Politically connected lawyer enters reassessment case
Tomorrow is the last scheduled court hearing prior to a March 6 trial date for a class action lawsuit challenging the legality of Nassau's residential property tax reassessment.
A Manhattan law firm, Wolf, Haldenstein, Adler, Freeman & Herz, has submitted papers indicating that six of its attorneys will appear in court to represent Democrat County Executive Laura Curran's administration.
The six include senior partner Regina Calcaterra, a former chief deputy for Democrat Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and former executive director of the short-lived Moreland Commission on public corruption where she was considered the eyes and ears of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Calcaterra has filed a 15-page answer to the lawsuit filed by Sands Point resident Eric Berliner and three other Nassau homeowners, who contend the reassessment was secretive, arbitrary and violates state constitutional guarantees of equal protection. Calcaterra essentially denies all their claims.
State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bucaria last month dismissed most of the county's arguments that the lawsuit should be dismissed and ordered discovery to begin. He also granted class action status to the case.
The county was supposed to respond by today to "all discovery demands' made by the county homeowners.
Could that mean the county will actually provide the full computer formula used to develop the new values that are supposed to be used in the Oct. school tax bills?
Some Nassau residents been trying to obtain the mysterious algorithm for over a year. First the county claimed it was a trade secret. Then, in response to a lawsuit by Lynbrook homeowner Dennis Duffy, the county turned over pages and pages of computer code. But computer experts said files were missing from the county data that prevented them from recreating the algorithm.
Berliner filed a Freedom of Information request for the missing files last year, but, as of Feb. 3, the county had yet to comply, according to a letter from Berliner's attorney Scott Mollen to Bucaria.
It's not clear how Calcaterra and her law firm got onto this case or began working without required legislative approval,
The county Rules Committee met last Monday but the administration did not request a contract for Wolf, Haldenstein.
The county legislature is supposed to approve every county contract of $1,000 or more.
Six attorneys filing court appearances and Calcaterra's 15-page answer probably blew through that $1,000 threshold.
A Curran spokesman said Calcaterra's law firm was already working for the county on a different matter.
But Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) recently dressed down Curran officials for expanding legal contracts without approval. He said they needed to present new contracts to the legislature's Rules committee every time they added new duties to a law firm already working for the county.
Calcaterra has long been involved in Democratic politics and government. She ran for state senate in 2010 but was disqualified for not meeting residency requirements.
She left her job with Bellone when Cuomo appointed her in 2012 to lead the Moreland Comission on Utility Storm Preparation and Response after Hurricane Sandy. In 2013, Cuomo named her executive director of his newly created anti-public corruption Moreland Commission.
After Cuomo disbanded the commission mid-way through its expected 18-month life, the New York Times reported that commission staff and investigators accused Calcaterra of reading their emails, monitoring their actions and reporting back to Cuomo. A lawyer for Calcaterra told the newspaper that she acted at all times in good faith.
Cuomo then appointed Calcaterra deputy general counsel to the New York State Insurance Fund.
She joined the Wolf Haldenstein law firm in 2016.
A Manhattan law firm, Wolf, Haldenstein, Adler, Freeman & Herz, has submitted papers indicating that six of its attorneys will appear in court to represent Democrat County Executive Laura Curran's administration.
The six include senior partner Regina Calcaterra, a former chief deputy for Democrat Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and former executive director of the short-lived Moreland Commission on public corruption where she was considered the eyes and ears of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
Calcaterra has filed a 15-page answer to the lawsuit filed by Sands Point resident Eric Berliner and three other Nassau homeowners, who contend the reassessment was secretive, arbitrary and violates state constitutional guarantees of equal protection. Calcaterra essentially denies all their claims.
State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bucaria last month dismissed most of the county's arguments that the lawsuit should be dismissed and ordered discovery to begin. He also granted class action status to the case.
The county was supposed to respond by today to "all discovery demands' made by the county homeowners.
Could that mean the county will actually provide the full computer formula used to develop the new values that are supposed to be used in the Oct. school tax bills?
Some Nassau residents been trying to obtain the mysterious algorithm for over a year. First the county claimed it was a trade secret. Then, in response to a lawsuit by Lynbrook homeowner Dennis Duffy, the county turned over pages and pages of computer code. But computer experts said files were missing from the county data that prevented them from recreating the algorithm.
Berliner filed a Freedom of Information request for the missing files last year, but, as of Feb. 3, the county had yet to comply, according to a letter from Berliner's attorney Scott Mollen to Bucaria.
It's not clear how Calcaterra and her law firm got onto this case or began working without required legislative approval,
The county Rules Committee met last Monday but the administration did not request a contract for Wolf, Haldenstein.
The county legislature is supposed to approve every county contract of $1,000 or more.
Six attorneys filing court appearances and Calcaterra's 15-page answer probably blew through that $1,000 threshold.
A Curran spokesman said Calcaterra's law firm was already working for the county on a different matter.
But Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) recently dressed down Curran officials for expanding legal contracts without approval. He said they needed to present new contracts to the legislature's Rules committee every time they added new duties to a law firm already working for the county.
Calcaterra has long been involved in Democratic politics and government. She ran for state senate in 2010 but was disqualified for not meeting residency requirements.
She left her job with Bellone when Cuomo appointed her in 2012 to lead the Moreland Comission on Utility Storm Preparation and Response after Hurricane Sandy. In 2013, Cuomo named her executive director of his newly created anti-public corruption Moreland Commission.
After Cuomo disbanded the commission mid-way through its expected 18-month life, the New York Times reported that commission staff and investigators accused Calcaterra of reading their emails, monitoring their actions and reporting back to Cuomo. A lawyer for Calcaterra told the newspaper that she acted at all times in good faith.
Cuomo then appointed Calcaterra deputy general counsel to the New York State Insurance Fund.
She joined the Wolf Haldenstein law firm in 2016.
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