Odell, Leibell Trade Final Fighting Words in County Executive Race

County Executive candidates Mary Ellen Odell and Vincent Leibell traded final pre-primary blows at Tuesday night’s debate hosted by the Courier and sister paper PCN&R. On Wednesday, the battle continued.

“[State Senator Leibell’s] senate payroll over the last several years boasts an alphabet-sized list of who’s who in Putnam County,” said Odell at the forum. “Not only does he have other government employees on the state payroll but many of his family members as well. You don’t have to look hard to see the conflict of interest when the town councilman on his payroll is also voting on [Leibell’s] law firm’s contract to represent that town.”

Odell was referring, in that instance, to Carmel Town Councilman, Frank Lombardi, who is currently part of Sen. Leibell’s staff.

“She is 110 percent wrong,” Lombardi told the Courier Wednesday. The Carmel Town Council voted to hire Leibell’s firm, Curtiss and Leibell, for legal services in early January 2010, Lombardi said. He said that he was not aware of any open position on Leibell’s staff until February, and didn’t begin work until March. “The vote was actually 5-0,” he added.

“My ethics have never been questioned. I go out of my way to make sure that everything is done properly and in the best interest of the people in the Town of Carmel,” Lombardi said. “This is a campaign ploy from a desperate candidate who didn’t check the facts.”

“Well, what’s he going to do when the renewal comes up at the end of the year?” Odell told the Courier Wednesday. “To me, this is just an example of Vinnie’s empire building, which he uses tax payer money for … I decided that I couldn’t stand back and let a 28 year Albany career politician run our county using ‘Albany style’ government.”

“It was time for someone to stand up and break this cycle of abuse,” Odell added.

“My payroll is half of what the county legislature’s payroll is,” Leibell told the Courier. “And, I might add, that I head up the Committee of Homeland Security, Military Affairs, and Veterans. I have to serve constituents all over the state of New York. In addition, my own district is over three times the size of Putnam County. And she is saying my staff is too large? I don’t think so.”

Odell also took issue at the forum with Leibell’s not-for-profit organizations. “My opponent’s Hudson Valley Trust recently applied to the town of Patterson for a variance to renovate a barn,” she said. “It was stated that there was $1 million in Albany ready to be allocated for this project.”

“That barn will hopefully be a center for the study of American history, aimed at teaching young children and high school students in our history,” Leibell told the Courier. “That to me seems like a very worthy and noble goal … And I stand behind it … American history is given a second rate status in my opinion.”

“I am immensely proud of not only myself, but what the team I have worked with has been able to accomplish,” he continued. “All she is doing is taking crazy cheap shots and saying reckless things … She started off by saying she was dissatisfied with the level of discourse, and then finished up with what was something of a tirade.”