Nassau County Attorney John Ciampoli called for a criminal investigation last week of the Nassau County Legislature’s Democratic Caucus, which he said pledged to block any borrowing for tax refunds until an agreement for legislative redistricting had been made.
Ciampoli, a Republican, requested Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice to look into what he classified as the Democratic legislators’ “criminal activity,” which was spawned from a letter to Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano from Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport).
In the Dec. 15, 2011 letter, Abrahams said Democrats “cannot in good conscience consider any borrowing requests until we arrive at a satisfactory resolution of legislative redistricting.”
The letter was signed by each member of the Democratic caucus.
During a press conference last Thursday, Ciampoli said such a request should have Democrats facing charges of coercion, official misconduct, bribery and obstruction of government administration.
“It is a crime for a public official to ask, as is done here in writing, for some personal gain or political advantage in return for an official act,” Ciampoli said.
Democratic Communications Director Mike Florio, speaking on behalf of his party’s caucus, said Ciampoli’s claims are without merit.
“Today’s press conference is nothing more than a desperate attempt to deflect attention from Mangano’s failure to fix assessment and balance the budget without reckless borrowing, which highlights just how much (Republicans) have mismanaged this county, “Florio said in a statement.
Mangano has requested for county lawmakers to authorize a $140 million bond to pay for tax refund settlements in favor of Nassau residents.
The county Legislature is scheduled to vote on the borrowing on May 7.
Although Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Legislature 10-9, three minority votes are needed to pass any requests for borrowing.
“This represents a rogue administration attempting to criminalize the legislative process and engage in political prosecutions, which have no place in American democracy,” Florio said.
Chris Munzing, a district attorney spokesman, declined comment on Ciampoli’s request.
“We are reviewing the allegations in Mr. Ciampoli’s letter to the Inspector General,” he said in an e-mail statement.
In addition to Ciampoli, acting state Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott has also asked Rice’s office to review the actions of the county Legislature’s Democrats.
Ciampoli said that Democrats’ requests for redistricting is illegal because it would benefit the lawmakers’ politically and financially.
“We are extremely disappointed that the minority’s conduct has degenerated to this level,” Ciampoli said in a statement. “In these tough economic times, it is necessary to put partisanship aside and for all of us to roll up our sleeves and join the county executive in implementing Nassau County’s plan for economic recovery.”
The statement said Mangano’s request for borrowing has been approved by Presiding Officer of the Legislature Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) and the Nassau Interim Finance Authority’s board of directors.
“This behavior must stop,” Ciampoli said. “The betrayal of the taxpayer money for political gain cannot be tolerated. It is time to do the people’s business.”
But, that is exactly what Florio said the county’s Democrats have been doing.
“Far from being illegal, it is the obligation of our legislators to defend the constitutional principle of one person one vote and we are proud to do so,” Florio said.
