Cooking Up An Undersheriff

There are instances when a public official's unconventional career arc demands scrutiny, and Michael Sposato's is one of them.

Mr. Sposato recently became Undersheriff of the Nassau County Correctional Facility after serving the previous couple of years as Chief of Staff to Sheriff Edward Reilly. He got that job after using his political connections to prop up Sheriff Reilly when he was under fire because of a blistering 2004 audit by the Nassau County Comptroller's Office.

Before that, Mr. Sposato was a cook in the county jail. Critics both inside and outside the Sheriff's Office say his political activities - including a donation of $2,125 to County Executive Tom Suozzi's failed bid for Governor last year - account for his remarkable rise in the agency. They also question how he could be given that position when Mr. Sposato declared bankruptcy a decade ago.

Among those who have protested is Ed Gavin, a retired Deputy Warden in the city Correction Department. He speaks from personal experience.

Mr. Gavin was in the city jail system at a time when three individuals with past bankruptcy filings reached the upper echelon of the agency. One, Tony Serra, was known for being politically wired until he wound up going to jail for misusing agency personnel to spruce up his home and campaign for then-Governor Pataki. A second, John Picciano, is reportedly now in Brazil because the legal weather here might be a bit sticky for him. The third was Bernie Kerik, who continues to be Exhibit A against elevating those whose qualifications seem dubious.