Gallagher, a Democrat who recently announced she is seeking a second four-year term, released a report Wednesday detailing her decision to stop all payments on county contracts to Samadhi Center, Inc. last year. Samadhi Center provides street outreach, emergency housing and counseling services to those struggling with addiction and mental illness.
Gallagher says her review of Samadhi’s bank statements in 2023 identified more than $190,000 in withdrawals posing “serious financial and governance risks for taxpayer funds.” Speaking with WAMC, Gallagher says she wanted to alert the public as the county seeks vendors for emergency housing.
“Samadhi has received federal, state, philanthropic grants, as well as private donations, and many of those people and agencies were not aware of our concerns," she adds.
Gallagher says she has relayed her report to local, state and federal law enforcement. The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office says it is aware of Gallagher’s probe, but it “does not comment on ongoing investigations.” The FBI’s Albany Field Office says it is not allowed to confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.
David McNamara, executive director of the Samadhi Center, says he feels Gallagher has it out for the nonprofit. He says Samadhi has no current contracts with the county, and he maintains its internal controls have come a long way since it received a qualified opinion on its audit for 2022. Samadhi's 2023 audit hasn’t been submitted yet, but McNamara says it’s in the final stages.
He accuses Gallagher of digging up “old news” and using unfinished data to make Samadhi look bad, and herself look good.
“I know it’s an election year. The comptroller posted it all over social media as well, and I saw people writing, ‘Good job!'" he notes. "I guess it has something to do with that. I don’t really know. I feel like we’re being made an example of.”
In response to McNamara’s comments, Gallagher tells WAMC, “If doing a good job gets me reelected, then fine.”
Samadhi Center has grown significantly since launching in Kingston in 2019. Gallagher says the value of Samadhi’s county contracts grew from $119,000 in 2020 to $797,000 in 2023. Upon seeing its lackluster audit from 2022 — which identified more than $55,000 in unsubstantiated ATM withdrawals — Gallagher ordered a stop on all payments to Samadhi starting in January 2024. McNamara says the center still hasn’t received roughly $100,000 in reimbursements.
"We were left holding $100,000 in debt from the county," he says.
Looking at the 2023 bank statements, Gallagher alleges more than $17,000 was transferred to members of McNamara’s family. She also points to what she suspects are personal expenses, including flowers bought on Valentine’s Day, tickets to Grand Canyon National Park, movie tickets, meals at “high-end” restaurants, a subscription to the dating site “Match.com,” and “frequent shopping at tobacco and drug paraphernalia stores.”
Gallagher says Samadhi paid at least $5,100 in overdraft fees in 2023, and she alleges more than 40 people — whom she suspects were clients — received thousands of dollars in direct payments through apps like Venmo and Cash App.
“That is essentially sending cash to someone who has an opioid or heroin addiction," she says. "We don’t know where those funds were ultimately spent, although we did have whistleblowers come to us and allege that those funds were being spent to purchase drugs directly.”
Asked about the payments, McNamara says two of his family members are employed by Samadhi. He says the Grand Canyon trip was a field trip tied to EMDR training, and that Samadhi frequently takes its clients to the movies and buys flowers to celebrate anniversaries of sobriety.
“A number of those payments are explained and documented, but she was looking at bank statements and making up stories," says McNamara.
Gallagher’s report also questions McNamara’s qualifications as executive director, and governing choices by Samadhi’s Board of Advisors.
McNamara says Samadhi doesn’t plan to seek any more contracts with Ulster County after Wednesday’s report. For Gallagher, there appears to be no love lost.
“As far as I’m concerned, the case is closed with Ulster County, meaning we will not be making payments or contract approvals for this agency going forward," she says. "And I do not expect them to be coming to the county for any additional contracts.”
