By TOM RUE Monticello audit cites Texas trip,
car purchases, legal case
MONTICELLO - A trip to a baseball exhibition in Dallas, Texas last year by former village manager William Cummings and police chief Michael Brennan, was among items ripped by an independent auditor in a recent review of Monticello's records.At the time, Cummings was also managing partner of the Newburgh Nighthawks.
Travel by employees should be pre-approved, auditor Michael Waschitz of Bachrach, Waschitz & Waschitz, Monticello, told the village board on February 20. "These are public funds. When you go on travel, it'd better be for public business."
Mayor Robert Friedland agreed, noting he objected to paying Cummings and Brennan, but that because the claims were approved by an audit committee of two trustees he had no choice but to sign the check.
"This board did as they pleased on certain things and I basically got told, `It's none of your business.' I got labeled `the meddling mayor,'" said Friedland, referring to headlines in a daily newspaper which blasted him last year for asking questions about expenditures and operations.
Cummings' and Brennan's trip to Texas was first reported by The River Reporter in May 1995, and then elsewhere. Cummings claimed the trip was to look into setting up a "sports authority" in Monticello. Waschitz concluded that non-village activities were carried out on the trip.
Waschitz recommended a policy requiring prior approval for travel. Village manager David Berner said he submits an application prior to any travel, obtaining advance approval.
Among other procedures cited by Waschitz was the failure of a former village attorney to submit a lawsuit to the village's insurance company for legal defense, resulting in cost to the taxpayers. Waschitz would not name the attorney or the case, nor would any village officials do so in the meeting. Waschitz recommended adopting tracking procedures for notices of claim.
"I have a log," replied clerk Edith Schop. "I've always had a log. In a particular lawsuit, the attorney took it out of my hands."
Speaking on conditions of anonymity, two knowledgeable sources said the case Waschitz referred to was Gordon vs. Monticello -- popularly known as the "musical chairs" case.
The Gordon lawsuit was recently returned by the NYS Court of Appeals to supreme court in Kingston for a determination of legal fees to be paid to local lawyer Loran Shlevin. A pro se motion by taxpayers John and Janet Barbarite seeks to have Shlevin's fees paid by the individuals responsible, rather than from village coffers.
A third problem turned up in the audit, Waschitz said, was a purchase -- without bids -- of two 1995 Ford Tuarus sedans for use by Cummings and Brennan in December 1994, from a local dealer, at a total of $33,972. Interviewed about the purchases last year, Cummings claimed he saved the village money by taking the short cut, since buying the cars was less expensive than leasing. He acknowledged at the time that bids should have been sought before buying the cars.
Friedland was grim being proven right on the procedural and errors cited by Waschitz, when it was noted that he had pointed out the problems months ago, and in fact requested an audit, in response to what he said were efforts by Cummings and others to stifle his questions.
"You learn from mistakes and this is the first time the village had something like this happen to them," said Friedland.
Waschitz said the village's general fund has a surplus of $1,451,226, which he said exceeds that which is allowed. Treasurer Robin Seward disagreed, pointing out that "we would be in serious trouble," with recent weather related expenses, if the surplus weren't there.
Friedland's opponent in the upcoming mayoral election -- funeral director and former president of the Monticello fire department, James Kenny -- sat in the audience taking notes, but made no comments during the meeting.
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