This post has been updated with comments from County Executive and former county Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo, a Republican, as well as former County Clerk Patricia McCarthy, a Democrat.
The County Clerk’s Office, under now-County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo, violated federal law by waiving passport fees, says a US Department of State official.
Current County Clerk Adam Bello publicly disclosed the waivers recently, though he wouldn’t say who received them. Federal confidentiality laws prevented him from saying who received passport waivers, he said, though in one case 15 members of the same family received the discounts.
Bello reached out to the Department of State for an opinion on the waivers. Jonathan Rolbin, director of the Department of State’s Office of Legal Affairs and its law enforcement liaison, sent a letter yesterday to County Attorney Michael Davis informing him of the determination. The Department of State letter (attached below) doesn’t say what the county is supposed to do about the waivers, however. Bello released the letter to reporters today.
Dinolfo issued the following statement this afternoon:
“During my tenure in the Clerk’s Office, concurrent with my record of returning over $30 million to taxpayers, I continued the longstanding policy that spanned over many County Clerk’s administrations of issuing fee waivers as a way to provide high level customer service. Now that the State Department has rendered clarification, it is my expectation that the current County Clerk will abide by them going forward.”
Patricia McCarthy, a Democrat who was county clerk from 1985 to 1993, issued a statement Thursday morning that contradicts Dinolfo’s. The statement says:
In response to recent assertions by former Monroe County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo that the practice of waiving execution fees for passports has been a longstanding tradition dating back to previous administrations, I would like to set the record straight, and unequivocally state waiving fees for certain individuals was not a practice we engaged in during my nine years (1985-1993) as Monroe County Clerk.
Previously, Bello called on the county attorney to try to reclaim the waived fees. His office also set up a program where people who had fees waived — both for passports and for plastic pistol permit cards — can voluntarily repay them
The passport issue deals with a $25 “execution fee” that people pay when they apply for a passport, according to the letter. Under federal law, passport agents must collect the fee, the letter says. They can keep that fee, which is separate from the general charge for a new passport, but they cannot “grant exceptions,” according to the letter.
Bello was appointed to the clerk position earlier this year by Governor Andrew Cuomo. He’s currently running for the office and faces a challenge from Greece Town Clerk Cheryl Rozzi.
Michael E. Davis Letter by jmouleatcity on Scribd
This article appears in Sep 28 – Oct 4, 2016.
Wow. Just wow.
Dinolfo’s statement says everything but the truth. She offers an excuse by saying the waivers were a long-standing tradition in the clerk’s office. Dinolfo blames the State Department by saying they had to offer clarification of the law. Finally, Dinolfo absurdly projects this issue onto Adam Bello by stating she expects him to abide by the law. Really??? It was Bello who pointed out Dinolfo’s illegal actions. I doubt Bello needs her reminder.
Everything but the truth or admission of guilt. Another long-standing tradition.
The fact that clerks before her did it means one thing. Cheryl Dinolfo has no moral or ethical compass. I guess it never crossed Dinolfo’s mind to question whether it was right to give some people a waiver while others didn’t get it. I guess Dinolfo never had the curiosity to even wonder whether what she was doing was legal or not.
More likely Dinolfo knew she was breaking the law and just didn’t care because she never expected to get caught.
You just don’t understand customer service. The County Clerk had to be sure people were satisfied so they would come back again in ten years for their next passport.
Dinolfo has now taken credit for being the one who requested clarification from the State Department on the law she broke. Adam Bello didn’t need clarification. He knew Dinolfo violated the law and he pointed that out.
Dinolfo’s spokesperson now says Dinolfo is done talking about this issue. As her constituent, I still have questions. Dinolfo stated the waivers were given for customer service reasons. So I want to know: 1. Did the people who received waivers get them because they had complained about poor customer service from the county clerk’s office? 2. For what reasons and under what situations did people receive waivers?