just another politician who has forgotten jerry bossert and ny const art 1 sec 3
open the curch of nassau otb just like the ny lottery every day of the year ditto for slot machines
see ny const art 1 sec 3
Curran's executive order bars release of personal employee data
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
Kevin McCaffrey, Suffolk legislator, wins back Teamsters local presidency in revote
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Long Island Business News
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Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
Suffolk County Legislator Kevin McCaffrey speaks beside Legislator Robert Trotta during a press conference at the William Rogers Legislature Building in Hauppauge Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015. Photo Credit: Barry Sloan
Kevin McCaffrey won back the presidency of his Teamsters union local, regaining the $106,000 union post that he had lost in November following cuts to members’ pensions.
McCaffrey, minority leader of the Suffolk County Legislature, retook the position as head of Teamsters Local 707 in Nassau County by a vote of 525-455, according to ballots opened Wednesday. The election was rerun because ambulance company employees originally did not get their ballots.
Local president John Kelder, the president who had beaten McCaffrey by six votes in November, said he would challenge the revote.
“There were plenty of irregularities,” Kelder said. “We’re appealing the decision and we expect to persevere.”
McCaffrey called Kelder and his slate of candidates “desperate people.”
Steve Lucas, a retired trucker from West Babylon who had his pension cut, has criticized McCaffrey for working both the Teamster positions and legislative job.
McCaffrey, a Lindenhurst Republican, said he uses union vacation time when he attends legislative meetings.
“I’ve been balancing it for the last two years. I think I do a good job. The fact that I’m a legislator brings something to the table,” McCaffrey said.
David Schwartz covers Suffolk government and politics. A native Long Islander, he's worked at Newsday since 2013.
The measure aims to prevent outside groups from "luring" workers from unions and follows last month's Supreme Court ruling that labor leaders said could weaken union membership.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, in Mineola on Wednesday, displays the executive order she signed that will protect the personal information of public employees. Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran signed an executive order Wednesday barring county workers from releasing personal employee data, a measure aimed at preventing outside groups from “luring” workers from unions after a Supreme Court ruling in June that labor leaders said could weaken union membership.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, struck down a 1977 law that requires nonunion employees to pay fees to the union that represents their interests during collective bargaining negotiations. The decision in Janus v. AFSCME said unions could not collect fees from workers without their consent.
Curran’s order bars the release of public employees’ home addresses, personal cell or telephone numbers, as well as personal email addresses. However, the executive order does not apply to “work-related publicly available information,” such as an employee’s title, salary and dates of employment.
The executive order is aimed at shielding employees from anti-union groups’ efforts at “dividing and conquering, from poaching workers, luring them away from unions . . . with the higher aim of weakening the unions,” Curran, a Democrat, said during a news conference outside a county building in Mineola.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, and Westchester County Executive George Latimer, all Democrats, have signed similar executive orders since the Janus decision.
County Comptroller Jack Schnirman said employees “should be able to live and work in an environment free of harassment from those who wish to tear apart the bonds of labor.”
John Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor, called the executive order an “important step in protecting the rights of working men and women of the labor movement.”
Conservative groups have dismissed the executive order, noting that under the state’s Freedom of Information law, workers’ home addresses and personal phone numbers cannot be disclosed.
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