Comptroller will pay disputed bill for print job
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach has agreed to pay a small business for the printing work it performed for the Hein administration, reversing his earlier decision to deny payment over concerns the work order violated a county policy.
In a memo dated July 17, Auerbach told members of the Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee that his office decided to pay the $708 bill because the company “adequately performed the work for the county.”
But he maintained his earlier position that because the suicide-prevention “rack cards” ordered by the county heath department contained County Executive Michael Hein’s name, they violated county policy. And he used the opportunity to take a swipe at Hein, saying the business “unfortunately experienced collateral damage as a result of the executive’s inability to follow county policy.”
Hein’s office has steadfastly maintained the rack cards did not violate a policy adopted by the county Legislature in February that prohibits elected officials from attaching their name to any public service announcements paid for with county money.
The policy states, in part: “No county elected official shall appear by likeness, picture or voice, be named or otherwise identified, or referenced on any public service announcement, non-commerical and nonpolitical advertising by Ulster County promoting any county services, by any method of transmission including but not limited to television, radio and the internet, where same is paid for or produced in whole or in part with public funds of any kind including grant funds.”
County Attorney Mark Longtoe has argued that because the policy uses the word “transmission,” it does not apply to printed materials.
Legislators rejected that interpretation, saying it was their intent to bar the use of elected officials names on materials disseminated to the public.
Hein’s office also accused Auerbach of selective
enforcement of the policy, pointing to printings by the county clerk and Auerbach’s own office that appeared to violate the policy.
Deputy Comptroller Evan Gallo defended the comptroller’s pamphlet, saying payment was approved before the new policy was adopted.
He said his office didn’t see the “proofs” of the printings ordered by the clerk, Nina Postupack, and so wasn’t aware they contained her name and, in at least one instance, her photo.