Campaign contributor awarded no-review contracts
BY NATHAN MAYBERG
GOSHEN — Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus signed more than 100 contracts for services last year without oversight by the county legislature, including an expanded contract for a firm that donated generously to his campaign.
Although lawmakers have sometimes clashed with the county executive over the surprises contained in these contracts, the county charter gives the executive ultimate say over whether to sign them. The legislature does not involve itself in these details, and only gets to approve the county's overall spending plan.
Among the biggest contracts signed by Neuhaus in his first year was a $2.7 million agreement with Atlas Security Services, which contributed to his campaign before and after the election.
Neuhaus signed a $2.58 million contract last January for the firm to handle security for the Department of Social Services, Probation Services and Valley View nursing home. The county commissioner of general services, James Burpoe, said the heads of those departments picked Atlas before Neuhaus took office, and after putting out a request for proposals.
In March, Neuhaus gave Atlas more money while pushing bold cost-cutting measures in other areas, like laying off hundreds of county workers and selling the nursing home. He said he wanted to close a $60 million budget gap that was harming the county's credit rating.
Neuhaus increased Atlas' $2.58 million contract to $2.7 million to add the Emergency Services Center, where Atlas replaced a security firm already installed there. Burpoe said he didn't know why the old firm at the Emergency Services Center was replaced.
Two months after getting a bigger contract, Atlas donated $2,000 to the Friends of Steve Neuhaus.
'One of these gray areas'
The donations comply with the county's pay-to-play law, which puts limits on campaign contributions made by contractors who do business with the county. The law, passed in 2013, limited such contributions to $1,000. Last April, one month before Atlas made its $2,000 contribution, the law was amended to allow contributions up to $4,000.
Numerous messages left for Neuhaus were not returned. A message left with County Legislature Chairman L. Stephen Brescia was not returned.
"It's one of these gray areas," said Legislator Jeffrey Berkman (D-Middletown), who served as minority leader through the end of 2014, about county contracts. He said he didn't know about the Atlas contract.
Berkman said contracts signed by Neuhaus and other county executives have in the past led to conflict with legislators kept out of the loop.
The current minority leader, Christopher Eachus (D-New Windsor), said" allowing the county executive without any type of review to just go ahead and sign contracts has proven to be difficult."
Legislator Michael Anagnostakis (R-Newburgh) said he didn't mind Neuhaus signing contracts but wondered just how many security officers the county was getting for its $2.7 million.
Atlas Security Services CEO Matthew Ventura in an email declined to discuss services his company provides to the county.
Documents are hard to get
It’s been tough to get information about the contracts. Straus News, which publishes The Chronicle, The Photo News, and The Wawick Advertiser, viewed the Atlas contract after submitting a Freedom of Information Law request for all county contracts signed by Neuhaus without legislative approval. The review was delayed by weeks because of constraints set by Dain Pascocello, Neuhaus’ spokesperson. Public documents are supposed to be available for inspection during all business hours.
In addition, Pascocello said there were 229 contract pages with redactions made under the personal privacy and law enforcement provisions of the Public Officer’s Law. After stating in November that the redacted pages would be available upon payment of $57.25 to the county, Pascocello said in a Dec. 22 email that “some contracts have been returned to their departments....I will let you know as soon as they are available.”
Pascocello has not yet stated when they will be available.
Lawyers work on Valley View without contracts
There is also no evidence that the county ever entered into a contract with the law firm Harris Beach, which represented the county in a lawsuit that sought to block the transfer of Valley View nursing home to a Local Development Corporation for eventual sale. The county lost. The court ruled that the legislature did not have the supermajority vote needed to transfer the home.
The law firm of Marcus & Millichap, which helped handle requests from potential Valley View buyers, worked on a contingency basis, according to a Harris Beach lawyer.
After asking for contracts between the county and those firms, Pascocello said there weren't any and referred questions to the General Services purchasing agent. No retainer was ever disclosed with either Harris Beach or Marcus & Millichap.
The legislature never voted to hire those firms, and never approved them to represent the county in court battles over Valley View.
Harris Beach continues to represent the county. This week, Harris Beach made an appeal on behalf of the county in appeals court in Brooklyn this week, challenging once again the non-supermajority vote that the previous judge, Supreme Court Judge Elaine Slobod, ruled invalid. A second vote last month by the legislature on tranfering Valley View came up just as short, and was identical to the first vote in April.
Harris Beach contributed $2,000 to the Neuhaus campaign in 2013.