Saladino won't say whether Oyster Bay will sue Venditto to recoup salary

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino distanced himself Tuesday from John Venditto — who pleaded guilty Friday to state corruption charges — and also declined to say whether the town will sue his predecessor to recoup Venditto's salary.

“This closes a chapter in the past of the Town of Oyster Bay," Saladino said after a town board meeting. "We are moving forward with a zero-tolerance policy for any corruption.”

Venditto, who was supervisor from 1998 until his resignation in 2017, pleaded guilty to a felony count of corrupt use of his position in the hiring and firing of an individual who was the child of a woman romantically involved with the late Planning Commissioner Frederick Ippolito. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of official misconduct for allowing Ippolito to exert official control over the rezoning of a Hicksville property despite knowing privately that Ippolito would benefit financially from it.

Saladino declined to comment on his role in Venditto’s administration, in which he served as town director of operations.

“I’m happy to discuss that issue at another time,” Saladino said.

Earlier this month, a state Supreme Court judge ordered the town to pay Venditto’s legal fees to defend a securities fraud lawsuit brought against Oyster Bay and the former supervisor by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the failure to disclose a loan guaranty scheme on behalf of former concessionaire Harendra Singh in bond documents. A settlement reached between the SEC and the town earlier this year did not include Venditto.

The town has sued former Town Attorney Leonard Genova, who admitted to accepting bribes, seeking to recoup his salary.

Genova’s attorney, Nicholas Gravante, said Tuesday that it would be an “absolute double standard” for the town to sue his client, who cooperated with federal prosecutors, but not Venditto.

Saladino referred questions about suing Venditto to a statement by Town Attorney Joseph Nocella: “No one is exempt from the town’s policy of seeking financial restitution from those who defraud taxpayers, and we are exploring all options in regards to this matter.”

Town spokesman Brian Nevin wrote in an email that Saladino had served as director of operations from 1997 to 2002 and then as secretary to the zoning board of appeals from 2002 to 2004. Newsday reported in 2004 that Saladino held the title of director of operations at that time.

“I was not part of the previous administration per se,” Saladino said Tuesday. “I wasn’t involved in discussions of policy. I wasn’t involved in discussions of law.”

Saladino said that after his 2004 election to the Assembly — in a district that includes part of Oyster Bay — he was not involved in town government until he was appointed in 2017 to replace Venditto. The two nonetheless rubbed elbows: Saladino appeared on stage with Venditto in July 2015 at a free town concert at John J. Burns park in Massapequa, and photos posted on the Nassau County Conservative Party website show Saladino attending a 2015 dinner at the Woodlands catering facility at which Venditto spoke.

The Woodlands were an Oyster Bay concession run by Singh, who was at the center of federal corruption charges against Venditto and former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and his wife, Linda. Venditto was acquitted on those charges, and the Manganos were convicted in March in a retrial.

Campaign finance records show Saladino’s campaign gave $10,000 to Venditto’s campaign in September 2015, a time when Venditto and other town officials were under federal investigation for the Singh loan guarantees.

“I was fooled into supporting someone I believed had the taxpayers' best interests in mind," Saladino said of the donation in an email Tuesday. "I only wish I could receive a refund today.”