Nassau Legis. David Denenberg on Friday was furious over the firing the previous day of longtime party worker Terry Butler from her job at Nassau’s Off-Track Betting Agency.
“This is some kind of petty vendetta that I hate to see,” Denenberg said. “I’m very angry about it.”
He noted that Butler, who did not get along with OTB head Dino Amoroso, had run Denenberg’s successful legislative campaign in 2003 as well as campaigns for other party candidates and also worked on all of County Executive Thomas Suozzi’s elections.
“I don’t know what more you could expect of someone,” he said.
Celeste Hadrick
“The Democrats are new and are not supposed to be acting like a machine. To fire her for some petty vendetta or for not kowtowing to the quote unquote party bosses, makes us look exactly like the system we’re replacing. It sounds like you have to cater to the bosses to keep your job,” Denenberg said.
Butler declined comment.
Comments (3)
Dennenberg can join with 9 other legislators at any time and replace the board at OTB (not appointed for a term) who can then replace Mr. Amoroso and his top staff. If Mr. moroso has a contract its probably not vaild under the Public Officer's Law since an appointed board can't tie the hands of an elected body to do the people's work.
Denneberg seems upset that someone whose only apparent claim to fame is her work on political campaigns, was fired from a supposed sinecure at the flack-filled OTB. It seems to Dave that campaign work is the only qualification necessary for landing a county job; after all, "what more could you expect of someone?" I don't know, Dave, maybe some work? Oh yeah, that's right you're in the Leg and "work for pay" is a concept that seems to be foreign to that group. Remember the couple of week vacation last January you all took while you were fussing and fuming about party defectors? And that Butler didn't "kowtow" to party bosses seems inconsistent when said in the same breath with: she worked on all those campaigns...
The real laugh -- Dems are different from Repubs? If you're so different why are you rewarding party workers with county jobs merely for campaign work? Isn't that what the Repubs did for 30 years and didn't the Dems claim that they would change that practice if elected?
Maybe Butler's work at OTB was so abysmal -- even by party flack standards -- that she was fired. May her party flack boss just didn't like her. Who really cares?
Speaking of quality work, is this Denneberg who is crying foul about the dismissal of a loyal party worker the same Dennenberg that was suspended from the practice of law for notarizing forged signatures on his election petitions? Did Ms. Butler run that campaign? And if so, her attention to detail wasn't great; it resulted in her candidate being investigated and convicted of a misdemeanor. Perhaps she carried her bad habits through to her OTB job. But hey, he won the election, so who cares!
Celeste, stop writing fluff pieces fed to you by the pols and do some real investigative reporting. I'm sure there's plenty of scandalous waste and mismangement in county government that is waiting to be exposed.
Home New York State Unified Court System
WebCivil Supreme - Case Detail
Court: Nassau Civil Supreme Index Number: 012548/2007 Upstate RJI Number:
Case Name: BUTLER, TERESA vs. NASSAU REGIONAL OTB CORP.
Case Type: Other
Track: Complex
Disposition Date: 08/21/2007
Date NOI Due: NOI Filed: Disposition Deadline:
Calendar Number: RJI Filed: 07/19/2007
Jury Status:
Justice Name: JOHN MICHAEL GALASSO
Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
LOUIS STOBER, JR. Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Status: Active
350 OLD COUNTRY RD STE 205
GARDEN CITY, NY 11530
516 742-6546
Attorney/Firm For Defendant:
JACKSON, LEWIS, SCHNITZLER Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Status: Active
59 MAIDEN LANE
NEW YORK, NY 10038
212---545-4000
LANDMAN CORSI BALLAINE & FORD Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Status: Active
120 BROADWAY 27TH FL
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10271
212 238-4800
Request for Judicial Intervention
Note of Issue
Note of Issue
Note of Issue
Request for Judicial Intervention
Request for Judicial Intervention