Secret cybersecurity contract in Nassau?

                                                                                  

Bruce Blakeman

Nassau insiders at the county legislature are whispering that Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman intends to hire a cybersecurity consultant without public disclosure of the contract, terms or even identity of the consultant.

It's a matter of security, they contend.

Blakeman lawyers allegedly say they found a loophole that allows the county executive to bypass the law that requires public disclosure and legislative approval of all contracts of $1,000 or more. Again, all in the name of security.

Every county administration since the legislature began in 1996 -- Republican and Democrat alike --has claimed to find hidden county executive powers in the county charter, administrative code or other obscure state laws.

Blakeman knows this. As Presiding Officer of the first county legislature, he challenged then County Executive Tom Gulotta's authority to sign multi-million dollar professional service contracts without any legislative approval or oversight.

They struck a deal for the legislature's Rules Committee to approve all such personal service contracts of $25,000 or more.

When Gulotta tried to renege on the deal after Democrats took control of the legislature in 2000, then-presiding officer Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) led the effort to put the issue to a referendum.

Voters overwhelmingly approved a charter change in 2000 that requires require all county contracts of $25,000 or more to be approved by the Rules Committee. 

After a scandal over a $12 million contract for a firm that hired the son of former State Sen. Dean Skelos, the legislature voted to drop the approval limit to $1,000. The legislature also approved the hiring of an independent inspector general to vet the procurement process.

Who will vet the secret contract?

Coincidentally, Blakeman's maneuver comes after a cybersecurity attack in Suffolk, which has hobbled county operations for weeks.

And it seems to follow on the heels of a computer mishap involving Nassau's payroll system.

This email went out this week to Nassau County Employees:

 

Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe not. 

But the extra deposit apparently has been retrieved by the administration.

Meanwhile, here's a question.

It is illegal to take power from an elected official, such as the power to approve contracts, without a public referendum.

But can an elected official, ie the legislature, delegate its power to approve contracts without a referendum?

 



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