Nassau counsel: Contacting elected officials is "disruptive"

Although Nassau County Executive Laura Curran promised a "transparent" administration when she ran for election in 2017, transparency has been a continuing problem for her administration.

During her first year in office, deputies for Curran's County Attorney Jared Kasschau, a former partner in the Harris Beach law firm, wrote in response to a reporter that Nassau County "as a whole" is not subject to New York's Freedom of Information law. Requests for county records not physically held in Curran's office would be denied, they decreed -- an edict they later withdrew.

But a Curran spokesman last year used the same excuse to deny a different request for information.

In addition, numerous private citizens had to sue Nassau County over the past two years to find out how their home's value was developed under Curran's 2018 reassessment.  After months of litigation over one reassessment lawsuit -- racking up legal fees that will cost taxpayers at least $685,000 -- the county last month agreed under a court-ordered settlement to be more transparent about its assessment practices.

Now outside counsel for Curran is complaining that a county employee, who filed for "whistleblower protection" after reporting alleged illegal activities by the Nassau civil service commission, needs to stop directly contacting county legislators and their government-paid attorneys about his case.

The employee, on Jan. 7, "continued his practice of copying more than twenty (20) county officials on an email that raised what should have been a routine question under the Open Meeting law," wrote attorney Howard Miller of Garden City.

"The practice of sending repeat emails to county officials, who have no direct involvement over the subject matter, is disruptive"  Miller wrote."Consequently as with any employee or community member, we respectfully request that Mr. Heino file FOIL requests using the appropriate procedure and addressed to the appropriate individual."

The employee is Kenneth Heino, a Conservative party member who is a longtime employee in the county's Consumer Affairs office. 

Heino yesterday emailed Miller's letter to all 19 county legislators and their attorneys. He said he had received no response to his allegations that the civil service commission had violated FOIL and Open Meetings law. 

"What is especially concerning is that the administration has taken no action other than to use our tax dollars to pay an outside law firm in an effort to stop me from communicating with you, my elected representatives," Heino wrote.