Oyster Bay seeks new inspector general as DA probe involving ex-official continues
Former Oyster Bay Inspector General Brian Noone is pictured here at a 2019 town meeting. He resigned last year amid a probe by prosecutors and the town now is seeking someone else to fill the role. Applications are due by April 26, town officials said. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
The Town of Oyster Bay this week began accepting applications for its inspector general position, which has been vacant since Brian Noone resigned from the role last year amid a probe by Nassau prosecutors.
That investigation remains ongoing, Nassau district attorney's office spokesman Brendan Brosh said Thursday.
The inspector general position, which involves overseeing town contracting, pays between $125,000 and $165,000 based on a candidate's experience, according to Oyster Bay spokesman Brian Nevin.
The town board in 2019 appointed Noone as Oyster Bay's first inspector general to police contracts in the wake of a corruption scandal connected to former Oyster Bay concessionaire Harendra Singh that landed former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and his wife in federal prison.
Noone, 76, of Syosset, resigned as Oyster Bay inspector general in June, three weeks after Newsday reported he had recommended a $2 million town cybersecurity contract for a vendor that records showed had ties to his private business, Nova Venture Partners.
Noone couldn't be immediately reached for comment Friday.
The town sidelined Noone from his contract duties starting in late March 2023 and brought in retired state Supreme Court Justice Angelo Delligatti to take them over for $75 an hour after the town board tabled a vote on the cybersecurity contract that month.
The town board and town attorney referred the contract matter to Oyster Bay's ethics board for a probe, before the board later cleared Noone of any conflict of interest.
Noone cited that finding in his resignation letter, saying the “allegations and falsehoods have been determined by an independent Board of Ethics to be categorically unfounded.” He also wrote he had served “without conflict or self-interest.”
Records showed Noone emailed the vendor with ties to his personal business four days before town board members were to vote on the cybersecurity contract to say it looked like the deal for the $2 million contract was in the bag, Newsday reported in October.
“We have the votes — things are moving forward very well,” Noone emailed Enterprise Security Solutions company owner Michael Esposito, who was listed on Nova Venture Partners' website as the business' cybersecurity practice leader.
Following Noone’s resignation, the town board announced a framework for changes to strengthen ethics and procurement rules.
“Clearly they will pick one of their Republican cronies who will rubber stamp their corruption,” David Mejias, Oyster's Bay Democratic Committee leader, said in a statement. “There should be an independent commission of local law professors to vet and choose a true watchdog.”
The job requires an advanced degree, a minimum of five years’ experience in the public or a public-adjacent sector and three years of experience as a supervisor, according to town officials.
Applicants can email a resume to personnel@oysterbay-ny.gov or mail one to Vicki Spinelli in the Department of Human Resources at town hall in Oyster Bay by April 26.
With Ted Phillips
Joseph Ostapiuk covers the Town of Oyster Bay and the City of Glen Cove. He joined Newsday in 2023 after spending more than six years at the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com.
