the political circus,” Maragos said in a press release. “We have, since day one, diligently reviewed all Superstorm Sandy claims for proper supporting documentation and compliance with the stringent standards of FEMA for full reimbursement. This review released by OLBR confirms my office’s professionalism and strict protection of taxpayer money.”

Looks Great Services spokesperson Dave Arnold defended the company’s work to Newsday.

“As one of the only firms that won its contract with the county through competitive bidding, Looks Great fully supports the attorney general’s inquiry,” said Arnold. “Since he is interested in investigating pay-to-play, we encourage him to investigate the trade unions and their political beneficiaries, who routinely compel taxpayers to shoulder the costs of contracts that far exceed Looks Great’s competitive rates.”

Looks Great was also targeted by Nassau Democratic leader Jay Jacobs in February, as part of a series of allegations of campaign finance law violations against the Mangano campaign. Looks Great Services contributed $10,745 to Mangano’s campaign account in 2012, above the legal $5,000 annual limit for corporations.

In addition to the state attorney general, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division are conducting investigations into public spending during recovery from Sandy, according to Newsday.

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