Poughkeepsie, NY – March 8, 2011
“Led by County Executive Bill Steinhaus, twenty years of Republican irresponsibility has left Dutchess with fiscal time bombs such as the Resource Recovery Agency that are burning through taxpayer money year after year. Molinaro showed in Tivoli that he lacks the financial skills and real world experience to guide us through these troubled times, and it would be irresponsible to put him in charge of the $400 million county budget,” said Elisa Sumner, Chair of the Dutchess County Democratic Committee.
In early 2009, the Office of the State Comptroller issued an audit of the Village of Tivoli, of which Molinaro was mayor for 11 years, and where he oversaw an era of sloppy accounting and unrealistic budgeting. Pages 3 and 4 of the report state, “The Village’s financial condition has declined in recent years; the Village did not adhere to General Municipal Law or its own policy when procuring goods and services; the Village does not have a comprehensive payroll policy or procedures in place to ensure that employees receive only the benefits that they are entitled to.”
The full report is available at http://osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/villages/2009/tivoli.pdf.
“Molinaro is also one of the most right-wing members of the New York State Assembly, with a record much more extreme than moderate and independent Dutchess County deserves. In voting against the Fair Pay Act for Women and marriage equality, Molinaro has demonstrated that obeying Republican party bosses is more important to him than doing right by the voters he represents.”
Contact: Pat Kelly
Pat.Kelly.RH@gmail.com
845-325-2659
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Update sent to press:
It has come to our attention that Mr. Molinaro has told several media outlets that he was not mayor during the period covered by the audit. A quick review of the facts shows that this is in fact false.
The front page of the audit (Available here: http://osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/villages/2009/tivoli.pdf) states that it covers June 1, 2006 to May 1, 2008.
According to an article on Molinaro’s own website (http://www.marcmolinaro.com/published/2006MayorMarcbidsfare.pdf), and confirmed by the Village of Tivoli Clerk, Molinaro did not resign until December 31st, 2006, meaning that he was Mayor for almost a third of the audit period. The article has been attached to this email in case he removes it from his site. Moreover, he was mayor for the decade preceding the audit, and it is hard to imagine that the many disturbing financial practices discovered by the comptroller only began that June.
Mr. Molinaro is welcome to his own opinions, but he is not welcome to his own set of facts.
If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to contact me,
Patrick Kelly
Public Relations Chair, Dutchess County Democratic Committee
845-325-2659