Lenore Cernitz
May 12, 2008
Supervisor
Patrick Vecchio
Councilman
Thomas McCarthy
Councilman
Edward Wehrheim
Councilwoman
Patricia Biancaniello
Councilman
Robert Creighton
Re: Financial Disclosure Statements
Council
Members,
A few weeks ago at a town board
meeting I asked if you would voluntarily disclose your annual financial
disclosure statements which you are mandated to file with the Smithtown Ethics
Board. None of you replied. Town Attorney Lieffrig suddenly popped up
asserting that I could FOIL them. On
May 12th I was allowed to view them for one-half hour ( 4:30-5 pm. )
but was not allowed to have a copy. Why
not? I had to scribble notes while my
attention was occasionally diverted by Patrick O’Leary, a member of the Ethics
Board who was there, assigned to watch me I suppose, lest I run out the
door with a copy or chew them up. Thus
handicapped, here is what I found out.
My husband could not sit in the
room with me because he had not signed the FOIL request. They told me I
would be safe in the closed room with this polo shirted stranger. There is no
provision in the town law, much less in the Freedom of Information Law, that
prohibits me from having a copy of your financial disclosure statements – much
less is there any provision authorizing O’Leary or Lieffrig to deny me a copy
if I am willing to pay. O’Leary gave me
the old, “You know I have to follow what they tell me to do” without saying who
“they” were. The Town Code does not
forbid anyone who requests it to have a copy of a financial disclosure
statement. O’Leary said, “Oh, I’m just
here to be a babysitter for you.”
Really, where does the Code specify a babysitter. I told him that if he was just the babysitter
then please don’t speak to me while I take notes as my time is
limited.
I noticed that McCarthy had his
Mitsubishi and Mazda Dealerships listed. I commented that the information
was now not relevant. O’Leary then tells me that “This is just the 2006
financial disclosure forms". So,
Mr. McCarthy, you rushed to hand me redacted 2006 forms with
nothing much to be seen because you realized I wouldn't be getting the
2007? It’s now 2008. O’Leary then volunteers that “We go by a
fiscal year. We have the stuff but it
is not filed yet. We haven’t done it because, you know, we are all volunteers
and there are three of us and it is a matter of the three of us trying to
figure out when we can get together.” Wowie, that's a maneuver, it's getting
like the Indianapolis Speedway .
I looked at Supervisor Vecchio’s
statement. Then I asked, “Where is
Councilman Robert Creighton’s statement?”
According to O’Leary, “He’s new and wasn’t there in 2006.” I have since asked around. What O’Leary said was not accurate. When one becomes an announced candidate for
the Town Board one must file.
Councilman Creighton, please file your financial disclosure statement now
and let me know so I may FOIL it. Still more
surprises.
Vecchio’s statement doesn’t list his
wife. “Isn’t he married?”, I
asked. But there is no disclosure as to
her employment. Biancaniello filled out
the portion about her spouse. Where is
Vecchio’s spouse? All of the categories say, “none, none” and “none.” O’Leary then states: “Well, how would I
know if his wife works.” But, I advised
him, “It’s common knowledge that she works for OTB.” O’Leary then said, “I didn’t know.” Point blank, I told him that it’s been in the papers and certain
things have been exposed about her in her job. O’Leary next said, “I don’t read the papers much so I wouldn't
know she worked” I asked him, “You didn’t
read the expose in Newsday about her
suspension, etc.?” "So, if
Biancaniello fills her spouse’s portion out, when Vecchio doesn’t fill his spouse’s portion out don’t you ask
questions?” O’Leary said he did not
know if she had a job and “We only look at things like real estate if it’s not
listed, and if they leave out things.” I asked again, “How does the Board of
Ethics deal with this if they don’t know if it is filled in correctly or filled
out?” To which O’Leary responded, “Well,
my job is just to follow what the code says and if there’s stuff left out to
return it to be filled out and then it is filed.” Now things turned interesting.
I said, “Well, perhaps 2006 was the
year that the Supervisor’s wife, providing he is married, perhaps he is not,
but maybe that was the year that was she was suspended but, or course, she wasn’t
suspended for the whole year?" Out
of nowhere O’Leary then says to me, “you know, now that I can connect up the
name to the face, I would like to ask why you would write about me if you didn’t
even know me?” This was curious. At first I didn't recall writing about O’Leary,
but when he switched gears to say, “Well, maybe once or twice but it was really coming
from the Gray's. And I know that
you are a friend of his and it hurts me and my name when you write about me.” He then started justifying his and the rest
of the Ethics Board’s conduct during the episode involving Joanne Gray. I listened politely as I was thinking ( and
I am still thinking ) of all that has appeared in the Times of
Smithtown and The Messenger over the past two to
three years regarding “O’Leary and the rest of the Ethics Board, including the
transcript of Councilman Wehrheim’s testimony before it.
Your Financial Disclosure Law is a
sham. All of you tell the public that
everything is available and filed for public inspection but essentially this is
the slight of hand trick practiced by hucksters for decades
selling false hope as they moved the shells back and forth, in and about,
now you see it now you don't, where oh where is the prize on this round? I shall be sending another FOIL with demand
for a copy of all of your financial disclosure statements with a copy to the
media.
Yours truly,
Lenore Cernitz
cc:
Stacey Altherr,
Newsday; Joe Darrow, Times of Smithtown; Phil Schiarillo, The Messenger;
LocalViewsonline.com; Legislator John Kennedy Jr.; Legislator Lynne Nowick;
Senator John Flanagan; Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick