State court records show that Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino made fraudulent claims and falsified records when he received approximately $16,000 in federal disaster relief funds following Hurricane Sandy.
Assemblywoman Christine Pellegrino (D-Oyster Bay/Babylon/Islip), who replaced Saladino in the 9th District Assembly seat in May 2017, has called for his resignation in light of these allegations in the following statement:
“The information brought to light by this lawsuit reaffirms that corruption in the Town of Oyster Bay goes all the way to the top. It makes me sick to have to explain to my daughters that another Oyster Bay Republican official is lining his pockets with our tax dollars. It’s why I ran for the Assembly. It is time for Mr. Saladino to resign as Town Supervisor.
While I fight for my constituents and their families who are still recovering from Hurricane Sandy to receive the funding they truly deserve, Mr. Saladino, as the elected Assemblyman overseeing constituent complaints and managing dozens of disaster related case-files, lied to the state and federal governments, gamed the system and over-collected on his own waterfront home.
Mr. Saladino was the first and only person to call for my resignation based on lies and distortions he perpetuated after my election. His hypocrisy is unbelievable and he should resign immediately in light of the exposed corruption and fraud he committed.
Mr. Saladino was elected to fill a vacancy caused by his predecessor John Venditto’s corruption. For Mr. Saladino to engage in corruption himself, after obtaining his office because of the corruption of his predecessor is outrageous and an insult to the hard working people of the Town of Oyster Bay. Clearly we deserve better.
I am calling for Supervisor Saladino to put an end to his career of corruption and resign.
Additionally, Assemblyman-elect Michael LiPetri, hand-picked and fully endorsed by Saladino, must immediately call for Saladino’s resignation. Remaining silent on this issue demonstrates the long standing tradition of corruption in the Nassau County GOP and that Mr. LiPetri is wholly unfit to represent the needs of our district with integrity.”
“It was very shocking for someone in my position to hear this news,” said Beth Huff, a Massapequa constituent and board member of Adopt-a-House, a post-Sandy volunteer organization. “I have advocated for Sandy families full-time after we, too, lost our home. There are so many families still struggling who really need assistance, and we look to our officials to help us and stand up to any wrongdoing.”
—From the desk of Assemblywoman Christine Pellegrino
