『Arrests made over charges of bribery within East Hampton Town』のカバーアート

Arrests made over charges of bribery within East Hampton Town

Arrests made over charges of bribery within East Hampton Town

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概要

 Arrests made after an investigation cloaked in strict secrecy and undertaken by the Suffolk County district attorney’s office, over charges that staffers were taking bribes to expedite permits, sent shockwaves through East Hampton Town last week.At the helm in that office at that time was former East Hampton Town Chief Building Inspector Joe Palermo, who was the first to notice — and report — what looked like unusual patterns: Building permits that should take weeks to process were being approved in a matter of days. His reports nearly two years ago ultimately launched an investigation by the district attorney’s office that ultimately led to two people being charged and indicted on five counts of receiving bribes, a class D felony, and five counts of official misconduct, a misdemeanor.Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that Evelyn Calderon, a suspended office staffer, and Ryan Benitez, a former building inspector, are now awaiting their next court date, which is slated for May 21.“We did such a huge volume in the Town Building Department — it's always, always busy,” Palermo said. “A mistake can always happen. But, usually, if something happens, you look into it and you make sure you correct it.”One example came where a pool was being constructed outside a double setback. The Building Department sent the applicant to the Zoning Board of Appeals, and Palermo realized that the permit was turned around almost immediately. Typically, such a permit would get logged in, and the total turnaround would be around four weeks.Palermo, at that time, began to get suspicious — and those suspicions were echoed elsewhere in the department. Others began to point out discrepancies.“That’s when I realized what was going on,” Palermo said.Palermo, who had been asking town officials what he should do, was told to observe and document — take notes, make copies — any actions that appeared suspicious, as his reports were being investigated.Suffolk D.A. spokeswoman Emily O’Neill said interviews with the people who are said to have paid Calderon is what ultimately unraveled the scheme. This is how the D.A.’s office got word that Calderon would allegedly send half the money to Benitez as part of the stated operation.The Suffolk County D.A. investigation did not involve working with the leaders of the local government. Investigations of that nature require strict secrecy, O’Neill said, to bring them to a successful conclusion. However, she said, the East Hampton Town attorney’s office did initially bring the stated issue forward, and a former employee in the Building Department was a “huge help and important resource.”***The group of five residents who are suing Southampton Village for following through with a land swap plan that would alienate Lola Prentice Memorial Park as part of a plan to build a sewage treatment plant have filed a petition for civil contempt against the Southampton Village Board. Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that the filing stems from a vote that the board took at its meeting on March 12 to support the passage of a pair of bills in the New York State Assembly and Senate — sponsored by Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni and Senator Anthony Palumbo — to alienate the park as part of the land swap. The plaintiffs have said that the board’s support of this, and involving the park in the plan, violates a 2019 Suffolk County Supreme Court injunction that ordered the village to use the park “for education or recreational purposes only.”In the petition, the plaintiffs argue that by voting for this resolution, the board “disobeyed the order” despite alleging that “each respondent had knowledge of the order prior to undertaking the above described actions…The aforesaid actions taken by the village and Village Board, collectively and individually, have impaired, frustrated and prejudiced each of the petitioners’ rights and benefits obtained by the order,” the petition reads.Southampton Village’s current plan is to acquire the property at 135 Windmill Lane, currently home to The Express News Group, demolish the building and turn it into a new dog park. The plant would be located on village-owned property behind the ambulance barn, while leach fields would be located underground at the current park.If a judge finds that members of the board acted in contempt of court, they could be subject to fines or possible jail time.The village is holding an information session about the sewer plan this coming Saturday, April 18, at Southampton Village Hall at 10 a.m. The meeting will also be streamed on Zoom, which multiple attendees lobbied for on April 9.***East End police officers will take part in the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee’s “No Empty Chair” campaign during the week of April 20, with enforcement and education efforts focused on teen driving safety. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that school resource officers and patrol officers ...
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