KINGST0N – Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher has filed a proceeding in State Supreme Court to compel the release of books and records pertaining to former County Finance Commissioner Burt Gulnick.
Last week Gulnick pled guilty to embezzling funds from a local nonprofit organization and the campaign account of a former county executive.
This latest action stems from Gallagher’s request for documents from a 2021 investigation of Gulnick and the county’s refusal to turn them over, even after she subpoenaed them.
“I am extremely disappointed. I have been told on several occasions that there is nothing in the report, and if there is nothing in the investigation report, then it should be handed over and if there is something in the investigation report, it should be handed over,” she said.
In April 2021, Gallagher received tips from concerned residents about Gulnick’s personal debt and potential involvement in fudging timecards. She alerted the former county administration, which had an outside labor counsel investigate. She has been seeking the results of that investigation since the fall of 2021.
She also learned that the county’s corporate compliance hotline had received at least one call on the same issues. She subpoenaed that information on September 18 of this year and it was not provided by the return date of September 23.
Gallagher said the county charter gives the county comptroller access to all books and records of the county at any time, except where precluded by law. She said the documents she has asked for are books and records of the county and her access is not precluded by law.
