Former NASDAQ chairman Frank Zarb will head a new panel charged with reviewing the contracting process in New York's Nassau County.
Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano announced on Aug. 3 that the panel Zarb will examine the Long Island county's procurement policy for awarding contracts "with special focus on the fairness, integrity and enforcement of the policy's implementation." Zarb chaired the NASDAQ Stock Market from 1997 to 2001 and was also the first chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority. He was energy czar under President Gerald Ford and led the nation's energy response to the first major oil embargo in the late 1970s.
Joining Zarb on what Mangano describes as "an independent, nonpartisan, blue-ribbon panel" are former Keyspan CEO Robert Catell and Hofstra University president Stuart Rabinowitz. Nassau's contracting process has been under scrutiny recently following federal charges filed in March against New York State Sen. Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, and his son, Adam, for allegedly improperly influencing the awarding of a $12 million contract.
Nassau County is rated A2 by Moody's Investors Service, A by Fitch Ratings and A-plus by Standard & Poor's. The county is east of New York City and has about 1.3 million residents.
