By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – Erie County Comptroller Nancy Naples marched in to County Hall Wednesday with three carts of file boxes, armed to defend her borrowing practices.
The lesson in financing at times became heated. Lawmakers asked Naples to explain the rationale she uses to justify non-competitive borrowing.
The questions surfaced last week after it was learned that Naples gave more than half the county's bond business to one underwriter in negotiated arrangements with sometimes higher fees. Those deals are with Paul Atanasio, also a generous Republican Party contributor. But Naples says the only thing she cares about is who can get the best deal for the county.
"Who can get you the best price? Who's got the best desk? Who's got the best marketers? Who can sell to the broadest number of investors so you can, in fact, obtain the best price," said Naples.
Naples says that flexibility has saved the county millions of dollars in interest over the years. But Chairman George Holt disputed those conclusions. He cited a trade publication that claims higher priced, negotiated deals are taking over the bond market, costing municipalities money. Holt says it may be time to reconsider competitive bidding.
"It's important that this legislature looks at it very broadly in terms of how we try to go in the future of establishing a structure for the comptroller to get the best deal," said Holt.
Naples called Holt's suggestion a veiled threat to take away her the discretion in making borrowing decisions. The Comptroller returns Friday to answer more questions.