How Bad Can They Look?

After the Town Board got its butt kicked along with that of their cracker jack CPA firm, you might think they would figure a good face saving way out of their slander ridden attack on the professional reputation of the former Comptroller. But nope, this is after all a board majority run by Lou Desso, the County Legislator who can't name a single bank account he approved for the county while throwing a fit that he didn't approve or know about one in North Greenbush.

Maybe Desso just didn't understand how bad he looked and maybe his majority didn't realize that the Supervisor was giving them a chance at some redemption last night by offering a Resolution that would have asked their so called CPA's to re-examine their findings, one in particular that is untrue and a potentially slanderous attack on the former Comptroller. A chance to change it if they felt the evidence warranted it. But no, not one Board member would second her resolution.

The problem of course is that the so called finding that the the comptroller opened an "UNAUTHORIZED BANK ACCOUNT" simply isn't true. The conclusion is not supported by any Town Law and is "justified" by the fact that the Town Board did not approve of the account.

The problem of course is that the law does not require the town board to approve of any bank accounts opened by a Comptroller. Unfortunately for Lou Desso, the county operates the same way. So when asked if he could name even ONE bank account he approved for use in Rensselaer County as a member of the Legislature, the silence was deafening. Poor Lou! He was so upset he didn't know about the bank account opened on Main Avenue by the comptroller he fired he was calling for a "Forensic Audit". Yet Lou couldn't name a single bank account he had approved for the county in his conflicting role as a legislator.

A little lesson for Lou that may not sink in until he gets further hammered for his outrageous attack on the former Comptroller. He can't claim that he never accused anyone of criminal activity when he's calling for a forensic audit. A forensic audit is a tool used to compile criminal evidence. It's used because you suspect embezzlement or some crime has taken place. Lou said it to the Times Union and then again at last night's public meeting and left himself wide open to a lawsuit by the former Comptroller. The CPA firm might have liked the chance to fix their big whopper too for they could be on the receiving end of a lawsuit for making the false claim concerning an "unauthorized bank account" which clearly damaged the professional standing and reputation of the former Comptroller.

Imagine how bad they looked seeing the proof that the claim was erroneous and that the CPA firm had made an egregious error and none of these elected Board members had the brains or guts to ask the firm to do a fact check and perhaps, amend and fix their slanderous mistake.

The Supervisor gave them a chance at redemption, at least partial redemption. A chance to do the right thing for the town and for the man they screwed with his job and then his reputation. But Lou and his gang just could bring themselves to embracing doing the right thing. Politics, never entered into this they said. It must have been something else that caused Lou Desso to call the Troy Record Tuesday to leak the "non political CPA report" before his Finance Committee had a chance to meet later that night. Lou talked up quite a storm about the illegal bank account, inferred all kinds of fraud so he could get that big headline that would be used to help bury the former Comptroller and "justify" the firing.

He got one headline and he's going to get many more as a result that he'll wish he didn't have to read. Hey Lou, get back to us with those bank accounts you approved in the county, just one will do. Hell if you don't know of any bank accounts that the county is using, you can get another CPA firm to write something equally stupid and go after your County Fiscal Officers!

Just think of the headlines you'll get!

You can read more in the Record, here, including the Board's appointment of Tony Germano as Comptroller. Good luck Tony, we wouldn't wish them on anyone.