Part 4: Holbrook and his 'hit men'

Another person whose company Supervisor Holbrook kept like a brother was John Costa. A former cop, Costa earned a law degree while a police officer, passed the bar, and began his practice in the Town of Haverstraw, just north of Clarkstown. He worked hard, formed important associations, and ingratiated himself with the right people.   

Costa was not particularly noted for a sense of humor. In fact, he was widely known as a ruthless son of a bitch. He gained a well-deserved tough, hard-nosed, no-nonsense, give-no-quarter-take-no-prisoner reputation on the beat and as a practicing lawyer. Indeed, Costa seemed to revel in the reputation that he would sooner string you up and skin you alive than show compassion. That made him the perfect “hit man” for The Boss—Holbrook—who wanted to stay above the fray, keep his hands clean, and appear to be all things to all people all the time, while maintaining complete, and if necessary, ruthless, control.

Those who enforce and/or practice law are above the law. So it seems to probably the vast majority of ordinary citizens, especially when they personally witness the actions of those who ply one or the other of these often less-than-noble trades. Costa practiced both. Not only didn’t he appear to care who knew it, he vigorously defended his “right” to engage—in at least one startling instance—in what to all intents and purposes appeared to be an egregiously unethical practice while Town Attorney. 

Prior to becoming Town Attorney, Costa had a range of clients in private practice. One of them was Interstate Waste Services, a national, some believed Mob-run, garbage hauling company that Costa represented before the Village of Sloatsburg, on the other side of Rockland County, which was seeking approval to establish a transfer station for garbage there. IWS was also a member of the Clarkstown Carting Association. After being appointed full-time Town Attorney, Costa nonetheless continued to both represent IWS and receive a retainer from them, while simultaneously drawing a full-time salary from Town coffers.

In a special meeting called as the year 2000 was winding down, the Town Board had before it an agenda item to approve a bid by the Clarkstown Carting Association on a long-term, multi-million-dollar contract. 
     * Pushing for its approval—in his capacity as Town Attorney—was Costa. 
     * Curiously, there had been no Board workshop on the matter, despite the fact that the contract was going to be in excess of $5 million. 
     * There had been no public hearing to solicit input from the community. 
     * And the special meeting was itself scheduled almost at the last minute, without the legally-required 24 hours of public notice. 

All of this was in clear violation of New York’s open meeting law, the best interests of Clarkstown taxpayers, ethics, and common sense.
     * Why the rush? Why the secrecy? Why the need for a multi-year contract? 
     * Why was Costa leading the charge, in his official capacity as Town Attorney, for its approval? 
     * Why weren’t Town Board members calling into question his glaringly obvious conflict of interest? 
     * Where was Holbrook in all of this, and why wasn’t he putting the brakes on something that he absolutely, positively had to know after nearly 20 years of setting the agendas and running the show had all the appearances of being egregiously unethical, if not patently illegal?
     * Why was it left, by default, for Rockland County Times Editor Sluys alone to bring the matter to the attention of the community—in the complete absence of coverage by The Journal News?

We’ll never know the answers to the above questions. But this we know: Costa was Holbrook’s personally hand-picked “hired gun” for the position. The Town had already spent, according to Sluys, “hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money in developing its policy on garbage.” Garbage was indeed big business, and with the anticipated Court-mandated closure of the Clarkstown landfill—and lack of transparency of this last-minute, rubber-stamped resolution—it was destined to grow far larger far more quickly than the public could ever have imagined.

“It doesn’t take a law degree,” Sluys observed, “to understand that if your Town gets a substantial portion in income from the running of a transfer station, you might be acting against the Town’s best interest to help someone else [IWS] set up a transfer station in the western part of the county.”

Nor does it take a law degree to figure out that getting paid to represent a for-profit business, while simultaneously being paid by taxpayers to represent a municipality in an official legal capacity, was a classic conflict of interest.

But law degree or not, Costa must have slept through Ethics 101—assuming he was required to take it, assuming they even offered the course!—for Costa clearly felt it was his vested “right” to represent both at the same time, get paid by both at the same time, and he vehemently refused to step aside. 
     * Could Holbrook, who the record shows asked not a question nor said a single word, not have been aware of this blatant conflict of interest? Or might there have been something in it for him? 
     * Is it possible that it never occurred to a single other Board member, who voted in lock-step to unanimously approve this multi-million-dollar contract, to question either Holbrook or Costa about this?
     * How could the Clarkstown Ethics Board, established precisely for the purpose of dealing with potential conflict-of-interest issues such as this, not have considered meeting on this matter? Of course, the fact that it never met on any matter over a period of many years during Holbrook’s Reign might answer that question. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up!
     * As for the editors and reporters of The Journal News, never let it be said that they ever missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity to engage in investigative reporting on something meaningful to the people of Rockland.

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A second egregious conflict-of-interest story involving Costa occurred shortly thereafter, where Costa was only too happy to publicly, and strenuously, defend a Board trustee, Catherine Nowicki, who refused to recuse herself in a matter where her daughter stood to potentially and directly benefit to the tune of millions of dollars from a proposed bond that could have cost taxpayers in excess of $10 million. Conflict of interest? Ethics? Democracy in action? Fuggetaboudit! Where was Holbrook in all of this? What might he have stood to gain? We’ll have lots more to say about this later.

A man is judged by the deeds he does and the company he keeps, we are advised. Holbrook, Lord of All He Surveyed, and Costa, hand-picked by Holbrook and surely sworn to Uphold the Highest Ethical Standards, kept each other’s company like Siamese twins joined at the hip, until Holbrook retired a few years later to South Carolina. 

Almost immediately thereafter, the new Lord of All He Surveyed, Alex Gromack, replaced Costa with Amy Wagner Mele, daughter of retired Senior Deputy Attorney David Wagner.  Gromack may not have sat at Holbrook’s knee like student to mentor, but he most certainly has “more than admirably” filled Holbrook’s shoes. As Sluys said about Holbrook’s “governance of a town so corrupt that it would make a Louisiana governor blush with shame,” he might well have said about Gromack’s, were he alive today. As for Gromack’s Kingdom and Wagner’s multiple documented egregiously improper actions, keep reading.

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Of all people whose company Holbrook kept, perhaps none was closer than Penny Leonard, especially following the downfall of Holbrook’s constant companion and best friend, Paul Adler. Leonard, we noted, founded the Congers Civic Association, ran it for nearly two decades, and also “just happened to be” Holbrook’s campaign manager and Deputy Supervisor. 

Leonard and Holbrook had far more in common than meets the eye. Both were from Congers. Both had climbed the political ladder of success. Both held the reins of power tightly. Both understood the value of letting others know who was in charge. What Holbrook didn’t know, what fingers he didn’t have in which pies, Leonard likely did. She was his eyes and ears. She gave him feedback and advice. She was his political confidante as no other could be at this time. 

In her capacity as President of the Congers Civic Association, Leonard could—and did—endorse politicians. These endorsements could—and likely did—sway elections and issues. And they could—and likely did—significantly influence the course of governance in Clarkstown. 
     * Could it be that one of the underlying reasons for creation of the Congers Civic Association was to concentrate power in the hands of a few, so as to increase Holbrook’s and Leonard’s power and minimize that of any Pretenders to the Throne? 
     * Could it be that Holbrook and Leonard were more than just altruistically involved in its formation? 
     * Could it be that this association, which on its 20th anniversay boasted of being the largest and most powerful in Rockland County, had the effect, intended or otherwise, of bringing to heel all who sought entré into Town politics, and all under the watchful eye, if not thumb, of He Who Rules Clarkstown?

If endorsements and the outcomes of elections were any indication, Holbrook’s and Leonard’s efforts were wildly successful, empowering them to demand fealty from all who would pay to play. 

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Next week, we take an inside look at Holbrook’s “governance of a town so corrupt that it would make a Louisiana governor blush with shame.”