Dear COBA Members;

Earlier today, Sheriff James Dzurenda officially "resigned" from his position as Sheriff of Nassau County. He was immediately replaced by Undersheriff (Now Acting Sheriff) Anthony LaRocco. Dzurenda's departure did not come as a surprise to anyone, knowing full well that now former Sheriff Dzurenda was an absentee administrator who had little interest in running the day to day operations of this facility. Particularly since the departure of former Undersheriff Sean Jones.

This Department has been adrift administratively for some time, and the only thing holding this place together has been the Officers and Supervisors of this Dept.  

What did surprise and infuriate everyone involved was the naming of DUS Michael Sposato as Commissioner of Corrections. Thomas Sullivan (no relation to me) was also appointed as Deputy Undersheriff. All of this was done swiftly this morning and with no prior notification to the union.

The naming of Anthony LaRocco as Acting Sheriff to replace Dzurenda is one thing. So is the appointment of Tom Sullivan. But for the County to name Mike Sposato as Commissioner and put him back in charge of Operational aspects of our Dept is a disgrace and a slap in the face to every single Correction Officer in this Department. The County administration knows full well the long, contentious and adversarial relationship COBA has suffered with Sposato, as he systematically dismantled this Dept under the Administrations of former County Executive Tom Suozzi and particularly under the Mangano Administration.

COBA on numerous occasions demonstrated against the policies of then Sheriff Mike Sposato, including calls for his resignation several times, particularly after dealing with him and his former henchman DUS Phil Zorn.

Earlier today, after these sweeping changes took place, and on behalf of the entire COBA Membership I engaged in several conversations with County officials including the County Executive, demanding that they reconsider the appointment of Mike Sposato as Commissioner. Insisting that his return will only weaken and endanger the already tenuous labor/management relationship we've had with Nassau County, particularly on the heels of the contract vote last week. Every County Official I spoke with disagreed with our concerns, claiming that Sposato is not the Sheriff, is not autonomous and does not have the same marching orders he had under previous County Administrations. They claim they wish to rely on his prior experience here to help them manage the facility under the command and direction of Acting Sheriff LaRocco.

To say we disagree and are skeptical is the understatement of the year. Again, our long and adversarial history with Sposato speaks for itself. I was also contacted by the news media today after news of Dzurenda's departure broke, where I vehemently voiced our displeasure with the inclusion of Sposato in this new Administration. There is no reason to sugar coat any of this.  

An article appeared in Newsday this evening stating just that.

COBA's Executive Board will be meeting with Acting Sheriff LaRocco, Mike Sposato and DUS Tom Sullivan tomorrow morning at the invite of A/S LaRocco where we will hash out exactly what transpired here, where we are with this new administration and how we move forward.

I'll report back to you our findings.

Brian Sullivan, COBA President