Orange County Legislature Concludes Interviews on Controversial IT Contract

Orange County Legislator Genesis Ramos speaks during a special legislative committee meeting in Goshen, N.Y., on Nov. 21, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times

A special four-member Orange County legislative committee tasked with reviewing a controversial IT contract concluded 10 interviews with involved parties on Nov. 21.

The $800,000-plus contract with StarCIO was brought into the limelight by New York state Democratic Sen. James Skoufis and four Democratic county legislators, who alleged at a Nov. 8 press conference that the deal was mired in a corruption scheme involving high-level officials.

In the wake of the allegations, the county legislature formed the bipartisan review committee, chaired by Kevin Hines and comprised of Thomas Faggione, Robert Sassi, and Kevindaryán Luján.

Interviewees include County Executive Steve Neuhaus, Deputy County Executive Harry Porr, County Attorney Richard Golden, County Director of Operations Alicia D’Amico, and four county legislators alleging corruption: Mike Paduch, Mike Anagnostakis, Genesis Ramos, and Laurie Tautel.

During the interview, Ms. Ramos, the Democratic lawmaker who took the initiative to look into the contract, said the tip came to her from Mr. Skoufis, who had gotten wind of it from a whistleblower.

Ms. Ramos declined to disclose the whistleblower over concern of retaliation.

StarCIO’s single proprietary owner, Issac Sacolick, is the brother-in-law of Langdon Chapman, the county human resources commissioner and former county attorney.

“Having a relationship isn’t the main issue, but rather the obscene amount of money this contract is for, by way of connection,” Ms. Ramos said at the interview, adding that as the contract bloomed to over $800,000 over several short months, no competitive bidding was ever done.

Several county officials disputed any misconduct in the contract and said the procurement was done in accordance with the state law and county policy governing professional services.

For the original StarCIO contract of $65,000, county policy requires a solicitation of three quotes, which did happen; the following contract extensions and amendments were not subject to competitive bidding under the continuity exemption, according to Mr. Golden at the interview.

Orange County Attorney Richard Golden at a special legislative committee meeting in Goshen, N.Y., on Nov. 21, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times

“If this is part of our policy, and it is correct—which I don’t feel it is—then that is something we as a legislative body need to look at,” Ms. Tautel, a democratic county lawmaker, said at the interview.

“Going forward, that should be something that we change within our procurement policy because I don’t think it is the best practice for us and for our taxpayers in Orange County.”

“Certainly, the executive branch would take into consideration any recommendations of the legislature,” Mr. Golden said during the interview. “You can modify the thresholds, and you can modify the exemptions that are listed in there for procurement services, but I just caution you that you have to worry always about unintended consequences in making those changes.”

The special committee will meet on Dec. 11 to work on a draft report based on documents and interviews and submit it to the county legislature rules committee.

How StarCIO Was Chosen

The hiring of StarCIO took place when the county had just lost its commissioner of general services and IT to a neighboring government, and the new commissioner, having been promoted from the procurement track, had little experience in information technology.

It also happened when existing county IT contracts, on whom millions of dollars had been spent, were not performing as expected, and potential cyber threats loomed around the corner, according to the interviews.

“We needed a quick turnaround, and we needed a quick assessment and roadmap,” said Ms. D’Amico, who heard of StarCIO from Mr. Chapman, vetted it, and passed it along with other quotes to General Services Commissioner Samantha Sweikata.

Mr. Chapman said he played no role in the decision-making regarding the contract.

Ms. Sweikata said StarCIO was chosen over other quotes, mainly obtained from piggybacking other governmental contracts, because of its on-site availability and breadth of services.

Orange County legislators Tom Faggione (R) and Robbert Sassi (C) at a special investigative committee meeting in Goshen, N.Y., on Nov. 21, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times

Under the county policy, professional services procurement, when it is not an emergency and cannot be made through a preferred source, is subject to three written quotes for value between $25,000 and $100,000 and competitive bidding when above $100,000. 

The original contract with the company, signed in January and valued at $65,000, called for eight days of on-site work and 64 hours of remote service over two months, with a built-in auto-renewal clause; it was meant to fill the gap before a permanent chief information officer position was enacted and filled. 

Questions were raised about the due diligence in the initial contracting, including not seeking enough information from other vendors, having no knowledge of the number of employees at StarCIO, and no price negotiations took place when signing on with the company. 

Ms. Sweikata said she was aware of the relationship between Mr. Chapman and Mr. Sacolick before the initial contract, while Mr. Porr, who signed the contract, said he had no such knowledge at the time of signing. 

Mr. Neuhaus said he was unaware of the contract until two months later. 

Under the auto-renewal clause in the contract, Mr. Sacolick performed another two-month service period worth $65,000 on top of the original amount, bringing the total value to $130,000 in May. 

Auto-Renewals and Exempt Amendments 

“When you look at the invoices that blow through the two months rapidly, which could lead someone to assume that it was worth more than $65,000 from the get-go,” Mr. Hines said to Mr. Golden at the interview.

“When he hit $130,000, shouldn’t somebody pump the brakes, in your opinion, and say, ‘Well, we made a mistake, this should have been an RFP?’” 

Mr. Golden said he must look into the invoices and the context before giving an answer. 

Orange County legislators Kevin Hines (R) and Kevindaryán Luján at a special investigative committee meeting in Goshen, N.Y., on Nov. 21, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times

Ms. Sweikata and Ms. D’Amico said they thought StarCIO would only be needed for two months. Still, the unfolding situation thereafter called for continued retention of Mr. Sacolick, including a key public safety IT infrastructure program that had been moving slowly, partly because of understaffing—one planned new deputy hire went for another job at the last minute.

The first amendment, signed in early July, extended the organizational IT oversight services by Mr. Sacolick for four more periods and brought in a new manager under him to focus on the public safety program, bringing the total contract value with StarCIO up to $608,400.

In August, the county signed the second amendment with StarCIO to add a second program manager under Mr. Sacolick to work on countywide IT infrastructure programs, resulting in an accumulative contract of $816,400 with the company.

Neither contract amendment is subject to competitive bidding under the continuity exemption for professional services in the county procurement policy, which, according to Ms. Sweikata, has also been a standard operating procedure over her past 13 years working in county procurement.

Mr. Neuhaus said at the interview that he thought the contract with StarCIO was pricey and had questioned his staff about it when he signed the second amendment.

The county legislature moved in September to create a new IT department and a new position of chief information officer, with an active job posting with a salary range between $200,000 and $225,000.

On Nov. 21, the personnel and compensation committee approved the hiring of Glenn Marchi as county chief information officer, which will head to the full legislature for a decision in early December.