Letter: Ethics director's salary reasonable

It is understandable how Newsday's editorial board could have been given the impression that Suffolk County Ethics Commission Executive Director Alfred Lama was paid a full-time salary while working only part-time ["A watchdog who needed watching," Editorial, July 26]. Evidently the editorialists read the same factually inaccurate article printed in Newsday that others did ["Audit: Ethics director skipped hours, must pay," News, July 19]. While the budget line reserved up to $81,000 that Lama could be paid if he worked a full week, it was not the salary he received.

Lama, who had received permission from the Ethics Commission to maintain his outside arbitration practice before taking the executive director job, was never paid for any hours that he did not work for the county. His actual salary was just about half that amount.

Contrary to the contents of the article, Lama did not work less than 50 percent of the time per year, and was not ineligible for health benefits. Newsday was supplied with the former Suffolk County labor relations director's finding that Lama's work hours could not have been examined on a week-to-week basis, and that such an analysis could only be made annual to determine if one worked 50 percent or more. An employer cannot have an employee being eligible for benefits one week, but not eligible the next week.

Both the contract and common sense dictate that you must count the hours worked over the course of an entire year to determine the total number of hours worked for that individual. Monitoring an employee on a week-to-week basis for the purposes of health insurance benefits is administratively impossible.

Vacation and sick days must also be factored into the equation, as required by the contract. When one does follow the contract and the law, it is very evident that Judge Lama worked over 50 percent of the time every year and, therefore, was entitled to receive these benefits.

Christine Malafi, Hauppauge

Editor's note: The writer is the Suffolk County attorney.