Ethics panel: DPW chief didn't break law

The Nassau Board of Ethics has ruled that the county's public works chief did not break the law when she signed off on a $250,000 contract for her sister's engineering firm. But the panel said she should recuse herself from future dealings with the company.

The report by the Republican-dominated panel prompted the sole Democrat to resign and call the process a "charade."

Public Works Commissioner Shila Shah-Gavnoudias, an appointee of Republican County Executive Edward Mangano, requested an advisory opinion from the board on April 29, following a Newsday report that revealed that the county had awarded a superstorm Sandy cleanup contract to CSM Engineering. The firm is run by the commissioner's sister Carolyn Shah-Moehringer.

Shah-Gavnoudias had signed off on CSM's contract -- included among 15 others that the county Legislature's Rules Committee voted on in November -- without disclosing the family relationship to lawmakers.

In a 20-page report released Thursday, the ethics board said Shah-Gavnoudias was not required to disclose her relationship under the county's code of ethics because she did not have a financial interest in CSM and had previously recused herself from the process involved in selecting her sister's firm for county work.

"Based on the facts presented, a prohibited conflict of interest did not arise," the report said.

" . . . While I recused myself from the technical selection committee, I regret any impression created by the signing of a procedural routing slip and Comptroller Approval Form for CSM Engineering," Shah-Gavnoudias said.

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Turman said he was rebuffed in his request to view six documents cited in the board's report. He also said he was called into a meeting to interview Shah's assistant with no notice, so that he could not prepare.

Turman said the board should have opened an ethics investigation, which carries the possibility of a penalty, rather than merely issuing an advisory opinion.

"This advisory opinion sets a dangerous precedent because if the Board is allowed to skirt the rules and procedures to shield [Shah-Gavnoudias], this board would be free to use the same process as a sword to conduct a pseudo-investigation to unfairly discredit another county official," Turman wrote on May 15.

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