Newsday (New York), July 31, 2007, Tuesday

Copyright 2007 Newsday, Inc.

Newsday (New York)

July 31, 2007 Tuesday

NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A15

HEADLINE: Politics alleged in removal

BYLINE: BY ERIK GERMAN. erik.german@newsday.com

BODY:

Brookhaven's former chief of vehicle control, Victor Losquadro, has filed a federal complaint claiming he was fired from his town job for political reasons.

In April, Newsday disclosed that Losquadro's department gave $1.4 million worth of car repair business to firms donating to the campaign of his son, Suffolk county Legis. Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham).

Victor Losquadro says the Democratic administration fired him because he is a Republican and friendly with partisan critics of Democratic Supervisor Brian Foley.

In the July 13 complaint to the Office of Special Counsel, a copy of which was obtained by Newsday, Losquadro claims that Foley's chief of staff, Lori Baldassare, urged him to "resign or be terminated."

Losquadro said Baldassare cited his friendship with town Conservative Party Chairman Richard Johannesen for telling him he "seeks the defeat of Brian Foley in this year's election."

Losquadro's complaint continued: "Johannesen made disparaging remarks about Brian Foley, and now action was being taken against me."

The Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that investigates accusations of public employment abuses, confirmed receipt of Losquadro's complaint, but an investigator there did not return a message seeking further comment.

Brookhaven spokesman Tom Burke said the town has received no word from the OSC confirming whether an inquiry will move forward, and he said Losquadro lied about his conversation with Baldassare.

Losquadro's attorney, his son Stephen Losquadro, insists otherwise and said that, in firing his father, Foley's office violated the Hatch Act, a law barring public workers from politicking on the job.

But experts on the Hatch Act say that proving motives isn't easy. "It's going to be very difficult to prove that [he was] dismissed for political reasons," said Richard Hurd, professor of labor studies at Cornell University's School of Industrial Labor Relations. "It's a complicated case."

But Stephen Losquadro said town officials grossly overstated his father's power to steer repair work to vendors.

"They purposely tried to smear someone for political gain," Stephen Losquadro said.

In nine repair accounts overseen by Victor Losquadro, town records show that 80 percent of the money Brookhaven spent between 2003 and 2006 went to Daniel Losquadro contributors.

Town officials stood by earlier statements that Victor Losquadro had broad discretion to dole out work.

"If you look at who got work," Burke said, "the facts speak for themselves."