GOSHEN – The Orange County Legislature committee charged with investigating the awarding of an information technology contract to the StarCIO company found no criminality or wrongdoing in the selection of the company. What it did find was often sloppy or incomplete paperwork in the contract selection process.
The committee, chaired by Legislator Kevin Hines, presented their report on Wednesday saying there was no “sweetheart” deal as alleged by State Senator James Skoufis and four fellow Democratic county legislators that that Human Resources Commissioner Langdon Chapman had anything to with awarding the IT contract to StarCIO, owned by his brother-in-law, Isaac Sicolick.
The special committee found that Chapman had nothing to do with the award.
It also found that contrary to allegations that Sicolick was in financial straits with his home mortgage, it was, in fact, paid in full.
The special committee did find fault with incomplete documentation of procurement and said that policy should be redrafted and that administration of contracts going forward should be addressed by the executive office. In this case, members found that no one had negotiated the contract.
It also found that StarCIO was given “highly confidential” information before it was granted the contract.
The committee said the legislators and Skoufis acted “irresponsibly” in making their allegations.
Meanwhile, Skoufis said he is pleased that the legislature’s “central finding confirmed what has been obvious from the start: ‘The StarCIO contract was not properly procured.’ From soliciting fake quotes to illicitly escalating the contract’s cost to taxpayers, the report’s findings make clear the county administration has been lying to the public for months. My team and I are proud to have helped expose this wrongdoing in October.”
The senator also said as far as the question of criminality, “the county legislature’s attempt to cover for their political friends is of…
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