One big question lingers over the Robutrad scandal: Wasn't anybody paying attention? The answer appears to be no. The allegations made against Robert Morone, the former county employee who supervised the program, paint a picture of misconduct, fraud, and political coercion.

Robutrad is a partnership between the county and the building trades unions; Morone assigned workers to projects and kept track of work records.

But because Morone was allegedly diverting workers from county projects to private jobs - the workers were still paid with county funds - some of the public projects fell behind, "costing much more than originally budgeted," says the complaint. The complaint uses a new grand jury facility as an example.

Someone at the county should have asked Morone to explain the delays and the cost overruns. County spokesman Noah Lebowitz said in a phone call earlier this week that he couldn't discuss the oversight of Robutrad because of ongoing investigations.

"As far as the actual work being done, of course it was being monitored," Lebowitz said. "And work was being done by them. I think what you are seeing was deception in terms of time cards and materials going missing."

Among the accusations against Morone is that he directed Robutrad staff to work on private homes, including his own, and then marked them as working on county projects. In one case, the crews did work for GOP fund raiser Irene Matichyn, whose contract with the county GOP has since been suspended.

Democrats in the County Legislature have asked the State Comptroller's Office to audit the county's Department of Environmental Services, where Morone was assigned.