Nassau Democrats say they're taking matters into their own hands after they say calls for hearings into the county's contract process were ignored.

"We have requested, demanded hearings from the Republican majority, and unfortunately, our requests for those hearings have gone unheard," says Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams.

As News 12 has reported, County Executive Ed Mangano has taken heat for giving contracts just under $25,000. Anything above that number needs legislative approval.

At a hearing held by Nassau Democrats, Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas presented a report detailing the over-arching problems her office found with Nassau's contract process.

"Some [contracts] were tens of millions of dollars, which have gone to firms with past ties to organized crime, links to convicted bid-riggers, tax scofflaws, among other issues," says Singas.

Presiding Officer Norma Gonsalves refused to answer questions from News 12. She issued a statement that said, "This 'hearing' was no more than a Democrat political rally, and their use of county property for this event should be investigated."

The Democrats say they made three requests to the Republicans over the last five months to attend the hearing.

In the meantime, Democrats say they will submit their recommendations for reform to Gonsalves. Those recommendations include an independent inspector general to look into any claims of county corruption.