Lotsa money to spend

[luvinretrmnt]

Nassau County wants to buy nursery from appointee for $800G

Originally published: April 20, 2014 9:00 PM
Updated: April 20, 2014 9:14 PM
By PAUL LAROCCO [e-mail]

The site of Emil's Garden Nursery on Stewart

The site of Emil's Garden Nursery on Stewart Ave. in Bethpage on Thursday, April 17, 2014, where the Nassau County Planning Commission is considering a contract to purchase the land from owner Frank Camerlengo. Officials say they intend to use the site as a "cultural and educational center," celebrating the county's agricultural history. (Credit: Steve Pfost)

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano's administration wants to spend $800,000 to buy an old nursery from one of its political appointees -- who just got a 26 percent raise during a union wage freeze.

The county has a tentative agreement with Deputy Parks Commissioner Frank Camerlengo to purchase his property on Stewart Avenue in Bethpage, where his family long ran Emil's Garden Center and...



Seems good ol ed is on the spending spree since he got so much money given back to him from county workers...wheres the union to publicly comment on that deal?? or are they getting a cut of it...

[onthejob]

Nassau County wants to buy nursery from appointee for $800G
April 20, 2014 by PAUL LAROCCO / [e-mail]

The site of Emil's Garden Nursery on Stewart
Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano's administration wants to spend $800,000 to buy an old nursery from one of its political appointees -- who just got a 26 percent raise during a union wage freeze.

The county has a tentative agreement with Deputy Parks Commissioner Frank Camerlengo to purchase his property on Stewart Avenue in Bethpage, where his family long ran Emil's Garden Center and now stores landscaping equipment.

Officials say they want to convert the site, a farm in the early 1900s, into a "cultural and educational center" celebrating local agricultural history.

Planning commissioners are considering the deal, but say they first want an opinion from the county ethics board, and a full explanation of how Nassau -- facing declining sales tax revenue, which may create a new budget deficit -- would fund it. Just last month, the county said financial constraints had forced it to delay a $700,000 plan to build a replica of a historic Old Bethpage Village Restoration home it had demolished.

On Friday, county officials said that the lots that compose the property -- one of which is in foreclosure, according to state court records -- would be purchased with money from Nassau's Environmental Bond Act. The funds, previously borrowed under voter-approved referendums, are typically set aside for open space preservation.

In recently pitching the deal to the planning commission, Deputy County Executive Charles Theofan said the county is paying below-market value for lots that otherwise could be subdivided for homes or continued as a commercial business, which residents oppose.

"Obviously, this is the county executive's neighborhood," Theofan said. "He's not going to permit anything to happen there that's not in the best interests of the community."



The commissioner's ties

Camerlengo was hired shortly after Mangano, a Bethpage Republican, took office in 2010. He had served on the Bethpage Chamber of Commerce board with Mangano and his wife, Linda. Camerlengo, his family and business have given Mangano more than $10,000 in political contributions since 2009.

Newsday reported in January that Camerlengo was one of nine Mangano appointees who received raises last year, at a time when the county's state fiscal control board kept a multiyear freeze on union wages. Camerlengo's pay hike was one of the largest: from $99,000 to $125,000, or 26 percent. Officials said his duties had increased as the parks department was consolidated.

Camerlengo couldn't be reached for comment. A woman who answered the door at the address that Camerlengo listed on his voter registration told a reporter that the land deal was "none of your business" and asked that it not be reported until "after it was done."

On a recent morning, Camerlengo's Bethpage property, which includes a home the family rents out, was fenced off and showed few signs of recent activity. Pieces of heavy equipment were parked in the gravel lot, where a small building still featured a banner supporting Republican Sen. John McCain's failed 2008 presidential bid.

Mangano spokeswoman Katie Grilli-Robles said Friday that "the community," not the administration, sought the deal.

"The county has acquired millions of dollars of property on the North Shore, [and] this environmental bond act acquisition preserves a historic property, which will result in a community garden similar to other bond projects," she said in a statement. "Since the owner is a county employee an ethics opinion was sought prior to finalizing the acquisition, which will preserve the property for future generations."



Turning to ethics panel

At the April 10 county planning commission meeting, Theofan admitted he didn't initially disclose Camerlengo's job in the Mangano administration when submitting the purchase for consideration.

"You can blame me for that," Theofan said when commission vice chair Marty Glennon, a Democrat, raised the issue. "I have nothing to hide here."

Glennon said he was "baffled" that the county didn't mention its ties to Camerlengo until asked at the second meeting that the deal was on the agenda: "I've got severe reservations about doing this until we can get an [ethics] opinion."

The planning commission left the public hearing on the proposed purchase open. If approved, the agreement would come before the county legislature, and, possibly, to the county's control board, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority.

Planning Commissioner Jeff Greenfield said in an interview last week that Theofan proactively sought the ethics opinion, and that the deal seems like a good one for Bethpage.

"We're not raising taxes to buy this, we're not bonding for it. We have the money and this is the way money should be spent," Greenfield said. "The neighborhood wants this."

Mathew Rufrano, a Bethpage civic leader, also spoke in support of the deal. He said Camerlengo, a friend, "always had the best intentions" for neighbors.

"He always said that he wanted to make sure that this land was going to be his retirement, because he didn't have anything like a 401K," Rufrano told planning commissioners. "He wanted to make sure the property would be preserved."

[onthejob]

www.newsday.com/long-island/columnists/joye-brown/property-deal-in-nassau-creates-a-stench-1.7783374
Property deal in Nassau creates a stench
April 21, 2014 by JOYE BROWN / [e-mail]

Just to clarify:

Nassau County will not -- repeat, not -- use $800,000 in voter-approved environmental bond money to buy property owned by a deputy parks commissioner in County Executive Edward Mangano's Bethpage neighborhood.

Instead -- in a change from what a county official told Newsday in a story Monday -- Nassau will use a portion of its own surplus land sale money to get the deal done.

But changing the funding source does not change the stench rising off this deal.

One deputy Nassau County executive, Charles Theofan, first pitched acquisition of property owned by deputy parks commissioner Frank Camerlengo to the county planning board last month.

He did not tell the board that the seller was a county official -- or, in public at least, that a portion of the property was in foreclosure.

Theofan did tell board members that the Stewart Avenue property was in Mangano's neighborhood. "He's not going to permit anything to happen there that's not in the best interests of the community," Theofan said.

Monday, a Nassau official said the county requested an ethics opinion on the sale before Theofan made the pitch.

But that doesn't qualify as public disclosure, since officials are supposed to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

And the idea of putting the issue before a Mangano-majority-appointed ethics board and expecting an unbiased decision just makes matters worse.

Even the timing of the ethics board's decision, which is expected by May 1, becomes suspect -- since that's the day the planning board will be meeting.

Could it all be coincidence? Maybe, but there's a lot of evidence pointing to a stacked deck.

Camerlengo was hired shortly after Mangano, a Bethpage Republican, took office. Camerlengo's worked for more than four years -- not long enough yet to vest for a defined public employee pension.

Camerlengo served on the Bethpage Chamber of Commerce board -- with Mangano and his wife. And he, his family and his business since 2009 have contributed more than $10,000 to the county executive.

The deputy parks commissioner last year got one of the largest pay hikes -- in the midst of a pay freeze that was the county's state control board had assumed would apply to union and nonunion workers. Camerlengo's salary went up to $125,000, from $99,000 -- a 26 percent increase.

And, according to court records, a piece of Camerlengo's Bethpage property went into foreclosure last year.

A hearing in the case was continued five times -- the last on March 11 -- nine days before Theofan took his pitch to the planning board.

Does the sale even make sense?

The county's Old Bethpage Village Restoration -- Nassau's premier agriculture education center, which has taken a beating during the county's decadelong cash crunch -- lies just 3.5 miles from the Camerlengo property.

So how, exactly, would Nassau residents benefit from adding the Stewart Avenue property to the mix -- especially since, under county ownership, the parcel would leave the tax rolls?

And why is Nassau looking to pay $800,000 for the property? Is the price too high, given the condition of the property? Too low, given the value of the mostly residential neighborhood?

A woman who answered the door at the address that Camerlengo listed on his voter registration told Newsday reporter Paul LaRocco that the land deal was "none of your business."

Wrong.

How the cash-strapped county, already straining to provide services, spends its money is very much the business of Nassau's residents.

The deal smells.

Bury it.

[redstone14]

The politicians must feel pretty safe, They don't even try to hide their shenabkns anymore. Probably had a good laugh about this article while smoking cigars at the Castle.

[onthejob]

It amazes me how in your face they are. I have said it before and I'll say it again, expect a re-freeze in 2018. We will be blamed again while the politicians continue to bankrupt the county. There is nothing to stop them.

[onthejob]

Nassau land seller was in default by nearly $400,000, court records show
April 23, 2014 by PAUL LAROCCO / [e-mail]


A political appointee of Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano was nearly $400,000 in default on his mortgage when the county offered to buy his land, court records show.

Deputy Parks Commissioner Frank Camerlengo could receive $800,000, pending approval by the county planning commission and the county legislature, for four lots on Stewart Avenue in Bethpage, one of which has been in foreclosure since early last year. The about one-acre parcel that includes the foreclosed home once was a family nursery, but now is used to store landscaping equipment.

Aides to Mangano, a Republican who lives in Bethpage, first pitched the sale last month to the planning commission. They said the site -- a farm in the early 1900s -- would be a "cultural and educational center" for local agricultural history.

The administration defends the purchase, which it will pay for with money from a dedicated open space fund that contains about $1.1 million. Neighbors have told Mangano that they don't want to see the property used for new homes or another landscaping business.

"The most important thing to the county executive is, is the land useful and is it affordable?" Deputy County Executive Ed Ward said Wednesday. "He stands behind the project."

Ward provided records showing the property was worth $800,000 when the county had it appraised in June 2012.

JP Morgan Chase sued Camerlengo in January 2013, claiming he was in default on his mortgage as of May 2012 and owed $395,479. On Dec. 17, after Camerlengo's case had been continued several times in efforts to reach a settlement, Deputy County Executive Charles Theofan wrote to Camerlengo's attorney that the county "fully intends to purchase" the Stewart Avenue lots, including the foreclosed parcel. "We are expediting the process," he wrote.

Camerlengo, who once served on the Bethpage Chamber of Commerce board with Mangano, was hired by the administration in January 2010, the month Mangano took office. Camerlengo and immediate family members including his wife have given Mangano a total of $10,000 in campaign contributions since 2009, according to state records.

On Jan. 1, 2014, Camerlengo received a raise from $99,000 to $125,000 -- at a time when a wage freeze was in effect for all unionized and appointed employees. The administration said Camerlengo and 9 other appointees who got raises had taken on increased duties.

On March 17, Camerlengo went into contract with Nassau County, and Theofan first presented the deal to the planning commission on March 20.

Theofan didn't disclose Camerlengo's county job at that meeting, but did so at the April 10 meeting, after a commissioner asked him about it during the public hearing. Theofan also has not disclosed the foreclosure to the commission.

Administration officials said Wednesday that they aren't required by law to disclose Camerlengo's employment until the matter comes before the county legislature.

"I believe we did nothing wrong," Theofan said Wednesday, adding that he also didn't believe the commission needed to know about the foreclosure.

Camerlengo's attorney, Michael Mirotznik of East Meadow, said this week that he hasn't heard from the county since Theofan's December letter. Mirotznik said that by selling to Nassau, Camerlengo likely would get less money for the Bethpage property than if he sold to home builders.

"If the county doesn't move on it, Frank should sell the property to developers and let them spot-build 4 to 5 houses, and then the neighbors will be angry," Mirotznik said. "It seems better to have a park there than more homes."

Mangano recently named Mirotznik to lead the board for NuHealth, which includes Nassau University Medical Center.

The planning commission is scheduled to resume consideration of the Camerlengo deal on May 1. The administration has requested an opinion on the real estate deal from the county ethics board, with a majority appointed by Mangano. Planning commission members have said they will not make a decision until the ethics board rules.

If approved by the Republican-majority planning commission and the county's open space advisory council, a citizen's board that reviews environmental acquisitions, the land deal would go before the GOP-controlled Nassau County Legislature before the sale contract could be finalized.

[onthejob]

funny how his commercial property on Stewart Ave can be valued at only $78,000.