NEWS

Putnam spends $7,575 on wedding security for Maloney

Cara Matthews
The Journal News
Newlyweds U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, and Randy Florke depart June 21 from the Church of St. Mary-in-the-Highlands in Cold Spring.

It's not the most overtime the Putnam County Sheriff's Office paid deputies to cover an event this summer, but it was the only private one that taxpayer dollars were spent on.

The affair was the wedding of U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, to Randy Florke, his longtime partner, on June 21. The cost of having sheriff's deputies provide security for the ceremony and the reception was $7,575, Sheriff Donald Smith said in a memo to the county Legislature this week.

Maloney sent a letter to the U.S. Capitol Police in May to inform them of the wedding and some of the prominent current and former public officials on the guest list, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who gave the wedding toast, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Clintons reportedly did not attend. The ceremony took place at the Church of St. Mary-in-the-Highlands in Cold Spring.

Nineteen deputies worked in Cold Spring that day, including members of the emergency response team, said Capt. William McNamara of the county sheriff's department. "Our assignment of persons there for dignitary protection was at the behest of federal officials who had reached out to us," he said.

Maloney spokeswoman Stephanie Formas said in a statement that her boss appreciates the efforts of local law enforcement to keep the community safe, and the U.S. Capitol Police and county sheriff's office "made all decisions based on their professional assessment." She did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Maloney thinks the county should be reimbursed, either by him or the federal government.

A spokesman for former GOP Rep. Nan Hayworth of Bedford, who is challenging him for the office again this year, said Maloney should pay the tab personally. "Multimillionaires like Sean Maloney should pay for their own weddings and not make taxpayers foot the bill, especially when it comes to something as extravagant as a wedding with law breaking drones and over the top security," O'Brien Murray said in an email.

A few weeks ago, Hayworth criticized Maloney for a wedding video shot by a drone, calling on him to resign from the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the Federal Aviation Administration. The video was produced by Propellerheads Aerial Photography.

Maloney's office told Gannett's Washington Bureau at the time that the photography company had followed the most recent FAA rulings on drones. The Associated Press subsequently reported that the FAA said it was investigating "a report of an unmanned aircraft operation in Cold Spring" June 21 to determine if any federal regulations or airspace restrictions were violated.

Lt. Kimberly Schneider, a Capitol Police spokeswoman, did not answer questions on whether there were any credible threats related to the wedding and if the federal government reimburses local governments for providing security for members of Congress. Maloney said in his letter to Capitol Police that the Westboro Baptist Church had ordered that he be executed for being an openly gay member of Congress.

"The USCP does not discuss law enforcement operations as they are security sensitive," Schneider said in an email.

Legislator Sam Oliverio, D-Putnam Valley, said the federal government should reimburse the county because the Capitol Police asked the sheriff's department for assistance. "The bottom line is they requested it, Sean Patrick Maloney did not request it, so the federal government should be billed for this," he said.

The sheriff's department spent $11,970 to cover a four-day county fair Independence Day weekend at Tilly Foster Farm in Southeast and $24,447 for July 4th fireworks sponsored by Southeast, for a total of $43,992 in overtime between June 21 and July 6.

The difference is the fireworks and fair were public events attended by thousands of people each, and Maloney's wedding was not, said County Executive MaryEllen Odell, a Republican whom Oliverio is challenging in November.

When the Villa Barone Hilltop Manor on Route 6 in Mahopac has large events and needs help directing traffic on the main artery, it always reimburses the county for the cost, she said.

Odell would not say whether Maloney should do the same. "The congressman understands as I do what our responsibilities are to the taxpayers and I would leave that up to him to use his best judgment," she said.