Opposition Research?

Village works weekends to respond to FOIL requests

Posted

Rumors have been circulating for the past two months that Malverne Mayor Patricia McDonald has been urged to run for higher office — Town of Hempstead supervisor, the town council or the Nassau County Legislature’s 6th District seat. McDonald, who has confirmed to the Herald that the rumors are true, has not said whether she would run for any of these positions, all of which are up for election in November.

The possibility that she might, however, seems to be enough to motivate potential political opponents to start gathering intelligence.

Over the course of six weeks — from April 6 to May 16 — eight letters concerning Freedom of Information Law requests were sent to the village from Jeremy Zenilman, who was a deputy county attorney from 2010 to 2014 for the Republican-majority County Legislature. Brian Nevin, a spokesman for County Executive Ed Mangano’s office, said that Zenilman is not currently employed or retained by the county.

Zenilman has requested extensive documentation and copies of village records, with many of the requests encompassing the entirety of McDonald’s career in village government, since 1999, when she became a trustee.

Asked why he has filed so many FOIL requests, who was retaining him to make them or if he was acting as a private citizen, he responded only, “No comment.”

The requests include:

  • McDonald’s travel reimbursement records, and documentation of her mileage for use of her personal vehicle for village business.
  • Her presence at /absence from village meetings.
  • Village board minutes.
  • Contracts involving the village, certain unions and the Malverne Police Benevolent Association.
  • All federal and state court lawsuits involving the village and its Police Department or any individual member of the department.
  • Insurance policies, their deductibles and the number of claims reported. 
  • Village protocols for the reporting and handling of claims against the insurance policies, how the policies were procured and the bidding process.
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