Intercepted E-mail: Cuthbertson, Fonti and The Long Islander Newspaper

A few weeks ago, an e-mail that was written by Councilman Mark Cuthbertson was somehow intercepted and forwarded to many people and news organizations including this one.  It is unclear how the e-mail was leaked but it has been substantiated.  The e-mail which was addressed to undisclosed recipients appears to be Mark Cuthbertson attempting to reach out to individuals asking for help in trying to do damage control over recent allegations of impropriety that have been made against him.

The e-mail included two attachments which were two versions of how he might publically deal with the recent allegations against him. He sent the attachments to a group of individuals asking for advice and feedback on how he should behave publicly.

The Huntingtonian has recently learned that two of the recipients were former Huntington Councilman Stu Besen and former Town of Babylon Democratic Chairman Robert Stricoff.  It is rumored that Besen is being considered for the Northport Village Attorney seat that will become available now that Jim Matthews has been elected to a Judgeship.  Robert Stricoff is currently under investigation by the Suffolk county DA’s office for allegedly over-paying himself by as much as $125,000 while serving as chairman of the Town of Babylon Democratic Committee. That investigation has since expanded into the Town of Babylon IDA’s office as he allegedly requested that a subordinate scrub clean his computer. Stricoff was also the Town of Babylon Industrial Development Agency head.

The body of the e-mail written by Cuthbertson states, “I have been advised that Newsday may be writing another story about court appointments involving people in Huntington and want to get out in front of the story. I have reviewed my files for court appointments that might have involved people who have contacts with the Town and the only matters that might have merited disclosure as the more prudent course under the recent decision I received from the Ethics Board are the appointments described in the attached summary.  I would greatly appreciate it if you could review this statement and let me know your thoughts on its content. I would also appreciate your thoughts on the following:

1. Should I wait and see if a story is coming or just go ahead and make this disclosure.  Obviously there is risk associated with both approaches.  If I disclose and a story was not going to be written, I could invite a story.  If I don’t disclose and story gets written, this will just be viewed as a reaction to it. 
2. Should I go forward with the code amendment I mention in the final paragraph or is that too cute by half.

In both versions of the damage control documents, Cuthbertson reveals that he has had business dealings with Robert Fonti.  In the documents he states that Robert Fonti has been retained by the Town for 17 years as a property management consultant. He does not mention that Robert Fonti is also the chairman of the Huntington Housing Authority. Robert Fonti also plays a significant role in the Long Islander Newspaper.

The two versions are similar and they will be published later this week.  In both, he explains how he has been enlightened that it is best to disclose relationships even in circumstances that it is not technically required.  What is interesting to note is that as of today he has not publically disclosed these relationships.

He also states in his damage control documents that he will be presenting his colleagues with a draft code amendment to the Ethics Code.  He asks the undisclosed e-mail recipients if his idea to propose ethics code reform legislation would be “too cute by half,” meaning it would appear sneaky on underhanded.

Cuthbertson’s intercepted e-mail was written on October 25, 2014.  So far, Cuthbertson has not publically disclosed any relationships where he voted on something that could be considered a violation of the ethics code.

The Long Islander Newspaper’s Reaction

Peter Sloggatt

After Councilman Gene Cook asked for a Federal Investigation into the Town Board, the Long Islander Newspaper issued an editorial called Long Islander News Calls For State Investigation. At  first look, people who are aware of the Newspaper’s close ties to the Town Board were surprised that the paper would support an investigation into the Town, especially since Robert Fonti who has close ties to the Newspaper has been named in some of the allegations.

In actuality, The Long Islander Newspaper is not supporting a Federal Investigation which was requested by Councilman Cook, they in fact are supporting an Investigation by the New York State Attorney General and are adamantly against a federal Investigation and came out swinging against Councilman Cook.

The Newspaper issued an editorial and spoke on public record at the last Town Board meeting. At the November 6, 2014 Town Board meeting, Peter Sloggatt, who stated he was speaking on behalf of the Long islander Newspaper opposed Cooks request for a federal investigation. (click here to see the video clip).

In both their editorial and their statement on public record at Town Hall, they failed to disclose the newspapers ties to Cuthbertson and Petrone through Robert Fonti whose role at the Long Islander is not for public consumption.  In both their public record statement and editorial, they do not mention the e-mail where Cuthbertson reveals his ties to Fonti.  Besides Fonti’s role as a consultant to the Town, ties to the Long Islander Newspaper, ties to Cuthbertson’s receiverships, he is also the chairman of the Huntington Housing Authority.

The Long Islander editorial states, “This is not a criticism of our Huntington Town Board of Ethics & Financial Disclosure. We firmly believe that the Board, headed by Dean Howard A. Glickstein, is well qualified to render a proper opinion.”

 The editorial then goes on for three paragraphs to praise the Chairman of the Ethics Board, Mr. Glickstein.  They never disclose that Mr. Glickstein has made campaign contributions to Petrone and Cuthbertson and other members of the Town Board.  They never mention that other members of the Ethics Board have ties to Town Board members that are both personal and professional in nature.

The editorial also fails to mention that Councilman Cook has asked for a state investigation into the Town Board since 2011 to no avail before he moved on to the Federal level.

They also failed to mention that the decision by the ethics board was brought under further scrutiny because it was made in an unusually short period of time compared to the typical turn-around time for other TOH ethics investigations.

The Long Islander editorial describes the call for an investigation as “partisan cat calls.” They state that they believe that “the Attorney General will not find wrong doing but may suggest ways to tighten the language.”  That last statement made by any news organization should raise serious concerns.

Long Islander’s Peter Sloggatt stated, “Councilman Gene Cook issued a press release calling for the U. S. attorney’s office to investigate ethics in town government. This is a matter for the US Attorney to investigate and submit his findings”.  He continued, “Councilman Cook could have played less to public sentiment and gone directly to the State Comptroller but he chose not to.”

Sloggatt also stated that they do not believe there was any wrong doing.

The Long Islander Newspaper’s response to the request for an investigation appears to be a peculiar response for a news organization.

Councilman Cook responded to Sloggatt’s statement at the Town Board meeting by saying, “If you had called me I would have let you know that I’ve been sending the state comptroller letters since 2011, along with the State Attorney General, Governor Cuomo and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office but you never called to check although you did write the story.” He also asked that the Long Islander Newspaper correct the record.

It is unclear what advice if any Councilman Cuthbertson received from his undisclosed recipients.  In the attached documents Cuthbertson is asking his undisclosed reciepients if he should “follow the most transparent course and disclose his appointment and relationships.” It is unknown at this point if Councilman Cuthbertson intends to voluntarily and publically disclose. Based on the intercepted e-mail, he is weighing his options.