Town IDA in Camoflage

We noted in prior posts the conspicuous absence of the town IDA from the official web site at townofng.com. Shortly after our point was made, a link appeared listing the agency and the names of those appointed in January including the Chairman of the Democratic Party, Jeff Spain, appointed in part with the vote of his brother Al Spain on the town board.

Then, the page disappeared again, no sign of the IDA and no sign of Jeff Spain. Now we can only imagine the furor had the prior board appointed Dan Ashley to such a post. But this crew operates under a standard where the rules they contrive only apply to their adversaries and never to them.

So we started to hear the talk about the controversy about appointing a party chair on an agency that dispenses money, loans and grants and the potential for appearances of conflicts of interest for any party chair who might be tempted to use the position to solicit campaign contributions from applicants.

So where is the IDA and its controversial appointee? Still expunged from the public web domain and apparently causing a behind the scenes stir. We hear members are a bit disturbed, especially long time members, about the presence of a party chair. Apparently the dissent is strong enough that there is serious talk of him stepping down. Perhaps he can use the excuse that he does not have the time to comply with training requirements now established by the State's Public Authority's Law.

Whatever the reason, Jeff and his IDA are still missing from the town web site although they proudly list the names of two deputy town attorneys on the court page. One was appointed with a criminal record and the other a disgraced former judge removed from the bench.

Whatever the real reason for camouflaging the agency and with it, Mr. Spain, one needs to look at Clerk Connolly and Supervisor Evers who managed to gain a clause in the web contract requiring ALL postings to be approved by them. If they don't want something on, it goes off and vice versa. This is sure to stir independently elected officials who cannot directly post changes to their pages but that fits the control freak mentality of the pair and the paranoia that exudes from each.

Stay tuned.