|
RCBJ-Audible (Listen For Free)
 |
Eugene Bondar Wants Town Ethics Board & DA’s Office to Investigate Town Deputy Supervisor Al Moroni For Accepting “Gift” of HVAC Services
By Tina Traster
Eugene Bondar, a Clarkstown resident who is running on the Democratic ticket for town supervisor this November, has submitted a complaint to the town’s Board of Ethics and to the Rockland County District Attorney’s office seeking an investigation into allegations that Deputy Town Supervisor Al Moroni accepted a “gift” that far exceeded $75, the annual total amount government employees are legally allowed to accept.
The allegation arises from an incident involving the acceptance of an air conditioner installation at Moroni’s residence in July 2024 at “cost” from a contractor who was given a $99,000 one-year contract in 2025 to handle repair and maintenance of the town’s HVAC functions.
Nick Kantor, owner of Joe Cool’s Heating and Cooling, told RCBJ in an article that ran on Aug. 19, that Michael Gianatasio, the town’s Director of Engineering and Facilities Management, referred Kantor’s company to Moroni. Kantor later secured a one-year no-bid $99,000 contract, which was renewed for four more years in 2026. Gianatasio has been put on paid leave shortly after alerting the town over what he calls irregularities in invoicing from Siemens International Industry Inc. for a $9 million energy contract.
Kantor told RCBJ he believed doing the work for Moroni helped him score a contract with the town. Kantor said he charged Moroni $5,600 compared to typical jobs costing between $12,000 and $13,000, according to invoices he shared with RCBJ.
In a text message between Gianatasio and Moroni dated July 22 at 9:56 pm, Moroni wrote, “I didn’t get a chance to get back to you regarding Nick from Cool Al’s(sic) air conditioning. He came to my house on time this morning, took a good look in my attic. Took a good look at my outdoor unit and gave me $5,000, versus $8,500!! I signed a contract with him and notified the other gentleman from West Nike Little League that I was going in a different direction which was a little difficult but given the price and the fact that I trust Nick, I really said I had to do it. So kudos to you, Mike and Garabet, and at least there’s a dinner on me coming soon for the three of us!”
In response, Gianatasio wrote, “Anytime Al. Have a Good night.”
Garabet Karakoulian is Gianatasio’s assistant, though Gianatasio remains on paid leave. Meanwhile, Moroni has been named Interim Director of the town’s Engineering and Facilities Management department.
At the time of the text exchange, Moroni was serving as Town Supervisor George Hoehmann’s Chief of Staff. It is unclear whether Moroni disclosed this work to town officials or whether he participated in the decision making that led to the awarding of the contract to Kantor. Moroni, who holds multiple titles, was named Deputy Supervisor in 2026.
In his complaint, Bondar says Moroni was a “Town employee, subject to Chapter 18 of the town code in 2024 when he received the discounted work from Kantor and in 2025, when the $99,000 contract was awarded.” He also claims Moroni may have violated state law.
Section 18-20.C of the town code, the law Bondar cites, prohibits a municipal officer or employee from accepting any gift, or multiple gifts from the same donor, having an annual aggregate value of $75 or more where the gift reasonably appears to be intended to influence, could reasonably be expected to influence, or is intended as a reward for official action.
Section 18-20.D defines “gift” to include anything of value, whether in the form of money, service, loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, thing or promise, or in any other form valued at fair market value.
The town code creates a presumption that the gift is intended to “influence the exercise or performance” of an official’s duties.
Bondar, a former attorney for Rockland County, now in private practice, says in his complaint: “Uncompensated labor worth several thousand dollars on a home air conditioning replacement is a ‘service’ squarely within the definition, and exceeds the $75 threshold many times over.”
Bondar last week filed his complaint with Clarkstown’s Board of Ethics, which is five-member board comprised of clergy and attorney Suzanne Dugan. Members serve a five-year term without compensation. The Board, which can subpoena witnesses and require the production of books or records, renders advisory opinions to town officials. The board has no prosecutorial power.
The town board can censure, fine, suspend or remove Moroni from office or employment or authorize a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation assessed by the board. The board is also permitted to refer the case “for appropriate prosecution of a Class A misdemeanor.”
In his complaint, which was also sent to the Special Investigations Unit of the District Attorney’s office, Bondar is asking for a criminal investigation into Moroni’s conduct.
“If the reported facts are true,” he writes, “they describe a public servant accepting a benefit worth several thousand dollars from a contractor who was seeking and then obtained town work.” Bondar writes that General Municipal Law and the Clarkstown Code of Ethics both prohibit public servants from accepting gifts.
“I specifically request that the Special Investigations Unit review…the case and open an investigation into the circumstances of the 2024 work at Mr. Moroni’s home, the award and the reward and renewal of the town HVAC contracts.”
Bondar also sent a letter to each town board member, including the Supervisor, asking for Moroni to be suspended and investigated.
RCBJ sought comment from Hoehmann and Moroni about the allegations in the complaint and the request for investigations.
Moroni, 75 of New City, was hired in 2018 as Hoehmannn’s Chief of Staff. He was promoted to Deputy Town Supervisor in 2026 without a salary increase. Moroni earns $136,500, according to the town’s published salary schedule.
Prior to working for Clarkstown, Moroni spent three decades in the dual roles of Director of Recreation and Parks and Director of the Parking Authority in White Plains. In 2011 he abruptly resigned without explanation, according to several reports.
Moroni did not return comment, but the town communications director Erica Moschetti sent a written statement: “The Ethics Board is an independent entity. We have no knowledge of or access to the filed complaints or materials.”
Both Kantor and Gianatasio are caught up in controversy with the town.
An alleged billing discrepancy between the town and Siemens is at the center of a high-profile dispute involving Gianatasio, a whistle blower, who was put on paid leave, while the town has issued official statements through the town attorney’s office saying no irregularities exist.
On July 6, Gianatasio was summoned to the Town Attorney’s office while the town locked him out of his office and confiscated his computer. Town Attorney Kevin Conway, who was joined by Michael Burke from Hodges Walsh & Burke of White Plains, told Gianatasio he was under investigation for omissions in his financial disclosure forms from 2023 through 2026.
The meeting followed recent disclosures Gianatasio had made to town officials in memos that flagged “unsupported labor billing” by Siemens International Industry, Inc. for work performed at the Mark Woods playground at Zukor Park in New City. A week later, the Town of Clarkstown announced the town’s Ethics Board would investigate whether the Director of Engineering and Facilities Management had violated his duty by failing to list entities in which he allegedly had a financial stake. Gianatasio says he has not hidden anything from the town and views the ethics complaint as a ruse to cover up for Siemens’ billing and for the town’s unwillingness to address the issue.
Conway later released an “internal audit” prepared by Siemens that allegedly vindicates the company’s billing practices, according to documents the town attorney released to USA Today and to RCBJ in response to a FOIL request. The documents include a detailed report prepared by Siemens, along with a review by the Town Comptroller, concluding the Siemens billing was accurate and payments issued by the town were proper.
More recently, Kantor believes an inquiry into the installation of a boiler following a flood at the historic Storms Tavern House last March turned him into a target in the investigation of Gianatasio.
Last week, Kantor was summoned by Clarkstown police detectives claiming to seek information on whether the Storms Tavern had been vandalized. After the Clarkstown police made several aggressive attempts to pin down Kantor, he hired attorney Yvonne Garbett. At the time, Kantor said Garbett told him the Clarkstown police were planning to arrest him for grand larceny in the third degree for billing the municipality for a job he didn’t do.
RCBJ reached out to Garbett two times, but the attorney did not make herself available for a conversation or a return call. It is unclear as to whether Garbett is still representing Kantor.
Clarkstown’s Chief of Police James Fay confirmed that there is an active investigation but said he could not comment.
