ROCHESTER, N..Y. -- As the I-Square saga continues, the Monroe County Legislature is attempting to address the controversy, but the project's owner says it's not enough.
Legislature Democrats called for a committee to investigate any collusion between COMIDA and the county GOP, and on Tuesday, Legislature President Anthony Daniele entered it in the committee cycle.
“If you look at any piece of legislation that comes through the county, it’s a normal process," Daniele said. "It gets introduced one month, goes through committees for consideration, and depending on what happens in committee, it moves on to the full legislature the following month.”
It's the latest turn in a weeks-long development that began when county Republican party chair Bill Reilich made claims about I-Square missing milestones in its PILOT program, referring to it as "failing."
A COMIDA official came to I-Square on a Sunday to investigate whether the project is meeting milestones. County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo later said it was Assistant County Executive Justin Roj, who called COMIDA on that Sunday. Roj then resigned, at her request.
I-Square owner Mike Nolan says he thinks these latest actions are just a delay tactic.
"Mr. Daniele should've called for an investigation tonight. This could've been discussed and hashed out tonight. That would've been the stand-up thing to do," Noland said. "Deferring to committee is not the standup thing to do. He's just joining all the other cronies around Bill Reilich."
Democrats in the legislature say they want questions answered.
“How did County Chairman reach into COMIDA and get something done to further in political agenda? Who in COMIDA was involved in that process? And who in county government also furthered that effort. It’s not a matter of me being a Democrat, versus Republican. I see it as a matter of integrity and ethics for Monroe County.”
Daniele says the issue will be considered when the committee cycle starts next month.