all she need do is look at Suffolk OTB closing on Roman Catholic Palm Sunday in preference to Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday and Palm Sunday. There are no Greeks in Suffolk and she can't read NY Const. Art. 1,Sec 3.
If she wants to see conflict of interest she can go down the hall and talk to Kevin McCaffrey who represents citizens of Suffolk at the same time he purports to represent Nassau County wokers at OTB as he is President of Teamsters Local 707 which collects money from Nassau workers simply because it can. Politicians, lawyers, real estate salesman. Better to look for pure used motor oil?
Bellone to end move to change double-dipping law
Photo credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr. | Suffolk
County Executive Steve Bellone talks about his just-released county
budget at his office in the Dennision Buiding in Hauppauge. (Sept. 20,
2013)
Bellone announces Suffolk County jobs website
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone
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Blog: The Spin Cycle
Suffolk County salaries
Legis.-elect Monica Martinez (D-Brentwood), who stands to earn a potential combined salary of $215,000 next year, said Friday that she has asked Democratic County Executive Steve Bellone to pull his bid to tweak the law that, as written, appears to restrict Suffolk elected officials from holding any other taxpayer-funded job but teacher.
Deputy County Executive Jon Schneider said Friday that the administration will honor Martinez's request to withdraw its bill seeking to address the county's ban on dual public pay.
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"Legislator-elect Martinez has requested an opinion from the Board of Ethics and she'll abide by that opinion," Schneider said. "I think it's clear now that she's not asking for any special treatment."
The controversial bill -- tailored to let Martinez keep her job as an assistant principal at a middle school after taking county office in January -- was set for a public hearing at Tuesday's legislature meeting.
"I never asked for a resolution to clarify this law, and I am requesting the resolution be withdrawn because it has created the appearance that the law is being changed," Martinez said. "This could not be further from the truth."
Martinez said she has sought a formal opinion from Suffolk's ethics board, but she believes that the 2011 county law in question exempts any school, library or fire district employee, and not just teachers or professors.
She pointed to the definition of "teacher" in state education code, which includes "all full-time members of the teaching and supervisory staff of each school district," including "principals," and noted previous comments from the county's legislative counsel, George Nolan, who stated that the double-dipping law isn't meant to apply to schools.
As an administrator at East Middle School in Brentwood, Martinez earns $117,000 a year. She will earn $98,260 annually as a legislator. Regardless of how the ethics board rules, Martinez said she plans on taking a leave of absence from her school job as of June 30, meaning she would earn less than the potential total of $215,000.
But if the ethics board rules that Martinez is in violation of county law, she said she will take an immediate leave of absence and also sue to challenge the county law as "unconstitutional and improperly written."
Legis. John M. Kennedy Jr. (R-Nesconset), who has criticized Martinez's claims that she can provide sufficient attention to both full-time public roles, said that "people should be enraged" over her stance. "It's extremely disappointing that this is the level one individual would [take to] enter the position of legislator," he said.
With Bellone's support, Martinez was elected last month to represent the 9th Legislative District in Islip. The sister of a close Bellone ally, she ousted longtime Legis. Rick Montano, a Democrat often critical of the Bellone administration.
Long Island Business News
Suffolk, Nassau OTB probe ethics conflict
by David Winzelberg
Published: November 24th, 2013
At least one employee of Nassau County Off-Track Betting is questioning whether the head of his employee union, a member-elect of the Suffolk County Legislature, should have a say in Suffolk OTB business.
Teamsters Local 707 President
Kevin McCaffery, whose union represents about 200 Nassau OTB workers,
was elected earlier this month to serve as a Suffolk legislator
representing the 14th District. In a letter last week, Nassau OTB
cashier Jackson Leeds alerted the Suffolk County Ethics Board to
McCaffery’s possible conflict of interest.
“As a Suffolk County legislator, his duties are to the people of
Suffolk County,” Leeds wrote. “He cannot simultaneously represent the
interests of employees of Nassau OTB, a Nassau County public benefit
corporation.”
McCaffery told LIBN he doesn’t think the two counties’ OTBs are in
competition with each other and he doesn’t see his role as union leader
for Nassau OTB workers as a conflict with issues surrounding Suffolk
OTB.
“If anything, I have the background of dealing with Nassau OTB, which
gives me more insight on the subject than any other legislator out
there,” McCaffery said.
When asked if the legislator-elect’s union job appeared to be a
conflict of interest, Nassau OTB chief Joseph Cairo said, “If you
really want to stretch it. But I don’t see anything that’s apparent to
me.”
Cairo added that he’ll instruct the Nassau agency’s counsel to review the situation.
Leeds, a 10-year veteran of Nassau OTB, complained that both union
officials and county OTB management have been too focused on the 1,000
video lottery terminals planned for each county’s OTB and they’re not
paying enough attention to current operations.
“They never worked behind a window,” Leeds told LIBN. “They’re out of touch with the bettors of Nassau County.”
Internet wagering and dwindling handles – the overall money being
wagered – have prompted a consolidation in Nassau OTB’s operations in
recent years; there were 15 betting offices in Nassau in 2003, and now
there are eight. Suffolk OTB, which has seven branch offices, filed for
bankruptcy last year.
These days, according to some analysts, OTB offices exist largely for
political patronage – another reason, according to Leeds, that the
Nassau union chief shouldn’t mix one business with the other.
“Union leaders should not be politicians,” he said. “OTBs are run by
politicians. Being political and doing public good aren’t always
incompatible, but they often are.”
This isn’t the first time a Long Island legislator’s OTB ties have become an issue.
In May 2000, Gregory Peterson, then-president of the Nassau OTB, sued
to prevent Nassau County Leg. Roger Corbin from voting on appointments
to the Nassau OTB’s board of directors. Because Corbin was employed as
a branch manager for New York City OTB and a member of Teamsters Local
858, which then represented all employees of Nassau OTB, Peterson
alleged Corbin’s legislative role posed a conflict of interest.
A New York Supreme Court judge issued an injunction preventing Corbin
from voting on OTB appointments, but Corbin appealed and the lower
court’s decision was reversed. The Nassau County Board of Ethics also
chimed in, determining by a 3-2 vote that voting on OTB appointments
didn’t create a conflict because Corbin didn’t influence policy or
engage in labor negotiations.
With McCaffery, some observers say it’s best to proceed with caution.
Anthony Figliola, vice president of Uniondale-based government relations firm Empire Government Strategies, said the legislator-elect may want to recuse himself
from any votes concerning Suffolk OTB until the Suffolk County Ethics Board offers an opinion.
“OTB is a political football,” Figliola said. “It’s better to stay out
of it, especially if you want to get things done in the Legislature.”
David Winzelberg
Reporter
631.913.4247
917.796.1801
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