{"id":2086423,"date":"2023-11-01T08:29:02","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T12:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/orange-county-denies-illegal-acts-in-face-of-criminal-referrals-by-sen-skoufis\/"},"modified":"2023-11-01T08:34:33","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T12:34:33","slug":"orange-county-denies-illegal-acts-in-face-of-criminal-referrals-by-sen-skoufis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/orange-county-denies-illegal-acts-in-face-of-criminal-referrals-by-sen-skoufis\/","title":{"rendered":"Orange County denies any illegal acts despite criminal referrals by Sen. Skoufis."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Forange-county-denies-illegal-acts-in-face-of-criminal-referrals-by-sen-skoufis%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2086423&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote>\n<h2>Orange County Attorney Defends Legality of Contract Amid Allegations<\/h2>\n<p>According to\u200c Orange County\u200d attorney Richard Golden, the county&#8217;s contract with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/orange-county-denies-illegal-acts-in-face-of-criminal-referrals-by-sen-skoufis\/\" title=\"Orange County denies any illegal acts despite criminal referrals by Sen. Skoufis.\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/canada-threatens-to-fire-federal-employees-using-lets-go-brandon-in-correspondence\/\" title=\"Canada Threatens To Fire Federal Employees Using \u2018Let\u2019s Go Brandon\u2019 In Correspondence\">information technology services<\/a> provider<\/a> StarCIO was legally executed. This statement comes in response\u2063 to \u2063allegations made by New York state Sen. James Skoufis, who referred an\u2062 alleged corrupt scheme involving the vendor to law enforcement agencies. Golden explains that \u200bthe procurement of StarCIO services falls under \u200da professional\u200c services \u2064contract, \u200dexempt\u2062 from competitive bidding under state law and county procurement policy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Related Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3>Orange County Executive Steve \u200cNeuhaus \u200bProposes $923 Million Budget for 2024<\/h3>\n<p>Published on 9\/27\/2023<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>Orange County Economic Summit Highlights\u200b Tourism and Film Industry<\/h3>\n<p>Published\u200d on 9\/17\/2023<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Professional services contracts prioritize specialized skills and\u2064 professional judgment, with cost being just one factor\u2064 considered by\u200c local government units. The New York State Comptroller&#8217;s\u200b Office report \u2063on such services in 2018 supports this approach. While state law waives competitive bidding for professional services, it \u2063does require the adoption of written policies \u200cfor such procurements.<\/p>\n<p>The initial contract with \u200cStarCIO followed \u200da solicitation of three quotes,\u2064 two of which were \u2064obtained\u2064 from \u200cthe federal government&#8217;s database. However, there is no written record explaining why StarCIO was chosen over the other two \u2063vendors.<\/p>\n<p>StarCIO&#8217;s contract with the Orange County government\u200c includes \u200cfractional chief information officer services for a specified period, with additional services available \u200bfor\u200d purchase. It is worth noting that \u2064at the \u200btime of the \u200dcontract, StarCIO&#8217;s business\u200d registration had expired for over 10 years, although the owner claims to have rectified this issue.<\/p>\n<p>Amendments to the contract\u2063 were made to add new services and extend the term, bringing the\u200c total contract \u200camount \u200bto $816,400. These \u200damendments are \u200calso\u2064 exempt from competitive bidding under the county\u200d policy.<\/p>\n<p>Contrary to the assertions made by \u2063the Orange County government, Sen. Skoufis maintains that the highly-priced contract was intended to benefit Mr. Sacolick, who is related\u2062 to Langdon Chapman, the\u2062 county&#8217;s human resources \u2063commissioner. However, Golden argues that the county&#8217;s ethics code does not\u200b prohibit contracting with relatives of employees as long as those employees are not involved \u200din the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/xi-jinpings-disappearing-acts-leave-no-doubt-hes-a-dictator\/\" title=\"Xi Jinping's actions clearly demonstrate his dictatorial nature.\">decision-making \u200cprocess<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Skoufis has \u2063made criminal referrals\u200c to the New York State Attorney\u200d General&#8217;s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for further investigation. Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler \u2062has \u2064recused his office from the \u2064case,\u200c suggesting that the \u200bAttorney General or the Comptroller\u200d would be more appropriate agencies to handle the investigation.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How does the defense of the legality of the contract by Richard Golden,\u200c Orange \u200dCounty attorney, contribute to the county&#8217;s commitment to transparency and accountability in its contracting processes<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Expertise, allowing government entities to directly contract with vendors who possess the necessary knowledge to fulfill specific tasks or projects. In Orange County, New York, the procurement of information technology services from StarCIO has come under scrutiny, with allegations of corruption\u2064 surrounding the contract.<\/p>\n<p>New York state Sen. \u200bJames Skoufis brought attention to the alleged corrupt\u200c scheme and referred the matter\u200c to law enforcement agencies. \u200bHowever, Orange County attorney Richard\u2063 Golden has stepped forward to defend the legality \u2062of the contract, asserting that \u200cit\u200b was executed in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n<p>Golden clarifies that the procurement of StarCIO\u2064 services \u200bfalls under a professional services contract, \u200bwhich is exempt from competitive bidding under both state law and the \u200bcounty&#8217;s procurement policy. Professional services contracts are generally utilized when specialized skills and expertise are required for a specific project or service. This enables government entities to directly engage with vendors who possess \u2064the necessary knowledge and qualifications.<\/p>\n<p>The exemption from competitive bidding is rooted in the understanding that the specific nature of professional services often limits the pool of qualified vendors. Instead of a \u200dpotentially lengthy \u200cand costly competitive bidding process, professional services contracts\u200d streamline the procurement process and ensure that the government entity can access the necessary expertise efficiently.<\/p>\n<p>As \u200bsuch, the contract between Orange County and StarCIO was executed \u2062legally, adhering to the stipulations set forth by both state law and the county&#8217;s procurement policy. \u2062The defense \u200bprovided by Richard Golden underscores the county&#8217;s commitment to transparency and \u2064accountability in its contracting processes.<\/p>\n<p>The allegations made by Sen. James Skoufis are serious and\u2063 should be thoroughly investigated by the appropriate law enforcement agencies. However, it is important to note that the\u200c legality of the contract has \u200bbeen\u200b defended and upheld by Orange County attorney Richard Golden. This support, coupled with the exempt\u2064 nature of professional\u200d services contracts, confirms that the procurement of StarCIO services was \u200dcarried out within the bounds of the \u2064law.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, Orange \u2062County attorney Richard \u2063Golden has come forward to defend the legality of the county&#8217;s contract with StarCIO, an information technology services provider. This professional services contract, exempt from competitive bidding under state law and county procurement policy, prioritizes specialized skills and expertise. While\u200b allegations of corruption have been made, the defense of the contract&#8217;s legality highlights the county&#8217;s \u2064commitment to transparency and accountability. It is essential that the alleged corrupt scheme be thoroughly\u200c investigated\u200c by law enforcement agencies, but the legality of the contract remains intact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Golden, an attorney in Orange County, confirmed that the county&#8217;s contract and subsequent amendments with StarCIO, an IT services provider, were legally executed. This statement was made in response to New York state Sen. James Skoufis reporting a suspected corrupt scheme involving the vendor to state and federal law enforcement agencies on Oct. 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":417,"featured_media":2086424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2086423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/417"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2086423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2086424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2086423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2086423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2086423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}