THE "PORK" IN NEW YORK, Thoughts of an older American on Constitutional Government in the USA Options

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Joe Bruno's hard landing"

Friday, August 17th 2007, 4:00 AM

Editorial

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno has been screaming for everybody and his brother to investigate the scandal swirling around Albany.

Now, the state Ethics Commission has taken a look - and it has shot Bruno right out of the sky.

Displaying the common sense that has been sorely lacking on all sides of the Eliot Mess, the commission declared that henceforth state aircraft must be used for state business - and not for ferrying Bruno and his aides to political fund-raisers.

Which, if one remembers, is the abuse of public resources that started the whole brouhaha.

When his joyriding became public last month, Bruno acted as though he, not the taxpayers, were the victim since aides to Gov. Spitzer bent rules in delivering state police records of his flights to the press.

The trips were perfectly okay, the majority leader claimed, because he took a few token meetings on legislative matters before and after shmoozing with his contributors.

Well, no, they weren't okay - as the Ethics Commission made plain yesterday in imposing strict conditions on the use of state helicopters and planes.

From now on, the panel said, bona fide government business must be the primary reason for flying on state aircraft.

There also must be an accurate accounting of any nongovernment-related portion of any such trip, and the traveling official must fully reimburse the state for that portion at pricey charter rental rates.

Finally, officials must disclose their complete itineraries to the governor's office - thus making such info accessible to the public.

Bruno was in clear violation of each and every one of these new standards.

Only because the commission cannot apply them retroactively does he escape the noose.

Bruno's outrageous pilfering was every bit as serious as the misbehavior of Spitzer's aides, who should have known better than to use the state police to embarrass a political rival.

As it happens, the Ethics Commission is investigating that side of the scandal as well - and judging by its decision to ground Air Bruno, we expect it will do the right thing.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2007/0...rd_landing.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"ETHICAL FRESH 'AIR' - NEW PLANE-$$ RULE AMID GOV PROBE"

By FREDRIC U. DICKER State Editor

August 17, 2007 -- ALBANY - The Ethics Commission issued a tough new policy on the use of state aircraft yesterday, requiring officials to fly primarily on government business and, if politics are involved, to reimburse the state at sky-high charter rates.

The action by the commission, controlled by Gov. Spitzer, comes as it also probes the dirty-tricks scandal involving the use of the State Police by top Spitzer aides.

Trooper records were used to prove Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) was improperly using state aircraft for political purposes.

The ethics panel's action changes a 12-year-old policy that allowed former Gov. Pataki and other officials to use the aircraft for both government business and political events without having to reimburse the state.

The commission noted that, as an executive branch agency, it does not possess the power to impose its new rules on Bruno or other members of the Legislature who fly on state aircraft.

But the commission said that since Spitzer's office controls the State Police, which oversees executive aircraft, the governor does have the power to institute the new standards on all those wishing to fly, including legislators.

Some sources described the commission's sudden action as an effort to give Spitzer and his top aides political cover as several investigations into the scandal continue.

"This allows the governor and his people to say, 'See, we were really looking into a serious problem,' " said one source close to the probe.

Bruno spokesman John McArdle said, "The timing of this report is suspicious, given the fact that this commission is charged with investigating the governor and his aides."

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans will give Spitzer's inspector general an ultimatum as soon as today: Appear voluntarily at a hearing on the scandal or be subpoenaed to testify, sources said.

The sources said the Senate Investigations Committee would again "invite" Inspector General Kristine Hamann to appear at a committee hearing on the scandal, most likely in September.

"If she turns us down a second time, we are definitely prepared to issue a subpoena," said a source close to the committee.

Hamann initially agreed to show up for last week's hearing, then abruptly refused to attend.

fredric.dicker@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08172007/news/...tate_editor.htm

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"GOV WARNED: DON'T HIT E-MAIL 'DELETE' KEY"

By FREDRIC U. DICKER, State Editor

August 11, 2007 -- ALBANY - The head of the Senate Investigations Committee called on Gov. Spitzer yesterday to save all e-mails sent by his aides - from government as well as personal e-mail accounts - relating to the Troopergate scandal.

Sen. George Winner (R-Elmira), in a letter to Spitzer, requested "that you direct all members of the Executive Chamber, the hierarchy of the State Police and senior officials at the Office of Inspector General . . . to preserve any e-mails created using government or personal e-mail addresses which would otherwise be destroyed."

Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson responded that the governor had already taken actions to preserve all Troopergate records and had done so in consultation with the Albany County district attorney and the state Ethics Commission, both of which are probing the scandal.

"If Sen. Winner had bothered to call rather than send and release to the media his partisan letter, he would have learned that, in consultation with the investigatory agencies, the Executive Chamber [the Governor's Office] has taken appropriate steps to preserve all documents," said Anderson.

Winner's action came just days after The Post disclosed that personal e-mails from top Spitzer aides linked to the scandal weren't given to investigators from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, despite the governor's promise of full cooperation with the probe.

Cuomo released a blistering report last month outlining a plot by Spitzer aides to damage Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) by accusing him of misusing state aircraft - leading the governor to suspend Communications Director Darren Dopp and to demote homeland-security adviser William Howard.

Cuomo's report quoted from several plot-related e-mails sent from official government addresses, some of which contained "CCs," or copies forwarded to private e-mail addresses.

But no e-mails directly from those private accounts were provided to investigators.

fredric.dicker@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08112007/news/...tate_editor.htm

[Livyjr]

NEWSDAY

"Spitzer's 'Choppergate' not a new scandal"

By DAN JANISON | dan.janison@newsday.com

6:16 PM EDT, August 16, 2007

Even if they wished, members of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's crew could not call their "choppergate" caper purely original.

The abusive practice of pressing uniformed peace officers into a partisan battle preceded him in New York, and here's the proof.

Ten days ago jurors in Manhattan federal court awarded an eye-popping $791,897 to a former New York City jail supervisor -- who convinced them that his bosses during Rudy Giuliani's mayoral administration had violated his constitutional rights.

Retired Deputy Warden Terrence Skinner made his case that Correction Commissioner William Fraser retaliated against him for supporting Democrat Mark Green in the 2001 mayoral election -- on his own time -- against GOP nominee Mike Bloomberg.

"Fraser, who is a staunch supporter of the Republican Party, set out to punish any senior officer within his command who did not support the Republican candidate for mayor," Skinner stated.

Two Fraser aides even approached Skinner personally and warned him he'd "pay a price" for backing "the wrong team," Skinner said.

Fraser, too, had a talk with him, saying a Green regime would be bad for the department's union members.

Lawyers for the city and Fraser filed a notice of appeal this week in the case, which until now has escaped public notice.

Coincidentally, the Skinner verdict was filed the same day Spitzer gave a speech conceding the need for humility in exercising power.

He's been reeling from the effort by his subordinates to have state police track and record Republican State Sen. Joe Bruno's use of state aircraft in an effort to show the majority leader was using resources improperly.

The filings in Skinner v. New York City are remarkable -- if only for the other transgressions that city lawyers were forced to acknowledge in arguing the case.

Another abuse case involved another Rikers supervisor, Lionel Lorquet.

In 2004 he settled his own lawsuit for $325,000.

"It is undisputed," wrote a city attorney in the Skinner case, that in 2001 "Lorquet had a fundraiser at his home to support Mark Green and that the Correction Dept. investigative unit videotaped people coming and going into Lorquet's home for the fundraiser."

How's that for political spying and surveillance?

More significantly, the city notes that Rikers official Anthony Serra "was investigated and subsequently convicted of using correction officers while on duty to run a poll-watching [election-day monitoring] operation for the [Gov. George] Pataki campaign and having certain DOC officers perform work on his home."

"The fact that Anthony Serra was running an illegal poll-watching operation is completely irrelevant and unduly prejudicial," the city argued.

Whatever the legal angles, though, it sure tells you something about how the place was run.

Much of the wider story of Rikers intrigue has emerged over six years from other lawsuits, from whistleblowers like Skinner, and from investigations carried out by city and federal probers during the Bloomberg administration.

The impact of the new Skinner verdict has an extra twist.

Not only were Fraser and the city found jointly responsible for paying $426,897 of the total, but Fraser alone is socked with $365,000 of the judgment.

Unlike "choppergate," the Rikers intrigue never earned its own catchall "-gate" suffix -- such as, say, "jailgate" or "wardengate" or "poll-gate."

The circumstances and players are different from "choppergate," of course.

But they could be filed together under the general heading of "uniformgate" -- as both scandals involved the misdirection of law enforcement officers to snag a partisan foe.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/politics...0,7068819.story

[Livyjr]

NEWSDAY

"Spitzer's 'Choppergate' not a new scandal"

By DAN JANISON | dan.janison@newsday.com

6:16 PM EDT, August 16, 2007

Even if they wished, members of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's crew could not call their "choppergate" caper purely original.

The abusive practice of pressing uniformed peace officers into a partisan battle preceded him in New York, and here's the proof.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/politics...0,7068819.story

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

And say, Pee Wee Crayton ....

While I've got you on the line in here, so to speak, I read through your piece that you link us to above here ...

http://www.r8ny.com/blog/pee_wee/maggot_br..._its_young.html

And dude, it is superficial ....

The use, or misuse of the New York State Police to intimidate and harass political opponents or enemies of sitting politicians in Albany like Joe Bruno goes back and back and back in time ....

I myself have evidence sitting right before me now that definitively pins a date on it related to Joe Bruno of March 2, 1990 ...

The document in question is a letter on New York State Police letterhead dated March 2, 1990 to a licensed professional engineer up here from Lieutenant Colonel Edward J. Minahan, Assistant Deputy Superintendant, New York State Police to an individual in upstate New York named Paul R. Plante, who used to be the Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer up here in Rensselaer County, charged with NYS Public Health Law enforcement in Rensselaer County until he charged Joe Bruno with alleged wilfull violation of the New York State Public Health Law in 1988, a misdemeanor carrying a sentence of a year in jail ...

And then, well, you know how it goes ...

His *** was gone ...

But that was only the beginning of what we upstate folks call the "LONG, HARD RIDE" for this particular individual up this way ...

In 1989, this individual made it clear that regardless of what hell the State of New York could lay down on him, he was still going to go forth with his efforts to rid Joe Bruno's "REPUBLICAN-CONTROLLED" Rensselaer County Department of Health of corruption ...

So, on December 29, 1989, a political "GOON" up here ran him down on Liberty Lane in the Town of Poestenkill, Rensselaer County, State of New York, and the New York State Police covered up that hit-and-run by themselves making and filing false reports of the incident that completely changed the circumstances of what actually had transpired that morning ...

The March 2, 1990 letter to Plante from Lt. Col. Minahan concerns that cover-up, and it indicates how high up in the chain-of-command of the NYSP knowledge of this cover-up went, since in his letter, Minahan was responding to Plante on behalf of the Superintendant of NYSP ...

In your recent piece, you limit your discussion to the apparent fact that in Albany, the politicians never overtly used the State Police AGAINST EACH OTHER, which may be true ...

But from the citizen's point of view, that is immaterial ....

What concerns us is the POLITICIAN'S USE of the New York State Police AGAINST US ...

To REPRESS US ...

To CHILL participation in what is in reality OUR government ...

To STIFLE us ...

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | August 1, 2007 8:02 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...er_ny_dems.html

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

And since there are a lot of “evidence” types in here who want to “SEE THE BEEF” as it were, when charges of on-going public corruption are laid against public officials in here ..

In support of what I am stating about the “use” of the NYSP to intimidate and harass citizens in order to cover over public corruption in NYS, I have here before me right now on my desk a copy of a March 2, 1990 correspondence on STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK STATE POLICE letterhead from Edward J. Minahan, Lieutenant Colonel, Assistant Deputy Superintendent, NYSP, to former Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer Paul R. Plante, P.E., of Joe Bruno’s CORRUPT Rensselaer County acknowledging receipt of a February 15, 1990 letter from Plante to the Superintendent of the NYSP at that time …

That letter to the NYSP from Plante concerned itself with the cover-up by the NYSP of a HIT-AND-RUN ASSAULT on Plante on December 29, 1989 by a GOON allegedly associated with the JOE BRUNO MACHINE in Rensselaer County …

At the time, Plante had been investigating corruption in the Rensselaer County and New York State Departments of Health, which had resulted in a March 15, 1989 REPORT OF INVESTIGATION by then-NYS Health Commissioner Dr. David Axelrod which confirmed corruption in the NYS and Rensselaer County Dept’s. of Health going back to around 1977 or 1978 …

That REPORT OF INVESTIGATION was subsequently in the hands of the FBI in Albany in connection with a federal Hobbs Act “public corruption” investigation in Rensselaer County that had roped in none other than “BIG JOE” Bruno himself, in connection with his own “land dealings” in Rensselaer County, where the Rensselaer County Department of Health was Joe’s personal “rubber-stamping machine” for him and his protected and connected “buddies” and “pals” … …

So …

To get rid of the investigation, all that was necessary to do was to get rid of the witness …

And so it was done …

And the NYSP were an integral part of that “final solution” …

And this is not just smoke that I am blowing here ..

There is already discussion of this same incident at:

http://blogs.timesunion.com/localpolitics/?p=193#comments

Where then-Assistant Rensselaer County District Attorney Richard McNally can be seen having to stand before then-Rensselaer County Court Judge M. Andrew Dwyer to tell the judge that McNally “had no evidence” …

The “evidence” that McNally did have was lies from New York State Troopers …

Which is what the March 2, 1990 Minahan letter to Plante was about …

The highest echelons of the NYSP knew of this hit-and-run, and they knew of the cover-up by NYS Troopers …

And they elected to protect the Troopers and the lies …

All of which is a sorry, ugly chapter in NYS history that is very well-documented in the records of the Rensselaer County Clerk …

And yes, two of those Troopers involved in the cover-up of that hit-and-run were promoted to BCI …

And so …

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5169#comments

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

Comment by John Galt — August 8, 2007 @ 7:32 am

More recently, in August of 2001, to be exact, when Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer was the NYS AG, this same engineer Plante was documenting with a digital video-camera the same type of on-going corruption which had existed in 1988 in the Rensselaer County Dept. of Health involving licensed professional engineers making and filing false reports with the Rensselaer County Department of Health to obtain various permits, when he was assaulted on camera by a young thug who openly bragged on camera about being a “protected person” in Rensselaer County who was an untouchable ...

On August 22, 2001, this same individual was able to “procure” for a “disbursement” a fraudulent “involuntary psychiatric commitment order” for Plante from a political doctor in Troy, New York …

According to public records and the sworn affidavit of an Albany, New York Police Officer who happened to be an eye-witness to the false imprisonment of Plante in the secure psychiatric wing of the Stratton VA Hospital in Albany based on that fraudulent commitment order, the actual securing of that fraudulent “commitment order” on August 22, 2001 directly involved the active participation of a NYSP BCI investigator in the office of “BIG JOE” Bruno’s son, Kenneth, who was then Rensselaer County District Attorney …

According to public records, the office of Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer got the sworn affidavit of the Albany Police Officer suppressed, and the NYSP BCI Investigator simply shut his mouth, and the office of NYS AG Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer protected the BCI Investigator and kept quiet his role in the commission of alleged state and federal crimes, in the words of Rensselaer County Court Judge Patrick McGrath, who himself had reviewed the evidence, including the videotape of the assault, and the sworn affidavit of the Albany police officer, which the SPITZER-ITES managed to suppress to protect the PERPS and the NYSP …

And so …

That folks, is another part of the sad and very ugly history of NYS, including the “use” of the NYSP to harass and intimidate NYS citizens who would challenge corruption and the staus quo in Albany, that is preserved in extensive public records here in NYS …

And so …

Comment by John Galt — August 8, 2007 @ 7:55 am

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5169#comments

ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

Well, well …

Nelson Sheingold …

This is like DEJA VU and OLD HOME WEEK all over again, and all wrapped up in one ….

And it is ironic indeed that “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer would be depending upon Nelson Sheingold to defend him against charges that “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer’s crowd were using or misusing the NYSP for political purposes …

For just the other day in here, at:

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5169#comments

We were talking about Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer’ office of NYS AG covering over the use for political purposes to stifle dissent in Rensselaer County of a NYSP BCI Investigator assigned to the office of Joe Bruno’s boy, Kenneth, when Kenneth was the Rensselaer County District Attorney on August 22, 2001, the day the BCI Investigator facilitated the “obtaining” of a fraudulent involuntary psychiatric commitment on behalf of a “PROTECTED PERSON” in the Town of Poestenkill in Joe Bruno’s Rensselaer County which resulted in disabled-Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer Paul R. Plante, P.E. being unlawfully imprisoned, in the words of Rensselaer County Court Judge Patrick McGrath, in the secure psychiatric facility of the Stratton VA Hospital in Albany, until an Albany Police Officer was able to demonstrate to VA officials the unlawful nature of the imprisonment and secured Plante’s immediate release …..

Nelson Sheingold was Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer’s assistant attorney general who successfully managed in 2005 to have the Albany Police Officer’s sworn eye-witness affidavit suppressed in federal District Court for the Northern District of New York to hide the involvement of the NYSP BCI Investigator in facilitating alleged federal and state crimes …

And so …

Yes, indeedy ….

Just like OLD HOME WEEK in here today …

With Nelson Sheingold dancing up there on the main stage for all the candid world to see …

And so …

Comment by John Galt — August 9, 2007 @ 5:53 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5183#comments

July 11, 1990

Thomas A. Constantine
Superintendant
New York State Police
Building 22
The State Campus
Albany, N.Y. 12226

RE: harassment and intimidation

Dear Mr. Superintendant;

On January 26, 1990 I sent you a letter stating a belief that an attempt to run me down was being covered-up with possible involvement of uniformed members of the New York State Police.

Because of that letter,on February 7, 1990, I met with a Lieutenant and a Zone Sargeant in the East Greenbush sub-station.

During that meeting, I pointed out some factual errors in the information and supporting deposition made out by the individual who attempted to run me down.

The following day, February 8, 1990, a trooper contacted my assailant and apparently assisted him in making out a new information and supporting deposition which essentially corrected the erroneous facts, contrary to provisions of the CPL.

These facts are contained in a 38-page affidavit made out by myself and submitted to Rensselaer County Court on June 26, 1990 in support of a motion to present the facts to a grand jury.

Also mentioned in the affidavit is a conversation that I had with Trooper Gonzalez in January 1990 wherein Trooper Gonzalez had informed me that my assailant had just left the Sand Lake sub-station after attempting to have Trooper Gonzalez sign the information dated December 28, 1989 that was used to arrest me, a fact that has apparently been concealed.

Tonight, Trooper Gonzalez called me at my home at about 6:45 p.m. to inform me that he would be serving me with a summons charging me with violation of Section 140.05 of the Penal Law.

At about 7:20 p.m. two trooper cars pulled into my driveway.

I was then approached by Trooper Gonzalez and another Trooper and served with papers.

Trooper Gonzalez presented me with a summons accompanied by an information and a supporting deposition.

The supporting deposition was made out on July 8, 1990 by a Janet Priest Jones and was witnessed by Trooper Gonzalez.

The supporting deposition alleges that I went to the home of these people and threatened them, a recurring theme unfounded by credible evidence.

The supporting deposition states "for years we have tolerated his minor aberrant behavior because our sons are friends with his sons."

"However, there is a fear that his ability to handle frustration in a normal prudent and reasonable manner has become increasingly impaired making his presence a silent threat of potential violence."

The specific point that I wish to make has to do with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law dealing with standards of evidence and the factual part of an information, which provisions any law enforcement person should be well versed in.

In 1979 the Police Chief of Rock Springs, Wyoming shot and killed at close range an investigator from the Wyoming Governor's office who was investigating corruption in Rock Springs.

The defense put forth by the Police Chief was that the investigator had looked at him real mean, so scaring the Police Chief that his only recourse was to shoot the man between the eyes and kill him.

I mention the case because it was explained to me that the precedent might be relevant in my own case.

In January 1989 I presented Dr. David Axelrod, Commissioner of Health for the State of New York, with evidence of widespread corruption in Rensselaer County, which evidence was corroborated by investigators from the State.

Since that time, I have been subjected to threats of violence and general harassment which includes the hit-and-run in December 1989.

There has been a campaign by those in public office against whom I plan to present evidence to a grand jury to make me out as a violent person suffering from some psychoses acquired in Viet Nam which makes me unstable and potentially dangerous.

The information filed by my assailant in January 1990 utilized that theme of potential violence from myself toward the complainant over a period of years, despite the fact that the complainant had just moved from another town to this one only months earlier.

Now, with less than a week before I appear in County Court to request an opportunity to appear before a grand jury, another complaint surfaces alleging violent behavior on my part, with a court appearance required in Town Court the day before I am to appear in County Court.

I am no believer in coincidence, Mr. Superintendant.

The informations were made out on July 8, 1990 and were presented on July 9, 1990 to the same judge in Poestenkill who refused, according to Lt.Colonel Minahan, to entertain charges against the hit-and-run driver who ran me down.

Despite the fact that the summons was signed on July 9, 1990, it was not until tonight that trooper Gonzalez chose to serve me with same, and then only in the company of another trooper.

Why the time lapse?

I intend to find out who is running your troopers out here in the Town of Poestenkill, patiently and diligently.

One rule that I put my faith in is that eventually thieves fall out, and one will sell out the other to save himself.

The Trooper who raped that woman on the Northway did so because he knew he could.

That is the image of the Troopers now in the minds of the people of Poestenkill.

That image is perpetuated by your troopers in Rensselaer County because they are are apparently little better than praetorian guards for some local politicians who can maintain their own version of "rape" by relying on your troopers to subvert the provisions and protections of the Criminal Procedure Law to their own ends.

Sincerely, Paul R. Plante

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Former Spitzer Nominee Is Said to Be Investigated"

By DANNY HAKIM

Published: August 17, 2007

ALBANY, Aug. 16 — The state inspector general is investigating Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s recent nominee for chairwoman of the Public Service Commission, according to a former aide to Mr. Spitzer who met with investigators.

The former aide, Steven Mitnick, who met with investigators from Inspector General Kristine Hamann’s office twice, said on Thursday in an interview that in the second of those meetings, he was asked almost exclusively about the nominee, Angela Sparks-Beddoe.

Ms. Sparks-Beddoe recently withdrew from consideration as chairwoman of the Public Service Commission.

According to people with knowledge of the inquiry, investigators are looking into accusations that Ms. Sparks-Beddoe participated in commission meetings earlier this year while still serving as an executive at a utility, Energy East.

Mr. Mitnick, who was the governor’s top assistant for energy and telecommunications until he resigned this month, is himself being investigated over reports that he threatened Cheryl A. Buley, a commission member.

Ms. Buley has said Mr. Mitnick pressured her in telephone conversations not to seek an investigation of Consolidated Edison’s role in the Queens blackout last summer.

Ms. Sparks-Beddoe did not return a call for comment on Thursday, nor did Ms. Buley.

Mr. Mitnick said investigators, in his second meeting with them, focused on Ms. Sparks-Beddoe’s involvement in “meetings in which allegedly confidential documents were passed or discussions were had that should not have been had.”

He said he did not believe that Ms. Sparks-Beddoe had done anything improper.

Mr. Mitnick was asked if he or other administration officials could be faulted for potentially facilitating Ms. Sparks-Beddoe’s access to the Public Service Commission before she was confirmed and left her job at the utility.

“She had, from what I could see, over the period of months, a few discussions with P.S.C. personnel, and I ask you the question, could she have not?” he said.

“What would people have said if we had completely isolated the person we expected imminently would be chair from any conversations?”

Mr. Mitnick also offered his most detailed public account of his interactions with Ms. Buley.

He said he only called her to ask for her resignation, which she subsequently declined to give.

He said that as part of the transition of administrations in Albany, he asked 10 officials at three commissions or authorities to resign and that he had acted after consulting with his boss at the time, Richard Baum, the governor’s top deputy.

Mr. Mitnick said he did try to persuade Ms. Buley to take a job in the press office of a public authority when they met in April at a cafeteria in the state Capitol.

Lawmakers, including Democrats, have said the reports of Mr. Mitnick’s dealings with Ms. Buley are consistent with a pattern of heavy-handedness by the governor and Mr. Baum.

Such criticism was inflamed by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s report last month finding that members of the governor’s staff had misused the State Police to smear the governor’s principal political rival, Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader.

Mr. Mitnick said he sought resignations at three entities — the Public Service Commission, the State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York Power Authority — that are ostensibly independent of the governor’s direct control.

Governors in both parties, however, have long sought to exert influence over authorities and commissions.

“I think there has been a troubling interference in agencies that were not of the executive branch,” said Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, a Westchester County Democrat.

“We’re in a period where presidents and governors and mayors view the legislative process, or even the constitutional separation of powers, as nuisances.”

Ms. Buley’s service in state government has been the subject of political scrutiny in the past.

When she was appointed last year by Gov. George E. Pataki, her husband was serving as counsel to the Republican State Committee.

Her post had a six-year term and a $109,800 salary.

In 2000, Ms. Buley changed her party affiliation from Republican to independent before being appointed to a different board, a tactic the Pataki administration was widely known to have used to navigate rules requiring bipartisanship on various boards.

Complicating Inspector General Hamann’s investigation of Mr. Mitnick are growing concerns among lawmakers that she is caught in conflicts of interest.

Ms. Hamann has been criticized for conducting a limited investigation of the administration’s efforts to tarnish Mr. Bruno and for revealing only last week that her office had ended its investigation after deciding that it had a conflict of interest since Ms. Hamann reports to Mr. Baum.

In the Mitnick case, Ms. Hamann is investigating someone who reported to Mr. Baum.

“We’re aware of these concerns, these issues, and we are proceeding appropriately,” said Stephen DelGiacco, a spokesman for the inspector general, who has said the investigation would be wrapped up in a matter of weeks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/nyregion...amp;oref=slogin

[Livyjr]

When I talk about CORRUPTION in the State of New York .....

I AM GOING TO THE SOURCE ....

WHICH IS THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE STATE, ITSELF ....

Such as this BILL MESSAGE from then-New York State Governor Mario Cuomo above here in 1986 .....

And to further "flesh that out" .....

THE ALLEGATION THAT NEW YORK STATE HAS A PROBLEM WITH CORRUPTION .....

Let us go ....

For the moment .....

To ARTICLE 460 ....

Of the New York State Penal Law ....

Which is entitled ENTERPRISE CORRUPTION ...

That ARTICLE OF LAW being a part of TITLE X of the New York State Penal Law ....

Entitled ORGANIZED CRIME CONTROL ACT ....

And the relevant part of that state law which pertains directly to this discussion in here ....

Is as follows:

S 460.00 Legislative findings.

The legislature (of the State of New York) finds and determines as follows:

Organized crime in New York state involves highly sophisticated, complex and widespread forms of criminal activity.

The diversified illegal conduct engaged in by organized crime, rooted in the illegal use of force, fraud, and corruption, constitutes a major drain upon the state's economy, costs citizens and businesses of the state billions of dollars each year, and threatens the peace, security and general welfare of the people of the state.

Organized crime continues to expand its corrosive influence in the state through illegal enterprises engaged in such criminal endeavors as the theft and fencing of property, the importation and distribution of narcotics and other dangerous drugs, arson for profit, hijacking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion and bribery, the illegal disposal of hazardous wastes, syndicated gambling, trafficking in stolen securities, insurance and investment frauds, and other forms of economic and social exploitation.

The money and power derived by organized crime through its illegal enterprises and endeavors is increasingly being used to infiltrate and corrupt businesses, unions and other legitimate enterprises and to corrupt our democratic processes.

end quotes

SO!

THE MONEY AND POWER OF ORGANIZED CRIME IN NEW YORK STATE IS BEING USED TO CORRUPT OUR DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES HERE IN NEW YORK STATE!

WHICH IS ONE BIG PART OF WHY THIS THREAD IS RUNNING IN HERE ....

And so ....

THE NEW YORK POST

"$6 MIL IN 'CHANGE' AT FIRM - 'HEVESI AIDE' CO. REVISED FED FILING"

By KENNETH LOVETT Post Correspondent

August 17, 2007 -- ALBANY - During an ongoing probe into the state pension fund, a financial-services firm with ties to a top consultant to former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi amended its federal filings to disclose it had received over $6 million more in fees than it originally reported, The Post has learned.

Searle & Co., of Greenwich, Conn., which sources say is "associated" with Democratic political consultant Hank Morris, reported in November that it took in $1.3 million in "fee income" last year as part of its an annual Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

But just as a joint investigation by the Albany County District Attorney's Office and the Attorney General's Office into the pension fund was heating up, the firm last month submitted a revised report to the SEC.

That July 23 filing, obtained by The Post, identified "placement-fee income" that totaled $7.7 million - more than $6 million above what was originally reported.

The report does not detail who paid Searle & Co. the fees, but the income represented nearly 70 percent of the firm's $11.2 million total revenue cited in the revised filing.

The Post reported yesterday that sources said investigators have learned that Morris pocketed a share of at least $13 million in pension-fund fees paid to Searle.

Sources said investigators are seeking to determine whether companies receiving investments from the state pension fund - which Hevesi alone controlled from 2003 until the end of last year - were directed by him to pay the "placement fees" to Searle in exchange for receiving the fund's cash.

While brokers often serve as highly paid middlemen to bring together pension funds and projects in need of cash, investigators are looking into what Searle and Morris actually did for the fees, sources said.

"It was hard to find any evidence of the work that Searle or Morris did," said one source with knowledge of the probe.

In its revised SEC report last month, Searle also reported $7.3 million as a "placement-fee expense."

The filing did not spell out who was paid.

There were no major fee expenses listed in the original filing.

The Searle firm, which says it manages money for "high-net-worth individuals," is located above a Christian Science reading room on the main thoroughfare through Greenwich.

Yesterday, several people were working in the small office but the head of the company, Robert Searle, was said to be on vacation.

Searle, who lives in a pricey Greenwich home with his wife and two teenage daughters, is active in local Republican politics and has donated to candidates in both parties, including John Faso, a Republican who lost to Eliot Spitzer last year in the governor's race.

Searle could not be reached for comment.

Representatives of Horowitz & Ullmann, the accounting firm that filed the firm's SEC reports, did not return calls.

Meanwhile, Morris is being represented by William Schwartz, a prominent white-collar criminal-defense lawyer, sources said.

The two were classmates at Columbia Law School.

Morris and Schwartz also did not return calls for comment.

The investigation into Morris and Searle is part of a broader probe to determine if Hevesi and his top aides steered pension business to several companies that contributed large sums of money to Hevesi's political campaign or provided other benefits to Hevesi's sons, Andrew and Daniel.

Hevesi's lawyer, Bradley Simon, denied any wrongdoing on the part of the former comptroller, who resigned last year after pleading guilty to a felony for using state employees to chauffeur his wife.

"My client denies any impropriety in the awarding of pension-fund business," Simon said.

Additional reporting by Austin Fenner in Greenwich, Conn., and Geoff Earle in Washington

kenneth.lovett@nypost.com

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08172007/news/...dent.htm?page=0

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"THE STAIN SPREADS"

August 17, 2007 -- Another day, another corruption scandal in Albany.

This one, focused on more possible wrongdoing by former Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

Will it never end?

As The Post's Ken Lovett reported yesterday, investigators are looking into what may have been a multimillion-dollar payoff scheme involving investments by the state employees' $150 billion pension fund.

At the time, Hevesi - as comptroller - was the fund's sole trustee.

The probe, by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Albany County DA David Soares, centers on the role of Hevesi's top political aide, Hank Morris: Did he share in the alleged payoffs?

Perhaps tellingly, The Post reports today, Morris has hired a top white-collar criminal defense lawyer, William Schwartz, to represent him.

(Actually, there's a lot of lawyering-up going on in Albany these days: See below.)

Already, Hevesi and his aides face inquiries into possible pension-fund shenanigans and other abuse.

Last year, he pleaded guilty to felony charges for using a worker as a full-time aide for his wife.

But it's not just Hevesi.

Gov. Spitzer himself is looking at up to four separate probes into his role in the "Dirty Tricks" scandal - his office's use of State Police to tarnish his political rival, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

Spitzer's troubles come on the heels of sexual harrassment and ethical abuses over the years by state legislators.

Yet instead of ending with Spitzer's election, now he's in the spotlight.

The good news is that Cuomo and Soares seem to be doing something about it.

The two have forged a working agreement to collaborate on public-integrity cases.

Under this deal, they can merge Cuomo's formidable resources, manpower and smarts with Soares' own personal skills, commitment to public integrity and broad jurisdiction.

That can do much to clean up the Albany cesspool; the pension-investments probe seems an early example of that.

But just as corruption doesn't stop with Hevesi, their efforts shouldn't stop there, either.

Indeed, their pair-up may be key to finding the truth about the "Dirty Tricks" scandal.

Cuomo's findings of abuse in that affair has already led Soares to review it.

But they should go further - this time, taking advantage of Soares' subpoena power.

Remember, Cuomo's report raised alarms - but it remains inconclusive, because he lacked such power.

New York voters hired Spitzer specifically to clean up this sort of thing, but until he comes clean himself, he's too tainted to do much.

That leaves Cuomo and Soares.

Go to it, guys.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08172007/posto...editorials_.htm

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK POST

"THE DOWNTURN & N.Y. - HOW ELIOT'S BOOM BUDGET COULD BUST US"

August 17, 2007 -- Eliot Spitzer was swept into office by a record plurality, surrounded by impossibly high expectations that have already begun to deflate.

As if that weren't enough, he was also the first New York governor since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1929 to take office at the peak of an economic expansion - which creates some heightened expectations of its own.

This is a decidedly mixed blessing for Spitzer, as the turmoil in world financial markets is now demonstrating.

The economic trends driving state revenues over the last four years couldn't get much better from Albany's perspective.

On the other hand, they could easily take a sudden turn for the worse - and may already have.

Wall Street has accounted for an outsized share of New York's recent economic growth, and the governor is banking on continued strength in the financial sector to help underwrite his spending plans through 2010.

But as Spitzer's executive budget noted, "New York state revenues are profoundly affected by the fortunes of the financial markets."

The state treasury is more dependent than ever on capital-gains and income taxes generated by the sort of high-flying investors, brokers and bankers who have the most to lose if market jitters over sub-prime mortgages lead to a prolonged shakeout.

Last year, financial and insurance firms accounted for nearly half of all private-sector wage increases and a third of overall private-sector economic growth in New York.

The growth has been even more striking when viewed over the long term.

In 1980, for example, the financial sector accounted for less than 10 percent of wages in the state.

By 1990, the figure had climbed to about 12 percent.

In 2006, it exceeded 20 percent.

Yes, the global economy remains strong, and the nervousness on Wall Street doesn't necessarily point to a general economic downturn.

As economic commentator Larry Kudlow pointed out last week, "While the subprime mortgage virus has temporarily infected banks, hedge funds, insurance companies and other institutions, most of Middle America is doing just fine, thank you very much."

But the same doesn't hold true in New York, where non-finance industries grew more slowly than the national average last year.

The state's once mighty manufacturing sector is especially troubled: Since 2000, it has shed a quarter of its jobs while increasing its output at barely half the national rate.

Meanwhile, the boom in housing prices is over.

Can commercial real estate be far behind?

While the risks were clear when Spitzer took office, his first budget has led the state further out on a fiscal limb.

He increased state-funded spending by more than 8 percent, triple the inflation rate.

He has committed himself to a record expansion of school spending over his first four years in office.

He will add 2,800 employees to state agency payrolls this year.

And his declared commitment to some form of state-sponsored universal health care has dollar signs written all over it.

The officially forecast state budget gap of $3.6 billion next year, growing to $6.7 billion by 2011, is relatively small by historical standards.

Proportionately similar out-year shortfalls were charted during the mid-1980s and '90s, only to disappear under a wave of unanticipated tax receipts.

But in 2007, unlike 1987 or 1997, it's difficult to see much more upside potential on the revenue side of the budget.

Indeed, the cumulative gap would be even larger if Spitzer's Budget Division hadn't just added over $1 billion to its personal income-tax projections for the next three years.

A full-blown recession isn't necessary to make the gap bigger in a hurry.

All it will take is a bad year for a few thousand of the state's highest-earning households, which already bear a disproportionately large share of the tax burden.

It's already happened once in this decade.

Between 2001 and 2003, a sharp drop in state revenues could be traced primarily to a decrease in the incomes of New Yorkers earning more than $200,000.

The latest financial market gyrations could be just a blip, allowing state politicians a few more years of smooth sailing without tough decisions.

But another day of fiscal reckoning for Spitzer is just a few years down the road.

President Bush's federal tax cuts played a crucial role in lifting New York's economy out of the ashes of 9/11 and the last stock market downturn.

Bush's lower tax rates are set to expire in 2010 - and Democrats in Congress are clearly willing to let it happen, at least in the highest brackets.

An increase in marginal federal tax rates on high earners and investors will prompt them to minimize their taxable incomes, which in turn will suppress revenue growth in New York state.

It happened in the early 1990s - and it will surely happen again if Bush's cuts are undone.

And so, even if the current storm blows over and the stock market indexes resume their happy march upward, the end of the decade could witness an ironic spectacle: Eliot Spitzer celebrating the arrival in the White House of a fellow Democrat whose economic program blows a hole in New York's tax base - just in time for the state's next gubernatorial election in 2010.

E.J. McMahon is the director of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center for New York State Policy. ejm@empirecenter.org

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08172007/posto...ahon.htm?page=0

[Livyjr]

"Stabbings add sobering note to city's nightlife - Police chief denies recent incidents are indicative of larger crime problem in state's capital"

By BRIAN NEARING and SCOTT WALDMAN, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, August 20, 2007

ALBANY -- The party atmosphere outside Albany's string of Pearl Street nightspots turned violent early Sunday in two separate stabbings -- including one that left a man with a nearly five-inch gash on his forehead after he confronted people in a car that sideswiped him and a friend.

An arrest was made in that 3 a.m. attack, but a suspect is still at large in a nearly simultaneous stabbing that occurred less than a block away.

Yet another stabbing happened 90 minutes earlier at Lark and Lancaster streets, in the city's upscale Center Square neighborhood

Those attacks took place just a day after 15-year-old Shahied Oliver of Albany was gunned down by an unknown assailant at a raucous early morning party at the Skyline Garden apartments in Arbor Hill.

All the violence comes on the heels of a University at Albany study that showed Albany's violent crime rate exceeds the national average.

Police Chief James Tuffey denied that the violence was indicative of a larger crime problem in the state's capital.

"This is an anomaly," he said of the violence on North Pearl Street.

"We have very safe days down there; this was very unusual."

The city has tried to promote North Pearl's mix of bars and restaurants between Clinton Avenue and State Street as a hub of a burgeoning entertainment district.

On weekends, crowds of young people roam the area, bouncing from club to club well into the night.

Tuffey said his department has a heavy presence on Pearl Street and that the stabbings were likely isolated incidents fueled by alcohol.

He said police would evaluate the stabbings today and then make a decision about increasing police presence in the area.

City Common Council member Dominick Calsolaro, of the First Ward, said he was troubled by the stabbings, particularly since a report issued this month by researchers at the University at Albany found that the city's violent crime rate has grown faster than the national average since 1999.

"The mood is that people are afraid," said Calsolaro, who lives a block from where a woman was wounded Friday when she was shot through the window of her home on Slingerlands Street.

"I'm not sure what the answer to all this is."

"Maybe we have to (be) getting to the kids sooner," said Calsolaro, who spearheaded the recent creation of the city's Gun Violence Task Force.

He said he expected a violent start to the school year next month when students return to Albany High School and renew rivalries that have simmered over the summer.

Oliver was the city's first homicide victim this year.

He was attending a birthday party for a 16-year-old girl in the Skyline Garden Apartments just off Lark Street when he was shot at about 1:30 a.m.

Witnesses said music at the party was so loud they didn't hear the gunfire.

Police said they had few new details about the shooting they could share with the public.

Sunday on North Pearl Street, Oliver Salmon, 22, of Troy, was among three men who got out of a car that had been speeding near Steuben Street at about 3 a.m. when the car's side mirror clipped two pedestrians, police said.

One of the pedestrians, 40-year-old Robert Hanks of Glenmont, shouted at the car to slow down.

When an argument and shoving began, Salmon allegedly cut a 4-inch gash across Hank's forehead.

A passerby, James Santaski, whose age and address were not released by police, came to Hanks' aid and was stabbed in the back, officers said.

Medical conditions were not available for either man.

The alleged assailants fled in their car, but two were caught moments later by a patrol officer at State and Lodge streets.

Salmon remained in the Albany County jail Sunday after being arraigned in City Court on charges of felony second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a knife.

A passenger in the car, 22-year-old Leon Grant of Troy, was released after being charged with obstruction.

A third suspect in the attack evaded capture.

At almost the same time, another stabbing took place outside another Pearl Street nightspot less than a block away, near Columbia Street.

Jonathan Hart, 25, of Colonie suffered a four-inch cut to his chest after getting into a dispute.

Hart was treated and released from Albany Medical Center Hospital.

No description of the assailant was available from police Sunday.

In a separate stabbing, 17-year-old Rasheed Caldwell of 338 Clinton Ave. remained in the county jail without bail on charges of second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a knife.

Caldwell allegedly stabbed Charles Winter in the stomach, left shoulder and upper body at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday during a large fight at the corner of Lark and Lancaster streets.

An Albany resident, Winter was treated overnight at Albany Medical Center Hospital.

Police had no further information on his condition or age.

No motive had been established for the attack.

Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Soares: Scandal broke no law - District attorney weighs whether to criticize politics, Cuomo's investigation"

By JAY JOCHNOWITZ, State editor, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, August 21, 2007

ALBANY -- Albany County District Attorney David Soares has found no criminality in his review of the Troopergate scandal.

Moreover, the freshman prosecutor is weighing whether to include in his report a condemnation of the political atmosphere that drew his office into the matter, and a critique of what he is said to consider was a badly done investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Soares on Monday said he would not comment on the findings, but a person familiar with the investigation said the district attorney has concluded that aides to Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer broke no laws in what a report by Cuomo described as a political scheme to discredit Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

Soares did say he plans to release his report within the next couple of weeks.

He said he wanted to respect the process and was sticking to his goal of a "dispassionate" review of the matter.

"I don't want to participate in the political theater," said Soares, a Democrat who bucked the Albany County party establishment in 2004 to win a primary for the Democratic nomination.

Soares, the source said, also is considering commenting in the report on how Bruno, in particular, dragged his office into a needless investigation after Cuomo's office already had concluded no laws were broken.

And, according to the source, Soares is weighing voicing his irritation that Cuomo's investigation was so poorly done that his office "had to start from scratch."

Bruno, who has called for multiple investigations of the Spitzer administration, had no immediate comment.

Spitzer's office also had no comment.

A lawyer for Darren Dopp, the governor's communications director and a key figure in the Cuomo report, was pleased with the outcome.

"I've been saying all along that Darren did nothing wrong, and this confirms it," attorney Terence Kindlon said.

"This has just been a very powerful example of Rovian spin."

"Joe Bruno gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and all of a sudden he's screaming, 'you planted the cookie jar.' "

Cuomo's investigation concluded that Dopp and homeland security deputy William Howard improperly, but not illegally, set about trying to discredit Bruno by gathering information on the senator's trips to Manhattan using a state helicopter and State Police chauffeurs.

Howard, Cuomo found, asked acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton to have Bruno's police drivers reconstruct his itineraries in order to release them to the media.

The Times Union obtained the travel records in June through a Freedom of Information request.

Dopp was suspended without pay for at least 30 days, a period that is ending this week.

The governor's office had no comment on his status.

Howard was removed from the executive chamber and reassigned.

Senate Republicans have said that since the attorney general doesn't have subpoena power, he may not have gotten to the truth, including whether the scheme went higher up to Spitzer's secretary, Richard Baum, or the governor.

In addition to Soares' investigation, Bruno's majority has opened its own probe through the Senate Investigations Committee.

The state Ethics Commission is also investigating.

In the wake of the Cuomo report, the Ethics Commission revised the aircraft policy last week to require that official business be the primary purpose of such trips, that officials pay for any private or political use of the aircraft at costly charter rates and that they provide a detailed itinerary subject to public disclosure.

The records showed that among Bruno's taxpayer-funded trips, he made three on days when he had political fundraisers.

He insisted that he also conducted government business, but has refused to say what it was.

Several people in business and government backed him up, and Cuomo's report, without providing details, found he'd complied with the state's liberal policy on mixing public and private business.

Spitzer, who has made his itineraries public, also made some political stops on his official travels.

Jochnowitz can be reached at 454-5424 or by e-mail at jjochnowitz@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Council sees a city in crisis - Members say immediate action necessary in wake of shooting death, stabbings"

By TIM O'BRIEN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, August 21, 2007

ALBANY -- Upset by weekend violence that included the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy, Common Council members said Monday the city is in a state of emergency and needs to take immediate action.

Council members, shaken by the killing and three separate stabbings, said their approval earlier this year of the creation of a gun violence task force does not mean steps cannot be taken before the task force completes its yearlong study.

"We need some kind of immediate reaction, a call for action," said Council Majority Leader Carolyn McLaughlin.

"We come to the eighth month of the year before we lost a life, but one life is too many."

Contacted later in the evening, Mayor Jerry Jennings responded angrily, saying council members aren't visible in the neighborhoods and should not react by spreading fear.

Shahied Oliver -- the first homicide victim of the year -- was shot and killed early Saturday during a party at the Skyline Garden apartments in Arbor Hill.

A day later, separate stabbings occurred outside two Pearl Street nightspots.

A third stabbing happened at the corner of Lark and Lancaster streets.

Council member Catherine Fahey agreed with McLaughlin.

"I think it's an emergency," Fahey said.

"We need to shift money from someplace to programs for the kids after school."

"It is a crisis."

McLaughlin said she was concerned about remarks being made on the Web site MySpace calling for retaliation against the killer or killers of Oliver.

"There is too much of this first reaction when something happens: 'I'm going to get my gun' or 'I have a knife, I'm going to cut you,' " Council member Dominick Calsolaro said.

He told of getting a call from a business owner whose employee was afraid to leave her home in the city.

"No one in this city or anywhere should be afraid to leave their house," Calsolaro said.

Jennings blasted the council, saying he visited the affected neighborhoods over the weekend and saw no other elected officials there.

"It's typical reaction from council members who aren't engaged in the community," he said.

"It's really irresponsible to warn everybody about the start of this school year."

"They sit back, they wait for some information and they criticize."

"They should not just take one night and comment on it."

The reference was to a remark made Sunday by Calsolaro, who said he expected a violent start to the school year next month when students return to Albany High School and renew old rivalries.

Jennings said police are working hard to find who killed Oliver.

"We had a murder, yes," he said.

"Our police are working very hard on it, as I would expect them to."

"It's not just Albany, New York."

"It's happening everywhere."

The solutions need to come as part of a national effort that includes focusing on ending youths' access to guns, the mayor said.

"Everybody's got to be involved, clergy, parents," Jennings said.

"There has to be dramatic changes and not just lip service."

At the meeting, council members had no immediate solutions.

"I have no answers individually," said member Barbara Smith, who noted the murder and Pearl Street stabbings were all in the Fourth Ward she represents.

"The only answers we can come to are collectively."

McLaughlin said the city needs more facilities where children and teens can go.

"The fact that we are still arguing in 2007 about community centers frustrates me," she said.

"We have to do something proactive so they don't choose the streets before they choose an education."

Calsolaro said at the meeting that remarks he's made about crime aren't attacks on the mayor.

"I'm not trying to embarrass the mayor," he said.

"I'm trying to do my job."

In other action, the council approved spending up to $1 million to buy land next to the city's Rapp Road landfill and up to $625,000 to expand the dump.

The city wants to enlarge the landfill because, at its current rate, it will be full by 2009.

O'Brien can be reached at 454-5092 or by e-mail at tobrien@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Death leads to Web threats - Promises of revenge for killing Albany 15-year-old posted on MySpace site"

By DAN HIGGINS, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, August 21, 2007

ALBANY -- City police were monitoring social networking sites on the Internet Monday after learning revenge threats were posted following the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy over the weekend.

The threats, on the Web site MySpace, promised to find whoever shot Shahied Oliver at a party over the weekend, and that the attacker would be "taken care of."

The MySpace threats were reported by local TV station CBS-6.

Albany Police spokesman Detective James Miller said the department was aware of the postings.

"It's no different than threats made on the street," Miller said.

"This is just a different way to do it."

"We are aware of it and we are monitoring."

Oliver's death was the city's first homicide of 2007.

Oliver, of Albany, was shot in the chest during a birthday party early Saturday at the Skyline Gardens apartments near Lark Street in the Arbor Hill neighborhood.

No arrests have been made.

Police said it's possible the shooting was related to a feud between uptown and downtown Albany youth.

For several years, violence has erupted on city streets -- including drive-by shootings, stabbings and assaults.

Police have said the incidents have stemmed from ongoing feuds between street gangs and other groups of young people who live in the South End, Arbor Hill and West Hill.

At the party, a witness next door reported loud music interrupted by a single gunshot.

[Livyjr]

"Soares: Scandal broke no law - District attorney weighs whether to criticize politics, Cuomo's investigation"

By JAY JOCHNOWITZ, State editor, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, August 21, 2007

ALBANY -- "I don't want to participate in the political theater," said Soares, a Democrat who bucked the Albany County party establishment in 2004 to win a primary for the Democratic nomination.

And, according to the source, Soares is weighing voicing his irritation that Cuomo's investigation was so poorly done that his office "had to start from scratch."

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

"Cuomo Leak Charge"

by Azi Paybarah

Published: August 17, 2007

Now this is kind of fascinating.

Alan Hevesi's lawyer is seeking to explain those stories in the Post about millions of dollars Hevesi may have directed towards financial companies connected to his adviser, Hank Morris, with the following statement:

“Evasive responses from the Attorney General’s press spokesman with respect to these leaks will no longer suffice."

"Furthermore, the repeated leaking to the press of unproven allegations and details of the inquiry violates the New York State Lawyer’s Code of Professional Responsibility.”

I've tried to get an answer out of said press spokesman in Andrew Cuomo's office about the leak allegations, so far, without any luck.

Interesting that out of the two figures seemingly afflicted by prosecutorial leaks in Albany, Eliot Spitzer and Hevesi, only Hevesi is making an issue of it.

(Spitzer, the erstwhile investigator, has stopped answering questions about the investigation.)

UPDATE: Jeffrey Lerner, Cuomo's Director of Communications, said, "We have no comment on this ongoing investigation or an obvious defense lawyer ploy to portray his client as a victim."

http://www.observer.com/2007/leaks-albany

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Spitz scandal prober 'close' - Albany DA vows to uncover truth in Troopergate"

BY JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Tuesday, August 21st 2007, 4:00 AM

ALBANY - Investigators are "getting closer" to determining whether any laws were broken in the scheme by Gov. Spitzer's aides to discredit his top Republican rival, Albany County District Attorney David Soares told the Daily News yesterday.

Soares, interviewed outside his office, said he had not decided yet whether to place the matter before a grand jury, suggesting he would first have to determine whether a crime was committed.

Spitzer has noted that previous probes, including one by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, showed "egregious" behavior but no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

High-ranking staffers set out to damage Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer) with a leaked newspaper story on his use of state aircraft.

Soares, a Democrat like Spitzer, said he would aggressively follow every lead.

He said top state leaders will face the same amount of scrutiny as they would if they were "Joe Blow" because "no one is above the law."

Soares said he expects to issue a written report regardless of whether his probe finds criminal wrongdoing.

Among those expected to be interviewed by both Soares' investigators and the state Ethics Commission is Richard Baum, the governor's chief of staff, who has retained a white-collar criminal defense lawyer, Steven Reich of Manhattan, to represent him.

Baum has denied directing the dirty tricks plot to use state police data against Bruno.

Darren Dopp, the governor's suspended spokesman who steered the information to the Albany Times Union, has already been questioned by Soares' investigators.

Others expected to be interviewed are Acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton and former homeland security adviser William Howard.

Dopp's lawyer Terence Kindlon was emphatic in predicting Soares will determine there was no crime "on anyone's part."

Crime or not, Republicans are eager to keep Spitzer on the defensive.

Senate Investigations Committee Chairman George Winner (R-Elmira) threatened to subpoena the Spitzer-appointed inspector general, Kristine Hamann, to a Sept. 5 hearing on how she has conducted investigations into alleged abuses of power by key aides to the governor.

A state Democratic spokesman, Jonathan Rosen, scoffed, "The Senate Republicans holding an ethics hearing is like O.J. searching for the real killer."

jmahoney@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/08/21...er_close-1.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DAILY POLITICS BLOG:

After reading the story in the upstate TU entitled "Soares: Scandal broke no law - District attorney weighs whether to criticize politics, Cuomo's investigation" by JAY JOCHNOWITZ, State editor, first published Tuesday, August 21, 2007, wherein is stated:

Albany County District Attorney David Soares has found no criminality in his review of the Troopergate scandal.

And, according to the source, Soares is weighing voicing his irritation that Cuomo's investigation was so poorly done that his office "had to start from scratch."

end quotes

And then comparing that to what was stated in the DN story "Spitz scandal prober 'close' - Albany DA vows to uncover truth in Troopergate" by JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF, Tuesday, August 21st 2007, 4:00 AM, wherein is stated:

ALBANY - Investigators are "getting closer" to determining whether any laws were broken in the scheme by Gov. Spitzer's aides to discredit his top Republican rival, Albany County District Attorney David Soares told the Daily News yesterday.

Soares, interviewed outside his office, said he had not decided yet whether to place the matter before a grand jury, suggesting he would first have to determine whether a crime was committed.

end quotes

I really have to wonder if these two newspapers are reporting from the same planet ...

And so ...

Posted by: John Galt | August 21, 2007 8:40 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypoli...the_day_92.html

[Livyjr]

"Prosecutor says travel scandal report still incomplete"

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press

Last updated: 1:32 p.m., Tuesday, August 21, 2007

ALBANY -- A prosecutor denied a report published Tuesday that he has concluded there was no criminal wrongdoing by aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer who used state police to track Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's travels.

"To date, our assessment of these materials is not complete, and no findings have been made," Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares said.

"To draw any conclusions before reviewing all evidence would directly contradict the principles of our process."

In Tuesday's editions, the Times Union of Albany cited "a person familiar with the investigation" in reporting that Soares "has found no criminality" in his review of the scandal.

Soares also denied that he will criticize Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for conducting a poor initial investigation of the case.

"A recent press story that my office planned to negatively critique the Attorney General's report is wholly untrue," Soares said in a prepared statement.

Times Union Editor Rex Smith said the newspaper stands by its reporting.

"We are convinced the Times Union story today accurately represents the findings of the district attorney's office and the feelings of the district attorney," he said.

Cuomo's July 23 report found no illegal conduct, but concluded two Spitzer aides gathered detailed information on Bruno from state police and released it in response to a Freedom of Information Law request from the Times Union.

Bruno used state aircraft and police escorts for trips to New York City, where he says he did state business and also attended political events.

State Inspector General Kristine Hamann, a Spitzer appointee, also investigated and reached a similar conclusion without issuing a report.

Spokesman Steven DelGiacco said it would have been "redundant" and they also concluded "that two officials of the governor's office had engaged in serious misconduct."

Spitzer suspended longtime communications director Darren Dopp for 30 days without pay and reassigned public safety deputy William Howard to a state post outside the governor's office at a reduced salary.

The state Ethics Commission has also been investigating.

On Aug. 13, it tightened state travel rules, saying officials now will have to strictly account for their time on state aircraft and reimburse the state for any portion of a trip that isn't for a "bona fide" public purpose.

Dopp spent more than three hours last week "freely and fully" answering all the questions asked by Soares' assistant district attorneys, defense lawyer Terence Kindlon said Tuesday.

"He's done absolutely nothing wrong in connection with this whole fiasco," Kindlon said.

Kindlon said he has not heard from Soares' office about its conclusions.

Meanwhile, the Senate Investigations Committee held a hearing where Republican senators criticized the Inspector General's Office, saying it didn't adequately investigate the so-called "Travelgate" case and has a seeming conflict of interest since it answers to the governor's office.

Committee Chairman Sen. George Winner, an Elmira Republican, asked Inspector General Kristine Hamann to turn over to Cuomo her ongoing investigation of a former Spitzer aide -- Steven Mitnick -- accused of harassing a member of the State Public Service commission in an effort to make her resign.

Hamann refused.

In a letter Monday, she said state law establishes the inspector general as the state's investigative arm when allegations are made against people in the executive branch.

She said she agreed to let Cuomo take the investigative lead in the travel case in part because questions arose about the possible involvement of Richard Baum, secretary to the governor, because Hamann reports to Baum.

She expects Soares' investigation to fully resolve any remaining issues in that case.

Winner has introduced legislation to transfer the case and scheduled another hearing for Sept. 5.

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Spitz scandal prober 'close' - Albany DA vows to uncover truth in Troopergate"

BY JOE MAHONEY, DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Tuesday, August 21st 2007, 4:00 AM

ALBANY - Investigators are "getting closer" to determining whether any laws were broken in the scheme by Gov. Spitzer's aides to discredit his top Republican rival, Albany County District Attorney David Soares told the Daily News yesterday.

Soares, interviewed outside his office, said he had not decided yet whether to place the matter before a grand jury, suggesting he would first have to determine whether a crime was committed.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/08/21...er_close-1.html

"Prosecutor says travel scandal report still incomplete"

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press

Last updated: 1:32 p.m., Tuesday, August 21, 2007

ALBANY -- A prosecutor denied a report published Tuesday that he has concluded there was no criminal wrongdoing by aides to Gov. Eliot Spitzer who used state police to track Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's travels.

"To date, our assessment of these materials is not complete, and no findings have been made," Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares said.

"To draw any conclusions before reviewing all evidence would directly contradict the principles of our process."

In Tuesday's editions, the Times Union of Albany cited "a person familiar with the investigation" in reporting that Soares "has found no criminality" in his review of the scandal.

State Inspector General Kristine Hamann, a Spitzer appointee, also investigated and reached a similar conclusion without issuing a report.

Spokesman Steven DelGiacco said it would have been "redundant" and they also concluded "that two officials of the governor's office had engaged in serious misconduct."

THE ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

I personally think that we, the people of the State of New York are being played with here, with respect to P. David Soares and the GRAND JURY that should be looking into this matter of MISCONDUCT as it relates to TROOPERGATE, now that misconduct in the EXECUTIVE OFFICE has been confirmed by young Andy Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer, who has disciplined 2 executive office public servants based upon young Andy Cuomo’s recommendations of discipline for misconduct ….

And in support of my position on that in here, I go to ARTICLE 190 of the New York State Criminal Procedure Law - THE GRAND JURY AND ITS PROCEEDINGS - and specifically I refer to CPL section 190.85 as follows:

S 190.85 Grand jury; grand jury reports.

1. The grand jury may submit to the court by which it was impaneled, a report:

(a) Concerning misconduct, non-feasance or neglect in public office by a public servant as the basis for a recommendation of removal or disciplinary action; or

(b) Stating that after investigation of a public servant it finds no misconduct, non-feasance or neglect in office by him provided that such public servant has requested the submission of such report; or

© Proposing recommendations for legislative, executive or administrative action in the public interest based upon stated findings.

Clearly from section 6 of ARTICLE 1 of the BILL OF RIGHTS of the NYS Constitution, the power of grand juries to inquire into the wilful misconduct in office of public officers, and to find indictments or to direct the filing of informations in connection with such inquiries, shall never be suspended or impaired by law …

And the NYS Criminal Procedure Law provides a mechanism for that to happen, as is clear from NYS CPL 190.85 above ….

Especially with respect to “Proposing recommendations for legislative, executive or administrative action in the public interest based upon stated findings”, which is really what we need coming out of a non-political GRAND JURY with respect to this TROOPERGATE FIASCO, where young Andy Cuomo has uncovered mis-use of the NYSP for political purposes one more time again, here in NYS …

And so …

Comment by John Galt — August 21, 2007 @ 5:13 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5250#comments

[Livyjr]

THE ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

And with respect to the “power”, or authority, jurisdiction and discretion of a grand jury in the state of New York to make inquiry into misconduct by public servants in NYS such as the SPITZER-ITES, EVEN IF there is no alleged criminal conduct, we have from section 190.05 of ARTICLE 190 of the New York State Criminal Procedure Law - THE GRAND JURY AND ITS PROCEEDINGS as follows:

S 190.05 Grand jury; definition and general functions.

A grand jury is a body consisting of not less than sixteen nor more than twenty-three persons, impaneled by a superior court and constituting a part of such court, the functions of which are to hear and examine evidence concerning offenses and concerning misconduct, nonfeasance and neglect in public office, whether criminal or otherwise, and to take action with respect to such evidence as provided in section 190.60.

end quotes

THE FUNCTIONS OF WHICH ARE TO HEAR AND EXAMINE EVIDENCE CONCERNING MISCONDUCT, NONFEASANCE AND NEGLECT IN PUBLIC OFFICE, WHETHER CRIMINAL OR OTHERWISE ..

Whether criminal ..

OR …

Otherwise …

And so …

Simple words for simple people like us, since it is people like us who comprise GRAND JURY panels in the State of New York …

And since it is simple people like us who are the EXCLUSIVE TRIERS OF FACT in these matters of alleged misconduct, not the political DA …

And so …

Comment by John Galt — August 21, 2007 @ 5:30 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5250#comments

[Livyjr]

THE ALBANY, NEW YORK TIMES UNION CAPITAL CONFIDENTIAL BLOG:

And in support of my statement above that as members of a GRAND JURY, we, the common people of this state are the EXCLUSIVE TRIERS OF FACT in these matters of alleged misconduct by public servants in the EXECUTIVE BRANCH of OUR state government, not the political DA, I simply refer to sub-section 5 of section 190.25 of the NYS CPL - Grand jury; proceedings and operation in general - as follows:

5. The grand jury is the exclusive judge of the facts with respect to any matter before it.

end quotes

And with respect to the political DA NOT being a part of the deliberations of the citizen GRAND JURY with respect to matters of MISCONDUCT by public servants in NYS, I refer to NYS CPL S 190.25(3), to wit:

3. Except as provided in subdivision three-a of this section, during the deliberations and voting of a grand jury, only the grand jurors may be present in the grand jury room.

During its other proceedings, the following persons, in addition to witnesses, may, as the occasion requires, also be present: (a) The district attorney;

end quotes

THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY MAY, AS THE OCCASION REQUIRES, ALSO BE PRESENT …

BUT …

DURING THE DELIBERATIONS, HE IS NOT TO BE PRESENT, BY LAW …

For the political DA is not in charge of the GRAND JURY ….

ESPECIALLY NOT ITS OUTCOME …

He is merely an advisor to it in NYS …

And so …

Comment by John Galt — August 21, 2007 @ 5:54 pm

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/?p=5250#comments