Clarkstown Councilmen Want to Contract with County for Purchasing

Clarkstown town council members George Hoehmann and Frank Borelli have sent a memo to Supervisor Alex Gromack recommending the town start making all its purchases through Rockland County.

They assert the change “will allow for more competent purchasing that will lead to increased transparency while saving town taxpayers thousands of dollars.”

They wrote the memo, they said, in light of the recent resignation of the town’s authorized purchasing agent, Robert Berdy.

Berdy has handled the purchasing-agent role for a stipend for nine years, Town Supervisor Alex Gromack said. In February he stopped that role, citing the need to do justice to his primary—fulltime—work as the town’s insurance and claims manager.

Hoehmann said in a prepared statement that he thought it was important for the town to avoid a political appointee who “could be susceptible to putting the needs of ’special friends’ over the needs of families and taxpayers.”

“it is necessary for us to move forward and find a solution that will be in the best interests of the taxpayers of the Town of Clarkstown,” they wrote.

They recommended immediate overtures to county officials.

“We would like a resolution placed on our April Town Board agenda confirming an agreement with the county, providing this complies with the legal steps necessary as advised by our Town Attorney,” they said in their memo to the supervisor.

Borelli acknowledged that it may not be easy to do, politically speaking.

“History has proven that local political resistance remains the major barrier to consolidating purchasing responsibilities as too many local politicians prefer to fill the positions with political allies and to maintain control over the decision-making process, often to the detriment of taxpayers,” Borelli said the the statement.

The two Councilmen also called on Gromack to explain to the Town Board and taxpayers how an unqualified individual became purchasing agent in the first place.

“It is irresponsible for us not to ask questions to fully understand how this was allowed to happen so we can avoid this type of error in the future,” Hoehmann said.

Gromack was puzzled by their comments about competency. He pointed out that audits of the town have routinely praised the work of the Purchasing Department.

“I think that was a disservice to Mr. Berdy,” Gromack said. “This is a dedicated individual and the entire town board thinks highly of him. I think he should get an award for doing it for nine years.”

While New York’s municipal law requires Purchasing Directors to have certain qualifications, the authorized purchasing agent role can be filled by a town employee who is not a member of the Civil Service, which forbids adding responsibilities other than the classified job description.

After Clarkstown’s former Purchasing Director retired in 2006, the assistant town attorney took on the purchasing agent role. When she became the town attorney, Berdy stepped up. Now that he is no longer doing it, the town’s Director of Finance, John Sullivan, is handling the job temporarily, Gromack said.

The town already buys most of its supplies, material and equipment through the state and county contracts, which insure low prices. Clarkstown issues more than 3,000 purchase orders a year.

The town’s options now certainly include exploring the possibility of having Rockland County handle its purchasing, Gromack said, “if it’s doable, if they’re interested, if there is any savings.”

Berdy’s stipend was $16,000 a year. A purchasing director is paid $85,000-$90,000, Gromack said.

The Town Council’s next meeting is April 14.