Wyandanch library treasurer Donna Gellineau-Matone resigns

The treasurer for Wyandanch Public Library has resigned less than a year after taking the position overseeing the facility's finances and as the library faces the threat of losing public funding.

The library hired Donna Gellineau-Matone in February. She said she had been collecting $1,100 a month, working as an "at will" employee since her contract expired in June, before she resigned Nov. 13.

Library Board President Katrina Crawford and the library's lawyer, Shawn Cullinane, didn't respond to an inquiry Monday about Gellineau-Matone's resignation. 

Crawford announced the resignation at a Nov. 20 meeting, before commenting briefly after the proceeding by saying: "We're sad to see her go at this time because we’re trying to get our audits together.”

Since then, Gellineau-Matone shared parts of her resignation letter with Newsday, but cited legal concerns while declining to provide the full document.

“My observation of the board’s oversight of the financial spending … has become more and more concerning,” she said her letter read in part.

Gellineau-Matone told Newsday she never had access to certain critical documents such as payroll records, saying it made it impossible for her "to report on the library's entire financial activities."

She said the library hasn't kept track of its assets and paid “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in consulting, legal and accounting fees over the past couple years — an amount she called excessive "for a library the size of Wyandanch."

Gellineau-Matone declined to provide specific examples but said she had refused to sign some checks for outside services because there was no supporting documentation. 

In addition, Gellineau-Matone said the library spent tens of thousands of dollars in insurance coverage for an employee no longer on the payroll.

In October, the New York State Education Department warned the library its public funding could be pulled because of its failure to meet the state’s minimum standards. 

That warning came after the Suffolk County Library System said it couldn't certify the library was meeting standards due to missing documents that included meeting minutes, putting the library's registration in danger of suspension.

A suspension would make the library ineligible for public funding. At a Nov. 16 meeting, Crawford said officials would aim to deliver the documents by year end.

A state education department spokeswoman said Monday the library hasn't provided any of the records.

The treasurer's resignation follows those of the former board president and former facility director on the same July day.

The facility also is mired in legal issues related to custodian Kwaisi McCorvey, who remains on the payroll after pleading guilty in September to raping a 16-year-old in 2016 in North Amityville. The victim in that case has named the library in a $30 million claim.

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.