TOWN OF WALLKILL – Town of Wallkill Supervisor Frank DenDanto has sent the state comptroller’s office a memo documenting Neil Meyer’s hiring as a volunteer/consultant, but their Republican critics are calling the document fake and alleging a cover-up.
DenDanto’s memo, confirmed by Town of Wallkill sources, comes amid allegations from Republican critics that Meyer, the Town of Chester’s comptroller, was given a security badge and access to Wallkill Town Hall and its accounting systems despite not being a town employee.
“I’m sure that memo did not exist before the story about all of this came out,” Town of Wallkill Republican Councilman Mark Coyne said. “Frank and Neil are just trying to cover their tracks. If there is a memo, there should be an email with it, notifying the Town Board about Neil’s hiring. I would like to know what day it was sent, but I know they are lying.”
DenDanto and Meyer, both Democrats, did not return messages seeking comment for this story. The state comptroller’s office also has not commented on the alleged security breach and any investigation.
The state comptroller’s office routinely audits local governments, including their controls over physical and digital access, such as building entry systems, key cards, key fobs and IT user accounts. DenDanto could hire Meyer as a volunteer or consultant. However, even with a memo, any hire in a municipality in the state is usually approved by a vote by its Town Board.
Several Hudson Valley town supervisors polled by Mid-Hudson News on Monday said hiring even a volunteer or consultant would require board approval. Republican Town of Wallkill Councilman Eric Johnson and several others at board meetings said Meyer routinely requested to interview and vet prospective volunteers and other potential employees when he served on the Town of Wallkill Board.
“Even if there is a memo, any hiring in the town needs to be approved via a resolution by the Town Board,” Johnson said. “That never happened, and Frank and Neil know that. I find it hard to believe we are only hearing about the memo now. I’d like to see the metadata on the memo with a time-stamped date and time. I’m sure it doesn’t exist.”
Coyne told Mid-Hudson News last week that he had confirmed Meyer’s access to the Town of Wallkill’s remote computer-access application through a town vendor that manages the account. Coyne said the access could have allowed Meyer to view information in the accounting office, including payroll. Coyne said he had revoked Meyer’s access to the application, ordered an audit trail and reported the alleged transgressions to the state comptroller’s office.
Several law enforcement experts told Mid-Hudson News that allowing a nonemployee access to municipal facilities and financial systems without proper authorization could raise serious security and accountability concerns and could trigger a criminal investigation.
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