Gary Craig

@gcraig1

Another day, another resignation from the scandal-scarred COMIDA board.

Eugene Caccamise announced his resignation from the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency board Sunday, making him the fourth member to step away in the aftermath of COMIDA being dragged into a politically-motivated fuss.

Caccamise's resignation means more than half of the seven-member board has found COMIDA mired in too much controversy to stay aboard. Others who have resigned are former COMIDA chairwoman Theresa Mazzullo and former board members Mark Siwiec and Clint Campbell.

COMIDA resignations:

► Controversy brings another COMIDA resignation

► 3 COMIDA board members have resigned this week

► COMIDA board member Mark Siwiec resigns

While COMIDA's allocation of millions in tax benefits to developers and businesses has occasionally been a target of criticism, nothing has roiled the agency like the bizarre political fight over the I-Square development in Irondequoit. As board members leap from the COMIDA ship, the pressure grows for County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo to provide the community with a full accounting of the I-Square controversy.

"As stated by the other resignations I hope that Cheryl Dinolfo will come forward with the facts and clarify the misunderstandings represented in the news media in hopes that the COMIDA agency will once again be able to serve the purpose for which it was set up to do," Caccamise said in a released statement he emailed theDemocrat and Chronicle.

I-Square not in default, COMIDA says

He said in a telephone call that he did not want to comment beyond the statement.

"As a registered Democrat I was appointed in 2008 to COMIDA by Maggie Brooks to represent the Rochester Building Trades," his statement said. "In my eight years sitting on the board it has served the purpose for which it was established, a non-partisan government agency set up for the economic development of our Monroe County. It appears now that it has become a political battle ground. Let me be clear that the COMIDA board had no knowledge of the I-Square incident until it was reported by the news media."

Caccamise chaired COMIDA's ethics committee and initially said COMIDA would investigate the matter. He later backtracked, saying Mazzullo had directed him not to plan any investigation. Both he and Mazzullo say the issue is with the county, not COMIDA.

When she resigned Friday, Mazzullo said, "I want to see the integrity of COMIDA restored. For this reason, I call upon the county and everyone else involved in this process to bring all the facts forward so that COMIDA can continue to do its job of supporting businesses and creating new jobs in our county."

► MORE: Andreatta: "Nobody puts Theresa Mazzullo in a corner"

3 COMIDA board members have resigned this week

To recap:

The election of former County Clerk Dinolfo as county executive opened up the clerk's seat, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed Adam Bello, who was the Irondequoit supervisor.

GOP Chairman and Greece Supervisor Bill Reilich then chastised Bello for leaving Irondequoit, claiming Bello was abandoning I-Square at a time when it was in default of an incentive agreement with COMIDA. Michael and Wendy Nolan, the owners of the popular dining and community gathering spot, said they had not been informed of any default, and questioned how they became the centerpiece of a political attack. How, they asked, could the GOP leader know about any issues I-Square had with COMIDA before they did.

COMIDA recently informed the Nolans that the project is not considered to be in default.

With his political challenge to Bello backfiring, Reilich said that he learned the information from someone "linked to COMIDA." He later said the person was Assistant County Executive Justin Roj, a longtime political aide to Dinolfo who worked with the county's Economic Development Division, which handles the business of COMIDA.

Dinolfo asked Roj to resign, and he did.

That did not temper the controversy. Instead, the Nolans and a growing contingent of community supporters have attended COMIDA meetings, demanding more information. And Democrats in the county Legislature have called for an investigation, a proposal rebuffed by Republicans, the majority in the Legislature.

In his statement Caccamise reiterated what Mazzullo also said — namely that COMIDA played no role in the release of information to Reilich.

(Includes reporting by staff writers David Andreatta and Meaghan McDermott)

GCRAIG@Gannett.com

Press Statement from Eugene Caccamise: