Schnirman seeks donations same day Singas exonerates him

Not unexpectedly, Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas announced today that she had found no criminal wrongdoing by fellow Democrat, Nassau Comptroller Jack Schnirman, when, as Long Beach's city manager, he approved excessive separation and "drawdown" payments to mostly members of his management team.

Yes, Schnirman, who left the city in Jan. 2018 when he took office as Nassau's elected top fiscal watchdog, allowed payments that were "excessive and inconsistent with the applicable law," Singas said.

Yes, the payments resulted from "shocking ignorance of Long Beach laws and ordinances."

Yes, officials who executed the payments demonstrated "incompetence and negligence."

But no, Singas said, she found no evidence of criminal intent among anyone involved with the excessive payments.

Schnirman served as the city's chief executive from Jan. 2012 through Dec. 2017.

 "During Mr. Schnirman's tenure as city manager, he allowed millions of dollars in improper payments to be made, personally accepted a payment much more generous than provided for by the plain language of his contract and waited more than a year to return that payout while under state and federal investigation," Singas said in a statement (see above).

"The taxpayers of Long Beach deserved better," Singas said.

Singas also issued an 11-page report by Christine Maloney, the chief of Singas' public corruption bureau.

Outraged Long Beach residents, learning in April 2018 that the city needed to borrow more than $2 million to pay for separation payments already made to Schnirman and others, demanded investigations from the state comptroller, Singas and federal authorities.

The state comptroller last year confirmed reports from residents, the Long Beach Herald and Newsday that Schnirman had received about $53,000 too much in his $108,000 separation payment. Schnirman repaid the money last year, saying he depended on staff to calculate what he was owed for his accrued leave time.

The comptroller reported the city made  about $750,000 in excessive payments to management employees. Auditors also disclosed the city had covered multi-million dollar budget deficits for years through borrowing.

Schnirman apparently took today's news as vindication.

Minutes after Singas' statement went public, Schnirman's campaign committee emailed out a request for campaign donations.

Schnirman's term is up next November. County Executive Laura Curran, another Democrat, also is up for re-election then.  Clearly, Schnirman intends to be part of the ticket. Democrat Singas was re-elected last year and won’t run again until 2023. (Corrected Singas re-election date)

Schnirman’s campaign committee’s  email explained that as soon as the Nov. 3 election for president, state senate and assembly is over, "all eyes are going to shift to down-ballot races, like ours."

Here is the email:

From: Schnirman HQ <info@jackfornassau.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2020 1:03 PM
Subject: Tonight!

Hey, Tonight is our final end-of-quarter deadline before the all-important November election. But we’ve said it before, Jeremy: The second that the November election is decided, all eyes are going to shift to down-ballot races, like ours. That’s why we need to make sure we hit our goal. Can you chip in $15 right now to make sure we raise the last $1,607 we need before midnight tonight? CHIP IN → We need good people who are in the fight for all the right reasons in all offices of our government. From local to national races, we need leaders who are going to listen to the facts and look out for the people. Leaders who are going to plan for the future, and leaders who will not constantly change the rules in the middle of the game and rush a Supreme Court Justice confirmation because they’re worried they’ll lose their seats, for example. So can you help us fill our fundraising deficit of $1,607 by midnight tonight and chip in $10, $20, or $30 right now. → $10 → $25 → $50 → $100 → $250 → Other → Onward! -- Schnirman HQ Paid for by Jack Schnirman for Nassau