By Scott Brinton
Nassau voters will find a proposition on their ballots this year that, if approved, would give the County Legislature's Rules Committee oversight power over the County Executive's service contracts with outside firms. The contracts, which often go to real-estate lawyers and appraisers, amount to roughly $65 million annually, according to reliable sources.
"The disaster is, we spend millions on outside appraisers, and there is no scrutiny of those contracts," said Legislator David Denenberg (D-Merrick).
Democrats have charged that County Executive Thomas Gulotta has awarded the contracts like patronage jobs. (They go to those who support him politically.)
Interesting is that Mr. Gulotta has thrown his support behind the proposition. Mr. Gulotta was said to have argued against the proposal, at first, because it would slow down Nassau government. In a telephone interview with The Herald on Monday, the County Executive said, "The Legislature and I worked together to craft legislation, which they passed and I signed into law, enabling [the proposition] to be on the ballot this fall. I certainly support it and endorse it."
The proposal was originally brought forth by the 10 Democrats in the Legislature and eventually co-sponsored by all 19 legislators.
Bob Lazaro, press secretary for the Legislature's Republican caucus, said, "It was not something to be partisan about. It's accountability at its best. We would urge residents, when voting, to vote yes to that proposition."
Legislator Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow) said, "I supported [the proposition], and I certainly want to see it go forward."
The measure would give the Legislature the ability to reject any service contract from the County Executive that amounted to more than $25,000 or a combined $50,000 for a vendor with a previous agreement with the county.
Before this year, the Legislature held oversight authority over the Executive's contracts through a memorandum of understanding between Mr. Gulotta and the Legislature's former Presiding Officer, Bruce Blakeman (R-Woodmere). That memorandum, which was signed in 1997, ended in January with Mr. Blakeman's tenure. Mr. Gulotta did not sign a memorandum with the Legislature's new Presiding Officer, Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), until the oversight proposal started making its way through the Legislature during the spring, Democratic sources said.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 7.
