John Kennedy begins ‘time and attendance’ audit at Suffolk BOE

Republican Suffolk Comptroller John Kennedy said he has started a “time and attendance audit” of senior managers at the Suffolk Board of Elections.

Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory (D-Copiague) requested an audit after a Newsday story in September disclosed that Republican Elections Commissioner Nicholas LaLota was attending Hofstra Law School part time, including during office hours of the elections board.

LaLota, who earns $144,000 a year on the board, said he fulfills his requirement to work 70 hours every two weeks. He said he was “pleased to comply with the personnel audit” covering all of the board’s 123 employees.

“Going forward, I hope the Democrat legislators behind this distraction will exert at least as much effort closing our county’s $100 million budget gap as they have playing these petty partisan games,” LaLota said.