Mangano clashes with Dems over law firm hires

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, a Republican, is clashing with Democrats on the Nassau County Legislature over his proposal to hire three outside law firms at a cost of almost $1 million at a time that the county is facing a potential takeover of its finances by a state watchdog agency.

Two contracts, worth $475,000, would go to Mangano's old law firm, Rivkin Radler of Uniondale. The firm would be paid as much as $300,000 to handle further court appeals in a protracted dispute over the property taxes paid by utilities, and up to $175,000 to "provide advice and counsel" to the county about redeveloping the Coliseum site in Uniondale.

All the contracts are scheduled to be on the agenda of the Rules Committee of the Nassau County Legislature Monday. There is another contract with Rivkin Radler in the pipeline, but it has not been completed, a Mangano aide said.

The leading Democrat in county government, Legis. Diane Yatauro of Glen Cove, said the contracts should not be awarded, and noted they were coming just as the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority, known as NIFA, was weighing taking over the county's budget.

"We are just days away from a decision regarding a state takeover of Nassau County finances," Yatauro, the minority leader, said. "It appears that the administration is determined to provide huge financial giveaways to its friends and politically connected firms," she said.

Aides to Yatauro said Rivkin Radler had no contracts with the county during the eight years that Democrat Thomas Suozzi was county executive. The firm did work for the county in 1993 under Republican County Executive Thomas Gulotta, according to news reports at the time.

A Mangano spokesman, responding to Yatauro's comments, released a statement saying that, "County Executive Mangano is working to close the budget deficit created by Diane Yatauro and her Democrat colleagues."

NIFA was created to deal with Nassau's fiscal crisis of a decade ago, and is required under state statute to take control of the county's finances if it determines that Nassau has a 1 percent budget deficit - $26 million in this case - or is likely to run such a deficit. Under a control period, NIFA can freeze union salaries, block contracts and take other steps in deems appropriate.

The contracts to be considered Monday are dramatic expansions of two $25,000 contracts Mangano had unilaterally issued to Rivkin Radler last October at a time when he was insisting that such contracts did not require legislative approval. He later relented and agreed to submit future contracts for approval after minority Democrats on the legislature threatened to sue.

County attorney John Ciampoli defended the selection of Rivkin Radler, saying it was one of the leading law firms on Long Island.

"I'm not going to go out and hire a lesser firm because someone might throw stones," Ciampoli said. "If they want to throw stones, go ahead."

A Mangano spokesman said "no fiduciary relationship exists" between Mangano and the firm. The firm's managing partner, William Savino, said Mangano, a former county legislator, was never a partner, never had an ownership stake in the firm, and had completely severed his ties before he took office Jan. 1, 2010.

Savino has been a mentor to Mangano. He personally hired Mangano at the firm in 2001 after meeting him at a breakfast held by the Long Island Association, represented him in his election battle with Suozzi in 2009, and was the master of ceremonies at Mangano's inaugural.

Mangano spokesman Brian Nevins confirmed that the county has also hired Rivkin Radler to represent it in its battle with NIFA. However, Mangano has not yet submitted a contract for that legal work.

Another contract on Monday's legislative agenda would pay $250,000 to the Manhattan law firm Lewis & Fiore to handle some pretrial work on a wrongful imprisonment lawsuit against the county. Partner David Lewis once worked with Ciampoli in private practice, and the firm has done political work for state Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre).

And another contract would pay $250,000 to Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker to represent the county on election litigation. The firm, with 10 offices around the country, including one in Garden City, is a major lobbyist in New York City.

Documents submitted to the legislature by the Mangano administration said Rivkin Radler was picked to handle Coliseum matters because of "their qualifications and experience in the area of sports-related real estate development."

Another document said the firm was picked to do the utility tax appeal, which began with a 1998 lawsuit, "based on their qualifications and experience and immediate availability."