
A local contractor has accused Southampton Town Councilman Jim Malone of locking him in Mr. Malone’s Suffolk County office and yelling at him during a confrontation over unpaid work at Mr. Malone’s Hampton Bays home.
Contractor Anthony Prosano, 23, of Hampton Bays said Mr. Malone locked him in the office and attempted to call police because Mr. Prosano broke into the councilman’s home to retrieve his tools.
Mr. Prosano, who also has a home in Mastic and business based out of East Quogue, claimed that Mr. Malone failed to pay him thousands of dollars for work he was contracted to do on Mr. Malone’s home in November. He confronted Mr. Malone at the Suffolk County Center in Riverside—Mr. Malone is also a deputy county clerk—on December 15, and he said he recorded on an iPhone the councilman, with a friend whom he declined to identify, ranting at him and using his county position to detain him there.
Copies of the recordings were provided to The Press. On the recording, a voice the contractor claims is Mr. Malone can be heard berating Mr. Prosano, calling him an “idiot.” Mr. Malone is heard calling the police, seeking to have Mr. Prosano charged with breaking into his home through a basement window.
Mr. Prosano admitted to breaking into Mr. Malone’s home through a window to get his tools after the councilman failed to meet him there days before the confrontation.
On the recording, Mr. Prosano claims Mr. Malone can’t hold him in the office. Mr. Malone replies, “Yes, I can. I’m deputy county clerk. I’m holding you.”
At one point, Mr. Malone says, “You are f-----g playing in a pool you don’t belong in.”
Although Mr. Malone continually asks Mr. Prosano to show him his contractor’s license, implying that he doesn’t have one, town officials said this week that the contractor was, in fact, licensed to work in Southampton Town.
Mr. Prosano filed a report with Southampton Town Police on December 15 after the confrontation and also filed a mechanic’s lien against Mr. Malone—which was what brought him to the Suffolk County Center in the first place. In the lien, Mr. Prosano claims Mr. Malone owed him about $8,000 for interior work, including insulation, drywall installation, painting, and work in the bathroom and kitchen.
When reached on Monday, Mr. Malone said the accusations against him were false and that he didn’t lock Mr. Prosano into his office. “It’s a patently false accusation,” he said. He declined to comment further on the matter.
According to Mr. Prosano, he and Mr. Malone signed a contract to perform about $52,000 of extensive interior renovations to Mr. Malone’s Anderson Street home in November. The home had been damaged in a fire. Currently, the repairs to the home are still ongoing, according to Mr. Malone.
“I put him on my high priority list because I knew who he was—he was a big name in Southampton Town,” Mr. Prosano said. “I wanted a job for myself.”
On Wednesday, Southampton Town Police Chief William Wilson Jr. said the police are investigating the case. “There’s been an accusation,” he said. “We have an obligation to investigate and review the matter. And that’s what we’re doing.”
In filing the mechanic’s lien, Mr. Prosano is seeking to prevent Mr. Malone from withdrawing money from a bank loan earmarked for the repairs to continue renovating the home until he is paid for the work he performed.
According to Mr. Malone, the mechanic’s lien is an “initial step” to litigation, which could be pursued by either party—by Mr. Prosano pursuing it or Mr. Malone seeking to have the lien removed. “I’m letting my lawyers decide,” Mr. Malone said when asked what he was going to do next.
Mr. Prosano said he was excited to take a job working for Mr. Malone because of what it could mean for his career as a young contractor. He said before taking the job, he had researched Mr. Malone and was heartened by a quote from him that speaks to standing up for the youth of Southampton Town.
“James Malone was definitely using his political power in the wrong way,” Mr. Prosano said. “If he’s going to abuse his political power for something like this, what is he going to do for the town?”
Jim "I can lock you in my office" Malone is a disgrace to the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County and government. He first and foremost owes an apology (and a big check) to this contractor as well as anyone who has ever voted for him or supported him. A resignation (from BOTH posts) is also in order... let's see how the GOP ...more spins this one!
If he indeed abused his authority, that would put him to the left end of the spectrum within the Republican party, and right in line with all the self serving big ...more government authoritarians in the Democratic party.
Conservatism is ordinarily associated with right wingers. Also known as the Republican party. By downright "nitty gritty" definition, you have a valid point. In the real world however, it's moot.
legitimate, qualified contractors unemployed.
The County Clerk should refer Mr Malone to the County Ethics Board.
BTW, any relation?
No, Jim Malone has 1 full time government job (suffolk county) and 1 part time government job (southampton town).
"Is this the only guy they could find for for deputy clerk?" He was Deputy Clerk prior to becoming a councilperson. Daniel Panico (Brookhaven Town Councilperson) was also a Deputy Town Clerk but rightly resigned once appointed to the Town Board. (Crookhaven what?)
According to SeeThruNY.net, Mr. Malone ...more made $57,234 @ the County (interestingly a full $10,000 less than in 2010) and a cool $60,000 at the Town for a total of $117,234 tax payer dollars.
Not trying to argue 'cuz I think the guy is bogus, but just wanted to post some real facts. Also, for what it's worth there are plenty of other double dippers, most notably Mr. Fred Theile who is of course a NYS Legislator and the Village Attorney for Sag Harbor
I'm sure that the Press will get to the bottom of this. ...more (I would say more but I interrupted my flying pig birdwatching as it is.)
Take a deep breath and calm down. We are all on the same page Malone is liar!
Some referred to Malone as a republican and wondered how the GOP would spin this. He is not part of the GOP (republican party).
I hope by now they realize they need to cut him loose and not cross endorse him a 2nd time.
Permits?
Aren't you supposed to check if the contractor has a valid Town of Southampton license BEFORE being contracted?
True, he does have his faults but to get up in arms over him having an argument with an unlicensed contractor is out of control.
Find a real position to take a stand on and leave this petty stuff alone.
Malone Lover (aka user.name): As per the above quote from the article, the contractor was in fact licensed. If he wasn't, building permits would not have been secured and of course the Town wouldn't have had to come inspect insulation (and Malone isn't ...more THAT stupid where he would hire an unlicensed contractor).
The fact that Mr. Malone believed he could hold the contractor hostage because he is "Deputy Suffolk County Clerk" is abusrd and Mr. Malone did not keep his cool during the meeting - as opposed to the contractor who appears quite calm. Mr. Malone is an elected official AND an appointed official as a civil servant and he should be held to a higher standard. There is no excuse for his behavior nor is there an excuse for stiffing the contractor.
There are lots of REAL positions to take a stand on with respect to this story. . . like Mr. Malone double dipping on tax-payer money by holding two jobs (especially since he claimed he would resign from the County if elected), like trying to stiff a contractor, like attempting to hold someone without cause under the premise that he is the Deputy County Clerk, like calling his police buddies to come arrest this guy (even though he never pressed charges or made a complaint). I wouldn't call any of this stuff "petty".
Also, if Mr. Malone had a real problem with the contractor being there or with what the contractor had done - why didn't he call security? He works in the county center - there certainly are police officers available to diffuse situations like this.
Kudos to the contractor for stepping up and standing up for what is right. Hopefully justice will prevail.
If the "Bill" in question is indeed Captain Wilson, it would seem to me that it is inappropriate for the SHPD to be investigating this and instead should be carried out by an independent entity. The apparent abuse of power of a council person using the town's police department to investigate a personal matter is troubling. More so if the council member involved the police chief directly in an apparent unlawful detention and impersonation of a law officer.
They have no fear, which allows them in far too many cases to operate in their lives with impunity. As stated above, the abuses need to stop.
I'll put this simply: We have the right to vote, and hire you; hence, we should have the right to vote, and FIRE you.
Having had trouble with a "licensed" contractor, I know that getting work done can be a nightmare.
Why would a carpenter leave his tools behind to begin with?
I did not say one word of support of Mr. Malone. I questioned what the other side of the story is.
Should anyone be interested in the other side, and yes there appears to be one, you can find it in the Newsday article.
Because I asked for the rest of the story I see a victim? LOL amazing
1.Personal disputes regarding unpaid bills with private funds at private residences are none of our business.
2.If someone broke into my home and then had the nerve to come to my place of employment, invade my office and confront me, I can't say my reaction would have been much different. I probably would have locked the door to my office and called the police ...more but I would have pressed charges for B&E.
3. As far as what JM said on the tape, ehhh,,, he didn't really threaten him, hit etc.Anyone who finds what he said to be an abuse of power has an unrealistic definition of it and truly isn't playing in the same pool.
Anna Throne-Holst is the Supervisor..
If she does not get to the bottom of this, and kick butt here if necessary, then she may have be be nominated to become ...more the Conductor of EGO, or at least the Head Fiddler!
Rome is smoldering.
Nero
1. There is no claim that the contractor did "crappy work". Mr. Malone stated he didn't like how the drywall looked but the contractor informed him it wasn't completed yet.
2. There's no claim that the contractor damaged the home when he retrieved his tools from his work place. The contractor said he broke in through a window - he didn't say he broke THE window. He also didn't stupidly leave them behind. It was his belief that he was ...more still the contractor and thus would have good reason to leave his tools at the job site.
3. He wasn't harassing him at work - the contractor visited Mr. Malone (who is a public servant) at his (public) office to serve him with the lein which is completely legal and legitimate. If you listen to the audio the contractor remains calm and Mr. Malone is irate.
4. The contractor had every right to file a lein as installed materials and performed work that he has not been compensated for.
I don't see what is so difficult to follow here - Mr. Malone was completely unprofessional and has seemingly stiffed this guy (and allegedly stiffed a plans drafter as well). Mr. Malone works @ the county center and easily could have contacted security (aka the County police) to have them diffuse the situation. He instead called his buddy @ Southampton Town. Mr. Malone has filed no charges or alleged that any crimes were committed against him - yet he wanted to hold the contractor illegally in his office and have him arrested.
Despicable, on ALL counts.
I agree it is despicable on All counts. No one here has seen the work so we can't judge if there was a problem.
Two versions of the truth.
There are plenty of things to get on Malone for - but let's not throw out accusations that are baseless.
203k (not 201k) loans are available to everyone - regardless of income. Mr. Malone bought a property that qualified for a 203k property as it was fire damaged and is using the loan to rehab the house. What he does with that home (lives in it/sells it/rents it) is his business. The reason a 203k was needed is because a standard mortgage can't be obtained due to damage ...more on the property - whoever bought it would have had to get a 203k or pay cash, and while Mr. Malone mikes a nice salary of $120k, that's not enough to buy a house in cash and rehab it.
The house was bought by Mr. Malone in June for $228,500 - it's not like he got the house for $100k, and given the size and location of the house it doesn't seem to be heavily discounted.
Malone is a jerk who should resign ASAP (and I hope Bellone and ATH are investigating) BUT, don't rant and rave about things you havn't educated yourself on.
He said he would step down from his position as Deputy County Clerk if he won the election, he did not.
He also said he would step down as leader of the Southampton Town Conservative party if he won the election, he did not.
He thinks the people would forget the promise's he made. He just blows smoke up everyone's butt. He is a disgrace,how can anyone believe anything he has to say. Does anyone remember he wanted to run for supervisor 2009 and then deceided to run ...more for town council? What a joke he is. RESIGN JIM!
These guys have managed to remove supply and demand as a factor in the spot price of a commodity in out "free market" too. It's worth what a speculator SANS position limits says it is. So much for the CEA of 1936 keeping futures trading in check. Speculators are supposed to be FACILITATORS, not PHYSICAL HEDGERS. Do some research...
At least it isn't illegal to record a councilperson in action.
Yet.
"I have sinned against your precious trust, Southampton [sobbing & grimacing]. . . "
What a low-life Jim Malone is, he has some serious issues. He is unfit to serve the people of Southampton.
Will there be a special election? Or will the Council simply continue to the next normally scheduled election with but four members. This is a pertinent question. Any temporary candidates are likely all to fail appointment by a 2-0 partisan vote. A special election would allow the candidates who came close in the last election to retest the waters. (A tactic that met with great success in the case of Ms. Fleming.) Since ...more Brad Bender would probably get on board, that wouldn't suit the Republicans. (Linda Kabot could win as a declared candidate but that wouldn't suit the Republicans either.) Flying with only four on board would be fine (Mr Malone's presence having been largely notional) and all Democrat/Independence initiatives would be blocked of a majority by the Republicans anyway.
Absent a requirement of which procedure MUST be followed, I'd bet on allowing the vacancy to persist. The odds against another pliant Conservative or Republican winning a temporary election will not be overlooked by Nuzzi et al.
We could only dream that if he were to step down the TB would be in a dead lock, voting on controversial issues. Nuzzi & Scalera would vote together and ATH & Fleming would also. I don't think they would agree on who to appoint, that would be a dead lock too. As HH said above they would never agree on Bender so we are looking at a special election ASAP.
Again, Malone will never resign ...more he's way to arrogant.
["meow"]
I really don't expect Malone to resign; I just assumed it for the purpose of exploring what would happen if he DID. In fact, Malone won't resign unless the Conservative/Republicans offer him a sinecure at least equal in pay to his Town Council position. It would be almost impossible for them to find another such job since in order to accommodate Malone’s REAL job as deputy county clerk, there would have to be NO requirements of actual appearance. Additionally, there ...more is at present no strategic reason for them to do so. As you have noted, there isn't any substantiation to the charges of defalcation. All we definitely KNOW is that Malone can be a choleric fool.
The ConReps won't have to make any decision about him until the next Council race
You got it!