A special committee of the Orange County legislature has been reviewing whether there was any misconduct in the procurement of StarCIO to temporarily lead and consult the county’s IT department last year. What started out as a $65,000 deal for two-months’ work last January ultimately ballooned into multiple amendments worth up to a combined $800,000 over several months, according to testimony from county officials.
State Senator James Skoufis, from the 42nd District in Cornwall, led a group of Orange County Democrats in calling for an investigation in the fall, accusing county officials of skirting procurement policy because the owner of StarCIO, Isaac Sacolick, is the brother-in-law of Human Resources Commissioner Langdon Chapman. Skoufis has referred the matter to both the FBI and the New York Attorney General’s Office, and even released his own scathing report on the procurement last month.
The Democrat tells WAMC he’s pleased with the FBI’s decision to step in.
"I said from the beginning that law enforcement would be the ultimate arbiter of criminality here, whether laws were broken or not," adds Skoufis. "And that's what's gonna happen."
No charges have been filed, and county officials maintain StarCIO was legally procured in accordance with county policy. The New York office of the FBI did not return a request for comment, but Orange County Attorney Rick Golden tells WAMC the FBI subpoena was served to the county in general, not to a specific person, and that it will fully comply with the subpoena's requests.
The special committee wrapped its testimony in November, but it has yet to issue a report on its findings, citing the release of Skoufis’ report and the receipt of a “stack of contracts” related to a previous IT vendor — not StarCIO — from an unnamed whistleblower. So where do things go from here?
Brian Jacobs is a former federal prosecutor now working for Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC in New York City. Jacobs is not working on this case, but from his own experience, he says the FBI will likely follow the subpoena with its own round of interviews, starting with the unidentified whistleblower who tipped off the situation to lawmakers in the first place.
"I would look for, first and most obviously, evidence that the public official who allegedly sent his business to a relative — I would look at whether that official benefitted financially in any way. So if you're the FBI, you want to get account records and things like that to see if there's any improper financial benefits," Jacobs explains. "If there's not, you also want to look at whether there's a public policy or rule that forbids the referral to a related company. Sometimes there is, and sometimes there isn't, and if there isn't, there may be nothing to see here."
StarCIO was brought in during a crucial period for Orange County, according to testimony from General Services Commissioner Samantha Sweikata. The IT department, which separated from the Department of General Services near the end of 2022, was without a director, and there were concerns that some of its vendors were failing. Sweikata said Sacolick was brought on to assess and guide the department until a permanent CIO could be brought on, and she was impressed by his flexibility and expertise.
"StarCIO was actually willing to come onsite. That's very rare in IT contracts," said Sweikata. "And he had an overview, he would come in and give us a whole two-month evaluation [of services]...I didn't see that breadth of services in most of the other quotes.”
County officials testified that, because the initial deal was for professional services less than $100,000, it didn’t require a formal bidding process, but they still “piggybacked” quotes from two other companies through a government database. Skoufis’ interpretation of county policy, however, would forbid it from blending a company quote with piggybacked price lists. He alleges StarCIO got special treatment during the hiring process, and that the companies Orange County folded in weren't even contacted until months after a deal was signed.
Chapman admitted during his testimony that he was the one to introduce StarCIO to the county, but he said he did so only after Operations Director Alicia D’Amico asked him for a recommendation.
"After Alicia said she wanted to speak with Isaac, I emphasized to her orally and in writing that Isaac is my brother in law, and accordingly, I would have no role in his retention," said Chapman.
Chapman accused Skoufis and the other Orange County Democrats of falsely accusing him of corruption to get back at him for hiring the senator’s political opponent, Dorey Houle, after the 2022 election. The law firm representing Sacolick and StarCIO, Yankwitt LLP, recently sent a cease and desist letter to Skoufis’ office accusing the Democrat of defamation. Yankwitt Attorney Benjamin Allee tells WAMC in part: “StarCIO and Mr. Sacolick provided outstanding service to Orange County. Mr. Skoufis’s statements about them are false.”
Jacobs says the fact that Skoufis and county officials can’t seem to agree on what the county policy is makes this case particularly tricky. At the special committee’s last meeting, County Attorney Golden acknowledged the investigation has been an eye-opener.
"It’s certainly been clear, from this committee’s work and some of the questions, that our procurement policy can be improved upon," he noted. "And contract administration, including payment of invoices, etc., needs to be further addressed.”
Golden says County Executive Steve Neuhaus is putting together a group to consider updates to the procurement policy. Neuhaus, a Republican, testified to the committee that he was displeased with the cost of the agreement, but that he felt the ballooning price tag was largely the result of a lack of IT knowledge among county management. Last month, the legislature approved the appointment of Glenn Marchi, the former Dutchess County IT commissioner, to serve as the new permanent CIO for Orange County.
