Nassau's Carltun on the Park questioned yet again

                                                                            

Carltun on the Park (from Yelp.com)

Nassau's inspector general is questioning County Executive Laura Curran's proposed extension of Carltun on the Park's longtime license to provide restaurant and catering service at a county-owned building in Eisenhower Park, citing the lack of a "competitive process" in developing the deal.

Inspector General Jodi Franzese, in a draft report sent to county legislators April 9, also noted the proposed extension offers  "significant" rent reductions, defers utility bills and increases Carltun's golf concession services while the restaurant appeared to be almost $143,000 in arrears on pre-pandemic rental payments.

Franzese is awaiting response from the Democratic Curran administration.

But Carltun, run by colorful Republican lawyer Anthony Capetola, has been criticized by county fiscal watchdogs before and Capetola has always successfully rebutted the complaints, getting new contracts and extensions since 1995 through four county executives -- two Republicans and two Democrats.

In the latest proposal to extend his license agreement from Dec. 2021 through September 2023, with an option to continue through Sept 2024, Capetola  boasts Carltun has generated $70 million in rents, capital improvements and sales taxes to Nassau and the state since it started and "is considered the Gold Standard in catering and dining for over two decades."

The Carltun, known for its Palm Court restaurant and Havana's Cigar Club, also has hosted many fundraisers for both Republicans and Democrats. But Capetola notes in his application that the restaurant has "adhered to a strict policy of charging the same price for like services to any political or judicial candidate regardless of party affiliation..."

Capetola, who submitted a CPA's letter that his net worth is in excess of $25 million, has been active in Republican politics for years. His wife is a supreme court justice and his daughter is a member of the Oyster Bay Town board.

Capetola also is litigious. His last license was granted as part of a deal to settle a defamation lawsuit he filed against former Democratic County Comptroller Howard Weitzman. 

Weitzman in 2009 contended that Carltun owed Nassau more than $500,000 because of under-reported revenues and unauthorized rent reductions.

Capetola denied the allegations and said the county owed him money. The administration of Republican Edward Mangano settled the suit in 2013 by giving Capetola a new license that was subsequently amended.

That mirrored how Carltun was handled under Mangano's predecessor, former Democratic County Executive Thomas Suozzi. 

In the late 1990s, then Republican Comptroller Fred Parola reported that the Carltun, which had been licensed by the administration of Republican County Executive Tom Gulotta, owed $1.5 million in back rent. Capetola countered that the county owed him money for improvements he made to the county building.

Suozzi settled the dispute in 2003 by awarding a new deal and leasing adjacent facilities to Carltun.

It should be noted that Inspector General Franzese does not criticize Carltun or Capetola, but questions the county's oversight.

She says in her seven-page report that the administration had requested proposals in 2019 for providing restaurant and catering services in Eisenhower Park, but the administration contends that each proposer withdrew its bid before the internal county selection committee made an award.

Franzese countered that her office "understands" the selection committee recommended an award that was not accepted by the parks commissioner. She said it is also unclear whether the other proposals were,  in fact, withdrawn.

With the pandemic shutdowns,  the report said, the administration cancelled the rfp solicitation and submitted the proposed extension to the county legislature for approval on Jan. 25, 2021, without seeking any other competitive proposals.

"In OIG's assessment, it appears that what began as a competitive selection process is to be supplanted by a noncompetitive process having a multi-year outcome," the report says. "Competition is the largely preferred method for acquiring goods and services."

Despite the pandemic, Franzese said the administration has not provided an explanation as to "why a competitive solution cannot be devised and pursued now."

It adds that the proposed extension "provides significant concessions" to Carltun. It suspends minimum rent payments and will "accept $124,000 (comprised of licensee's paycheck protection program (PPP) government funds) in lieu of $398,184 originally due to the county from March 2020 through December 2020 minimum rent and utilities."

"OIC calculates the result is a significant concession of $274,288" in Carltun's favor. The report also notes the required $124,000 has been paid.

The administration said in its summary of the deal that because of "severe restrictions placed on restaurant and catering establishments, Licensee does not generate income sufficient to continue the monthly minimum payments required under the terms of the agreement." 

As a result, the county proposes to suspend minimum rent payments while still collecting a percentage of  Carltuns' gross receipts from Jan. 2021 until 180 days after the state allows restaurants and catering halls to operate at 100 percent capacity -- but the inspector general's report says the deal is unclear about the amounts and when full payments would begin again.

The inspector general's office also notes that the extension would allow Carltun "to engage in additional activities related to the golf course at Eisenhower park." But it says those activities had been handled previously by a different entity and should have been competitively bid.

Finally, Franzese's report also "understands" that Carltun was "nearly $143,000 in arrears to Nassau County, dating to a pre-pandemic period of November 2019 through Feb. 2020." Although Carltun was to pay by March 31, the report says the inspector general's office was not informed of any payment by April 8.

The report also notes the county charter forbids awarding any contract "to any person who is in arrears to the county..." 

It does not specify whether Carltun qualifies as "any person."