county girls
01-30-2004, 06:42 AM
SCANDALS ROCK TEAM SUOZZI
Charges Of Sex Assault And Hush Money Create Uproar
Up until now the investigation of corruption and abuse in key offices of Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi's administration has been limited to financial misdoings in the Office of Housing and Intergovernmental Affairs (OHIA).
But in an explosive legislative meeting on Monday evening, Republican legislators charged that Suozzi's former deputy, Peter Sylver, currently bng investigated for misuse of government funds, may have also sexually assaulted his former assistant. What's more, the GOPs allege, the administration bought the assistant's silence with hush money.
The lewd new dimensions of this scandal has Suozzi critics and even supporters calling for an independent investigation.
"I felt [Monday] night that I was in over my head. In terms of governmentally, we were way outside of our scope," says Legis. Lisanne Altmann (D-Great Neck).
Sylver resigned in November under charges he had used federal funds to pay employees and that he had run up more than $15,000 in questionable credit card expenses that were paid by federal grant money or Nassau County IDA (Industrial Development Agency) funds. So far, various investigations into OHIA operations have been conducted by County Comptroller Howard Wtzman, the Office of Legislative Budget Review and Deputy County Executive Arthur Gianelli. Earlier this month, each submitted a report to the Legislature's rules committee. The committee has attempted to coalesce the disparate studies and may use the findings for a report of its own. The district attorney's office is conducting its own investigation of the credit card abuses.
But Monday's shocker was the presence of a 23-year-old county employee who had previously served as executive assistant to former OHIA director Sylver. The Long Island Press has chosen not to disclose the woman's identity due to the nature of the allegations.
The alleged victim, who lives in Long Beach, had barely finished giving her name and a few basics of her history as a county worker when Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) asked her about her relationship with Sylver. All hell broke loose, with Democrats shouting that this testimony should be given in executive committee, which would be closed to the public. Republicans shouted back.
Republicans say the woman told them that Sylver had sexually assaulted her while she served on his staff and as his executive assistant. According to Schmitt, the victim alleges that ongoing sexual harassment culminated in a sexual assault during a trip to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with the Office of Housing and Urban Development.
"A summary of what we have been told [by Sylver's former aide] will be sent to the district attorney's office," Schmitt says.
Documents obtained by the Press show that Sylver and his accuser both traveled to D.C. in September 2003. Recpts from Sylver's now-controversial credit card lists two bills for the Radisson Hotel for Sept. 11—$308.36 under his name and $171.75 under hers—along with bills for two Washington-area restaurants for $100 (Etrusco, Sept. 10) and $109.27 (Pesce, Sept. 11). The credit card also shows a $19 purchase at an Aberdeen, Md. Exxon-Mobil station on Sept. 11.
Since the allegations of credit card fraud arose in October, Schmitt says his office has recved "over 100 tips, anonymous complaints, e-mails, copies of internal documents, and recommendations for lines of inquiry." One of those tips led them to Sylver's current accuser.
Republicans say she told them that she met with Deputy County Executive Anthony Cancellieri and Chief Deputy County Attorney Liz Botwin, who allegedly offered the woman a deal that would transfer her out of Sylver's office, with a generous pay increase, if she agreed not to press charges for sexual harassment and assault. She took the deal. According to sources, the woman now earns $51,000 per year working in the parks department. While working as Sylver's assistant, she earned $45,000. $35,000 of her salary was paid by the county and $10,000 was paid using federal funds channeled through the IDA. This use of federal funds to offset county salaries was one of the issues which sparked the current Suozzi/Sylver financial scandal—the reason the hearings were called in the first place.
Republicans further allege that after the assistant declined Sylver's sexual advances, Sylver contacted human resources to have her fired. They also contend that as part of the deal that got her the new job and the raise, the woman was compelled not only to not file charges, but also to sign a confidentiality agreement. Now that she has gone public, that confidentiality agreement could have repercussions for her if county officials chose to pursue charges—but that would be a public relations nightmare for Suozzi's administration.
One county employee close to the case says this is "just the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to sex and the county, and hints that this will be the first of many cases involving sexual impropriety in the Suozzi administration.
The assault charges were barely brought out during the Legislature's hearing on the Sylver credit card abuse scandal. Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) says she ended the proceeding because she believes the charges should not be investigated by the Legislature but by the district attorney's office. Jacobs' good advice should be heeded, since the Press has learned that Deputy County Executive Gianelli is involved in a personal relationship with Sharon Commissiong, a friend of Sylver's and Jacobs' legal counsel, offering at l the appearance of conflict of interest.
Democrats have been frustrated in thr attempts to fully examine a scandal that seems to be metastasizing—and getting dirtier—by the day. The one point that Republicans and Democrats agree on is that the investigation should move into the legal arena.
"What has occurred [Tuesday] night put this entire hearing into a different realm. And that's what we have to decide: where we go from here," says Jacobs. "Do I continue [the legislative inquiry] or do I say at this point that I think it's taken a turn that isn't healthy for anyone? Let's get together and decide what we can do to make this right."
These charges could even find attorneys in the Suozzi administration culpable for the alleged cover-up. Several hours before her abbreviated testimony, Sylver's former aide was seen outside the doors of the Legislature conferring with County Attorney Liz Botwin, who seemed to have a role as the victim's advisory counsel. But the woman's mother, not Botwin, sat next to the former aide during her brief testimony. Botwin stayed silent in the back of the room, leading Altmann to chastise the county attorney for not continuing to advise the victim.
Community activists have echoed the call for an outside investigation. "There needs to be a special investigation with Suozzi proactive in it," says Diana Coleman, who works at Nassau's Economic Opportunity Commission. She expressed her concern that Suozzi must not look as if he's trying to obstruct any investigations and be helpful to them instead.
Throughout the investigation, Suozzi's office has been saying the problems in OHIA were systemic and inherited by Democrats from thr Republican predecessors.
"[There are] areas of government where there is an absence of clear policies and procedures," Gianelli said in his findings. "Such policies and procedures have historically been lacking in Nassau County, but it is our responsibility to correct what history has handed us."
After the Legislature's hearings are concluded, Schmitt plans to call for an outside investigation, saying he no longer has faith in the Legislature's ability to investigate this case.
"When [the Democrats] are finished, I personally believe that thr report will have as much credibility as the Warren Report," he sneered.
Now that Cancellieri and Botwin might be joining Sylver under the cloud of suspicion, the question is whether the county can continue to conduct an independent and unbiased investigation of what went wrong and still seem credible—and whether Suozzi himself will be personally implicated in the cover-up or other misdeeds.
For Schmitt, "the only question that remains is: What did the county executive know and when did he know it?"
Suozzi's Secrecy Requirement Rare In Government
By Paul Perillie and E.H. Santiago
Published January 29, 2004
Tune into
Heart-On Dating
Sunday Nights
6:30-7p
98.5 The Bone
Party 105.3
107.1 The Box
CLASSIFIEDS PERSONALS ABOUT DISTRIBUTION MEDIA KIT CONTACT US
©2004 The Morey Organization All rights reserved.
Charges Of Sex Assault And Hush Money Create Uproar
Up until now the investigation of corruption and abuse in key offices of Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi's administration has been limited to financial misdoings in the Office of Housing and Intergovernmental Affairs (OHIA).
But in an explosive legislative meeting on Monday evening, Republican legislators charged that Suozzi's former deputy, Peter Sylver, currently bng investigated for misuse of government funds, may have also sexually assaulted his former assistant. What's more, the GOPs allege, the administration bought the assistant's silence with hush money.
The lewd new dimensions of this scandal has Suozzi critics and even supporters calling for an independent investigation.
"I felt [Monday] night that I was in over my head. In terms of governmentally, we were way outside of our scope," says Legis. Lisanne Altmann (D-Great Neck).
Sylver resigned in November under charges he had used federal funds to pay employees and that he had run up more than $15,000 in questionable credit card expenses that were paid by federal grant money or Nassau County IDA (Industrial Development Agency) funds. So far, various investigations into OHIA operations have been conducted by County Comptroller Howard Wtzman, the Office of Legislative Budget Review and Deputy County Executive Arthur Gianelli. Earlier this month, each submitted a report to the Legislature's rules committee. The committee has attempted to coalesce the disparate studies and may use the findings for a report of its own. The district attorney's office is conducting its own investigation of the credit card abuses.
But Monday's shocker was the presence of a 23-year-old county employee who had previously served as executive assistant to former OHIA director Sylver. The Long Island Press has chosen not to disclose the woman's identity due to the nature of the allegations.
The alleged victim, who lives in Long Beach, had barely finished giving her name and a few basics of her history as a county worker when Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) asked her about her relationship with Sylver. All hell broke loose, with Democrats shouting that this testimony should be given in executive committee, which would be closed to the public. Republicans shouted back.
Republicans say the woman told them that Sylver had sexually assaulted her while she served on his staff and as his executive assistant. According to Schmitt, the victim alleges that ongoing sexual harassment culminated in a sexual assault during a trip to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with the Office of Housing and Urban Development.
"A summary of what we have been told [by Sylver's former aide] will be sent to the district attorney's office," Schmitt says.
Documents obtained by the Press show that Sylver and his accuser both traveled to D.C. in September 2003. Recpts from Sylver's now-controversial credit card lists two bills for the Radisson Hotel for Sept. 11—$308.36 under his name and $171.75 under hers—along with bills for two Washington-area restaurants for $100 (Etrusco, Sept. 10) and $109.27 (Pesce, Sept. 11). The credit card also shows a $19 purchase at an Aberdeen, Md. Exxon-Mobil station on Sept. 11.
Since the allegations of credit card fraud arose in October, Schmitt says his office has recved "over 100 tips, anonymous complaints, e-mails, copies of internal documents, and recommendations for lines of inquiry." One of those tips led them to Sylver's current accuser.
Republicans say she told them that she met with Deputy County Executive Anthony Cancellieri and Chief Deputy County Attorney Liz Botwin, who allegedly offered the woman a deal that would transfer her out of Sylver's office, with a generous pay increase, if she agreed not to press charges for sexual harassment and assault. She took the deal. According to sources, the woman now earns $51,000 per year working in the parks department. While working as Sylver's assistant, she earned $45,000. $35,000 of her salary was paid by the county and $10,000 was paid using federal funds channeled through the IDA. This use of federal funds to offset county salaries was one of the issues which sparked the current Suozzi/Sylver financial scandal—the reason the hearings were called in the first place.
Republicans further allege that after the assistant declined Sylver's sexual advances, Sylver contacted human resources to have her fired. They also contend that as part of the deal that got her the new job and the raise, the woman was compelled not only to not file charges, but also to sign a confidentiality agreement. Now that she has gone public, that confidentiality agreement could have repercussions for her if county officials chose to pursue charges—but that would be a public relations nightmare for Suozzi's administration.
One county employee close to the case says this is "just the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to sex and the county, and hints that this will be the first of many cases involving sexual impropriety in the Suozzi administration.
The assault charges were barely brought out during the Legislature's hearing on the Sylver credit card abuse scandal. Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) says she ended the proceeding because she believes the charges should not be investigated by the Legislature but by the district attorney's office. Jacobs' good advice should be heeded, since the Press has learned that Deputy County Executive Gianelli is involved in a personal relationship with Sharon Commissiong, a friend of Sylver's and Jacobs' legal counsel, offering at l the appearance of conflict of interest.
Democrats have been frustrated in thr attempts to fully examine a scandal that seems to be metastasizing—and getting dirtier—by the day. The one point that Republicans and Democrats agree on is that the investigation should move into the legal arena.
"What has occurred [Tuesday] night put this entire hearing into a different realm. And that's what we have to decide: where we go from here," says Jacobs. "Do I continue [the legislative inquiry] or do I say at this point that I think it's taken a turn that isn't healthy for anyone? Let's get together and decide what we can do to make this right."
These charges could even find attorneys in the Suozzi administration culpable for the alleged cover-up. Several hours before her abbreviated testimony, Sylver's former aide was seen outside the doors of the Legislature conferring with County Attorney Liz Botwin, who seemed to have a role as the victim's advisory counsel. But the woman's mother, not Botwin, sat next to the former aide during her brief testimony. Botwin stayed silent in the back of the room, leading Altmann to chastise the county attorney for not continuing to advise the victim.
Community activists have echoed the call for an outside investigation. "There needs to be a special investigation with Suozzi proactive in it," says Diana Coleman, who works at Nassau's Economic Opportunity Commission. She expressed her concern that Suozzi must not look as if he's trying to obstruct any investigations and be helpful to them instead.
Throughout the investigation, Suozzi's office has been saying the problems in OHIA were systemic and inherited by Democrats from thr Republican predecessors.
"[There are] areas of government where there is an absence of clear policies and procedures," Gianelli said in his findings. "Such policies and procedures have historically been lacking in Nassau County, but it is our responsibility to correct what history has handed us."
After the Legislature's hearings are concluded, Schmitt plans to call for an outside investigation, saying he no longer has faith in the Legislature's ability to investigate this case.
"When [the Democrats] are finished, I personally believe that thr report will have as much credibility as the Warren Report," he sneered.
Now that Cancellieri and Botwin might be joining Sylver under the cloud of suspicion, the question is whether the county can continue to conduct an independent and unbiased investigation of what went wrong and still seem credible—and whether Suozzi himself will be personally implicated in the cover-up or other misdeeds.
For Schmitt, "the only question that remains is: What did the county executive know and when did he know it?"
Suozzi's Secrecy Requirement Rare In Government
By Paul Perillie and E.H. Santiago
Published January 29, 2004
Tune into
Heart-On Dating
Sunday Nights
6:30-7p
98.5 The Bone
Party 105.3
107.1 The Box
CLASSIFIEDS PERSONALS ABOUT DISTRIBUTION MEDIA KIT CONTACT US
©2004 The Morey Organization All rights reserved.