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

[Livyjr]

"Bonacic bill aims to shake up Legislature patronage"

By Brendan Scott

Times Herald-Record

April 19, 2007

Albany – And now for John Bonacic’s latest act of defiance.

The Catskills-area senator who recently won statewide notoriety as the only Republican to call for Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno’s ouster says he’ll soon introduce a bill that would ensure equal staff budgets for lawmakers of both parties.

The bill, which also is being introduced in the Assembly by reform-minded Westchester Democrat Sandy Galef, represents a direct assault on the partisan hierarchy that has existed in Albany for as along as anyone can remember.

It would essentially end the practice of doling out money for staff based on party status, seniority and good-standing with political bosses by insuring that every lawmaker gets the same amount.

“It’s unfair that a minority senator does not get the same resources to represent the same amount of constituents,” said Bonacic, who represents Delaware and Sullivan and parts of Orange and Ulster counties.

He said the current system exists “to send a message that if you elect a minority member, your district will be underserved."

"Any system that punishes the people is morally unfair.”

Good government groups often cite equal staff allocation as the type of reform that could finally shake up the state Legislature’s more than 90-percent re-election rate and make lawmakers more accountable.

That means it’s not likely to be well received by the Legislature’s longtime leaders, Bruno, a Republican from Brunswick, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan.

Typically, such bills are announced and then sent to some committee to die a slow, quiet death.

So, it’s notable that Bonacic says he’s willing to call for a “motion to discharge,” a bit of parliamentary trickery that allows a majority to force a vote on the bill.

It’s a rule sometimes applied in futility by the Senate’s Democratic minority, who are outnumbered by the Republicans 29-33.

Presuming Bonacic has the Democrats’ support, he would only need two more Republicans to carry the vote.

The senator says four Republicans and Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, are among the bill’s co-sponsors.

Bonacic says Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has been a critic of the Legislature’s way of doing business, also supports the bill.

“This new governor is basically trying to end Albany’s culture of controlling power,” Bonacic said.

“You’re seeing talk of reform that you’ve never seen before.”

A spokesman for Bruno could not immediately be reached for comment.

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...NEWS%2F70419009

[Livyjr]

So, quess what, members of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct and “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer, as well, out here in the countryside, you already didn’t have a lot of credibility before this celebrity divorce lawyer who is your chair wrote this book, because you had for your chair a celebrity divorce lawyer, who is not looked upon by us more conservative countryfolks up here as any kind of role model that we would care to emulate, nor do we find ourselves overly impressed or confident about the type of values that a celebrity divorce lawyer would bring to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, and that was before he wrote the book.

And we are curious, with a man whose job it is to make someone’s spouse look bad before a judge to get a better settlement for his high-paying client, what exactly is it that he would then find unprofessional in a judge, who happens to be a member of the bar, as well as Felder.

And so …..

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...or-us/#comments

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"Can't fix this! Brooklyn judge Garson guilty of bribes"

BY NANCIE L. KATZ, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, April 20th 2007, 4:00 AM

A disgraced Brooklyn judge, who was caught on hidden cameras accepting boxes of cigars and expensive liquor during cozy meetings with a crooked lawyer, was convicted yesterday of fixing divorce cases.

Former Supreme Court Justice Gerald Garson did not react when the jury, which deliberated for two days, found him guilty of receiving bribes and official misconduct.

He was acquitted of four other lesser counts.

The ex-judge faces up to 15 years in prison at his sentencing in June.

During the four-week trial, prosecutors showed Brooklyn jurors excerpts of hundreds of hours of profanity-laced audio and videotapes of Garson, 75, accepting boxes of expensive cigars, top-shelf liquor and other gifts from his pal Paul Siminovsky from October 2002 to March 2003.

Siminovsky testified against Garson.

"We proved the court system is corrupt," said Frieda Hanimov, who in 2002 raised suspicions that Garson was accepting bribes to fix divorce cases.

She had been told her husband, who was divorcing her, paid a bribe to win custody of their children.

"It's a big shame."

"It proves no citizen should trust anyone in the court system," she said.

Garson's conviction comes as the result of a wider investigation District Attorney Charles Hynes conducted into whether judgeships were being bought and sold.

The probe nabbed the head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, Clarence Norman, who was convicted three times, including once for forcing a judicial candidate to pay $10,000 to Norman's pals or lose his political machine's support.

Garson's attorney, Michael Washor, vowed to appeal.

He called the videotapes a "Class-D" movie that created the "illusion of criminal conduct."

nkatz@nydailynews.com

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file...arson_guil.html

[Livyjr]

THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"It takes one to know one"

Friday, April 20th 2007, 4:00 AM

Editorial

What a schmucklehead.

By which we mean Raoul Felder, who, for the sake of cheap laughs, has disqualified himself from serving as chairman of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct - an agency with the critical job of policing judges.

Felder, a celebrity divorce attorney, made the sublimely stupid decision to co-author a tome titled "Schmucks" with his old buddy Jackie Mason.

It's obviously humor, Felder kvetches.

Yes.

But when you have taken responsibility for investigating alleged ethical lapses by judges, you don't go around saying, "Anytime you hear the word 'allegedly,' you can bet it's true."

Nor, when some of those judges may turn out to be black, do you declare, "nothing in our country is more insidious than affirmative action."

Nor when some of those judges may turn out to be Hispanic, do you describe Spanish-speaking immigrants as "schnorrers, schnooks, shlubs, pishers, putzers, shlemiels, and, yes. schmucks."

Deeming Felder's humor "crude, biased, vulgar and otherwise demeaning," his colleagues on the 11-member commission rendered a unanimous vote of no confidence in him, stripped him of his authority to speak for the panel and are studying whether they have the power to remove him as chairman altogether.

Gov. Spitzer wants Felder gone.

Felder has said he would step aside from any proceeding in which a judge raised an issue about his fairness.

But there should never be a reason to question the fairness of the chairman of the Judicial Conduct Commission.

Having made a joke of himself, Felder should make his punch line: I quit.

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

[Livyjr]

"Injured workers find no relief in reform - Higher payments in workers' compensation system not retroactive"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, April 20, 2007

When Frederick Curtis heard New York had reformed its workers' compensation system, he thought he had reason to celebrate.

Curtis has collected $215 a week for almost three decades after receiving a concussion while working as a guard at New York City's Rikers Island jail.

But when he called the Workers' Compensation Board on Wednesday to ask about his increase, Curtis got the same answer that thousands of other people have heard in recent weeks: all those much-ballyhooed changes apply only to those injured after July 1, which is when the reforms are scheduled to take effect.

"I am not entitled to any increase at all," Curtis said, adding that he has difficulty making ends meet on his workers' comp payment, augmented by a $960-a-month Social Security disability check.

"I can't afford this," said Curtis, who now lives in Norfolk, Va.

"I can't afford living."

Workers' compensation reform was one of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's first major achievements.

Businesses and unions had been at loggerheads over the issue for years, though both agreed the system was outmoded, costly, and inefficient.

As a result, industry and labor alike cheered last month when Spitzer signed a bill overhauling the system.

The law increases the maximum payout from $400 to $500 in the first year.

Those payments rise to about $600 in two years and after that, top payments will be two-thirds of the state's average weekly wage (currently about $997).

The new law also limits to 10 years the amount of time a beneficiary can collect payments for a partial disability such as a bad back.

But it also provides added resources to retrain people with such injuries.

"This is a winner for business," Spitzer said at the time, adding

"This is a win for labor."

"This is a win for every citizen in the state."

Not, though, for those already receiving payments.

There are about 150,000 people in New York's workers' comp system at any given time, said Mario Cilento, spokesman for the state AFL-CIO, a major labor organization.

Cilento said his office got a several dozen calls by recipients in the days following the law's passage.

Likewise, the Workers' Compensation Board was getting between 100 and 200 calls a day, according to a source there.

Spitzer spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said making the changes retroactive was never the intention.

"The Workers' compensation legislation represents reforms to the system moving forward," she said.

The lack of retroactivity isn't the first time people have been caught unaware following a major change in New York's social safety net.

Last year, for example, former Gov. George Pataki and lawmakers passed Timothy's Law, which forces health insurers to cover mental illness as they do other medical problems.

But that law didn't extend to subsidized programs like Child Health Plus or Family Health Plus, which are designed for people who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but who nonetheless would struggle to pay health premiums.

The bottom line for people like Curtis is there will be no increase.

"It won't be discussed and there won't be any changes," he said he was told.

Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Campaign finance stirs opposition - Spitzer proposals to limit flow of money facing skepticism from wide range of political players"

By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, April 20, 2007

ALBANY - As he tries to accomplish one of his last top priorities for this year, Gov. Eliot Spitzer faces resistance to proposed campaign finance reforms that some lawmakers say favor the rich and diminish the power of political parties.

The governor plans a major announcement on election reform on Monday during Reform New York Day 2007 and is pushing legislative leaders to join him on a bill to change the way campaigns are financed.

Spitzer is trying to drastically lower the limits on contributions to candidates and committees, an idea that is not going over well with legislative representatives, according to interviews with people close to the negotiations the governor and his staff have been having for weeks.

As a result, insiders say, the governor has been pressed to compromise on some of the terms, and has begun bending as he did to get a state budget passed on time.

A deal with the Assembly may be at hand, insiders say.

Spitzer declined this week to discuss details or the status of talks.

His plan, according to legislative insiders, would set the amount that could be donated by individuals and political action committees at $2,300 per general election, the same as in federal elections.

Limits now are $3,800 for Assembly, $9,500 for Senate and $37,800 for statewide candidates.

He also wants lawmakers to agree to ban contributions from corporations, partnerships and limited liability corporations, and Senate Republicans are pushing for compromise.

LLCs are considered individuals, so people can set up many of them and use them to far exceed the maximum for one person.

Spitzer has also talked about eliminating direct donations from unions, striking a nerve with Assembly Democrats.

On still another front, Spitzer wants to reduce the amount of "soft money" now without any cap that can be donated to political parties to help them pay for costs that aren't candidate-specific, such as registration drives or the electricity bill at party headquarters.

Party leaders see soft money, also known as housekeeping funds, as important revenues to sustain and grow their organizations.

The governor also wants to sharply reduce the amounts of "hard" money donated to state parties funds the party leaders can and do transfer to specific candidates.

Currently, individual and PACs can contribute a maximum of $94,200.

Hard money helps fund a system that assures party leaders can wield power.

The governor and negotiators haven't resolved the issue of party contributions.

Beyond that, one of his most unpopular proposals involves adding a fifth commissioner to the Board of Election.

The board had four slots, two from each major party.

Spitzer's fifth commissioner idea is aimed at reducing logjams on investigations by the board.

Detractors complain that even with five commissioners, three can still work out deals so that neither party's candidates get investigated.

Some lawmakers say they're concerned that the changes would make it tough to run against wealthy people like Spitzer and billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"I and some of my colleagues are concerned that there are proposals out there that would make it an exclusive club to run for office," said Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes.

Canestrari, chairman of the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee the past decade, is one of several lawmakers briefed in recent days on the talks and opposed to across-the-board reduction of donation levels.

"I'm a firm believer of the two party system in our state and nation; it's shown to be a model for the world," Canestrari said.

Despite concerns raised by Canestrari and other Assembly members, the Democrat-led chamber appears to be closer to striking a deal with Spitzer than Republican-controlled Senate.

Officials familiar with talks say the Senate GOP particularly dislikes banning donations from businesses, which now can give up to $5,000 per year.

Limiting soft money donations is also seen as a way to cripple the Republican Party.

The proposal to reduce PAC contributions also angered several Assembly majority members who see it as a way to nearly ban union donations.

"He's making it more difficult for individuals from poorer districts to raise funds, by banning contributions from unions," said Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon.

M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"State worker accused of embezzlement - Guilderland woman charged with stealing $50,000 while treasurer of training group"

By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 21, 2007

ALBANY -- A state employee was charged Friday with embezzling more than $50,000 from an organization she served as treasurer.

Karen M. Bradley, 42, of Carman Road, Guilderland, was arrested by State Police in connection with the theft from the New York State Training Council, a nonprofit organization of government human resources professionals.

Bradley is employed in the Governor's Office of Employee Relations as an employee program assistant.

She was suspended Friday without pay, Office of Employee Relations spokesman Craig Dickinson said.

Bradley was the part-time, non-paid treasurer for the council, which advocates and supports training within the state work force.

After being booked on counts of second-degree grand larceny and first-degree falsifying business records, Bradley was arraigned in Albany City Court and released on her own recognizance.

Senior Investigator Tom Peters said the thefts from 1999 to September 2006 were "brought to our attention by the chairman of the training council, who had received information from individuals regarding" unpaid bills.

The probe began in October and "basically was a matter of waiting for subpoenas on bank records to come back," he said.

Investigators allege that Bradley repeatedly filed false financial reports with the council's executive committee to hide the thefts.

Carol DeMare can be reached at 454-5431 or by e-mail at cdemare@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Legislature should make pork-barrel spending illegal in New York state"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, April 19, 2007

It was with fascination that I read about the effort to secure more pork-barrel spending for the minority parties in each house.

If the Senate had any sense, they would grant the full participation of the minority party in all the perks of office, because when they pass into minority status next year, they (the Republicans) will be its chief beneficiaries.

Ours is now a Democratic state and will be for the next 20 years, thanks in part to the feckless leadership of Joseph Bruno and George Pataki and the de-population of upstate that resulted.

But as to the question of pork, a story is brewing in Westchester that could end the practice once and for all.

The Journal News reports that the Yonkers Chamber took a $175,000 "member item" courtesy of former-Sen. Nick Spano, and used it to pay a $100,000 consulting contract with Zehy Jereis (a former assistant to Spano and the Yonkers GOP chief).

Spano, who once sponsored a business tax at the request of hospital union 1199 SEIU, is now self-dealing with a business group.

Greed has no ideology.

Just as appalling is the $500,000 in pork that Sen. Bruno delivered to a high-tech business partly owned by a friend which, coincidentally, reportedly hired Bruno as a consultant.

For that budgeting-ledger act, Bruno is the subject of an FBI investigation that could end badly for him.

The whole matter of pork is under examination.

The attorney general's office is trying to fix the problem by disclosing who is responsible for each member item.

But mere transparency won't make the practice less morally wrong, because pork is always the use of public money for personal gain.

Any time a politician directs money to his district via pork he is doing so to burnish his image and enhance his chance for re-election -- a personal use of public money.

In a worst-case scenario, the money ends up in the hands of a friend, but sometimes it circles back to the politician who secured it in the first place.

That just can't be right.

Raw pork smells pretty foul when exposed to sunlight.

We ought to make it illegal.

MARK ALESSE

Delmar

The writer was a small business lobbyist in Albany for 20 years and served on the Assembly and Senate staff in policymaking positions.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp...sdate=4/21/2007

[Livyjr]

Greed has no ideology.

Just as appalling is the $500,000 in pork that Sen. Bruno delivered to a high-tech business partly owned by a friend which, coincidentally, reportedly hired Bruno as a consultant.

For that budgeting-ledger act, Bruno is the subject of an FBI investigation that could end badly for him.

The whole matter of pork is under examination.

MARK ALESSE

Delmar

The writer was a small business lobbyist in Albany for 20 years and served on the Assembly and Senate staff in policymaking positions.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp...sdate=4/21/2007

"Bruno supporters just say 'thank you' - Window stickers, ads offer encouragement to veteran Senate majority leader"

By RICK KARLIN and JAMES ODATO, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 14, 2007

First there were bobbleheads, now there are car stickers: for state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno that is.

During the past few weeks, you might have noticed some cars across the Capital Region sporting window stickers that say: "Thank You Senator Bruno."

Those who received the stickers also got an information sheet citing some of the reasons that Bruno, R-Brunswick, should be thanked.

It cites the numerous projects that Bruno, in his role as a top Republican, has helped fund in the Capital Region, including incentives to bring a planned computer chip factory to Saratoga County, equipment for local firehouses, a new airport and Amtrak terminal, as well as funds to create a new Tech Valley High School.

The window stickers have gone out to some Republican political leaders, as well as union members and business owners, said Joe Dalton, president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.

Dalton said he got a bunch of people together during the past few weeks to print and distribute the stickers, which he said number between 500 and 1,000.

Dalton stressed that the effort was not a chamber initiative and he had no prompting from Bruno or his office.

"I didn't have a clue who did it," Bruno said last week when asked about the stickers, as well as a newspaper ad.

Dalton said the mini-campaign was a reaction to what he termed negative publicity that has surrounded the veteran politician, who in December announced that he was under investigation by the FBI for his outside business dealings.

Bruno, who created and then sold a telecommunications company, runs a consulting firm in addition to his duties as Senate majority leader.

He has long insisted that the firm is his private affair and hasn't revealed who his clients are.

News stories in the Times Union and other papers, however, have chronicled how federal authorities may be probing pork barrel economic development money that Bruno helped provide to businesses with which he had possible personal ties.

"We saw the media going after Joe Bruno for whatever reasons they had, and we didn't see members of the media doing very much and saying 'Thank you,' " Dalton said.

"It's just that we got a little upset with the media."

The stickers came as Bruno celebrated his 78th birthday last weekend, which also came with some laudatory ads in the Times Union newspaper and on Siena College's WVCR radio show.

The half-page ad, which thanks Bruno for promoting Tech Valley, was placed by Schenectady resident Michelle Desrosiers.

She did not return a call for comment.

And the Siena radio ads stemmed out of a conversation some people had at the school when they realized Bruno's birthday was coming up, said General Manager Darren Scott Kibbey, who added that Bruno has provided money for the school.

The spate of support isn't the first time Bruno's been in such public view.

Last summer, the Troy baseball stadium that bears Bruno's name handed out bobbleheads with his likeness during a Tri-City Valley Cats baseball game.

Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

Greater Binghamton, N.Y. Press & Sun-Bulletin

Friday April 20, 2007 NEWS

"Capozzi pleads guilty to gambling charge"

The chairman of the Broome County Republican Committee today admitted to a felony count of promoting gambling, Broome County District Attorney Gerald F. Mollen said.

Anthony J. Capozzi, 41, of 11 Matthews St., Binghamton, was also sentenced today in Broome County Court to a three-year conditional discharge and a $5,000 fine, Mollen said.

The charge was the result of a year-long gambling investigation by the state police and the state Inspector General’s office.

The investigation is continuing and may result in further prosecutions, the district attorney said.

— Nancy Dooling

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll...WS01%2F70420025

[Livyjr]

"Bruno supporters just say 'thank you' - Window stickers, ads offer encouragement to veteran Senate majority leader"

By RICK KARLIN and JAMES ODATO, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 14, 2007

Dalton said the mini-campaign was a reaction to what he termed negative publicity that has surrounded the veteran politician, who in December announced that he was under investigation by the FBI for his outside business dealings.

Bruno, who created and then sold a telecommunications company, runs a consulting firm in addition to his duties as Senate majority leader.

He has long insisted that the firm is his private affair and hasn't revealed who his clients are.

News stories in the Times Union and other papers, however, have chronicled how federal authorities may be probing pork barrel economic development money that Bruno helped provide to businesses with which he had possible personal ties.

"We saw the media going after Joe Bruno for whatever reasons they had, and we didn't see members of the media doing very much and saying 'Thank you,' " Dalton said.

"It's just that we got a little upset with the media."

"Senate serves $78M plate of pork - List of projects includes $3M given by Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno"

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 21, 2007

ALBANY -- The state Senate on Friday made public a list of $78 million in pork barrel projects, with a few million dollars left to go.

Another $7 million in Senate spending will be allocated through supplemental budget bills later this year, according to Mark Hansen, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, R-Brunswick.

Overall, Bruno handed out just over $3 million for dozens of member items to groups ranging from the Alzheimer's Association, which got $50,000 to fund programs and services; to the Ballston Area Community Center, which got $25,000 for a new gym ventilation system and playground equipment; to Literacy Volunteers, for recruitment and training; and the Schodack Landing Fire Company, which got $15,000 for hoses.

The list, like one released earlier by the Assembly, was in a .pdf computer file, similar to text.

That means that people who want to perform a spreadsheet analysis would need specialized software or a program to convert it.

But observers noted that the information is better than it has been in the past, since each spending item is listed with the recipient, the purpose, and senator who sponsored it, as well as a line item for reference in the state budget.

"It looks like a vast improvement over what they did in the past," remarked Liam Arbetman, a research associate for Common Cause, New York.

Until last year, neither the Assembly or Senate itemized their member items, but the Times Union successfully sued Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, to release the full information on member items, including sponsors' names.

Even after the legal action, there were obstacles.

After losing the lawsuit, the Senate and Assembly last fall, for example, released the data but they did so in a form that made it almost impossible to search.

The Assembly improved the data after complaints, and Friday's release by the Senate was searchable as well.

Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Spitzer orders IG probe into threat allegations"

By MARC HUMBERT, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:44 p.m., Friday, April 20, 2007

ALBANY -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer called Friday for the state's inspector general to investigate allegations by a Republican member of the utility-regulating Public Service Commission that she was threatened by a top aide to the Democratic governor.

The governor's move came just two days after Cheryl Buley charged during a PSC meeting that Spitzer energy adviser Steven Mitnick had threatened her in an effort to get her to back off efforts to investigate Consolidated Edison over last summer's major blackout in New York City.

The Spitzer camp had, at the time, been dismissive of Buley's charge, arguing that the administration favored a PSC investigation of the blackout.

The PSC on Wednesday ordered the Con Ed investigation to move forward.

"We're not sure what happened."

"It appears to be a misunderstanding between two people," Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp said Friday.

"But given the concerns that have been raised, we will refer the matter to the IG for an independent review of the facts."

The Spitzer-appointed inspector general, Kristine Hamann, is a former aide to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

Spitzer's request for the investigation into Buley's allegations came after the state Legislature's top Republican, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, told an Albany radio station Friday that if the governor didn't pursue the matter, the Legislature would.

"We've got to get to the truth of the matter," Bruno told WROW-AM radio, adding that he personally knows Buley and considers her "as honest as this day is long."

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said he sought a transcript of the PSC meeting Friday as he considered starting an investigation, but said he will now wait for the inspector general's report.

"I think the governor took the right step," said Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat.

Buley is the estranged wife of Albany attorney-lobbyist Jeffrey Buley, a longtime top election law adviser to the state GOP.

"Now that that has been initiated, I am not in a position to comment," Mrs. Buley said Friday when asked about Spitzer's action.

She was appointed to the PSC last year by then-Republican Gov. George Pataki.

During Wednesday's PSC meeting, Buley said Mitnick had threatened her career five or six times since the governor took office Jan. 1.

[Livyjr]

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

April 19th, 2007 4:34 pm

In the state of NY, where the budget process is very tightly defined and controlled by ART. VII of the NYS Constitution, there is no such thing as “Technically, of course, the budget was late, though only slightly”, and this newspaper should be the very first to know that, based upon its own story from January 18, 2002 entitled “Court’s Budget Ruling Hands Pataki a Big Victory” by James C. McKinley, Jr., wherein was stated in relevant part to this very discussion that:

“But Justice Bernard J. Malone, Jr. of Albany ruled today in the governor’s favor, saying the Constitution and previous court decisions unequivocally gave the executive the power to include policy changes in the descriptions of appropriations.”

“In essence, Justice Malone said Article VII, Section III of the Constitution gives the governor the choice of folding any policy changes he thinks necessary to carry out his spending plan into the budget bill or submitting those changes in separate bills.”

“He ruled that the Legislature’s contention that appropriation bills should consist only of a list of numbers with short descriptions of their purpose would render that part of the Constitution meaningless.”

So, according to this newspaper’s own reporting, in 2002, NY Supreme Court Justice Bernard J. Malone, Jr. of Albany ruled in favor of the New York State constitution, and in 2002, “Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer was state A.G., so there is no way that the “STEAMROLLER” could be ignorant of that decision, and yet here he is, in the pages of your newspaper, mocking us and treating us like a bunch of chumps by telling us his budget was “substantively the right budget” and also on-time.

Pardon me here, but that is a bunch of absolute crap, and shame on us for not calling “STEAMROLLER’s” Spitzer’s cards on this gross abuse of our constitutional processes for state budgeting here in NYS as they are delineated in ART. VII of our state Constitution.

Pursuant to sect. 3 of ART. IV of the NYS Constitution, “The governor shall …. take care that the laws are faithfully executed”, and with respect to the state budget, that “law” which thoroughly binds the governor, any NYS governor, including “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer, is ART. VII of our Constitution, and instead of taking care that ART. VII was “faithfully executed” with respect to this budget, “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer simply trashed the NYS Constitution and did things his own way, for which we upstate people believe he should be removed from office, right now, as soon as possible, for he is an oath-breaker and he is a danger to our democracy here in upstate NYS to boot.

An unconstitutional budget is not “late, though only slightly” as your newspaper maintains, and would apparently have us believe, as if we were really all nothing more than a bunch of ignorant chumps up here who would fall for anything any roaming “drummer” or snake-oil salesman or ordinary con-artist would sell us; to the contrary, an unconstitutional budget in NYS is a nullity - it doesn’t exist, because you cannot get something lawful out of an unlawful, unconstitutional process!

In your own newspaper just five years ago, in 2002, it was stated with respect to our present constitutional budget process as follows:

“The state’s current budget-making system was drawn up during a redrafting of the Constitution in 1927, at a time when the public had grown tired with the Legislature’s penchant for spending.”

“The changes were refined again in a 1938 revision.”

“Those amendments gave the governor the power to write and submit appropriations bills as well as others needed to carry out the budget and severely limited the Legislature’s ability to change the appropriations.”

“The governor was given the power to veto any additions, but the legislature was barred from passing other appropriations until they took ‘final action’ on the governor’s bills.”

There, I submit, right in the pages of your own newspaper, is the “bones” of what is laid out in more exacting detail in ART. VII of our state Constitution, and it is too bad this newspaper has such a short memory that it forgets its own words of yesterday about such an important issue to us in upstate NYS today, that being the crafting of our state budget according to our Constitution by both the governor and the Legislature, because just like in 1927, which was just before a major U.S. depression, once again we, the people have grown damn sick and tired with the Legislature’s penchant for spending, along with that of “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer ….

And so …

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...style/#comments

THE NEW YORK POST

"NY BUDGET: BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR"

By DIANA FORTUNA

April 19, 2007 -- THIS year's state budget didn't bring about nearly enough change.

Setting the priorities for next year should start now.

Yes, the budget included some modest reforms - a more equitable formula to divide up substantially greater funding for public schools; partial containment of the state's Medicaid costs, which are the highest in the nation, without reducing services to the poor; some relief for homeowners from high local taxes.

But Albany's ingrained political culture remains highly dysfunctional; the budget process is still too secretive and convoluted, and the state's fiscal practices are still far out of line with those of other states - leaving New Yorkers the nation's most heavily taxed people.

It takes time and effort to change Albany's decades-old practices and culture; we need to establish public expectations as early as possible.

Top priorities for elected officials in Albany should include:

Fix the broken budget process: This year's budget negotiations were a throwback to earlier days of Albany's old-fashioned behind-closed-doors decision-making.

The newly established process for reaching agreement on revenue levels quickly broke down.

Functioning conference committees - a recent reform that had allowed participation by rank-and-file legislators - were marginalized to the point of insignificance.

Secret talks continued to the last minute, giving legislators less than two hours to review a $121 billion budget - less than a minute for every billion dollars approved.

To correct this, the state should close the loopholes in this year's new budget-reform law - after all, it failed to prevent a breakdown in the budget process.

Improvements should ensure 1) an active role for conference committees, 2) sufficient time for lawmakers to review the budget before voting on it and 3) timely public release of a document that summarizes the fiscal impacts of the multiple, complex appropriation bills.

The state should also move the start of its fiscal year from April 1 to July 1.

This would allow more accurate estimates of revenue, since the April 15 tax-filing deadline would have passed, and it would provide more time for budget negotiations and review.

Reduce spending growth to a sustainable rate: This year's budget inflated spending by an alarming 9 percent - more than three times the rate of inflation.

As a result, the state now has to close a budget gap of about $5 billion in just 18 months.

To curb spending, the state should reduce the size of its workforce through productivity gains.

Contracts with the state's major labor unions expired on March 31.

Negotiations that result in a smaller, better-paid workforce will best serve the public interest - not least by allowing for an easier time closing the coming multibillion-dollar budget gaps.

It's also past time to fix the state's broken debt limit.

New York's debt load will soon exceed $60 billion - about $10 billion more than is affordable under reasonable standards.

The excess borrowing drives up annual debt-service costs and is a significant cause of those yawning budget woes.

Bring Medicaid costs under control: New York's spending per beneficiary is the highest in the nation, and nearly twice the national average.

One of the biggest problems is the extension of long-term-care benefits to middle- and upper-middle-class New Yorkers - when the program's true purpose is to assist the poor.

Reimbursement rates for hospitals and nursing homes are also too high - well above the national average, even when adjusted for the cost of living and patient need.

To control these costs, the state should tighten the eligibility rules for long-term care and take measures to stimulate the market for private long-term-care insurance among the middle class.

It should reduce hospital and nursing-home rates more than it did this year, to more competitive levels.

New Yorkers should be prepared next year for another blizzard of TV ads sponsored by special interests fighting to retain their excessive subsidies.

We should remember that the taxpayers pay the bill for those excesses.

Curtailing these costs would provide opportunities to expand primary-care coverage for more uninsured New Yorkers, building on this year's gains.

Continue education-funding reform: To achieve this year's changes in the school-funding formula, state leaders allocated too much money to wealthy school districts that don't need it.

Also watered down were the accountability improvements sought by Gov. Spitzer.

Next year, the new funding formula should operate only on the basis of need, not be distorted by last-minute political deal-making that disproportionately benefits narrow and wealthy constituencies.

To maximize the impact of every dollar, New York needs tighter accountability standards.

The law must hold school officials responsible for student performance - and remove officials who fail consistently.

Review the effectiveness of STAR: This program, enacted in 1997, was supposed to reduce local school taxes.

It has proven to be fundamentally flawed and shouldn't have been expanded this year.

It sends the most relief to the wealthiest homeowners, rather than to the neediest, and leaves out renters and business owners.

It should be restructured to deliver property-tax relief where it's needed most.

Next year's budget will be crucial.

New Yorkers should start now to let their elected officials know that they want their state government to be more efficient and effective, not just more expensive.

Diana Fortuna is president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civic organization.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04192007/posto...tuna.htm?page=1

[Livyjr]

METROLAND

"Furthering the Charges - Former staffer expands on her allegations of widespread abuse within the Rennselaer County Legislature"

Last month, Colleen Regan, a former staffer with the Republican majority in the Rensselaer County Legislature, filed a complaint with the state Division of Human Rights accusing her superiors of sexual misconduct and the abuse of government resources.

This triggered a chain of events that led to Albany County District Attorney David Soares agreeing to act as a special prosecutor and investigate the charges.

Last week, in a second affidavit delivered to the Albany DA’s office, Regan expanded upon her allegations, claiming that members of the legislative majority routinely abused county resources for their political campaigns.

“Basically Republican headquarters was not down in the Atrium [in downtown Troy],” she said, “it was in the Rensselaer County Legislature.”

In the affidavit dated April 11, Regan details her accusation that Majority Leader Robert Mirch (R-Troy) and Republican liaison Richard Crist were in large part running their personal consulting business, Victory Lanes, LLC, out of their legislative offices.

“I and my coworkers witnessed various candidates, which were running for an elected office,” Regan deposed, “frequently visit the legislature on a regular basis during their election campaign season to consult with Mr. Crist."

". . . These candidates were clients of Victory Lanes, LLC, and were seeking out Mr. Crist’s expertise regarding their election campaign strategy, while Mr. Crist was on the job at the county.”

She goes on to list the 11 candidates who consulted with Crist at the Legislature, and for whose campaigns many of the staffers were used.

Troy City Councilman Mark Wojcik, Nassau Supervisor Carol Sanford, and Troy City Council President Henry Bauer are a few of the elected officials that she fingers.

Earlier in the document, Regan claims that Crist and Mirch were charging “upwards of $5,000 a race, depending on the individual and work involved.”

Crist flatly denied the allegations.

“I look forward to speaking with the special prosecutor, to clear up these charges,” Crist said.

“These accusations are completely false.”

(Mirch did not return calls for comment.)

The campaign work went beyond what was done for Victory Lanes, Regan said.

Staffers were used on every incumbent legislative Republican’s campaign, not only on weekends and evenings, as would be expected, but during office hours as well.

“Most of our work there [at the Legislature] was of a political nature,” Regan said.

“I always said we were overstaffed."

"If you wanted to go by just mere work that needed to be done, other than political, you wouldn’t need all that staff.”

At the time, there were four full-time legislative assistants on the payroll, she said.

Regan was getting paid $21 an hour.

“Some of the political campaign work staff carries out,” Regan’s affidavit continues, “includes but is not limited to: prepare fundraising mailers, solicitation letters asking for support from committee members of various organizations, letters to residents introducing the candidate and their platform, reminder cards to vote on primary day, do me a favor cards . . .” and so on.

“People understand when you come on board, you are going to have to do some work for some people’s campaigns,” she said.

“But there is a difference."

"When somebody is running their business out of a place of business, when they are getting paid to do a job, but they are working their own personal business, using county employees for their own personal gain—how do you feel about that as a taxpayer?”

—Chet Hardin

chardin@metroland.net

http://www.metroland.net/newsfront.html#1

[Livyjr]

"Agency let slide parole failures - Documents confirm Times Union report that felons remained free despite violations; instead of disciplining those responsible, investigators searched for leaks"

By BRENDAN J. LYONS, Senior writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, April 22, 2007

ALBANY -- An internal investigation by state parole officials found that parole managers incorrectly allowed convicted felons to remain free and commit new crimes, but the state agency's leaders took no action against those found responsible.

Instead, the Division of Parole, then under the control of Gov. George Pataki, kept the results of their inquiry private and pursued charges against the people they suspected of leaking information to the Times Union.

The whole affair unfolded after a July 2005 Times Union report revealed how parolees who violated the terms of their release remained free and went on to commit crimes such as rape and murder.

Internal affairs investigators confirmed the newspaper's account, according to documents the Times Union has since obtained.

Dozens of pages of internal parole documents described how policies were violated and the advice of many parole officers was ignored by supervisors who rewrote reports and manipulated hearings to let rogue parolees go free.

Internal affairs investigators recommended varying degrees of discipline for the managers and some parole officers deemed responsible, but nothing was done.

Meanwhile, a confidential source who was involved with the case says the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility, which served as an internal affairs unit and was recently disbanded, may have used investigative subpoenas to sift through the personal phone records of parole officers and attached global positioning satellite devices to their personal vehicles to track their movements.

In response to a Freedom of Information Law request, state officials acknowledged that those subpoenas may exist, but they declined to release the records.

The Times Union is appealing the decision.

On Saturday, the agency issued a written statement acknowledging subpoenas were used to access the telephone records of parole officers.

Officials said the subpoenas were used in "personnel" investigations and not as part of the hunt for people who may have leaked information to the newspaper.

In addition, the statement said, "the Division of Parole has not attached a GPS device to the vehicle of any parole officer to monitor their activity."

The subpoenas and satellite devices are used by the agency to keep tabs on parolees, including sex offenders.

Agency officials were not available to answer questions about their policies on the use of subpoenas and the satellite devices.

It's not clear under what authority the subpoenas were used.

Normally, only judges and prosecutors have the ability to issue subpoenas involving criminal investigations.

"The type of subpoenas used were Division of Parole agency subpoenas which have been issued after July 31, 2005, but unrelated to your story of that day," the agency's statement said.

In 2005, parole officers alleged that dangerous felons who were breaking the rules and committing criminal acts were being released by supervisors who sought to limit the number of parolees being returned to prison.

One case involved a parolee who, despite being suspected of dealing drugs and breaking curfew and driving restrictions, raped and killed the teenage daughter of his former girlfriend in Gloversville.

The murder took place in Gloversville, where the Albany man had been found driving without permission weeks before the incident.

In another incident involving a murder, documents obtained by the Times Union show that top parole officials were warned in 2005 -- in the wake of the Times Union stories -- that two ex-convicts in Albany had remained on parole even after being named as suspects in the unsolved murder of a government witness in Albany eight years ago.

One of those parolees, a convicted drug dealer, has worked as an informant for the Albany Police Department.

He allegedly had identified the victim's location to the shooter and then witnessed the murder, according to internal memorandums at the Division of Parole.

The Times Union is withholding the name of the informant at the request of Albany police.

The second parolee, John VanHosen, who is the suspected shooter but has never been charged, had a slew of documented parole violations in 1998 leading up to the murder.

The alleged violations included: felony assault charges; a suspicion that he was tampering with his electronic monitoring device; curfew violations; failure to keep a job; and an arrest on felony drug charges, according to a copy of a parole memorandum written in late 2005.

The murder took place Jan. 2, 1999, in a now-closed bar on North Swan Street, which at the time was one of Albany's more crime-ridden blocks.

Okema Curtis was playing darts in the bar that night when a masked man walked into the bar, lifted a gun and pulled the trigger at close range, shooting her in the head.

Days later, VanHosen was identified as a suspect in the murder.

Detectives at the time said they believed Curtis was killed to prevent her from testifying at the murder trial of VanHosen's cousin, Jermaine VanHoesen, who was accused of killing Curtis' boyfriend during a South End shootout.

Without Curtis' testimony, Jermaine VanHoesen was later acquitted of murder charges by an Albany County jury.

No one has been arrested in connection with the murder of Okema Curtis.

But looking back, parole officials who re-examined the circumstances of her death acknowledged that mistakes were made.

"The Division of Parole's liability in this case is overwhelming," an internal affairs officer wrote in a memorandum in late 2005, regarding their oversight of John VanHosen in the months leading up to the murder.

"The parole officer of record failed to meet even minimal standards of supervision ..."

"It is with significant luck that our handling of this case was not one of those detailed in the Times Union."

The Times Union's stories -- under the headline "Danger roams the streets" -- were published July 31, 2005.

The stories led to a series of hearings by the state Assembly's Committee on Correction.

The Democratic-led panel, which took no action, investigated allegations that parolees caught breaking the rules were being set free under a secret quota system to prevent too many ex-convicts from being returned to prison.

The Division of Parole assigned one internal affairs officer to investigate the allegations.

About 10 other internal affairs officers, many of them summoned to Albany from around the state, were assigned to track down the newspaper's confidential sources, according to people familiar with the probe.

That internal investigation was unfolding when the personal telephone records of at least one parole officer were subpoenaed, according to a person involved in the investigation who asked not to be identified.

Ultimately, the agency determined there was no proof supporting the assertions by parole officers that there was a secret quota system.

But internal documents did outline serious mishandling of the cases cited by the newspaper, including a finding that parole supervisors had failed to follow procedures and manipulated violation hearings in order to release parolees.

In a memorandum in August 2005, an internal affairs officer recommended "administrative action" or counseling for several officers and supervisors.

However, there was no action taken by parole officials, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

Despite the findings, the internal probe was problematic.

For instance, when internal affairs officers tried to access computer files of certain parolees that had been cited in the Times Union's report, they found that computer files had been "inexplicably erased," according to a Aug. 15, 2005, memorandum drafted by Senior Parole Officer Lois Fairchild, a former internal affairs investigator.

The memo was addressed to Theodore A. Cook III, the former director of the agency's internal affairs unit.

Cook was "separated from state service" on Feb. 25, and the Office of Professional Responsibility has been disbanded, according to state parole officials.

Now, two senior parole officers -- down from about a dozen under the previous administration -- serve as internal affairs investigators and report to the Office of Human Resource Management, officials added.

Fairchild, who authored the internal report, did not respond to a request for comment.

Cook also did not respond to a request for comment left on his home answering machine.

He retired from the State Police in 2002 after a 37-year career that included commendations for his leadership and professionalism.

He was tapped to head the Division of Parole's internal affairs unit during the time when the subpoenas and tracking devices were allegedly used to investigate parole officers.

State Police Col. Anthony G. Ellis II, who was director of the Division of Parole under Pataki until last year, was on vacation last week and unavailable for comment, according to a State Police spokesman.

Ellis testified last year before the state Assembly's committee that there was no quota system in place.

He attributed the allegations to "disgruntled" parole officers but pledged to investigate anyway.

In February, the Times Union filed a Freedom of Information request with the Division of Parole seeking copies of any subpoenas issued by the agency in connection with internal investigations of parole officers.

The newspaper, in its request, suggested that the names of any individual parole officers could be redacted in order to prevent a denial on the basis of privacy provisions.

State parole officials responded on March 23, denying the newspaper's request for redacted copies of the subpoenas:

"The division considers such documents to be personnel records that are confidential ... (and) their disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy."

State officials said the disbanding of their internal affairs unit was part of a reorganization, and they did not elaborate.

The president of the Public Employees Federation, an umbrella union representing state parole officers, described that unit as out of control in its handling of investigations involving parole officers.

The dismantling of the unit "says to us that the agency understood the many problems and abuses within OPR under the prior administration," said Ken Brynien, PEF's president.

Brendan J. Lyons can be reached at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com.

Investigation summary

Highlights of a Times Union report, published July 31, 2005, on four predator parolees and the results of an internal investigation into each case by the state Division of Parole:

Mazene Lacy

Lacy worked as an informant while allegedly committing other crimes and violating terms of his parole from prison for a drug conviction.

In September 2004, Quantica Patterson, a 19-year-old pregnant woman, told police and parole officers she was severely beaten by Lacy and approximately 10 others who broke into her Albany apartment.

Lacy already faced charges for parole violations that included selling cocaine to an undercover police informant.

Parole officers recommended Lacy be arrested and jailed on four parole violation charges, not including the assault.

Two days after the attack on Patterson, who was hospitalized, a parole supervisor rewrote the analysis of a parole officer who wanted Lacy locked up.

"It is recommended that no delinquency action be taken pending court action," the supervisor, John Lowery, wrote in an analysis in which he left blank a line that was supposed to be signed by Lacy's parole officer.

Division of Parole findings:

No evidence appeared showing parole officers obtained approval for Lacy to work as an undercover informant.

A parole supervisor voided an arrest warrant for Lacy in connection with Patterson's beating.

Computer files of violations for Lacy have been inexplicably erased.

Lacy's parole officer "failed to investigate" the gang assault and "lied about the assault when questioned."

A parole supervisor "wrote an analysis and processed (Lacy's) case based on inaccurate or incomplete information."

Jamall K. Sanchez

Sanchez's criminal history began at age 15 when he was arrested on first-degree robbery charges in Albany.

Over the next decade, he was in and out of prison and jail for arrests on charges that included car theft, larceny, criminal possession of a firearm, burglary, robbery, possession of contraband in a prison, criminal trespass, assault and drug possession.

In September 2004, three months after Sanchez was paroled from state prison for a drug conviction, he was arrested for allegedly slashing his uncle across the face with a 12-inch butcher knife.

Sanchez, 30, was later cleared of a parole violation in connection with the assault after a parole supervisor intervened in the hearing process.

In handwritten notes to a co-worker, John Lowrey, a parole chief in the Albany office, ordered a preliminary hearing in the case canceled.

In another note, Lowery instructed a co-worker to notify Albany police who arrested Sanchez that the hearing had been canceled.

Lowery then wrote a notation on a parole officer's report criticizing the decision to issue a parole violation warrant in the case.

"We issued a warrant for an assault without ever interviewing the victim," Lowery wrote.

"Even the arresting officer failed to appear at the preliminary hearing."

"This cannot happen."

Yet, Lowery's notes indicate he notified both the parole officer and Albany police that the hearing was canceled.

In a report documenting his reasons for rescinding the arrest warrant, Lowery wrote, "The division (of parole) presented no evidence or testimony to sustain the violation charges."

Division of Parole findings:

No entries in Sanchez's file support the assertion by parole officials that attempts were made to interview the victim of the assault.

No evidence appears in the case file indicating witnesses or arresting officers were subpoenaed or notified of a parole violation hearing.

The parole supervisor acted as a preliminary hearing officer in the case, which "is not a sound practice from a legal perspective and could lead to sustained conflict of interest arguments."

Robert Pratt

Pratt, an admitted drug addict, drifted in and out of prison and drug programs over several years, logging arrests in New York, Texas and Delaware on charges that included robbery, grand larceny, forgery, drug possession and making a terroristic threat.

He was arrested in early 2004 by Saratoga County sheriff's investigators, accused of stealing, forging and cashing three checks from his employer in late 2003.

He also was charged with robbing a bank in Colonie in January 2004, telling police he was high on crack when he did it.

Pratt was later paroled from state prison on the convictions for robbery and forgery.

He enrolled in a drug-rehab house in Albany, but his drug problems almost immediately resurfaced.

In May 2005, Pratt called home and threatened to kill his family members if they didn't give him $200.

His mother called his parole officer and authorities went to the drug rehab house, where they found two crack pipes in Pratt's pockets.

Parole officers brought Pratt to their office, where they allege he again threatened to kill his family members.

Officers prepared to return Pratt to jail on parole violation charges but were stopped by a supervisor who ordered his release.

The supervisor gave Pratt money for a cab to get to a homeless shelter.

Pratt took the taxi to an M&T Bank in Clifton Park, police said, and handed a note to a teller claiming he had a gun.

The teller gave Pratt $1,000 and he was arrested minutes later.

Anthony G. Ellis II, former executive director of the state Division of Parole, questioned the parole supervisor's decision to release Pratt that day.

"You know, hindsight is 20-20," Ellis said.

But, "This guy is what, 4 (feet) 11 (inches) and crippled?"

"There are questions I have about this case, though, I'm not going to kid you there."

"We're also looking into the manner in which it was done, but not necessarily the overall decision he was supposed to make (to release Pratt)."

Division of Parole findings:

"None of the parole staff in this case disputes the details as reported in the article."

"Area Supervisor Lowery ... stands by his unilateral decision in this case."

Lowery overruled a senior parole officer's decision without holding a conference in the case.

"He also disregarded the validity of Pratt's mother's report of threats without speaking to her ... did not review the police report on the incident ... nor did he speak to (witnesses)."

Orlando Alvarez

Alvarez raped and murdered a 14-year-old girl in Gloversville.

At the time, his criminal history included nearly a dozen convictions for crimes ranging from robbery to drug dealing.

Alvarez attacked the teenager, Shauna Beekman, when she arrived home from school, sexually assaulting her before slashing her throat.

He was captured hours later as he transferred his bloody clothes from one car to another in a parking lot on the outskirts of Albany.

Alvarez, an Albany resident, had been on parole for six months.

The killing occurred less than a month after he was caught driving a car without a license, after his curfew and in an area -- Gloversville -- where he was not allowed to be without permission.

Alvarez had failed to notify his parole officer that he had been fired from a job selling vacuums.

His termination came after workers at the Latham company filed a complaint with Colonie police alleging Alvarez had stolen merchandise.

Before the traffic stop in Gloversville, Alvarez's parole officer was contacted by police in South Glens Falls, Saratoga County, who reported that he had been frequenting their village -- again, without permission -- and selling drugs from a local motel.

Alvarez was never arrested.

A parole officer familiar with the case claimed Alvarez's parole officer ignored the problems because of an informal directive from supervisors that parolees are not to be locked up for selling drugs, doing drugs, domestic disputes or curfew violations.

In August 2004, Alvarez was sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison for murder.

Division of Parole findings:

"The parolee had exhibited no recent propensity for violence and his (Youthful Offender) adjudications for armed robberies were six years prior."

"Alvarez had no convictions or even arrests for sex crimes or assaultive behavior."

"The only indicators of violative behavior were those pertaining to Alvarez's affinity for dealing drugs."

No action initiated by supervisor to deal with parolee's violative behavior.

Sources: NYS Division of Parole; Albany Police Department; NYS court records; law enforcement sources

[Livyjr]

"Pollution sensors remain uninstalled at river plant - GE agreed to put in testing equipment at its former facility four years ago"

By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, April 23, 2007

WATERFORD -- Like a cat agreeing to bell itself, General Electric promised nearly four years ago to install state-controlled pollution sensors where its sprawling silicones plant dumps waste into the Hudson River.

The state wanted to look over GE's shoulder after accusing the company of delaying the reporting of toxic spills into the river, if at all.

The move came in response to a litany of violations by GE that involved the improper handling of waste.

But to date the cat has yet to put on the bell -- and may not have to for another two years, under terms of a new deal worked out between the sides.

In the meantime, two pipelines from the 800-acre plant that discharge wastewater into the Hudson -- upriver from Waterford's drinking water intakes -- will remain without the sensors ordered by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Last October, GE agreed to pay up to $250,000 in state fines for spills since 2003 and delays in the sensor project.

Under this latest pact, the company has promised to finish sensor plans within six months.

The fine was the third agreed to or paid by GE in the past five years for illegal discharges and handling of industrial waste at the plant.

Since 2001, more than $1.4 million has been paid under consent orders with DEC in 2001, 2003 and 2006.

The sensor plant was included in the 2003 order.

But two months after once again promising to comply with the state-required testing plant, GE sold the plant as part of a $3.8 billion deal with Apollo Management, a Manhattan-based buyout firm.

The plant is now owned by Momentive Performance Materials, which is working with the DEC to meet the terms of the agreement.

Despite the delays from change of ownership, state DEC officials said they are confident progress toward compliance is being made, and called the installation of a remote-controlled testing station -- that DEC would run -- something that's pretty new.

"This is a fairly unique situation, at least unique to this region," said department spokeswoman Maureen Wren.

"This would enable us to get immediate information about a spill if something were to happen."

Wren said the building for the Hudson River testing station has been constructed, but plans for the equipment are not yet done.

She said the goal now is to have the station running by 2009 -- six years after it was first ordered.

Under GE ownership, the plant was part of General Electric Advanced Materials, a global network involved in the making of silicone and quartz products.

Last year, the unit reported about $2.5 billion in annual sales.

The plant is listed as the largest polluter of the Hudson River in the four-county Capital Region, according to the federal Toxic Release Inventory.

Those figures are reported by the polluters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

General Electric has apparently all but washed its hands of the Waterford plant, which it ran for some four decades.

Calls to the company this month were passed through three different spokesmen before being referred back to Momentive Performance Materials, the new owners created by Apollo Management.

Momentive's CEO is Wayne Hewett, the former president of GE Silicones, who signed both the 2003 and 2006 consent orders for the Waterford plant.

GE owns 10 percent of the new company, said Momentive spokeswoman Marina Moreno.

Wren said the state decided to demand the testing station because of GE's "record of violations," although she said there appeared to be no new violations since GE sold the plant.

She said the station was also demanded because of concerns about numerous GE-provided pollution test results given to DEC, some of which ultimately turned out to be inaccurate and were done by an outside company under contract.

Wren could not immediately characterize the number or extent of the errors.

Among 168 violations cited between 1998 and 2005 were three 4,000-pound discharges of toluene -- a chemical that, according to the EPA, has caused tumor growth in lab animals.

There have also been emissions of harmful chemicals such as hydrogen chloride, methyl chloride and hydrochloric acid.

Other violations have included untreated combustion gases released into the air from an incinerator, overflows of polluted water into ground soil and leaky drums of toxic waste covered in plastic.

Dave Roberts, the plant's environmental health and safety manager since 2004 who now works for Momentive, said the sensor station was delayed because "the design was changed to make it better."

"We are just making it easier for DEC to get samples."

He downplayed the six-month deadline imposed last fall by DEC which, if not met, will cost Momentive a $129,000 fine.

"That's just (DEC) protecting itself."

"Everything is being resolved to DEC's satisfaction," Roberts said.

"We have built a lot of credibility with the DEC over the years."

Roberts pointed to the state-mandated requirements, which came under an agreement in which GE neither admitted or denied the violations, as proof that past and current plant owners are committed to environmental safety.

Momentive, he said, has spent about $31 million to upgrade the treatment plant that discharges wastewater in the Hudson, and to improve manufacturing processes so less wastewater is produced.

Another $27 million in safety improvements are planned.

Still, chemicals in the river remain a special concern of Jack Lawler, supervisor of the town of Waterford, whose drinking water treatment plant is downriver.

He said town officials rely on GE to inform them of chemical spills so they can turn to a backup drinking water system that taps into Troy municipal water.

Lawler said he had not seen either the 2003 or 2006 consent decrees between GE and the state.

"I assume that GE has been reporting these spills to us."

"They are supposed to be reporting," he said.

"I'm led to believe that spills were kept on the plant, and had little effect outside the plant."

The state Health Department, which regulates drinking water safety, has not issued any "do not drink" orders to the town dating back to the early 1990s, according to a department spokesman.

That period would include all the toxic spills listed in the GE consent decrees.

Lawler said the town relied on GE sharing spill information because it was "too complicated" to wait for state Health Department notification because of potential delays after a spill occurs.

A reporter gave the supervisor a list of all spill dates -- which ranged from February 1998 to July 2005.

Lawler was not immediately able to say whether GE had advised town officials of the spills.

A logbook of incident reports made by GE to the town, maintained at the town police office, was made available to the Times Union late last week for inspection, but contained no records prior to 2006.

Earlier records could not immediately be located.

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

History of violations

Fined $1.4 million and cited three times by the state since 2001 for improper discharges and handling of toxic waste, the former General Electric Silicones plant in Waterford was ordered in 2003 to build a state-controlled pollution sampling station at its discharge point into the Hudson River.

GE sold the plant late last year with plans still in the works for the station, which will not be in place until 2009.

A sampling of 168 pollution violations at the plant under state consent orders in 2003 and 2006 includes unreported chemical discharges into the river, escapes of combustion fumes from the plant incinerator and improper storage of barrels of toxic waste.

Some examples:

Feb. 20, 2002: A 4,000-pound spill of toluene into the Hudson was not reported to the state.

It was the third toluene spill since 1998.

The chemical is classified as a possible human carcinogen, according to The International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Sept. 30, 2005: Untreated gases from a rotary kiln incinerator escaped into the air through an emergency vent.

Nov. 29 and Nov. 21, 2004: Methyl chloride and hydrochloric acid are discharged into the Hudson.

May 27, 2004: Bulging and leaking drums of hazardous waste were taped over with plastic sheeting.

Sources: 2003 and 2006 consent orders, Department of Environmental Conservation

[Livyjr]

"State 'test batteries' begin to lose power"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Monday, April 2, 2007

The Spitzer administration has suspended a civil service procedure that was designed to make the promotion process in state government more objective.

Some worry the action is a prelude to opening the system to a more subjective process, in which favoritism and connections would play a greater role.

The Civil Service Department said no permanent decision has been made on the "promotion test batteries.''

The tests, implemented under former Gov. George Pataki, were essentially generic exams employees at specific grades could take toward a future promotion.

The exams tested people on core supervisory skills and abilities, so they could be applied across agencies.

If more specific things needed to be tested for a particular job, the state would have people take a second exam.

Although the department is looking at its options, the elimination of the promotion test batteries could mean a greater use of oral exams, which had largely been eliminated from the testing process over the years.

"We will be using a variety of tools including written and oral examinations to evaluate candidates for promotion,'' said Civil Service spokeswoman Erin Barlow.

There is some concern in unions like the Public Employees Federation that oral exams are less objective than written tests.

"Some of our members feel that the oral exams are more subjective,'' said PEF spokeswoman Darcy Wells.

Barlow, however, said oral tests "if well-crafted can provide an objective evaluation.''

All candidates taking such tests get the same questions, she noted, and the proceedings are tape-recorded in case someone later charges bias.

Contributors: Capitol bureau reporters Elizabeth Benjamin, Rick Karlin and James M. Odato. Got a tip? Call 454-5424 or e-mail jjochnowitz@timesunion.com.

[Livyjr]

"Spitzer: I want the Legislature to overhaul campaign finance laws"

By MARC HUMBERT, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:04 p.m., Monday, April 23, 2007

ALBANY -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer declared war Monday on the state Senate's Republican majority after its leader rejected the Democratic governor's plans for overhauling New York's notoriously lax campaign finance laws as "elitist."

"The Republican members of the state Senate were unwilling to break their addiction to the free flow of money," said Spitzer.

"It is a narcotic to which they are beholden."

With that, Spitzer announced plans to visit Senate districts represented by "members of the temporary majority of the Senate" to berate them for their position and seek their eventual ouster if they didn't back an overhaul.

The developments came just a few hours after Spitzer drew a standing ovation from several hundred government reform activists when he said he was closing in on a possible agreement with the state Legislature to overhaul New York's campaign finance laws.

"Today is the day the Legislature will reveal its true colors," Spitzer had said during a lunchtime speech to members of Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and other groups.

Spitzer said he had been negotiating with legislative leaders for weeks over the issue, and the Republican majority of the state Senate and the Democratic majority of the state Assembly were each discussing behind closed doors on Monday where things stood.

But after meeting with his troops, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said there was no deal, at least not yet.

"We've been close for a month, but close, you know, you don't get a cigar," the Republican leader said.

Bruno also said that under Spitzer's proposals for sharply more restrictive campaign donation limits, wealthy candidates who can self-finance their own campaigns -- he included millionaire Spitzer in that category -- would gain an advantage.

That, said Bruno, was "a sort of elitist approach."

Nonetheless, Bruno said he and his Republican Senate colleagues were willing to continue negotiating.

Spitzer said later that the time to talk was over and that he would soon be hitting the road to attack Senate Republicans.

And, Spitzer said his plan included provisions that would allow candidates facing self-funded millionaires to exceed the proposed new campaign contribution limits in order to level the playing field.

The new Democratic governor has said he wants to sharply lower the amount of contributions allowed in New York for statewide and legislative candidates, put restraints on what entities can give money and limit the amount of soft money that can be given to state political party committees.

Currently, individuals can give more than $50,000 each to candidates for governor in New York while they can give only $4,600 to presidential candidates.

Unlimited donations can be given to New York political parties for "housekeeping" expenses which can include everything from paying the electric bills to signing up new voters.

Among other things, Spitzer wants to ban contributions from limited liability corporations.

In New York, corporations faced with $5,000 annual contribution limits routinely set up LLCs that can then each give as much as an individual, or more than $50,000 to a candidate for governor.

It is not unusual for corporations in New York to set up multiple LLCs.

Spitzer has already unilaterally limited campaign contributions to his own campaign committee to $10,000.

He said Monday he would not accept legislation overhauling New York's laws that allowed anything higher than that.

"Special interests hold too much sway," Spitzer said.

Bruno said a major stumbling block for the Senate GOP was Spitzer's desire to sharply limit what various groups could give.

That, said Bruno, was an assault on "freedom of speech."

"This is America, this is the Empire State -- there is freedom, liberty, justice for all," Bruno said.

Spitzer told the government reform activists that he would also soon introduce proposed state constitutional amendments that would provide for same-day voter registration in New York and would create an independent commission to redraw voting district lines for congressional and state legislative seats after each census.

That redistricting is currently done by state lawmakers.

[Livyjr]

"Spitzer creates commission to shrink local governments, tax bills"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:54 p.m., Monday, April 23, 2007

ALBANY -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer has a plan to shrink more than 4,200 local government entities and New Yorkers' property tax bills in the process.

Spitzer's commission is expected to recommend how fire, library, sewer and other special districts can be combined.

Many of these special districts levy taxes even though many New Yorkers don't know they exist.

The commission will also study how services in villages, cities, towns and counties could be shared or consolidated.

"Taxes will go down because of the hard work of this group," Spitzer said.

He said it's not inevitable that public jobs would be cut, but "you would hope that we can do that."

He said a local entity targeted for consolidation wouldn't always be able to veto the change.

The New York Conference of Mayors, which represents much of local government, said the "number one barrier to governmental efficiency" is Albany and the services it requires of local government without providing state aid to pay for it.

The group's executive director, Peter Baynes, said villages can already dissolve into towns if residents petition for a vote.

The commission's review won't include school districts, which account for more than half of a New Yorker's property tax bill.

E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy said the "overwhelming reason" for high tax bills are school districts.

"It's going to be an important and worthwhile effort, but what you could save by merging every village in the state to the closest town would be a drop in the bucket compared to what school districts cost and spend."

And although local political turf wars are often blamed for duplicative services, McMahon said there's another obstacle to consolidation of public services, even if it means lower tax bills.

"People do want a level of government that is as close as possible to them," he said.

"That's why this needs to be approached very carefully ... they need to sell this."

The new Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness will have a Web site to receive public comment ( http://www.nyslocalgov.org ).

In January 1995 the last new governor, Republican George Pataki, also argued for government consolidation as common-sense approach to lower costs for taxpayers.

But efforts to regionalize public services have often been stopped by political considerations.

Spitzer, however, said the time is right for the old issue to be addressed.

He is relying on what he considers a mandate from voters to push reform

And his popularity is rising again.

After a dip in his approval rating during a contentious budget session, Spitzer was rated good or excellent in his job by 55 percent of New Yorkers polled by the Siena Research Institute.

That's up from 47 percent in March and near his high of 58 percent in February.

[Livyjr]

For anyone just stopping by in here ....

This thread is an "experiment in democracy", just as this COMMONGROUNDCOMMONSENSE FORUM is an experiment .....

And just as OUR America, itself, is really an on-going experiment ....

A "living labratory", as it were ....

And what we are "viewing" in here, right now, to be blunt about it, is "DUELING BLOGS" ....

CAN COMMON ORDINARY AMERICAN CITIZENS WITHOUT "MEANS", WITHOUT WEALTH AND POWER, MAKE A DIFFERENCE, FOR THE BETTER, HERE IN OUR AMERICA?

Right now, in addition to using this thread to INFORM and EDUCATE and NOTIFY ....

We are also using it as a sort of OVERSIGHT on the Hearst Corporation-owned Albany, New York Times Union BLOG SITE ....

And to be truthful, we are using it as a GOAD, as well, with respect to this issue of CORPORATE CENSORSHIP and PROPAGANDIZING that goes on in the pages of the "BOSSES' RADIO" as we countryfolks call it up here ....

The other day, after one of the members of OUR community was in fact denied entry to the BLOG of the Albany, New York Times Union, we informed the editor that now, we countryfolks HAD OUR OWN NEWSPAPER, here in COMMONGROUNDCOMMONSENSE, where we can operate within the bounds of decency and a kind of self-imposed decorum, WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEING STIFLED, OR CENSORED, because we choose to use OPPROBRIUM to embarass our public officials up here who stray far, far outside the bounds that OUR New York State Constitution sets for them ....

And what we said, in essence, was MAKE A CHOICE ....

CENSOR US IN YOUR CORPORATE BLOG, IF YOU WILL, BUT BE ADVISED, THEN, THAT WE ARE GOING TO USE OUR "CITIZEN'S RADIO" IN HERE TO TELL ALL THE CANDID WORLD LISTENING IN ABOUT THAT CENSORSHIP, AND WHY IT IS OF IMPORTANCE FOR US TO INDEED TALK ABOUT THE ISSUE TO THE CANDID WORLD ....

And a LOGJAM broke ....

Just like that ....

Way back in the beginning, when the future of this nation of OURS was not all that secure, or guaranteed, just as it is right now, and always, for that matter, people in OUR America, small as it was back then, and in New York State, as well, knew violence and death and destruction very well, because in truth, that is how we began life as a "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" ....

And as any rational combat veteran can tell you, THERE JUST HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY ....

And outside of force of arms, and cold steel, and automatic weapons, and such, EMBARRASSMENT and OPPROBRIUM are about all there really are ....

IF USED INTELLIGENTLY ....

WHICH IS PART OF WHAT THE "LIVING EXPERIMENT" HERE IN OUR AMERICA IS REALLY ALL ABOUT ....

Which is why "FREEDOM OF SPEECH" is so important, not only here in OUR America, but in the CORRUPT EMPIRE of NEW YORK, especially .....

And so ...

NEWSDAY

Politics

"SPIN CYCLE - Partisan blogs target other bloggers' sites"

Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.com

April 23, 2007

Say it five times fast.

Partisan bloggers are blogging on the bloggings of other bloggers - and Long Island is the battlefield.

"Urban Elephants" is a New York City Republican-oriented Web site.

A recent post expresses concern about "energetic liberal bloggers setting up space online targeting specific Republican elected leaders," that is, "blogs dedicated solely to one person."

As examples, Elephants' Scott Scala cites Democratic-oriented sites that target Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), Nassau Legislature Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), the Nassau GOP - all of a piece.

Another such site, called "Veto Vito," whacks Staten Island Rep. Vito Fossella, the five boroughs' only Republican congressman.

"Now this does not necessarily mean such easily-set up sites can make an impact," Scala writes, but "the larger media loves fights."

"... A one-person crusade against one politician has the potential to become Cindy Sheehan-ized in the wrong hands."

"Readers should consider proper defenses," he adds.

"Pro-candidate blogs?"

"Anti-Dem elected officials blogs?"

"Counter posts?"

"Etc."

"We cannot lose the blog war in New York."

At his "Peter Schmitt Watch," John Rennhack of North Massapequa blogged:

"I guess this post from Urban Elephants is flattering."

"... Urban Elephants is well-written (not that we agree with the writing) and thoughtful."

Rennhack also does "Nassau GOP Watch" and "Peter King Watch."

One-time candidate Rennhack even responded last year to a "Watch" site targeting King's challenger, Legis. David Mejias, by creating "Mejias Watch Watch."

Recent fare on the "Nassau GOP Watch" included a link to the New York Observer "Politicker" site video of GOP state and county leader Joseph Mondello saying of Gov. Eliot Spitzer:

"He will self-destruct."

"You give it a little bit of time."

"GOP Watch" snaps:

"So the plan is to wait patiently for Governor Spitzer to 'self-destruct,'."

"... Brilliant strategist."

One recent "Urban Elephants" link raps Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) as having been unable in an interview to define a key term in her own anti-gun bill.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisla...itics-headlines

[Livyjr]

NY TIMES EMPIRE ZONE

April 23, 2007, 6:57 pm

"Spitzerisms: ‘Outcome-determinative’"

By Nicholas Confessore

In which your correspondents track the unusual verbiage of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a highly precise public speaker who often uses words or phrases that rarely alight upon the ears in normal conversation.

Today’s Spitzerism: “Outcome-determinative”

Usage: Asked whether any political candidate had ever been defeated for refusing to support lower limits on campaign contributions, Mr. Spitzer replied, “I don’t know whether historically this has been an outcome-determinative issue in any particular race, but I can tell you right now that there is a thirst for reform in the state of New York.”

Comments so far...

April 24th, 2007 5:59 am

Yes, there is indeed, as this “STEAMROLLER” says, a real powerful “thirst for reform in the state of New York”, and as an older NY-er, I would say that this “thirst for reform” stems from too many years of Mario Cuomo as NYS governor, followed by too many more years of George Pataki as NYS governor, and now, too much Eliot “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer as NYS governor, with him being seen as the most lawless-seeming of the pack, at least so far as the last budget-go-round went, anyway, where “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer took ART. VII of our state Constitution and he wadded it up like it was nothing more than some used tissue and then, he tossed it right out the window of the cab of his fast-moving steamroller, right in our faces, in contempt of us and everything that our constitution stands for, which is our constitutional democracy, here in NYS!

And yesterday, in Albany, at what is known up here as the “SHILL-DOM SCENE”, or “Reform Day” as it was laughingly and mockingly called up here by the “STEAMROLLER’S” bloated press corps and the assembled “Shill-dom”, “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer was given a thunderous standing ovation by his assembled followers and admirers and sycophants because he did trash our state Constitution, for them, of course, and blatantly so, in my opinion, at least.

“Tear down the old, replace it with the new, and the Cult of Eliot shall sing praises to his name to the massses and multitudes!”

Which, of course, they did in Albany, just yesterday!

So, whether or not that thunderous standing ovation given to “STEAMROLLER” Spitzer in Albany yesterday by his followers because he did trash our state Constitution will prove to be an “outcome-determinative” issue in any particular race that is yet to be run here in NYS, remains to be seen!

However, that thunderous standing ovation sure is seen by us older folks up here in the countryside outside of NYC as a harbinger of what is yet to come, here in NYS, as the “CULT OF ELIOT” rallies itself to now spread out across NYS, to spread the “GOSPEL OF ELIOT” as the new “organic law” or “law of the land” here in New York, in the place of our fomer state Constitution and its Bill of Rights, while it seeks out, for neutralization or removal from office, any who would stand in their way - resistance to the “STEAMROLLER CULT” being futile, afterall.

And so ….

— Posted by Livyjr

http://empirezone.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...native/#respond