read the hong kong herald & not

note the multiple positions of suffolk county legislator Kevin mccaffrey
newsday is selective

OPINIONEDITORIAL

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.”

Complete URL: http://libn.com/2013/11/24/suffolk-nassau-otb-probe-ethics-conflict/

David Winzelberg

Reporter

Long Island Business News

631.913.4247

917.796.1801

david.winzelberg@libn.com

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Trump administration's disrespect for the rule of law

Kellyanne Conway's breach adds to an ugly pattern.

President Donald Trump and Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, discuss the opioid epidemic at the White House June 12, 2019. Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images/Saul Loeb 

By The Editorial BoardJune 13, 2019 7:17 PM

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There is no doubt White House counselor Kellyanne Conway should be dismissed from her position because of her repeated violations of a federal law that bars all federal workers from engaging in political activity during work time.

There also is no doubt that will never happen.

That’s because it is abundantly clear that in Donald Trump’s White House, the law is not the law, anyone can be above it, adhering to it is optional, and there is no punishment for breaking it.

There is no ambiguity in Conway’s case. She violated the Hatch Act, an 80-year-old statute passed to stop Democrats from using federal workers in political campaigns. Only the president and the vice president are exempt, and many workers have lost their positions for not respecting the line between a public job and political activity.

Conway did so egregiously and repeatedly, despite several warnings from the permanent U.S. Office of the Special Counsel (not to be confused with those counsels named to investigate specific incidents, like Robert Mueller). Its head, Henry Kerner, a lifelong Republican, was appointed by Trump. Kerner documented numerous occasions when Conway used her post to bolster Trump’s reelection campaign, denigrate Democratic presidential contenders, and advocate for or against candidates for other offices — all bright-line violations. Kerner, who does not have the authority to remove Conway, requested that Trump dismiss her.

After a May warning from Kerner, Conway said, “Blah, blah, blah . . . Let me know when the jail sentence starts.” The White House incorrectly cast Kerner’s request as an attempt to stifle Conway’s free speech. Both responses demonstrate a contempt for the law. Ten other administration officials have been warned about Hatch Act violations. 

Separating governance from politics is essential to a functioning democracy. This administration’s disregard for that principle has rippled outward. During Trump visits to military facilities in Japan and Germany, service members wore patches with Trump’s likeness and the words “Make Aircrew Great Again,” sported actual “MAGA” campaign hats and hoisted a Trump campaign flag. Not only is this against military rules, it also undermines the military’s professionalism, which relies on its political neutrality.

The Conway controversy came the day after Trump demonstrated his own disdain for the law. The president told a TV interviewer that there is nothing wrong with accepting dirt on a political foe from a foreign government. In the context of Mueller’s findings about Russia helping Trump’s 2016 campaign, the remark was stunning if unsurprising. Worse, after his own FBI director, Christopher Wray, said the FBI should be contacted about such an offer, Trump said Wray was wrong.