Embattled Albany County District Attorney David Soares appeared before a joint county legislature hearing Wednesday night.
A $23,000 salary bonus the top prosecutor gave himself from a state grant led to growing pressure on Soares, who told the legislature's Audit & Finance and Law committees he'll give the money back.
"This has been a personal political attack on myself and by extension, everything that I stand for, which is the protection and public safety of the residents of Albany County," said Soares.
Committee members pondered whether the five-term Democrat acted inappropriately or had made an honest mistake, and whether the grant money constituted a pay raise or a one-time bonus.*
Soares presented legislators with a timeline of events that began in August when he says his office was first notified about increased funding for the Aid to Prosecution Grant.
"The previous amount of that grant was approximately $176,000. And for the most recent grant, we were informed that our grant was going to be $943,000," Soares said.
Soares said his office appeared before the audit and finance committee in September to answer questions about its requests for legislative action, which was a budget amendment. “We specifically sought approval for one-time bonuses as opposed to permanent salary increases.”
Soares said his office has always been ready to work within existing laws, and noted that it wasn't until January 30th that Democratic County Comptroller Sue Rizzo's office notified his office of a potential legal issue regarding distribution of the grant money. He says the phone call came after Rizzo had sent letters asking three state agencies and one county agency to look into the matter. He adds Rizzo had also sought legal advice from outside counsel three weeks earlier.
"On January 31, less than 24 hours after my discussion with Miss Rizzo, I met with the Albany County Democratic Executive Committee seeking the nomination for a sixth term and secure their support. I received their support on January 31," said Soares.
Soares says news outlets began reporting on the grant money story in early February, prompting him to announce that he would return the bonus. On February 13th Soares attended a meeting before the Albany County Democratic committee, where he lost its endorsement.
"In February 2023, following my request for instructions to return that one-time bonus of $22,308, minus the deducted state and federal taxes and withholdings, I was notified that the total recoverable amount was now $44,051.32. The $44,051.32 includes the money I received, the state and federal taxes that I paid on that money, the 19 years of longevity payments, which I never requested, and were also paid to the two previous district attorneys that served prior to me. That would be Paul Clyne, and the late great Sol Greenberg," Soares said.
Soares is now facing a primary challenge from Lee Kindlon and claims the attention brought to the grant by Rizzo is politically motivated.
"Albany County's chief fiscal watchdog hired a firm with county dollars that produced a report, that found no malfeasance, whose conclusions were in fact inconclusive," Soares said. "But disappointed with that result, she then forwarded that report to four other agencies which created this appearance of misconduct. Comptroller reserve actions were never about the money or process. She cloaked herself in her fiduciary role to close the character assassination contract against me. That is a betrayal of public trust."
Comptroller Rizzo disputes that. I did not engage outside counsel regarding DA Soares’ bonus longevity and the Taylor Law," Rizzo said. "The bond report was dated January 26, 2024. It was referred to me by the legislature on January 30th, the same day I wrote the letters to the Attorney General, the New York State Office of the Controller's Investigation Unit, as well as DCJS, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. I called him on that same day as well when I was sending the letters I sent received a response from DCJS dated February 14. They are in receipt of my letter, and they are currently reviewing the matter. They take it seriously any allegation of potential misuse of state funding, their office may reach out for additional services. I also received a letter from the Office of the State Comptroller indicating DCJS is in the best position at this time to determine whether initial use of the grant funds was proper and take any appropriate necessary remedial action. This is an investigation, also reviewing the payroll process and may open an audit depending on my findings."
County legislator Jeffrey Kuhn, a Democrat from the 35th district, says what Soares did was illegal. "Throughout all of last night, Mr. Soares stated that he didn't agree that the payments were illegal. He never said anything that refuted the fact that they were. Never explained how the payments could be legal. So in some ways, as I said, it's essentially a plead ‘no contest.’ He concedes the fact that the payments were illegal, but he's essentially making other arguments about sort of ... interoffice politics, which really don't address the core issue of the illegality of the payments," Kuhn said,
State Assemblymember Phil Steck of the 110th district, who had called for Soares' resignation and considered running for DA himself, notes that Soares has not filed his last five required-by-law campaign finance disclosure forms. "When Mr. Soares ran for District Attorney for the first time, there some serious litigation about the campaign finance and the failure of people who are contributing to the Soares campaign to file financial disclosure forms. I know. I was one of the attorneys involved in the case. And he certainly knows all about it. And to say that he hasn't filed since 2021, that's not just an oversight,” Steck said.
Kuhn says legislators will work to determine what next steps must be taken.
Republican County Legislature Minority Leader Frank Mauriello of the 1st district issued a statement urging caution, saying the voters should decide on the DA position.
* According to Rizzo, "...judicial law section 183A, that indicates that the district attorney salary is set by the state. And it requires a local law to increase that dollar amount." [more]
