Ex-Suffolk official joins nonprofit that received $1.8M in county opioid funding

A former Suffolk official who chaired a county committee to disburse millions in opioid settlement money has taken a top post at a Garden City nonprofit that last year was awarded more than $1.8 million from the fund.

Ryan Attard, who served as former County Executive Steve Bellone's chief of staff, in January was named vice president and chief operating officer of the Family & Children’s Association, a Garden City health and human services nonprofit.

During her time at Suffolk, Attard was Bellone's designee on the opioid-settlement committee and a news release from the Family & Children's Association announcing her appointment says she developed the process for applying for opioid settlement money from the county. 

A Feb. 2, 2023, county resolution announcing the first round of awardees shows the Family & Children's Association was approved for two grants to be awarded over three years, totaling $1,877,967.

Spokespersons for the Family & Children's Association, a respected institution with a 140-year history, noted that Attard was appointed to her post at the association in January, a month after she left the county and nearly a year after the award.

But the award and Attard's subsequent appointment have drawn the scrutiny of the administration of Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, whose spokesman, Michael Martino, said Romaine "has ordered a thorough review of the opioid grant application and consideration process." He declined to elaborate.

Although state law requires that all public bodies take minutes of meetings and record votes, there were no minutes taken of opioid committee meetings and no votes recorded, county officials said.

Committee formed in 2021

A committee formed in 2021 to set priorities for disbursing the fund was closed to the public, Newsday reported, and a county spokeswoman at the time declined to say why. 

Jon Kaiman, who served as a deputy county executive under Bellone, said in an email last week that funding decisions were reached through consensus and, "There was, therefore, no formal committee voting process.”

He described Attard's role on the committee as "ministerial, as she coordinated the information being reviewed by the committee.”

Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy said he has questions about Attard's appointment, as well as those of other former county employees, including Bellone, who is now a vice president for Northwell Health. Northwell received the largest grant award from the county fund.

In a Jan. 17 news release announcing Attard's appointment, the Family & Children’s Association noted that she “created and launched an application process that would allow the county to transparently and fairly allocate over $50 million in settlement funding” from several “landmark court victories against opioid manufacturers.”

In February 2023, the Family & Children’s Association was awarded $1.3 million for treatment and prevention ($433,989 per year over three years), and another $576,000 ($192,000 per year over three years) for treatment.

Family & Children’s Association president and chief executive officer Jeffrey Reynolds, in a statement in response to Newsday's questions, said it is "not at all uncommon for people leaving government to look to continue their public service in the nonprofit sector — and quite frankly, that should be celebrated, not criticized."

Reynolds said Attard "competed with over a hundred applicants for the position, participated in multiple interviews, and was chosen by a committee of staff, executives, and board members."

At the Family & Children’s Association, Attard oversees the agency’s program operations, information technology, compliance and quality assurance. The association says it helps more than 35,000 Long Islanders with family health services.

The agency’s 2021 contributions and grants totaled just over $15.3 million, down from $16.4 million the year before. Total expenses in 2021 were $21.2 million. Total salaries were $1.2 million, with $195,490 in “other” pay.

FCA spokeswoman Kim Como noted that Attard was offered the job in January, after she had left the county, and began at FCA in February.

Como said Attard "will be recusing herself from any subsequent funding that we apply for from Suffolk County."

Kennedy called issues surrounding Attard’s new role “disturbing” and an apparent violation of the county ethics code. “This is like first-year ethics,” said Kennedy, who is an attorney.

Suffolk's ethics code contains post-employment restrictions that stipulate: "No public servant shall solicit, negotiate for, or accept employment with any firm which is involved in business dealings with the county while such public servant is directly concerned with or personally participating in those business dealings on behalf of the county." 

Kennedy said he was disturbed by what he called a pattern of former Suffolk officials who have gone to work for entities that have received funding from the county. Those officials include Bellone at Northwell Health; ex-Deputy County Executive Vanessa Baird-Streeter, who works for the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island; and former Information Technology Commissioner Scott Mastellon, who works for SVAM International.

None of the former Suffolk executives, or the agencies they work for, has been accused of any wrongdoing, and officials have denied conflicts of interest or filed recusal letters keeping their new employers at arm's length in dealing with the county.

“This is more than coincidence,” Kennedy said. “This appears to be a pattern of conduct and behavior that raises concern across the board.”

Attard, Bellone respond

Bellone, who recently was appointed assistant vice president of operations for Northwell Health, which itself received more than $3.4 million in county funding in 2023, in a statement Friday said Attard “was not required to file a recusal form when applying for the position with FCA, which posted in December, because she was not personally or directly dealing with FCA at that time.”

As for his own position at Northwell, he said taking the post “did not require submission of a recusal form because I was not personally or directly dealing with Northwell Health or personally involved in any of their business dealings as a county official at the time.”

Bellone said in his new role at Northwell, “I am committed to remaining in full compliance with all applicable conflict rules for Suffolk County.”

He called Suffolk's opioid funding process "a model for the state," and added, "My hope is that the new administration will continue to ensure these funds are dedicated to the agencies directly involved in prevention, treatment and recovery.”

Como said the FCA has "engaged council to review internal policy and the county laws to ensure we’re avoiding any conflict of interest."

Further, Como noted that Reynolds "signs all contracts," and that Attard's role is "purely one of internal operations. We’ve reached that decision to avoid any conflict of interest."

In addition to serving as deputy county executive, Attard also had served as Bellone’s chief of staff and as assistant to the commissioner of the Department of Health Services. She previously worked for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, according to her online resume. In 2023, Attard made $176,770, according to county records.

Attard’s new appointment doesn’t mention her salary, but in federal tax filings from 2021, the most recent year they are available, the Family & Children’s Association’s former chief operating officer, Lisa Burch, reported a salary of $165,427, with “other” pay listed as $29,566, for total compensation of $194,993. (Reynolds in 2021 made $325,205 in compensation and $65,962 in "other" pay, according to public records.)

Katherine Heaviside, a spokeswoman for the association, said Attard took a "significant" pay cut from her county salary to work for FCA. She and Como declined to release Attard's salary.

Attard, in a statement, said, "Throughout my career I have worked in government, been an advocate, and volunteered at many nonprofits. Public service is my passion, and it was important to me that my next role continue that same path."

Legis. Jason Richberg (D-Wyandanch), who as minority leader served on the committee that awarded opioid funds, said each committee member went through the applications. “No one strong-armed anyone,” he said.

“We wanted to make sure that we got the money out to organizations that we knew had been doing the work for a long time," Richberg said.

Como noted FCA "has held contracts with Suffolk since before Ryan was born. Given FCA's leadership role in fighting the opioid crisis and our impeccable record, we would have been surprised and disappointed had we not been one of the 34 awardees in the first funding round."

Como said FCA was "disappointed that neither of our applications were approved" in the second round of opioid funding awards last year.