Former Suffolk lawyer who inked BusPatrol contract change now works for the company

A former Suffolk County attorney who signed off on an amendment to the county's contract with BusPatrol America in the waning days of the Bellone administration has taken a job at that company, Newsday has learned.

Christiana Stover McSloy, who was chief deputy county attorney, was appointed in-house counsel for BusPatrol. McSloy on Nov. 21 signed an amendment to the BusPatrol contract that limits the county's ability to end the contract, according to a copy of the contract obtained by Newsday. Previously, the county could terminate with 30-day notice.

The amended contract also was signed by former chief deputy county executive Lisa Black and Paul Margiotta, then-executive director of Suffolk's Traffic and Parking Violations Agency. 

Newsday has reported that several former top Bellone administration officials have taken executive-level jobs at BusPatrol, which operates the county's school bus camera program. Justin Meyers, a former Suffolk Police communications director who rose to chief of staff for the Suffolk DA's office, is a BusPatrol president. Steve Randazzo, a former assistant deputy county executive who briefed the legislature on BusPatrol, is chief growth officer for the company. Jason Elan, who was a deputy county executive for Steve Bellone, was BusPatrol’s head of external affairs for 17 months before departing earlier this year. Former Suffolk District Attorney Tim Sini now serves as the company's outside counsel.

Experts say that while there's nothing wrong with public officials going to the private sector, Suffolk's ethics laws have specific restrictions on work for entities and contracts with which they previously were involved. The Suffolk comptroller's office has referred several cases to the county Ethics Board of Bellone administration officials working for county contractors or award recipients in the private sector, including Bellone himself, who is at Northwell Health. Northwell received in excess of $3.5 million in county opioid award funding. Bellone, who was term-limited and left office at the end of 2023, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

None of the former officials has been accused of any wrongdoing. 

New county Executive Edward P. Romaine's office previously said he is reviewing a range of contracts from the Bellone administration, including the BusPatrol pact and the contract amendments. A Romaine spokesman declined to comment this week.

A spokesman for BusPatrol, Gary Lewi, confirmed that McSloy is working for BusPatrol, but emphasized she is not working on any matters pertaining to BusPatrol's contract with Suffolk McSloy did not respond to a call, email or request at the BusPatrol office for comment.

The news comes as another top former Suffolk official, one-time chief of staff Ryan Attard, has left a Garden City nonprofit that was awarded $1.8 million in county opioid funds from a committee she chaired while working for the county. Attard, who in January was appointed chief operating officer at the Family & Children's Association, has taken a position at Melville-based construction company Haugland Group. 

When Newsday first reported on Attard's appointment in March, a spokeswoman for the Family & Children's Association noted Attard had taken the job in January, nearly a year after the association was awarded the funding. Spokeswoman Kim Como also said Attard "will be recusing herself from any subsequent funding that we apply for from Suffolk County."

At Haugland, Attard was named director of memberships, events and sponsorships, and is working with the Bellone administration's former commissioner of labor, Rosalie Drago, who is Haugland's vice president of strategic affairs and engagement, said Billy Haugland, chief executive. Drago left Suffolk County in October. Attard declined to comment.

Romaine, a Republican, was elected county executive last November. The BusPatrol contract amendment was signed weeks later in the waning days of the Bellone administration and two years before the contract was due to expire. Nine days after the amendment was signed, Romaine's transition team asked Bellone's office to put on hold any appointments or policy changes, a standard request of a new incoming administration.

The county still has the right to terminate the contract for cause, but doing so would be time-consuming and expensive because it likely would involve litigation, Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy said.

Kennedy, who has sparred with Bellone during their tenures for Suffolk, said there was no justification for the contract change "whatsoever." He has referred several cases of former Bellone officials taking positions with former contractors and agencies to the county Ethics Board, Newsday has reported.

Paul Sabatino, a Huntington Station attorney and former Suffolk legislative counsel, said McSloy’s move violated the county ethics code. A section of the code bars anyone from receiving any compensation for services rendered in relation to any matter the person participated in substantially as a public servant.

"You can’t sign a contract giving a company a substantial financial benefit and then go work for them," Sabatino said.

Kennedy agreed. "The ethics code is very, very, very clear, I can’t do any business with the county after I leave my job," he said. "How is it that, lo and behold, she’s working as in-house corporate counsel for them? This is insane."

Payroll records show McCloy left Suffolk County government on Jan. 1. An online directory lists her as employed by BusPatrol under her maiden name, Stover.

McSloy started with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in 2018 as an assistant district attorney. After Republican Ray Tierney was elected district attorney, McSloy became chief deputy county attorney on Jan. 3, 2022.

BusPatrol, a Lofton, Virginia-based company, installs cameras in school buses to catch drivers who illegally pass stopped buses with flashing lights when the stop arm is down. A ticket costs $250 for the first violation, and the fine increases with each violation.

Kennedy said the tickets are the biggest single source of complaints his office receives.

"The program should be eliminated," said Legis. Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), a one-time supporter of the program when it was introduced but more recently a critic. "It’s a scam on the taxpayers." 

Suffolk County, with 124 school districts, is the company’s biggest customer, Meyers has said in a media report. The company has made inroads on Long Island since 2019, and also has contracts with North Hempstead and Hempstead towns and the cities of Glen Cove and Long Beach.

The school bus camera program generated more than $21 million in 2023 for Suffolk, with the county getting 55% and 45% going to BusPatrol, according to the county comptroller’s office.

With Payton Guion