Cobble Hill letter to klein - Special Commissioner of Investigation

Hon. J. I. Klein -34- June 26, 2007
Nevertheless, I prefer to do the least damage. If OSI reopens the
investigation to answer the unanswered questions, I see no need to contact
Mr. Condon.” 108 OSI did not re-open the investigation. Nobile never
contacted SCI.
• July 11, 2005 at 7:41 p.m. – Best replied that he had forwarded Nobile’s
e-mail to Special Commissioner Condon.
• July 11, 2005 at 8:17 p.m. – Nobile e-mailed Best to inform him: “The
Chancellor and I have issues to discuss independent of the current
investigation -- like whistleblower protection, the ubiquity of scrubbing
that he condemns, and a better system of reporting corruption so that
Tweed is not kept in the dark about criminal matters.” Nobile asked
whether the Chancellor would meet with him and whether they should
seek Commissioner Condon’s permission. Nobile asked Best for a
response to his inquiry about the propriety of allowing Pelles, “a disgraced
LIS who covered up a crime,” to continue her supervision of the school.
He concluded the message: “Since the [New York] Times is interviewing
me tomorrow for a lengthy story, I would appreciate a response before
2:30pm [sic].”
• July 12, 2005 at 2:41 p.m. – Best responded to Nobile that a meeting was
inappropriate given that the matter had been referred to SCI. 109 He also
pointed out the substantial protections in place for whistleblowers.
When Best declined to engage in a colloquy with Nobile about Pelles, Lyles, and
Farina, Nobile questioned Lyles directly. He also used her as a conduit to George.
• July 21, 2005 at 2:04 p.m. – Nobile e-mailed Lyles, attached a copy of the
April 4, 2004, letter he wrote to her at the direction of the NYSED, and
then questioned her about her interaction with Pelles and Farina with
respect to the Cobble Hill Regents allegations.
• July 21, 2005 at 2:47 p.m. – Lyles responded by thanking Nobile for a
copy of the letter.
• July 25, 2005 at 1:31 p.m. – Nobile sent an e-mail meant for George to
Lyles and asked her to pass it on to him. Nobile’s message to George
referred to the OSI report and he wrote: “The final report of the Office of
Special Investigation is now public. The question of credibility is settled.
108 Richard J. Condon is the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District.
109 SCI was already reviewing the entire Cobble Hill matter. SCI did not open a case on Best’s referral.