blood in the water, watch the sharks play golf with no transparency, accountability or anything else
nasssau county where crooks are king beating crookhave toen in suffolk county each and every time
Pols want Hempstead to give $131M in pandemic funding to Nassau to help local governtments play football
Long Island congressional representatives and state senators sent a letter to Hempstead Town Su
pervisor Don Clavin requesting the allocation of federal CARES Act funding to Nassau County to help local governments facing revenue shortfalls. Credit: Composite photo: Newsday
pervisor Don Clavin requesting the allocation of federal CARES Act funding to Nassau County to help local governments facing revenue shortfalls. Credit: Composite photo: Newsday
A group of Long Island congressional representatives and state senators is calling on the Town of Hempstead to turn over $131 million in federal grant funding to Nassau County and assist local villages with expenses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first statement by Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City), Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans) released Friday called on the Town of Hempstead to share its federal CARES Act funding with Nassau County.
Hempstead Town throws caution to the wind
Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald Clavin on Nov. 6, 2019 in Garden City. The town board voted 7-0 to approve $617,000 in new hires, $70,000 in promotions and $83,200 in raises in March amid the coronavirus-initiated economic shutdown. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Unemployment is spiking at a record pace, revenues are falling at every level of government as unplanned spending grows, and in the Town of Hempstead, $770,000 worth of hirings, employee raises and promotions have been approved.
Are these moves irresponsible? They certainly seem to lack in both caution, with so much economic uncertainty, and messaging, as Hempstead’s taxpayers face firings and furloughs, pay cuts and shuttered businesses in their own lives.
Supervisor Donald Clavin argues the town can afford it, thanks to buyouts earlier in the year that will save, Clavin said, more than $3 million, and trims in his own office he said save $1 million a year.
At a brief meeting held in an empty auditorium and streamed via Facebook Live on March 31, the town board voted 7-0 to approve $617,000 in new hires, $70,000 in promotions and $83,200 in raises. Clavin says the hires are needed, the promotions deserved, the raises a reflection of work already being done. If these moves could be justified, why was such a controverisal action taken at the height of coronavirus fears when residents were distracted and unable to express an opposing view?
The town is likely to face both revenue challenges, as income from taxes and fees drop, and expenses incurred by reacting to an unprecedented public health challenge mount.
It’s easy enough for Clavin to say the town can afford the spending. Now he’ll have to prove it.
— The editorial board lacks nanes, dates, title, numbers, details, etc and beer from claure rose
Clavin says 'boogeyman of
Nassau GOP' does not exist without indictments, convictions, & exhaustion of all appeals & writs of habeas corpus?
Newly elected Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin said on Jan. 14 he is focused on fulfilling campaign
promises, and noted he has already checked one of the list: cutting the budget of the supervisor’s office by half.
Credit: Barry Sloan; File Footage Danielle Silverman / Photo Credit: Kendall Rodriguez
promises, and noted he has already checked one of the list: cutting the budget of the supervisor’s office by half.
Credit: Barry Sloan; File Footage Danielle Silverman / Photo Credit: Kendall Rodriguez
Newly elected Supervisor Don Clavin said he envisions an end to the political rancor that rocked Hempstead Town Hall in recent years, but he offered few specifics about his positions on some key issues in an interview shortly after
taking office in January.
taking office in January.
The Town of Hempstead received $133 million last week through the $2 trillion
CARES Act to cover any non-budgeted COVID-19 related expenses through Dec. 30.
Nassau GOP chair intends to collect
fat paychecks for 3 jobs
On the heels of pay-to-play corruption scandals that have tarnished the Long Island GOP, the Nassau County Republic Party has elected a one-time disbarred lawyer to be its new leader — and the retirement-age politico intends to collect fat paychecks from three different jobs simultaneously.
Joseph Cairo, 72, the new chairman of the Nassau County Republican Party, is also head of the Nassau County Off-Track Betting Corporation. He’s paid $198,000 at OTB.
The long-time No. 2 to former Nassau GOP boss Joe Mondello had his law license yanked in the 1990s for misusing client funds. His license was reinstated and the politically-connected lawyer now has an established law practice, GOP sources said.
He also has not ruled out collecting a third paycheck from the Nassau GOP.
Mondello, his predecessor, made more than $250,000 last year as GOP boss, and pulled in $1.5 million from his private law practice and real estate investments, records filed with the government show.
At one time, Mondello also simultaneously headed the Nassau GOP and OTB.
Cairo’s law office is in Valley Stream, his OTB’s corporate office is in Mineola and Nassau GOP headquarters is in Westbury.
A Post reporter found him at GOP headquarters.
Cairo said he was not relinquishing his OTB executive job or suspending his law practice after taking the reins of the GOP.
“I’ve been at OTB. This is a crucial time at OTB with possibly sports gambling coming so we’re deeply involved with that there now,” Cairo said.
“This is a political position. My attorneys tell me there is no conflict and I think having a position in a political party is such that it’s been done in the past by people on both sides of the aisle. And I think it’s currently done, too, in some other counties — their elected officials are also party chairmen,” he said.
But watchdogs have long complained that allowing people to simultaneously hold top positions in government and party leadership opens the door to conflicts of interests and potential corruption.
“It’s business as usual. This is an example of the rotten political system in Nassau County,” said George Marlin, who formerly served on the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority, a state agency set up to monitor the county’s shaky finances.
Marlin said the multiple paid gigs for Cairo is remarkable, especially after the Nassau Republicans lost the county executive’s race and the Town of Hempstead supervisor’s race last year amid concerns over corruption.
“They’ve learned nothing,” Marlin said. “They don’t care.”
Cairo chalked up the suspension of his law license to a mistake from the distant past.
“I think that’s something that happened — it was earlier than ‘95, that’s 25 years ago, and I think people who know me know the type of person I am,” he said.
With that, Cairo grabbed a suit jacket from a parked black Cadillac before jumping into the passenger seat of a Jaguar driven by a friend.
Cairo is right about one thing. On Long Island particularly, politicians
simultaneously collecting hefty paychecks from top government and political party posts is a time-honored tradition.
simultaneously collecting hefty paychecks from top government and political party posts is a time-honored tradition.
The Post reported last week that Rich Schaffer is drawing down a combined $350,000 from three paychecks as head of the Suffolk County Democratic Party, as the full-time Town of Babylon Supervisor and from a law practice that includes representing plumbing contractors.
But Long Island Democrats have their scandals, too.
Gerard Terry, the former North Hempstead Democratic Party chairman, was convicted of tax evasion for failing to report his income that included payments from legal services provided to eight different local government agencies.
New Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, a Democrat who won the election on anti-corruption platform last year, passed executive orders barring county government officials from holding party positions or from accepting gifts.
New York City has a law that bars top government officials from serving as party bosses, following the municipal corruption scandals of the 1980s.
Hempstead was the only town to receive funding, based on its 800,000 population, which is more than half Nassau County’s population of 1.3 million.
Nassau County received $103 million in federal funding to support county operations including Nassau County police and emergency services, the Department of Health, corrections and the county morgue. The county’s funding does not address Oyster Bay and North Hempstead towns, which did not receive federal grants.
“The situation in Nassau County remains dire — there are still countless communities across Long Island that desperately need additional resources,” the representatives said. “We’re pleased that the Town of Hempstead has received funding through the CARES Act, but given that the county has spearheaded the response and incurred the largest share of related costs, we feel strongly that the Town’s funding should be made available to both the County as well as the Town’s municipalities, who have been most affected by this crisis.”
Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin said he is talking with Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and village mayors about what treasury guidelines allow. He held a Zoom conference call with village mayors last week to discuss how funding can be used.
So far, the town has distributed $2 million to the Long Island Cares food bank, but town officials are seeking federal guidance from elected officials and the treasury department on how money can be used.
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“The county executive and I are working together for the betterment of all residents,” Clavin said. “I think the money sent to the town was meant to give assistance to all Hempstead Town residents and my colleagues at all levels of government. There are restrictions. There will be a clawback if any unapproved expense is submitted, and the town and the villages will be on the hook for that.”
A second letter sent last week to Clavin that was signed by Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach), Sen. John Brooks (D-Seaford), Sen. Kevin Thomas (D-
Levittown) and Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck) asked to assist the town’s 22 villages with rising expenses in emergency services, police, water services and sanitation. The grant funding cannot be used for lost budget revenue, and many villages are reporting millions in losses.
Levittown) and Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck) asked to assist the town’s 22 villages with rising expenses in emergency services, police, water services and sanitation. The grant funding cannot be used for lost budget revenue, and many villages are reporting millions in losses.
“Village mayors are concerned that their expenditures during this period, coupled with the rising decrease in revenue, will leave them in a dire financial situation and may lead to raising taxes on the hardworking residents,” the senators' letter said. “You have the power and the means to significantly alleviate their burden, and we would like to work with you to accomplish that goal.”
Mayors in Freeport and Rockville Centre said police have had to work overtime, including 24-hour patrols to monitor closed businesses and enforce social distancing in parks. Villages were told funding cannot replace revenue loss from permits, parking meters and recreation programs.
Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy said he plans to ask the town to reimburse the village for outstanding expenses, including personal protective equipment and police and medical expenses.
Rockville Centre Mayor Francis X. Murray said Long Island’s congressional delegation is asking the treasury and Congress to lift restrictions on funding or provide additional stimulus money for lost revenue.
“If we don’t recover from lost money, we may have to raise taxes, and that will pass along to businesses and stores that may not open and we don’t want that,” Murray said. “That’s why we’re asking Washington to give New York relief.”
John Asbury covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously covered crime for nine years for The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif.
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.
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
S. News
Sources: Town of Hempstead subpoenaed over former contractor Double Eagle Golf
On Tuesday, Newsday Town of Hempstead reporter Jesse Coburn talked about the subpoena issued by the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York to the Town of Hempstead. Credit: Newsday / Yeong-Ung Yang; Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp
The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York has issued a subpoena to the Town of Hempstead for records related to former town contractor Double Eagle Golf, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The October 2019 subpoena sought correspondence and other documents related to the 20 years during which the company ran a Hempstead-owned golf course in Lido Beach, two of the people said.
Double Eagle has been the subject of prolonged political controversy in Hempstead. The town and ex-contractor have been in litigation since 2017 over disputed capital improvement costs. The two sides reached a tentative settlement in April. But Hempstead's former supervisor, Democrat Laura Gillen, voiced objections to the settlement in October, citing $922,800 in payments Double Eagle had made to The McCormick Group for work related to the course. The company is controlled by Joseph Cairo, now chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee.
The Town Board then voted 6-0 against the proposed $85,000 settlement, and three state judges in Nassau County recused themselves from the litigation without explanation.
John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, declined to comment. Hempstead spokesman Greg Blower said, "The town does not confirm or deny the existence of a subpoena.” Joshua Hecht, an attorney for Double Eagle, did not respond to a request for comment.
Double Eagle ran the Lido Beach Golf Course from 1997 until 2017, when the town retook control of the facility. Double Eagle sued the town in May 2017, arguing the town owed it $776,400 for capital improvements it made. The town countersued, arguing the company was responsible for the expenses and had let the course fall into disrepair.
In her affidavit, Gillen drew parallels between Double Eagle and Dover Gourmet, another Hempstead contractor that has faced scrutiny from the U.S. attorney. Dover, a Freeport company, runs Malibu Beach Park and Sands catering hall, two Hempstead properties in Lido Beach. Like Double Eagle, it has argued the town owes it for capital improvement costs, is in litigation with Hempstead and has paid Cairo for work related to a town property. The U.S. attorney subpoenaed Hempstead in August for records on Dover.
"Like the Malibu vendor situation, it seems that the Nassau County Republican Chairman is receiving payouts from vendors for whom he helped secure contracts," Gillen said in the affidavit in the Double Eagle case.
Cairo, a former Hempstead councilman, has said he consulted Double Eagle on business matters and that “nothing unethical was done.”
The litigation between Double Eagle and Hempstead was transferred to a Westchester County judge late last year after the three Nassau judges recused themselves from the case in rapid succession without explanation. Judges are not required to provide a reason when recusing themselves, a court spokesman said.
Gillen lost reelection in November to Republican Don Clavin, who took office in January.
Jesse Coburn covers the Town of Hempstead. He's worked at Newsday since 2016.
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