GOP accusesCsaposs politicking on taxpayers’ time"



GUILDERLAND — Republicans are calling for the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit to investigate Town Hall.
Citing taxpayer fraud, Ted Danz, the newly-elected Republican committee chair, submitted a request for an investigation to the Albany County District Attorney’s office. In support of his request, Danz included a copy of Director of Economic Development Don Csaposs’s time sheet for the month of October, which demonstrates that Csaposs had claimed work hours when he had been posting political comments on a local blog, Danz says. The Republican chair also included printed-out web pages, with time stamps, of comments posted by "haddanuffathiscrap" and "factsdontlieliarslie" and articles identifying Csaposs as the man behind those names.

Csaposs, a Democrat, was active in the fall elections, writing strident letters to the Enterprise editor and blog posts, critical of the Republicans who ultimately won two town-board seats.
"A complaint has been filed against me that is essentially criminal in nature," Csaposs read from a prepared statement yesterday, having been asked about his reaction the night before. He had consulted with a libel lawyer who advised him not to comment further, he said.
"I’m going to let the Public Integrity Unit of the District Attorney’s office do whatever they deem appropriate with it," he concluded.

The Public Integrity Unit, begun by District Attorney David Soares in 2005, gets several tips a week, largely through a hotline, said spokesperson Heather Orth. The office, which consists of two assistant district attorneys and an investigator, then looks at each case and determines which of three directions to proceed in, she said. They will decide that there isn’t enough merit to move forward, ask for further information, or start an investigation based on what has come in, Orth said.
"We are very careful, because anyone can make a claim about anything," she said, adding that the politicians often named in the tips rely on their reputations. "They are treated very carefully," she said, which also means that there isn’t a typical time frame for an investigation — each situation varies.
"It takes as long as it takes," Bruce Lennard, an assistant district attorney in the office, said of how long an investigation might take. "There’s no cookie cutter," he said.
"We will be conducting our own investigation," Guilderland Supervisor Kenneth Runion said yesterday. He estimated that it could take a week or two and will likely consist of the town’s attorney, Richard Sherwood, talking to Csaposs, gathering statements from witnesses, and talking to the blog host; it will probably be similar to the town’s investigation following complaints about the former police chief who stepped down last spring as a result of the allegations.
Runion’s authority to order an internal investigation comes from Section 52 of the state’s Town Law, which says that a supervisor can "bring removal charges against the appointive head or deputy head of any department of town government for hearing and determination by the town board," the Democratic supervisor said. He’s asked Sherwood, who makes an annual salary of $44,767 for his part-time work with the town, to look into the matter and said, "He’s as troubled as I am," by the lack of information they have.
"It’s like asking the fox to watch the chicken coop," Danz said of the town’s internal investigation. Runion is a Democrat, as is the town-board majority.
Csaposs was involved with the Democrats’ campaigns last fall, and the blog posts that Danz says were made during work hours were part of a back-and-forth between Csaposs and Republican Councilman Warren Redlich, who was running for town board. "He was the spokesman for the Democrats," Danz said. Of the incumbents, who were ousted by Republican challengers, Danz said, "They didn’t throw spears — they defended themselves." He added of Csaposs, "His venomous stuff kept coming out" He threw spears."
The town’s Republican committee discussed bringing a complaint to the district attorney’s office a couple of weeks ago, Danz said. "It wasn’t an easy decision, at first," he said. "The more I thought about it, the more I felt justified."

He felt justified because of the campaign tactics used last fall, he said, and because it is a waste of tax dollars to have an employee, who is paid by the town, using work time for political activities.
"I would like to see changes made in the way supervision is done" This falls back to Mr. Runion," Danz said of what he hopes the outcome of the investigation will be. On Csaposs’s October time card, Runion had signed in the "department head signature" space, which means that he approved of the hours claimed, Danz said.
"I can’t tell you what people are doing here every second of the day," said Runion, who says he signs about 50 time cards each month. The time sheets function more as an attendance record, he said, and, since he can’t monitor what everyone is doing throughout the day, he said, "Employees are taken at their word."

Also, over the course of a seven-hour workday, each employee gets two 15-minute breaks and an hour for lunch, Runion said, to which Danz answered through the Enterprise, "Did he use a town computer""
"We do have policies on various types of electronic transmissions," Runion said, referring to the town’s e-mail-use policy. About a year ago, the town suspended an employee for a day, without pay, due to personal e-mails sent from a town computer, he said; he wouldn’t reveal the name because of a union contract, Runion said. Of possible consequences from the town’s investigation, Runion said that the range includes a warning memo, a reprimand, suspension without pay, and dismissal.
"We take everything here seriously," he said.
"There’s an employee relationship, there’s a political relationship, and, as far as I know, there’s a personal relationship," Danz said of Runion and Csaposs.

Hired in 2001, Csaposs makes $55,149 as a full-time employee; much of his work consists of identifying and writing grants for the town.
"I’m not asking for him to lose his job," said Danz yesterday.
Earlier in the week, Csaposs said that he had given up his screen names. "I have a new policy," he said, naming his new blogging title— Donald. "That is my sole blog identity from now and forever forth."
Yesterday, after reading from his statement, he said, "It’s time for the garbage to stop — period. I have a job to do and I would like to have the time to do it."