Nassau County attorney defends county contracting process

The Nassau County attorney defended the county's contracting process in a response to criticisms by acting District Attorney Madeline Singas, saying her review calling for reforms "understates the controls currently in place and overstates the risk to the county."

In a three-page letter dated Friday, County Attorney Carnell T. Foskey called Nassau's contract approval process "comprehensive" and said it "fully complies with all applicable New York State and federal laws and rules."

Foskey said Singas failed to note in her report that some contracts currently approved by the county require vendors to complete a 10-page Business History and Principal Questionnaire.

The form includes questions about any criminal probes or charges into the business, its owners, officers, or any affiliated business, as well as tax liens.

Foskey also took exception to Singas' claim that Nassau's vendor requirements are "woefully inadequate" and pale in comparison to New York City's "more robust contractor vetting process." According to Foskey, Nassau requires that "prospective contractors disclose virtually all of the information required by New York City."

The business history form must be filled out by vendors awarded a contract through a Request for Proposal, which represents about half of all county contracts, Foskey said.

Vendors awarded contracts through sealed bid solicitations are not required to complete the form, but Foskey said Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano is expected to sign an executive order this week that extends that requirement to all prospective vendors.

Singas and her staff "stand by the findings and recommendations" in their 36-page report, the office said Saturday in a letter to Foskey.

Despite a meeting between Singas' staff and county officials, where all documents relating to county contracts were requested, Singas' office was not provided with the business history form, spokesman Shams Tarek said in an email.

"The form, required only of a limited subset of contracts . . . remains an ineffective safeguard to corrupt contractors because the information collected is not effectively verified," Tarek said. "Our early findings regarding contractors with criminal convictions, tax debts, and other red flags underscore the need for comprehensive reform."

In her report, Singas called for legislative review and establishment of an independent county inspector general with investigative authority over the procurement process. Singas said her staff identified a contractor with ties to organized crime and a convicted bid-rigger, while other vendors have felony convictions, bankruptcies and are prohibited from contracts in other locations.

The review was prompted by a federal investigation into then-State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who -- along with his son, Adam -- has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, bribery and extortion charges for allegedly illegally influencing the awarding of a $12 million county contract to AbTech Industries.

AbTech, an Arizona storm-water treatment firm that employed Adam as a consultant, submitted an unsolicited proposal and then responded to RFPs from Nassau that used similar language.