Mike McGuire has remained officially silent about his quiet departure from his post as Working Families Party treasurer in mid-August. Nonetheless, while he has been referring press requests to his lawyer, he has been confiding to others that he left because of what those who have talked to him remember him calling “sloppy bookkeeping.”

McGuire resigned in mid-August. However, though this timing coincides with the initial reports about Data and Field Services (DFS), the Working Families Party’s secretive private company, his lawyer says this was, in fact, merely coincidence.

“Mike’s resignation as treasurer had nothing to do with any of the alleged issues that have recently appeared in the press concerning the Working Families Party or any of its affiliated entities or any candidates it may support or which any of its affiliated entities have hired for services,” said Andy Fisher. “His resignation was entirely caused by a difference of opinion between him and others at the Working Families Party concerning the role, responsibilities, duties and obligations of the treasurer. When they could not reconcile their views, he resigned.” 

Some of this difference of opinion seems to have been regarding access to books and other documents about which McGuire had questions. As treasurer and the man to sign official financial papers, McGuire was legally responsible for whatever was in the books and would be exposed if any questions about them were to be raised by any authorities.

Fisher responded to a request to specify if this was indeed the case by referring to his previous statement. A spokesman for the WFP did not respond to questions about the circumstances of McGuire's departure.

Though one report had McGuire as treasurer for only two months, official party documents requierd to be filed with the state Board of Elections show that he was being identified as treasurer since last fall. Those documents were notarized by Kevin Finnegan, the 1199 political director who is also the lawyer who set up DFS, and filed with the Board of Elections on the morning of Sept. 17, 2008.

The Working Families Party installed Dorothy Siegel as the new treasurer shortly after McGuire left. Siegel is the chair of the Working Families Party South Brooklyn Club, and was a strong early supporter of Brad Lander, who scored an unusually early WFP endorsement in the race for Bill de Blasio’s Council seat simultaneously with de Blasio scoring the unusually early endorsement in his public advocate race. She is already the treasurer of the Working Families Organization, one of the many additional affiliates of the WFP.

Aside from her political work, Siegel is employed at the Institute for Education and Social Policy at New York University.

In an initial statement issued to the Politicker, WFP spokesman Dan Levitan said that Siegel was a member of the executive committee. After a question from City Hall pointed out that she was not, in fact, a member of the executive committee according to the WFP bylaws on with the Board of Elections, Levitan provided a revised statement to the Politicker which indicated that Siegel was not previously a member of the executive committee, but is now by virtue of being an officer. (That updated statement has not been posted, though it was received.)

The WFP bylaws, though, do not indicate this, declaring only that “the officers of the state committee shall be elected by the state committee and may but not need be members thereof.”

Siegel also was not elected treasurer by the state committee as that same provision in the bylaws require. She was picked by the WFP’s executive officers.

Those officers are: Bertha Lewis, a WFP co-chair and the executive director of ACORN’s New York offices; Bob Master, who also serves as party co-chair and the political director of the Communications Workers of America; and Sam Williams, the only top officer not from New York City (he lives in Lockport, New York, and is currently the DCCC recruit to run against Rep. Chris Lee next year).

In addition, Jon Kest, who runs day-to-day operations for ACORN is the WFP secretary, and the non-voting assistant secretaries are WFP staffer Alex Rabb and WFP executive director and co-chair Dan Cantor.

“The executive officers have the power to make appointments between meetings,” Levitan explained via email. 

Levitan did not respond to a follow-up question of whether this was an additional rule that has since been added to the bylaws.

The WFP plan was to have Siegel as interim treasurer until the whole executive committee appointed her permanent treasurer.

In the meantime, the WFP has missed two pre-primary filings with the WFP.

For her part, Siegel said she had no concerns about taking on the position as treasurer.

Asked whether she had been assured that she would have access to all the books she wanted to see, Siegel said, “Of course.”

She said she had no concerns coming into the position of WFP treasurer.

“I’ve been around for quite a while, I’ve been on the local school board,” she said. “I wouldn’t take this position as a volunteer if I thought there was some problem, period.”