EDITORIAL: A victory for the rule of law in Nassau

The Nassau County GOP has finally realized that the good ol' days of doling out the spoils behind closed doors are over. Too bad it took a messy internal party fight and the threat of a lawsuit by Democrats to persuade County Executive Edward Mangano that the hiring of outside special counsel, better known as politically connected law firms, must be reviewed by the legislature.

When he was legislator, Mangano voted for a law requiring that all personal services contracts exceeding $25,000 be approved by the legislature. This law was then overwhelmingly approved by voters and appended to the county charter in 2000. In his new job, however, Mangano agreed to County Attorney John Ciampoli's flawed legal analysis that a dusty 50-year-old provision in the charter granted an exception to contracts for lawyers.

That was until Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt called Mangano out on it, as did GOP leader Joseph Mondello, whose firm has gotten a $250,000 contract. Meanwhile, the Democrats in the legislature were threatening to sue, armed with strong arguments that demolished Ciampoli's analysis.

Politically and legally, Ciampoli's mess may be cleaned up. However, Mangano still hasn't made a convincing case that outsourcing much of the legal work is the best way to protect the county, or that it will provide any significant savings. But at least now we will be able watch what they are doing. hN