Nassau Comptroller Jack Schnirman misses budget review hearing

Nassau Comptroller Jack Schnirman missed the year's first meeting of the county legislature's budget review committee -- even though panel leaders thought they had invited him. Credit: Howard Schnapp
For the first time in recent memory, the Nassau comptroller did not attend the first meeting of the year of the county legislature’s budget review committee — even though committee leaders thought they had invited him.
Instead of Comptroller Jack Schnirman explaining the preliminary 2017 year-end results on Tuesday, his chief deputy Shari James appeared to answer questions about the comptroller’s findings.
Past comptrollers, hoping to get headlines, usually held news conferences and distributed news releases during March or April about their preliminary year-end findings. Schnirman’s office distributed a one-page fact sheet.
Past comptrollers also usually showed up for Budget Review meetings with a team of employees, ready to face the cameras and answer questions. James appeared alone.
“We didn’t get a formal request for Jack to attend,” said Comptroller spokesman Rob Busweiler. “We got a request for the comptroller’s office to come and discuss the end of 2017. Our office was asked to attend and present information and that’s what we did.”
Busweiler noted the books haven’t officially closed on 2017. That doesn’t happen until outside auditors complete their review, usually at the end of July.
But Matt Fernando, spokesman for the legislature’s Republican majority, said, “The comptroller was invited. His office called and asked us to change the order of the agenda so he could be called later. We did change the order, but his deputy showed up. My understanding was he was invited.”
Could Schnirman, the Long Beach City manager before he was elected county comptroller in November, have been trying to dodge possible questions about Long Beach finances?
City officials warn that finances are so rocky that they may run out money in a few weeks and have proposed a 12 percent tax increase.
Nassau Legis. Denise Ford (R-Long Beach), who attended the budget review meeting Tuesday, blamed Schnirman’s “financial mismanagement” for the city’s problems when she asked State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli last week to audit the city.
DiNapoli already had already reported that the Long Beach was in “significant fiscal stress.”
But Busweiler scoffed at the question. “Why would Long Beach financials come up at a Nassau County finance meeting?”
He added that if committee members wanted to ask about Long Beach, Shari James, who had been the city’s acting comptroller under Schnirman, could have answered.
“At no point, did anyone ask why Jack was not there,” Busweiler said.
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