Good to see you, Indianhead ....

And I agree, it is fascinating stuff ....

The best show in town, and here we are, with ringside seats, watching it all go down ....

And we even get to comment on it as it is happening ....

Like watching amber flowing over an ant on the trunk of a tree to preserve it there forever ....

And so ...

One of the more interesting aspects of this to me, Indianhead, is that NOBODY seems to have a clue as to what they have bought when they bought into these various instruments ....

And that starts with these top executives of these banks ...

And that is not only here ...

It is all over the world ....

That Northern Rock in London that failed and was nationalized is a case in point ....

And this is nothing new ...

The same thing happened TEN TEARS AGO in 1998 when a big hedge fund turned belly-up ....

Again, nobody really had a clue as to how to unwind its positions, so they had to keep on the old management of the failed hedge fund, because they were the only one who even had a clue ....

And it wasn't much of a clue, since they had gone bust ....

As Alan Greenspan put it to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives on October 1, 1998:

Regrettably, the creditors felt that, given the complexity of market bets woven into a bewildering arrray of financial contracts, working with the existing management would be far easier than starting from scratch.

And that is the FIRST INSTANCE of the Fed stepping in to help with a BAIL-OUT of a big hedge fund, TEN YEARS AGO, now, which gave rise to a belief among investors that if they were big enough as well, the Fed would step in to help them too ....

What is called MORAL HAZARD ....

You, the BIG INVESTOR, never need to worry about being responsible for your own actions, precisely because every time that you get into trouble, I am going to be there to bail you out again, with no penalty accruing to yourself, ever ....

AND HERE WE NOW ARE ....

And so ...

"State widens pension probe - BOCES is accused of 'chronic fraud' a day after 4 lawyers were removed from public benefits system"

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

First published: Saturday, April 19, 2008

ALBANY -- Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Friday he is subpoenaing all 37 of the state's BOCES organizations for information on whether they registered private lawyers in the state's public pension system.

Cuomo's announcement came a day after Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli kicked four private attorneys out of the state's pension system for being improperly listed as employees of the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

It was also learned Friday that the public cost for the attorneys may be greater than thought.

A BOCES official said his organization has also been paying a portion of the federal withholding taxes for the lawyers, who as private contractors would normally have paid the full bill.

"We have reason to believe some BOCES may have unclean hands in this situation," Cuomo said Friday in a written statement.

"There appears to be a chronic fraud that has occurred across New York state for many years, and we will work until we get to the bottom of it."

While Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES Superintendent Geoffrey Davis said he doesn't believe his organization committed fraud, he said it listed its lawyers as employees for two decades and no one questioned that arrangement until now.

"That didn't change over 20 years," said Superintendent Geoffrey Davis, who said that starting in 1988, before he came to the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES, lawyers were listed as employees working at 89 percent of full-time status.

"We were doing what had been in place for a very long time," said Davis, who added the individuals who put that system in place are either retired or deceased.

Moreover, he said, no one -- not BOCES' auditing firm, West and Co.; the state Comptroller; or the Education Department, which reimburses some of the legal costs -- had ever questioned the arrangement.

That changed in the past few weeks, when an investigator for DiNapoli asked Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES officials if their lawyers met certain criteria for full-time employment, such as having a set place to work, a supervisor and regular hours.

When they said no, Davis said, BOCES agreed to take the attorneys off its employee list.

The lawyers -- James Girvin, Kathy Ann Wolverton, Kristine Lanchantin and Jeffrey Honeywell -- were then removed from the state retirement system.

Davis said both BOCES and the firm, Girvin & Ferlazzo, agreed to end their relationship.

The firm has declined to comment on the matter.

The Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES has since hired a new firm -- McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams -- to represent it in the pension issue.

Pension credits were not the only benefit the lawyers got.

Davis said BOCES also paid part of the lawyers' FICA, or federal payroll taxes, just as any employer would.

Independent contractors, by contrast, must pay all of their own FICA taxes.

Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES paid Girvin & Ferlazzo $234,000 during the 2006-07 fiscal year.

The firm handled labor issues in 20 school districts in the BOCES region, which includes the Johnstown, Gloversville and Amsterdam areas.

Most of the labor issues concerned grievances filed by employees of a district or contract negotiations with unions.

BOCES are educational co-ops.

Member districts buy services that include vocational programs and legal work.

Lawyers from the firm would estimate in advance how much work they would have to do in a given year and set that rate.

DiNapoli listed five lawyers -- Girvin, Wolverton, Lanchantin, Honeywell and Salvatore Ferlazzo -- as doing the $234,000 worth of work.

Ferlazzo lost his pension credits with Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES but may have credits for other work for schools, DiNapoli said.

Davis, however, said other attorneys from the firm also performed some duties.

The trouble with that, said one person familiar with pension issues, was that the five named lawyers could then get pension credits they didn't deserve.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he said he may be approached by the attorney general in a separate case.

Davis said Cuomo's office contacted his office in March, seeking all records of its interactions with the law firm.

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

"Saratoga County water line work to proceed - Judge orders $50,000 fund to cover any damage to land"

By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Saturday, April 19, 2008

BALLSTON SPA -- State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Nolan gave the Saratoga County Water Authority permission Friday to continue work on its water line, over the objections of landowners in the path of the pipe.

The water authority started condemnation proceedings last month against 26 landowners who have refused to grant construction easements across their property.

Nolan granted the water authority temporary access to the contested property while the lawsuit moves along.

Ultimately he will decide whether the water authority may take the land in question through eminent domain and how much it will pay for it.

He also required the water authority to establish a $50,000 fund so money is available to fix any damage to the land caused by the construction.

About a third of the 26-mile, $67 million water line is already in the ground.

Mark Schachner, water authority lawyer, said it will cost thousands of dollars if construction is delayed because the water authority doesn't have all the easements it needs to install pipe.

Only two property owners spoke in court Friday: Will Orthwein of Bloomfield Road, Greenfield, and Debbie Zetterstrom, who represents her mother, Mary Zetterstrom, of Gray Gardens Road, Saratoga Springs.

Attorney Matt McNamara, hired by the YMCA of Saratoga, was also in court because the Y has been named in the water authority's eminent domain suit.

McNamara said the Y does not object to the temporary access.

Orthwein said the water authority did not evaluate the value of his land properly when it offered him $800 for more than a half an acre of land.

Zetterstrom is worried the workers will leave behind the same mess they did 30 years ago when the county sewer line was built on her mother's property.

The construction ruined 11 acres because the drainage was disrupted, Zetterstrom said.

Water Authority Director Bill Simcoe was also in court along with Ed Vopelak of CT Male, one of the project engineers.

The two told Nolan that land restoration once the project is done will cost $200 per 1,000 square feet, which is how the judge arrived at the $50,000 figure he required the water authority to pay.

The next hearing in the eminent domain case is May 16.

Orthwein told Nolan he is disappointed the water authority has not delivered on Chairman John Lawler's promise to talk to each property owner who attended a hearing on the issue in August.

He also said the water authority never responded when he pointed out inaccurate math in the offer letter he was sent.

Orthwein says the water authority has violated his private property rights.

"In this case the county is going through the motions without properly protecting the rights of property owners," Orthwein said.

"I hope the judge will act to protect those rights."

Leigh Hornbeck can be reached at 454-5352 or by e-mail at lhornbeck@timesunion.com.

"Analysis: Is Paterson too nice?"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 10:22 a.m., Saturday, April 19, 2008

ALBANY -- Gov. David Paterson is a smart guy, a politically savvy guy, a guy who can use humor like a rubber mallet to bend an opposing view his way.

Unfortunately, he's also a nice guy.

That can be a weakness with his colleagues in New York politics, who, whether he likes it or not, are adversaries in these tough fiscal times.

In a remarkable four weeks on the job, Paterson took the unheard of action of cutting $800 million from the state budget proposal he inherited from former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

It was an unfathomable public act by Paterson in a town bankrolled by special interests.

The Legislature praised Paterson for his leadership, then promptly put back $500 million in spending.

On Friday, April 4, when the budget missed the April 1 deadline that Paterson called a moral and constitutional duty, he asked the Legislature to work the weekend.

Legislative leaders agreed and praised Paterson's resolve, then adjourned in mid-afternoon.

Most lawmakers left until Monday.

Now Paterson plans to cut the 2009-10 budget by 5 percent to 10 percent.

And that's really cut it, not just control the rate of increase as is the usual ploy in Albany.

The Legislature that conspired with previous governors to bloat it says, sure, we'd love to help.

That kind of help has given New Yorkers some of the highest tax bills in the nation.

Through it all, the Democratic governor from Harlem was smirked at by the tabloids, Comedy Central, YouTube, and David Letterman.

They raked his personal life over coals for his remarkable admission on his first day in the new job over his past extramarital affairs.

Soon after, he admitted some drug use while in his 20s.

It's been a rocky start.

A Quinnipiac University Poll on Thursday found fewer New Yorkers -- 62 percent -- think Paterson will be able to govern effectively, down from 75 percent when he took office.

He's been on the job all of five weeks.

Yet from admitting personal failings to telling lobbyists and the Legislature to trim their appetites for tax dollars, Paterson has done what most pundits have always advised.

They used to say that if only Nixon and Clinton admitted their mistakes upfront, if only Pataki and Spitzer really stood up to Albany's pay-for-play culture for the long haul, all would be right with the world.

Most New Yorkers seem to still believe that.

The Quinnipiac University Poll on Thursday found 69 percent of New Yorkers say he was right to admit his past affairs and cocaine use and 84 percent say reporters should stop pressing him for more details.

Yet there was talk last week that Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton should run for governor in 2010, when Spitzer's unexpired term ends.

Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who briefly ran for the Democratic nod for governor in 2002, is also being watched even closer now.

Spitzer's sudden exit likely accelerated Cuomo's plan to run for the executive chamber his father once held.

It's all fueled more by Thursday's Quinnipiac poll that also put New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his predecessor and erstwhile presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, ahead of Paterson in the 2010 governor's race.

And those guys say they won't run.

And all of them love to play hardball.

So, why the lack of respect for the guy holding most powerful political job in New York?

No fear.

Despite current speculation, there has always been serious doubt that Paterson would run for a full term.

Part of it is that he never said he wanted to be governor before he, as lieutenant governor, was thrust into the office when Spitzer resigned last month after being implicated in a prostitution ring.

Leadership, of course, doesn't have to include fear.

But in Albany, fear might just be the key: Pataki used a shocking 1994 win to force true cuts in the budget, the death penalty, and tax cuts; Spitzer led the busiest two months of reform in Albany history in 2007, surpassing most governors' full terms when he forced at least some improvement in budgeting, ethics, worker's compensation insurance and other areas.

Spitzer was popular, dauntingly so, but never cuddly to Albany's denizens.

It was his once record-high approval ratings, as well as a willingness to attack his foes in their home TV markets, that got most things done.

As for Pataki, the Republican had slain not just an incumbent, but a national Democratic icon in Mario Cuomo, and used a staff with a nasty streak to remind everyone of the fact.

Yet every legislator has a good word to say about Paterson, how funny he is, how easy it is work with him, how he is so not-Spitzer.

But the legally blind Paterson had to be tough to thrive in regular classrooms in public schools, in college and law school, in running the New York City marathon, in talking trash on the basketball court, and in eroding the historic Republican majority in the Senate when he was Senate minority leader.

But is he tough enough for this job?

No one around here seems to be shaking.

Yet.

------

Michael Gormley is the Albany, N.Y., Capitol editor for The Associated Press. He can be reached by e-mail at mgormley(at)ap.org.

"Report on trooper's death likely to remain private"

Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Sunday, April 20, 2008

Nearly a year after Trooper David Brinkerhoff was killed during a shootout with fugitive Travis Trim, the State Police said the internal investigation into the crossfire that killed him will almost certainly never become public.

"At this point, any internal or personnel investigation report is never going to be released," said State Police spokesman Sgt. Kern Swoboda, referring questions to the Delaware County district attorney's office.

Internal police investigations are given sweeping protections under the state's Freedom of Information Law.

In December, Delaware County District Attorney Richard D. Northrup Jr. released a grand jury report that said no one but Trim committed a crime leading up the fiery standoff at a farmhouse in the village of Margaretville.

Brinkerhoff, 29, a husband and father from Coxsackie and a member of the SWAT-style Mobile Response Team, was killed April 25, 2007, by another trooper's bullet when MRT members searched the farmhouse for Trim, 23, who was being sought for shooting but not seriously injuring another trooper during a traffic stop a day earlier.

Trooper Richard Mattson was also wounded in the firefight that killed Brinkerhoff and Trim.

Troopers later stormed the house, accidentally setting it alight in the process.

The Margaretville standoff helped advance the push for more safety measures for troopers, including better body armor, implemented over the last year.

In February, Brinkerhoff's widow, Barbara, filed a $100 million notice of claim against the St. Lawrence County Probation Department, alleging the agency mishandled a warrant for Trim's arrest months before the April shootout that killed her husband.

Swoboda could not immediately say Friday whether the internal investigation into the Margaretville events was complete.

But he said it was different from the report of the probe into the manhunt for fugitive cop-killer Ralph "Bucky" Phillips in 2006, because it was intended to be disseminated beyond the Division of State Police.

-- Jordan Carleo-Evangelist

AND AS THE ECONOMIC MELTDOWN IN THE INCOMPETENT, THUG-LIKE CORRUPT EMPIRE OF NEW YORK CONTINUES ....

"State sweeps away promises - Fees collected for specific uses like snowmobile trails or animal rescue raided to close budget gap"

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

First published: Sunday, April 20, 2008

ALBANY -- Hundreds of millions of dollars raised for specific programs were seized by the Paterson administration to balance the last state budget, a practice the governor plans to continue and expand this year.

A total of $100 million was "swept" from special accounts dedicated for such things as promoting New York's wine industry, neutering pets or fixing snowmobile trails in the just-closed budget year.

It marks the first time the state raided such special accounts in a blanketed way to cover general spending commitments.

Another $437 million was transferred from agency programs to the general fund in the 2007-2008 budget.

For example, $1.2 million was taken from lobbying enforcement and $10 million in state building administration.

And the state, which continues to look for spare money to pay bills amid lagging revenues, is likely to sweep even more this year.

Critics say the surplus cash shows the state is taking in money faster than it can spend it, purposely charging too much in fees or not spending the money on its intended use.

Others note the surpluses are one-time funds, and using the cash prevents the state from reining in spending or properly balancing the budget.

"These funds shouldn't serve as slush funds for the state," said Elizabeth Lynam, senior research associate of the Citizens Budget Commission.

"They're not supposed to be cash cows."

If the state is assessing fees for specific purposes yet surpluses are building in the accounts dedicated to the users, the fees need to be lowered, she said.

"If they're sweeping something from the fund more than one year, that begs the question: Why is there surplus money in these funds?"

"That doesn't help the state in the long run to balance the financial plan," she said.

The $100 million in "sweeps," state officials said, were approved by the Legislature under a blanket authorization that lets the Division of the Budget decide which accounts to tap.

In the past, such sweeps were specifically identified in advance in budget bills.

The budget just passed for 2008-2009 allows the DOB to find $150 million more in any special revenue accounts it deems overstocked.

That's in addition to some specific sweeps already authorized in the new budget -- $125 million from the Environmental Protection Fund, which is supposed to be for forest land purchases, and $95 million from the state's Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage program, set up to help low income people age 65 and older afford prescription drugs.

Plus, more fund transfers will be necessary, stripping agency budgets of money for planned purposes.

In order to cover future budget gaps, more and more sweeping will be needed as well as new revenue streams.

A budget gap of several billion dollars, some say $5 billion, is projected for next year.

The state may have taken care of some of the problem by raising and creating new fees to produce hundreds of millions of dollars, building in surpluses in some of the accounts for which the fees were set up.

For example, a new identification/license to use for Canadian and Mexican border crossings will cost $30.

The license will raise tens of millions of dollars beyond the cost of administering the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

Some of the funds swept by the budget division to balance the 2007-2008 budget came from fees that were supposed to be reinvested in specific areas.

For instance, the $1 million taken from the Snowmobile Trail Development & Maintenance account came from the registration fees of snowmobile owners.

The fees -- $45 for members of snowmobile clubs and $100 for all other owners -- rose in 2004 under Gov. George Pataki to make sure trails remain open and in good shape.

The 65,000-member New York Snowmobile Association supported the increased fees with the understanding the money would be used to reimburse snowmobile clubs that tend the trails and purchase grooming equipment, fuel, signs, bridges, culverts and insurance.

But in less than four years after increasing the fee in 2004, the fund had more money than the state was spending.

Michael Fischer, president of the state association, said "to take money from that dedicated fund, we think is a major issue, and is inappropriate."

He wrote a letter to Gov. David Paterson last week, complaining there won't be enough money in the fund to meet current trail maintenance and liability insurance costs.

The "raid," he said, could cause clubs to shut down and the 10,000 miles of trails to close because of the timing of registration fees.

E.J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, said the state is purposely overcharging on fees and managing accounts to insure there are unused funds to sweep, and that is wrong.

"You create a program, promise to fund it, then rip it off," McMahon said.

"Short of a constitutional amendment, I'm not sure how you prevent it."

Matthew Anderson, a spokesman for the budget division, said the state isn't overcharging industry groups or conspiring to assure surpluses, but sweeping is necessary.

"We're in difficult fiscal times right now," Anderson said.

"We have to make some tough choices to insure a balanced budget."

He said there will be plenty of surplus again, an estimated $5.6 million in the snowmobile account, potentially to sweep next year.

"The agencies themselves are the ones who administer the accounts."

"We don't have direct control over that," he said.

"There's always a cash management part of our job, but we certainly made no attempt to slow down grant processes to build up surpluses."

Some surpluses, he said, are the result of interest built up on the sums stored in the accounts.

In other cases, the programs for which fees are collected got caught up in bureaucracy.

For instance, more than $1 million was swept from the Animal Population Control account, which is fueled from $3 surcharges on dog licenses, $25 Love Your Pet license plates and other funds from pet lovers.

It is supposed to go to spaying programs.

Elinor Molbegott, legal counsel for the Humane Society of New York, said that money should have been spent, but the state has failed to market it properly to veterinarians and low-income people.

"They have a fund balance because the Department of Agriculture and Markets has not implemented the program well."

"They haven't done what has been done in other states," she said.

"It's the biggest secret in New York."

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

"Tough March for workers - Reflecting weak national economy, region's jobless rate up for month"

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, April 18, 2008

Unemployment usually falls in March.

Not so this year.

The Capital Region's March unemployment rate of 5.1 percent was significantly higher than the 4.0 percent reported in the same month last year, the state Department of Labor said Thursday.

March is a month when employers -- especially in seasonal fields -- begin gearing up.

And that did happen this year: Construction employers, for example, added 700 jobs during the month.

But in the face of a tepid national economy, hiring wasn't as strong last month as in years past.

Another reason the March unemployment rate stayed high: The region's labor force grew by 400 people, the first work force increase in a year.

That means there were simply more people looking for jobs, said James Ross, who analyzes Capital Region trends for the Labor Department.

Still, Ross said, because of retiring workers and slow population growth, "the long-term trend would be for a decline in the labor force."

Even without a March decline, the region's unemployment rate remained better than in much of upstate New York, where the jobless rate ranged from 6.2 percent in the Buffalo area to 6.3 percent in Glens Falls last month.

Statewide, the unemployment rate in March was 5.1 percent, up from 4.4 percent a year earlier.

The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

The area's strongest job growth was in what the Labor Department calls the professional, scientific and technical services sector, which had 1,200 more jobs than a year ago and about 29,000 jobs overall, and in educational and health services, which added 1,400 jobs to 82,500 overall.

Financial services was a weak spot.

The industry dropped 600 jobs from a year ago, although more than 25,000 Capital Region residents still work in the field.

Thursday's numbers included some welcome news for Schoharie County residents.

The area, with a March unemployment rate of 8.3 percent, no longer has the highest jobless rate of any county in New York.

That distinction now belongs to Hamilton County, where the unemployment rate was 9.2 percent.

"AMD: Losses, cuts won't affect Malta plans"

Associated Press

First published: Friday, April 18, 2008

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s first-quarter loss matched Wall Street's lowered expectations, with the slumping chip maker hurt by its inability to unload older products amid economic turbulence that tamped down domestic consumer spending.

The Sunnyvale-based company said Thursday that it lost $358 million, or 59 cents per share, during the first three months of the year, its sixth quarterly loss in a row.

AMD lost $611 million, or $1.11 per share, in the same period last year.

Stripping out 8 cents per share in one-time charges connected to AMD's acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI Technologies, the company lost 51 cents per share in the latest period, matching the average estimate on the same basis from analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Sales of $1.51 billion were 22 percent higher than last year and in line with analysts' expectations.

AMD warned earlier this month that sales across all business lines were lower than it earlier anticipated.

It also announced plans to jettison 10 percent of its global work force, or about 1,600 workers, by September.

The first of those layoffs -- 420 -- occurred Thursday, half of them in Austin, Texas, where AMD has significant operations, company spokesman Travis Bullard said.

None of the first-round cuts were felt in New York state, where AMD partners with IBM Corp. on research.

AMD also is planning a $3.2 billion computer chip factory for the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta.

Bullard said the staff reductions would not impact the company's plans for the Luther Forest fab.

AMD actually has until summer 2009 to decide and still be eligible for $1.2 billion in state incentives, including $650 million in cash.

Robert Rivet, AMD's chief financial officer, blamed the first-quarter loss on seasonal weakness, the economy and lower-than-expected sales of old products.

He added the company expects to become profitable on an operating basis in the second half of 2008.

AMD has racked up more than $4 billion in losses in a skid that stretches back to the last three months of 2006, when intensifying competition from larger rival Intel Corp. and the costs of the ATI acquisition began to take their toll.

AND AS YEARS OF INCOMPETENCE AND ENDEMIC CORRUPTION BEGIN TO CATCH UP WITH NEW YORK STATE "GUMMINT", WE HAVE ....

"Paterson orders cuts in spending, hiring in NY government as tax revenues continue to decline"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:35 p.m., Monday, April 21, 2008

ALBANY -- New York Gov. David Paterson on Monday prohibited all but essential hiring in a sternly worded directive to state agencies.

Paterson said that if his cost savings targets aren't met, he will impose a hard hiring freeze and other measures on agencies.

He says he is willing to withhold budgeted funds if an agency fails to meet his cost-saving targets.

The Democrat said the measures are necessary because of declining revenues projected in a worsening economy.

Paterson required a detailed savings plan from each agency by May 16.

"The reductions you propose must be achievable, recurring, and serious," Paterson said in the memo released Monday.

"Your plan must reflect the creativity needed to provide the services the public expects at a lower cost."

"Above all, you must rethink your hiring practices."

"Only job openings absolutely essential to your agency's operations and protecting the health and safety of New Yorkers are to be filled," he said.

"Positions that do not fit this criterion must be left vacant."

Paterson's call shocked the state's largest public employee union, which like other unions had planned on increases in hiring as part of the state budget approved earlier this month.

"We did not have any forewarning of this," said Civil Service Employees Association union spokesman Stephen Madarasz.

"We're extremely disappointed there was no discussion of this direction."

He warned that Paterson's plan could be wasteful, because the state has in many areas agencies have lacked enough staff in recent years to effectively do their jobs.

For example, adding enforcement jobs can bring in more revenue from fines than the cost of the positions.

Madarasz said the governor's memo will also strike at employee morale.

"When you don't give us some forewarning on this, it certainly undermines the confidence and trust in labor relations," he said.

The state work force stands at 167,172 employees, according to the state Department of Civil Service.

This memo is different from similar directives by past governors to their agency heads.

Paterson didn't choose these commissioners, but inherited them from former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned March 17 after he was implicated in a prostitution investigation.

Because they are neither his loyalists nor anyone who helped him in a campaign for governor, the former lieutenant governor might be more inclined to replace them.

Paterson has set a goal of cutting the budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year by 5 to 10 percent before it's sent to the Legislature.

Monday's memo is the first order in that effort.

"There are several corrective actions that I am prepared to take," Paterson told department heads.

"These include withholding an amount of budgeted funding needed to hit your savings target or implementing a hard hiring freeze at your agency."

"I sincerely hope and expect such measures will not be necessary."

His plan faces several obstacles.

Chief among them are the public employee unions that hold great power in New York, especially in the Legislature, which can reverse a governor's budget cuts.

Most of the major public employee unions settled contracts this year that extend for several years.

Legislative leaders have said they will work with Paterson to reduce spending growth next year.

Those promises came after they turned down $500 million of Paterson's proposed $800 million in spending reductions.

The $121.7 billion budget adopted by the Legislature increases spending more than 4.5 percent this legislative election year and includes hundreds of millions of dollars in pork-barrel spending.

------

On the Net:

http://www.state.ny.us.

WE HAVE NO STATE MONEY UP HERE FOR ESSENTIAL SERVICES ....

BUT ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD FOR "SPECIAL INTERESTS" ....

And so ...

"Grant recipient alleged to be a cult - Aesthetic Realism Foundation to receive $4,000 in state budget"

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

First published: Monday, April 21, 2008

ALBANY -- Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has set up a $4,000 member item for a SoHo organization that says it has the answer to finding happiness, but which former members say is a cult.

Ortiz, D-Brooklyn, targeted the money for the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, whose program, according to ex-members, is anti-gay and employs strategies that split up families.

Ortiz said he sponsored the expenditure in the 2008-2009 budget because the group asked him for funding for services at Brooklyn senior citizen centers.

He said he did not know anything about the foundation but he had heard good things about it from Raices, a Brooklyn-based senior services organization to which he has sent $2,000 in member items annually for several years.

AR hasn't received public funding in the 13 years it has been providing senior programs in New York City.

According to former child member Michael Bluejay, who runs a Web site for fellow ex-members to share their experiences, the followers of AR and its founder, Eli Siegel, try to recruit the elderly by using art, theater, poetry and cultural lectures to get their views across in community appearances.

Once they become members, he said, followers are discouraged from having relationships with nonmembers.

"When you're in it and you don't see your parents for 15 years, that's hurtful," he said.

His parents and grandparents were devotees, he said.

AR spokeswoman Devorah Tarrow, who has been with the group for 36 years, said Bluejay is putting forth lies.

She said the $4,000 is for workshops at senior citizen centers in Brooklyn, including some for people who speak Spanish or Chinese.

Tarrow said it isn't true that AR says it can change homosexuality.

"It is a fact that men and women have changed as a result of study of Aesthetic Realism," she said, saying the purpose of the foundation and the senior talks "was to have a good effect on senior lives."

"That is actually the purpose of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, to encourage the lives of elderly persons to be more energized."

Bluejay quotes from the writings of a leader of the group, including, "It is a beautiful fact that through study of Aesthetic Realism... men have changed from homosexuality."

"... Eli Siegel's statement of the cause of homosexuality (contempt for the world)... is scientific law."

Rich A. Ross, who tracks cults for a living, backs Bluejay's assessment and said public funds should not be used for a group with such a narrow agenda.

"It's a very specific philosophy," Ross said.

"Why would taxpayer money be used to fund that?"

Ortiz said the foundation asked other lawmakers for funding.

It did not approach its own Assembly member, Deborah Glick, an openly gay Democrat.

She said she would have denied the request.

"Not now, not ever," she said.

James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.

"Lawyer claims Sweeney targeted - Arrest, prosecution of ex-congressman's son called political ploy"

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

First published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ALBANY -- Daniel Wiese, a former State Police security supervisor for Gov. George Pataki, may be called to testify at the trial of a young man who is suing a former congressman's son and two other men over injuries he suffered in a violent brawl four years ago.

E. Stewart Jones, an attorney for John Sweeney Jr., who pleaded guilty to felony assault charges in the case, last week wrote a letter to the court saying he intends to subpoena Wiese if the case goes to trial.

Jones' request cites published reports that Wiese was part of a "renegade unit" in the State Police that engaged in political espionage on behalf of Pataki and others, records show.

Jones accuses Wiese of arranging for Sweeney's arrest as part of a smear campaign targeting his father, John Sweeney, at a time when the elder Sweeney was running for re-election.

Sweeney, a Republican, won re-election in 2004 but lost the November 2006 election to challenger Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Greenport.

"We believe that the Wiese target was his and then Governor Pataki's political enemy, John Sweeney Sr., and that Wiese in discussion with a senior member of the State Police was centrally involved in the focusing of the effort to embarrass the congressman," Jones wrote in a letter to Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Giardino.

The letter, filed in court records in Saratoga County, also accuses Wiese of being "instrumental in the charging, arrest and prosecution of young John Sweeney."

State Police officials familiar with the matter, including an investigator who worked on the case, said neither Wiese, nor anyone on his behalf, tried to influence the investigation.

The controversy surrounds the August 2004 arrest of the younger Sweeney on felony assault charges following a brawl involving several young men.

A grand jury later elevated the charges to gang assault and Sweeney pleaded guilty to felony assault.

Giardino, who also presided in the criminal case, suspended Sweeney's jail sentence and ordered the files sealed in December 2005.

Montgomery County District Attorney James Conboy, who handled the case as a special prosecutor, said the younger Sweeney was indicted by a grand jury that relied almost exclusively on the testimony of witnesses, and not State Police investigators.

"Nobody tried to influence me," Conboy said.

"I put in the grand jury as witnesses every person from whom the State Police took a statement ... whether they were good for the prosecution or bad for the prosecution."

"That's exactly what it was, what they had to tell us good, bad or ugly."

The younger Sweeney was arrested after a brawl over a young woman.

The fight took place along a rural road in Stillwater and involved about 15 young men.

Two other young men, both friends of Sweeney's, also were arrested.

The victim, Matthew Brady of Stillwater, suffered broken bones around one eye and lost teeth, according to his attorney, Terence L. Kindlon.

Brady's suit, which is scheduled to go to trial next month, seeks unspecified damages.

The arrest of his son in a criminal case that languished and spilled over into his 2006 re-election run wasn't Sweeney's only controversy.

Two weeks before the election, news broke of a 911 police call to his house for an alcohol-fueled fight between Sweeney and his wife, Gaia.

The 911 call had been placed by Gaia Sweeney almost a year before the election, but State Police had declined to release a copy of the report.

Sweeney blamed State Police and enemies in the outgoing Pataki administration for leaking the report to newspapers, including the Times Union, just before the election.

Gaia Sweeney, who goes by "Gayle," has since admitted she was pressured to go public before the election and claim the December 2005 police report was false.

John Sweeney filed for divorce last summer.

People close to Sweeney said he told them that the leak of the 911 report, and his son's arrest on felony assault charges, may have been the work of political operatives.

A State Police investigator close to the investigation said no one pressured the agency to arrest Sweeney's son on felony charges.

The investigator -- who is not authorized to comment publicly on the case -- said the only politically charged inquiry came from a former State Police bomb expert, John Curry, a part-time Albany County sheriff's inspector who is Sweeney's acquaintance.

Curry also works as a lobbyist for former state Republican Committee Chairman Bill Powers, who is a close friend of Sweeney's and had been one of his political mentors.

In addition, Gaia Sweeney had worked at Powers' firm before the couple's marriage imploded last year.

The week that Sweeney's son was arrested, Curry called two State Police investigators, including one who was supervising the case.

Curry allegedly mentioned that someday Sweeney "might be governor" during one of those calls, according to a member of the State Police briefed on the matter.

But Curry last week said his phone calls to a Bureau of Criminal Investigation captain, Frank Pace, and another investigator, Steve Nutting, were only to get information about what was happening to Sweeney's son.

Curry said he never tried to use his law enforcement background, his employment with Powers' firm or his acquaintance with Sweeney to try to influence the investigation.

"I got a call from a friend to call another friend to see where his kid was," Curry said.

"I wasn't involved in this thing."

"I never went there."

"I never showed up."

"I never got involved."

Pace declined comment except to say: "The matter is behind me and I don't see the need to discuss it any further."

Sweeney, who has had other alcohol-related brushes with police in the past year, has privately blamed the leak of the 911 report on people connected to Pataki, including Pataki's former senior policy adviser, Zenia Mucha.

A second police report -- purported to document the 911 call -- also was leaked to news outlets on the eve of the election.

It contained a sanitized version of the incident and characterized the call as "assist citizen" with no mention of the fight.

Leaders of the state troopers PBA contend the second report was fabricated by top State Police officials to aid Sweeney's ailing campaign and to cloud the validity of the first report.

Those allegations have not been investigated.

People close to Sweeney also said he has blamed Pace personally for his son's arrest on felony charges.

When the 911 report was leaked, Sweeney again blamed Pace.

After Sweeney's election loss, former State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett reassigned Pace to a patrol supervisor's post -- considered a demotion -- and launched an investigation into whether he was involved in leaking the 911 report.

Last year, following a lengthy State Police internal affairs investigation, Pace was cleared and reinstated to an investigator's position.

He remains a captain.

Wiese recently was placed on paid leave from his $179,000-a-year job overseeing security for the New York Power Authority.

The move came after allegations he may have been involved with political espionage within the ranks of the State Police.

Gov. David Paterson called for an investigation.

He did not respond to the Times Union's requests for comment.

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

"State Police captain sues for old job - Former BCI supervisor Frank Pace was reassigned after being suspected of leaking Sweeney report"

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

First published: Wednesday, October 10, 2007

ALBANY -- A State Police captain is suing to get his investigator job back, claiming he was demoted after being suspected of leaking a domestic incident report to the media last year involving former Rep. John Sweeney.

Capt. Frank Pace, who headed the region's Bureau of Criminal Investigation, was reassigned to a uniformed post last November, less than two weeks after an internal report about a domestic incident at the congressman's home became public.

State Police internal affairs launched an investigation into whether the document was leaked by Pace, who was based in Loudonville.

The investigation dragged on for months before concluding the allegations were "unsubstantiated," according to the lawsuit.

An attorney for the State Police union contends the investigation should have determined the allegations were "unfounded," which is akin to being exonerated.

The union filed a claim on Pace's behalf in state Supreme Court in Albany two weeks ago.

Richard Mulvaney, general counsel for the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said Pace also should have been reinstated to his prior post.

Mulvaney said questions remain about why State Police did not investigate whether any of the agency's leaders created an alternate police report which removed details about the couple's 911 call.

State Police labor leaders have called for an independent investigation into Pace's demotion.

The PBA also said an outside investigation should have been conducted into whether laws or policies were violated when the law enforcement agency created an alternate, sanitized version of the 911 report to protect the congressman's privacy during an election year.

State Police conceded they took steps to "secure the document and limit general access to it."

But they have not said whether those steps included creating a version of the police report in which the incident type was changed from a "domestic dispute" to "aid-assist citizen."

In the wake of the scandal last year, Pace received a letter from then-Deputy Superintendent Preston Felton informing him he was being transferred from his prestigious position supervising 80 investigators to a captain's post in a remote area of Fulton County.

The move came at the direction of former Superintendent Wayne Bennett, said union officials.

State Police officials have declined comment on the matter.

Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, lost to Democratic challenger Kirsten Gillibrand and was dogged in the campaign's final days by the disclosure of his wife's 911 call.

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

"GOP shows rift over board pick - Squabble ensues in Clifton Park over appointment to water authority"

By JIMMY VIELKIND, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008

CLIFTON PARK -- A rift among members of the town's entrenched Republican Party erupted during the confirmation of an appointment to the Water Authority Board at a Monday night Town Board meeting that at times devolved into a shouting match.

The dispute centered around the appointment of local businessman John Ryan to a seat on the Clifton Park Water Authority vacated by John Flynn, who resigned earlier this month to take a job out of state.

Ryan's appointment to the two-year post was backed by Councilman Tom Paolucci.

But Town Board member Sandy Roth, who serves as liaison to the Water Authority Board, opposed Ryan's candidacy on grounds that he had made comments in the past decrying the water authority.

He also said he was not involved in vetting candidates for the position, and called upon the council to table the motion.

In a two-page statement read by Planning Board Chairman Steve Bulger, Roth cited a letter Ryan sent to a local newspaper in 1997 accusing the water authority of adopting an "arrogant and and hostile attitude toward this community" when it restructured water rates.

Roth said Ryan's "incendiary comments -- (are) unfair and extremely counterproductive, and always reflect very poorly on whoever says them."

Roth did not attend the meeting because he is at home recovering from a recent hospitalization.

Ryan's appointment was approved by a 4-0 vote.

He did not attend the hearing.

During public comments, many town residents expressed their disgust with the process, which they said disregarded Roth's input.

Some other town officials joined the chorus of scorn.

"I just find it a little disturbing that this Town Board did not make an effort at partnership with the water authority board" in nominating Ryan, said Town Supervisor Anita Daly, a Republican.

Paolucci retorted at the end of the public comment period that the criticism was politically motivated.

He produced e-mails from Bob Wilcox, chairman of the Clifton Park GOP Committee, urging board members to table Ryan's nomination, because he had "solicited and received a positive response from Dan Keegan, a successful businessman and a financial and volunteer supporter of yourselves."

Campaign filings show Keegan donated money to the Clifton Park GOP Committee in 2006 and 2007.

In a separate e-mail provided by Paolucci and Councilman Scott Hughes, Wilcox wrote to committee members that Ryan's nomination "is a direct attack on you, as committeepersons, which should be opposed by all who value their volunteered time and treasure."

Wilcox did not return calls late Monday seeking comment.

Paolucci, Hughes and Councilwoman Lynda Walowit defended their actions, saying they would not be "rubber stamps for any party boss."

Jimmy Vielkind can be reached at 454-5043 or by e-mail at jvielkind@timesunion.com.

"Democrat leaves congressonal race - Gary Mittleman decides to withdraw from contest for 21st District seat"

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 12:12 a.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The widely contested race for the 21st Congressional district has one less candidate.

Former Plug Power CEO and Democrat Gary Mittleman sent an e-mail message to supporters and the media Monday withdrawing his candidacy.

The announcement came less than two months after he entered the race.

That leaves seven Democrats and two Republicans to battle it out for retiring Green Island Democrat Michael McNulty's seat this year.

Mittleman's e-mail touched on problems facing the nation: unemployment, the declining value of the dollar, the mortgage crisis and the price of oil, among other topics.

He said he quickly learned that he wasn't comfortable with "begging'' people for money and realized he would have to do so constantly if he was elected."

"The average congressional contender in New York this year will spend close to $1.4 million."

"While I have welcomed financial support from those who believe that I would be an effective congressman, I do not have the expertise nor the interest in horse-trading my way into office,'' Mittleman said in the e-mail.

He had loaned $100,000 to his campaign as of March 31, and had spent $52,743 of that, according to campaign filing records.

He raised another $4,352 in donations, and said in his statement that he'll return those contributions.

Mittleman said he'll instead create a foundation called One Dream One Earth to accomplish his goals.

He gave no details about that foundation.

"Saratoga water authority suit dismissed"

By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 4:50 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ALBANY -- A Supreme Court justice dismissed a lawsuit today against the Saratoga County Water Authority, but the legal troubles facing the 26-mile county water line are not over.

Alexander Mackay, president of Saratoga Water Services in Malta, sued the authority and the state Department of Environmental Conservation on the grounds his outdoor activities would be affected and because the end of the county water line would be near his property.

But Justice Michael Lynch ruled Mackay sued because he runs his own water line and didn't want competition from the county.

Mackay cannot make an economic issue out of an environmental case, Lynch said.

Mackay has also attacked the water line on Constitutional grounds.

He sued the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation because the agency allowed the water authority to bury water line in a part of Moreau Lake State Park that is forest preserve land.

According to the state Constitution, forest preserve may not be disturbed.

The water authority is in settlement talks with Mackay, said Chairman John Lawler, R-Waterford, on Tuesday.

Neither Mackay or his attorney, John Caffry, would comment.

The water authority meets at 4 p.m. Friday at the Saratoga County offices in Ballston Spa.

DO WE HAVE SOME SOME BACKLASH HERE AGAINST RENSSELAER COUNTY CRIMINAL COURT JUDGE PATRICK McGRATH BECAUSE HE CHOSE TO STAND UP FOR THE LAW, AND THE PLAINTIFF'S RIGHTS IN THIS MATTER, WHICH THREATENS CONTINUING CORRUPTION IN RENSSELAER COUNTY?

"Carpinello wants second term as state justice"

By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 1:25 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2008

TROY -- State Supreme Court Justice Anthony J. Carpinello today announced plans to seek a second 14-year term on the bench, declaring his candidacy with supportive Rensselaer County Republicans surrounding him on the county courthouse steps.

Albany County Conservative Party Chairman Richard Stack was also there to deliver his party's endorsement of Carpinello.

"If it ain't broke why fix it," Stack said.

"We endorsed him because he has experience and integrity and has done an outstanding job."

Stack said Rensselaer County Judge Patrick McGrath interviewed for the post with the Albany County Conservatives, but the party decided to back Carpinello.

Democrats have yet to endorse any candidates and McGrath could not be reached for comment.

Last year, both the GOP and Democrats cross endorsed state Supreme Court Justices Joseph C. Teresi of Albany County, George B. Ceresia of Rensselaer County and Christopher E. Cahill of Ulster County.

In return for endorsing the Democrats, GOP leaders expected that the Democrats would back Carpinello this year.

Carpinello, a Republican, has an assignment to the Appellate Division but must run for his Supreme Court seat to retain the former appointment.

"My commitment to public service began 34 years ago when I ran for the East Greenbush town board," Carpinello told the crowd of supporters.

"Nixon had just resigned and the county Republican head at the time would not even accompany me on door-to-door campaigning so I pledged I would knock on every door in town and I did and won."

Carpinello has a bigger task before him in this election.

He serves in the Third Judicial District which covers the counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Ulster, Columbia, Greene, Schoharie and Sullivan counties.

"For 13 years of the term the law says that I can have nothing to do with politics and then for a short time they tell me I can go out and campaign and meet 550,000 people," Carpinello said.

Carpinello's wife Sharon Carpinello stood by him during his announcement.

Also at his side was his mother, Jennie Carpinello.

Carpinello served on the East Greenbush town board from 1975 to 1981, as a Rensselaer County legislator from 1982 to 1989 and East Greenbush town justice from 1993 to 1994.

"Paterson: New York has to cut spending, or else - Gov. Paterson directs key staff to develop ways to cut spending, rethink STAR tax breaks"

By JOHN KEKIS, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:12 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2008

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Gov. David Paterson, who aims to cut the next state budget by up to 10 percent, said Tuesday that the Division of the Budget and key members of his staff will begin work on proposals to reduce future state spending.

Paterson also said he intends to take a close look at the STAR property tax relief program in the next couple of months.

STAR sends about $5 billion a year in state funds that are supposed to reduce property taxes, but Paterson has noted that most school property tax bills continue to rise faster than inflation.

"I don't know of any changes that I can tell you that I want to make to STAR," Paterson said.

"I just know that when we put STAR in, property taxes went up 7 percent for five straight years."

"Our response as a government is to create more STAR."

To avoid the usual Albany ploy of limiting only the budget's rate of increase, Paterson's internal working group -- including Budget Director Laura Anglin, deputy director Kristen Proud, senior adviser William Cunningham and other senior staff members -- will develop recommendations for actual cuts.

They will report back to Paterson before the end of the legislative session.

Earlier this week, Paterson directed department heads to cut costs and restrict hiring.

"The economic forecast is grim."

"We as a government have to tighten our belts and respond to the crisis that's going on," Paterson said in his keynote address to the Metropolitan Development Association, a central New York business group.

"We've got to put a stop to this spending spree that's out of control, that comes from that planet called Albany."

"We can succeed."

"It can be done through a collaborative effort."

Areas the group will focus on include: state agency expenditures on equipment, services, staffing and contracting levels; spending by public authorities; capital projects not needed to protect the public's health and safety; programs funded by dedicated fees and fines that do not provide critical services; and discretionary local grants that may be more appropriately financed at the local level or privately, or not at all.

The analysis will focus on state operating funds, which Paterson called the most accurate measure of state spending.

Once the study is complete, the administration will seek comment from groups that have been pushing for reforms in the budget process.

"This process will not be easy, but we must be realistic about where the economy is going and how New York can plan appropriately," Paterson said.

In 2007, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the Legislature provided a historic $1.3 billion increase in the STAR tax relief program for property owners.

Yet school taxes still increased around the five-year average of 7 percent.

Before he resigned last month, Spitzer created a bipartisan commission with investigative and subpoena powers to back up recommendations for a tax cap that he championed.

The commission will also reconsider the state's own unfunded mandates on schools and municipalities and recommend ways to cut waste in education without hurting instruction, as well as how to direct tax breaks more to middle class families.

The commission, headed by Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, is due to release its report in the coming week.

AND AS NEW YORK STATE ALREADY IS INFESTED WITH A PLAGUE OF PARASITIC LAWYERS ....

LIKE RATS INFESTING A FARMER'S CORN CRIB ...

A PLAGUE THAT HAS MADE OUR STATE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS UP HERE INTO A STANDING JOKE, OR HOLLOW MOCKERY ...

AN INFESTATION THAT HAS SERVED TO STRIP US UP HERE OF OUR RIGHTS UNDER THE NYS BILL OF RIGHTS ...

SO THAT TO HAVE "RIGHTS" IN THIS CORRUPT ****HOLE, WE HAVE TO BUY THEM BACK FROM THESE PARASITIC LAWYERS WHO HOLD THEM HOSTAGE ....

WE HAVE ...

"Dean of only state-run law school objects to adding more in New York, cites 'glut'"

By CHRIS CAROLA, Associated Press

Last updated: 3:12 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ALBANY -- With nearly 150,000 lawyers living and working in the state, a strong case could be made that the legal profession is well represented in New York.

Even with all those lawyers -- more than any other state -- some New York officials are pushing for creating new law schools.

But the head of the State University of New York's only law school isn't among them.

"There's no question that we simply have a glut of law schools," said Makau Mutua, interim dean of the University at Buffalo Law School.

"There's no shortage of access to legal education for New Yorkers who want to go to law school."

The state budget passed by the Legislature earlier this month includes more than $50 million for developing law schools in the Rochester and Binghamton areas and on Long Island.

The Rochester school would be affiliated with St. John Fisher College, a private school in suburban Pittsford, while the SUNY system's Binghamton and Stony Brook universities would get their own law schools.

More than $2 million would help pay for Fisher to study creation of a law school.

The rest of the funding is for the two SUNY schools, with the lion's share going to Stony Brook, including $250,000 for a feasibility study and $45 million for building the law school.

Creation of any new law schools is subject to approval by the SUNY administration, its board of trustees, the state Education Department, the state Board of Regents and the governor, said SUNY spokesman Dave Henahan.

"The SUNY system administration will assist in the process," he said.

There are 15 law schools in New York, 13 of them private.

UB's law school and the City University of New York School of Law in Queens are the only public schools in the state.

Mutua said the state hasn't done enough to support UB's law school and doesn't need to spend taxpayer dollars studying whether to establish more state-run law schools, let alone one that would be affiliated with a private college.

"It's mind-boggling for the state to contemplate giving money to start up a private law school," said Mutua, a UB law faculty member for nearly a dozen years before being named interim dean in December.

The state would be better off investing in UB to hire more faculty and recruit students for its law school, where about 800 students must share a 35-year-old building with undergraduates, Mutua said.

"We need a completely new building," he said.

"We're squeezed for space."

Building more law schools isn't on the New York State Bar Association's to-do list.

A spokeswoman for the organization said its legal education and admission committee hasn't been called on to study whether New York needs more law schools.

"I have no idea why the state would consider three more law schools," said Thomas Guernsey, dean of Albany Law School.

"There's no evidence in the job market that we need more than those 15 schools."

The state Labor Department projects that jobs for lawyers will increase by about 9,200 by 2014.

The bar association reports that about 7,700 people passed the New York bar exam in July 2007.

With several thousand people passing the exam each year, there's no shortage of lawyers, Guernsey said.

According to the American Bar Association's latest figures, there were more than 147,000 attorneys living and working in New York state in 2007.

Some 80,000 others live out of state but are registered to practice in New York, according to the state Office of Court Administration.

California had the second-most resident lawyers with more than 145,000, according to the ABA.

A state lawmaker who pushed for the St. John Fisher funding in the state budget says a law school, if located in downtown Rochester, would give the city a much-needed economic boost.

"This is really about improving regionalism and improving Rochester's academic landscape and career opportunities," said state Senator Joseph Robach, a Republican from suburban Greece.

Robach envisions a Rochester law school that would primarily attract local college graduates seeking affordable legal education closer to home.

As for using state money to fund a study for a private college, Robach -- a graduate of Brockport State College -- said that's a "small sliver of money" compared to the "hundreds of millions of dollars" UB has received over the years.

Officials at SUNY-Binghamton didn't return a call seeking comment, but a Web site set up by the university says another public law school in New York state "will provide greater access to high-quality, affordable education."

------

On the Net:

Binghamton University: http://think.binghamton.edu/lawschool.cgi

AND SPEAKING ABOUT "TRUTH IN ADVERTISING", ALRIGHT ...

"Poll: NY has most bleak outlook in two years - Siena College poll finds New Yorkers pessimistic about nation's future"

Associated Press

Last updated: 5:32 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ALBANY -- A new poll finds New Yorkers have the bleakest outlook in two years for their state and nation.

The Siena College poll finds that 72 percent of New Yorkers think the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Forty-eight percent think New York is headed in the wrong direction, too.

Siena Research Institute spokesman Steven Greenberg says this is the worst outlook in two years of polling.

In a state where Democrats strongly outnumber Republicans, New York is even showing a close race between New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, the Arizona senator.

The poll still finds New York would go for Clinton or Illinois Sen. Barack Obama before the Republican.

"Cuomo picks lawyer to head NY trooper investigation"

Associated Press

Last updated: 4:12 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ALBANY -- Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says he's appointed an attorney to head an investigation into whether state troopers have allowed politics to interfere with their work.

Manhattan attorney Sharon McCarthy will act as special counsel for the case.

Gov. David Paterson asked Cuomo to pursue the investigation after an Albany prosecutor issued a report that former Gov. Eliot Spitzer may have lied when he told investigators he wasn't involved in a plot against a Republican rival.

State police are accused of re-creating Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's travel records to embarrass him.

Spitzer resigned after being connected to a prostitution ring.

McCarthy worked in the U.S. Attorney's office for more than 12 years.

"Sharp drop in sales of houses in northern NYC suburbs"

Associated Press

Last updated: 12:32 p.m., Tuesday, April 22, 2008

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A real estate agents' group says the number of homes sold in Westchester County this winter is down 30 percent from a year ago.

The Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service says the drop is the steepest in at least 28 years.

However, the decline in sales has not resulted in a glut on the market.

Inventory is 14 percent below last year's first quarter.

And the median price of a single-family home has fallen just 2 percent to $622,500.

In Putnam County, the median price is down 3 percent to $386,500 and sales have fallen 9 percent.

The Greater Hudson Valley Multiple Listing service reported earlier this month that Rockland County houses are selling for a median price of $455,000, down 5 percent.

It says the number of sales have fallen by a third.

How very disingenuous David Paterson is ....

And how very stupid he must think we are ....

No money for essential government services ....

BUT ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD FOR "PORK" ...

And so ...

"$340M exempted as state seeks cash - Unspent money for lawmakers' pet projects shielded from seizure"

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

First published: Wednesday, April 23, 2008

ALBANY -- New York's lawmakers are sitting on a stash of $340 million in unspent discretionary funds, but the Paterson administration can't touch the money as it searches for extra cash.

The pool of member item money, appropriated in past years for pet projects of the 212 lawmakers, is almost twice as big as the state's $175 million emergency "rainy day fund."

But even if Gov. David Paterson depletes that fund in emergencies, such as an unexpected revenue shortfall, the Legislature's unused member item funds are off limits.

The 2008-09 budget legislation gave the Division of the Budget authorization to "sweep" up to $150 million from surplus accounts.

But the budget language specifically exempted member item funds, commonly known as pork.

Paterson, worried about a further slowdown in the economy and possible midyear cash shortages, has been looking for ways to cut costs.

This week, he called on state agencies to tighten their belts and fill only "essential" vacant jobs.

He also assembled a group of staffers to develop plans to slow spending growth, and told them to consider unnecessary discretionary spending and projects that don't serve statewide purposes.

But the Legislature's discretionary funds are currently safe.

Also protected now are three other potential sources of money that the Legislature and Paterson agreed to exclude from sweeps: capital funds, the bigger grants used by lawmakers and the governor that are supposed to spur economic development; debt service money, which funds some of the capital pork; and federal funds.

The comptroller's office said the state has accumulated $33 billion in unspent capital funds.

This year's budget is filled with scores of member items, and the list is still incomplete.

The spending itemized so far ranges from $75,000 to the Asian American and Asian Research Center to $2,000 to Zen Masters Inc.

Also disclosed are grants to Little Leagues, fire departments, animal adoption programs, religious charities, theater groups, schools and arts councils.

Surpluses pile up over the years for various reasons.

Sometimes recipients don't fill out the forms or enter into contracts to get the cash, lawmakers say.

Others draw down slowly from accounts as they are reimbursed.

Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, said the fund balance represents money "contractually committed," but it takes about two years on average for a grant to get paid out.

Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for the budget division, said the $340 million is already spoken for even if the full list of projects is still being developed for this year.

Of the funds, $30 million is for Paterson; he has not yet submitted his project list.

Some of the surplus dates back several years and includes $86 million unspent by the Senate Republicans, $163.3 million unspent by Assembly Democrats and $80 million unspent by former Gov. George Pataki, comptroller's office records said.

The money comes from $200 million annually inserted in the budget for member items -- $85 million for each chamber and $30 million for the governor.

Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer did not reserve such funds for himself.

This year, the budget does not include new funds for member items, because the accumulations are supposed to cover any needs.

Russ Haven, counsel for New York Public Interest Research Group, said some of the unspent money is likely attributable to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's new certification program.

Legislative aides say the central staffs of the Assembly are scrutinizing the proposals closer as well, which delays payments.

Under the Cuomo initiative, begun in 2007, the attorney general's staff added new oversight to insure the money goes only to groups that have no conflicts with lawmakers, and that it is used for a public purpose.

Haven said some of the grants may not survive the Cuomo reviews.

Cuomo's office did not have a response.

"Many of the things that are funded by member items are very worthwhile and in some cases essential to communities," Haven said.

"But the process is so bad there's no way for the public to feel it's been vetted on a merit basis."

Assemblyman Robert Reilly, D-Colonie, said he doesn't like the practice of sweeping unused accumulations in funds "but if member items lapsed two years or so, then that money should be swept."

He said it takes about six months for the items to move to recipients.

Paterson said he wants to cut the state's operating expenses -- excluding Medicaid, education aid and entitlement programs -- $37 billion in this year's budget, by up to 10 percent next year.

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

"Ex-prosecutor to lead trooper probe - Cuomo hires veteran of U.S. Attorney's office to investigate political interference reports"

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

First published: Wednesday, April 23, 2008

ALBANY -- Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has hired a veteran federal prosecutor to head his investigation into whether state troopers have engaged in political interference with lawmakers.

Sharon McCarthy, who will serve as special counsel, was most recently a partner at Kostelanetz & Fink, a New York City firm that specializes, among other areas, in white-collar criminal and tax fraud defense.

Previously, she spent more than a dozen years in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where she was deputy chief of the Criminal Division under U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White.

She also headed the Violent Crimes Unit under U.S. Attorney James Comey.

McCarthy led the prosecution against 20 New York City property tax assessors involved in a 35-year-long bribery scheme.

Defendants in that case had to pay New York City $160 million in restitution.

Gov. David Paterson asked Cuomo to pursue the State Police investigation after Albany County District Attorney David Soares issued a report concluding that former Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer may have lied when he told investigators he wasn't involved in a plot against Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

Paterson, a former Senate Democratic minority leader, had also said he's heard from lawmakers who believe members of the State Police may have acted against them.

McCarthy will work solely on the State Police investigation, said Ben Lawsky, Cuomo's special assistant and deputy counselor.

"This will be all she's about," said Lawsky, describing her as nonpartisan.

While in the U.S. attorney's office, she worked under both White, an appointee of the Democratic Clinton administration, and Comey, who was appointed under the Republican Bush administration.

"Paterson issues his first veto to save tax dollars on police spending"

Associated Press

Last updated: 6:02 p.m., Wednesday, April 23, 2008

ALBANY -- Gov. David Paterson is vetoing a bill that would require small governments around the state with at least 15 part-time police officers to maintain a full-time police chief.

Without any plan for funding the full-time positions, Paterson says the bill could force municipalities to increase taxes.

Currently, state law requires that a political subdivision with a population of 150,000 or less and at least four full-time police officers must have a part-time police chief.

The rejection of the bill comes the same week that Paterson issued a hiring freeze to address the sputtering economy at a state level.

It's Paterson's first veto.

"Housing market bucks the trend - Capital Region shows stability as median sale prices climb despite drop in number of homes sold"

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Median sale prices on single-family homes in the Capital Region rose during the first three months of the year, defying expectations and national trends.

The price jump came despite a dramatic fall in the number of homes sold in the quarter, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors Inc.

In Albany County, for example, the median price of $199,600 in the first quarter was 5 percent higher than last year.

The number of closed sales, meanwhile, sank by 28 percent.

In Saratoga County, the median price of $254,300 was 2 percent higher than last year, while the number of closed sales dropped by 25 percent.

An analysis of recent property sales in the city of Albany, where officials last year completed a reassessment of property values, helps show the continued rise in housing costs.

City officials said the reassessment for taxation purposes was necessary because housing prices had climbed.

It brought complaints from homeowners who said the city made the move at the height of a real estate bubble and therefore overestimated values.

Yet the majority of homes in Albany are selling at prices above the reassessed value.

A Dartmouth Street house, for example, sold in February for $167,000, while its assessed value was $145,400.

Likewise, a house on Brookline Avenue was assessed at $319,400 but sold for $399,000, according to the Albany County clerk's office.

Government assessors generally base their appraisals on market values and the sale prices of nearby homes.

Still, using assessed values to measure actual price appreciation is inexact.

"Assessments and market prices are prepared for different parties for different reasons at different times," said Eric Dahl, managing partner at the nonprofit Community Realty in Albany.

"The assessor's not buying the house."

Still, Dahl sees solidity in the Capital Region real estate market.

"People like to see things as getting hot or getting cold," he said.

"But what we really have is just a good stable situation."

That is in contrast with much of the country, where home prices have been falling.

On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors said the median price of existing homes fell in March to $200,700, a decline of 7.7 percent from the price a year ago.

Meanwhile, Robert Shiller, an influential economist at Yale University, on Tuesday said it is likely housing prices nationwide will fall further than the 30 percent drop during the Great Depression.

Home prices nationally already have dropped 15 percent since their peak in 2006, he said.

Some Realtors here worry this region will also see value declines if the number of homes sold continues to drop.

For some, it's a mystery that prices haven't already fallen.

But Dahl and others say the number of homes for sale has shrunk as sellers wait for a stronger market, tightening supply as demand falls.

Other observers say lower-income buyers are having trouble getting credit in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis.

That means inexpensive homes aren't selling, elevating the median price.

The median price is the halfway point -- with half the homes selling for less than the number and half selling for more.

Bob Blackman, vice president at RealtyUSA, a commercial and residential real estate firm in Clifton Park, said many local agents feel the worst of the real estate slump has passed, despite the pessimism of Shiller and other national observers.

"It is a down market," Blackman said.

"But houses that are in popular areas and are priced well are in high demand and selling quickly."

Chris Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.

"Lawyers' role in question - Ex-law firm employees tell state officials they did school contract work that attorneys claimed for pension credit"

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

First published: Thursday, April 24, 2008

ALBANY -- Former employees of an Albany law firm that is under state scrutiny say they long questioned why some partners were listed as public employees rather than independent contractors who would be ineligible for a state pension.

At least one former employee of Girvin & Ferlazzo has voiced those concerns in a letter to state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is investigating state pension credits for some lawyers working for school districts.

"I would do all the research."

"I would do all the writing and they would sign their name," said the former employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"I questioned the fact that they were calling themselves employees of the district," said another, who also did not want to be named.

He said underlings would do the bulk of the work involved in drawing up run-of-the-mill contracts for school districts that were members of the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES in Johnstown.

The complaints provide an inside look into the seemingly mundane but lucrative business of handling legal affairs for public school districts, which over the years have paid millions of dollars to a few select law firms and their partners.

The money came from local property taxes and state reimbursements.

Some of the lawyers in the system are already collecting on those pensions.

One of Girvin & Ferlazzo's founders, for instance, E. Michael Ruberti, now lives out of state and has drawn a $50,577.98 annual pension since 1995, according to state Comptroller Office records.

Girvin & Ferlazzo provides legal services to dozens of school districts across the Capital Region and beyond.

The firm's relationship with Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES drew scrutiny from Cuomo and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli earlier this month when authorities learned that at least five partners of the firm were listed by BOCES as employees for the purposes of racking up state pension system credits.

DiNapoli last week removed four of the partners -- James Girvin, Kathy Ann Wolverton, Kristine Lanchantin and Jeffrey Honeywell -- from the state retirement system.

Another, Salvatore Ferlazzo, lost credits with the BOCES, but retained them through a previous state job.

Yanking the lawyers' pension credits marked the latest chapter in a burgeoning investigation by both DiNapoli and Cuomo that was kicked off last winter when the Long Island newspaper Newsday reported that a school lawyer there, Lawrence Reich, had been listed as an employee of five different school districts.

Since then, Reich's $62,000 pension has been revoked.

Cuomo and DiNapoli have said lawyers retained by school districts or BOCES on a contractual basis shouldn't be considered state employees and thus shouldn't earn pension benefits.

Additionally, Cuomo has subpoenaed numerous current and former lawyers at Girvin & Ferlazzo, according to the AG's office.

At least two more lawyers who used to belong to the firm, M. Cornelia Cahill and Maureen Harris, are having their pension credits scrutinized as well, according to sources familiar with the situation but who weren't authorized to give out such information.

Cahill, who is now with Hiscock & Barclay and is married to Court of Claims Presiding Judge Richard Sise, didn't return a call on Wednesday.

Harris, an ally of former Gov. George Pataki, now serves on the state Public Service Commission.

She couldn't be reached either.

But her lawyer, Michael Koenig, said Harris worked for Girvin & Ferlazzo for nine years and it was only in her last year that "she participated in a long-standing and accepted arrangement that existed at the firm for over 25 years."

Koenig added she is "fully cooperating," with the attorney general's office and "will take whatever steps are appropriate."

Cuomo and DiNapoli have stressed that pension credits should only go to people who meet commonly recognized criteria of what constitutes an employee, such as having a supervisor, a regular workplace and fixed hours.

None of those conditions applied to the law firm.

Girvin & Ferlazzo didn't respond to a call seeking comment.

But former employees of the firm said such criteria are well-known to attorneys.

One noted that many of the firm's new associates didn't complain, figuring they were gaining experience and would eventually move on or try to make partner.

New associates just out of law school earned less than $50,000 and put in 70-hour work weeks, while some partners sometimes made more than $700,000 annually, according to the former employees.

And while they didn't outright question the partners, some of the new hires wondered why some partners were earning pension credits for work that others were performing.

"They touted it all the time as a benefit they have because of a loophole," said one former associate.

Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES Superintendent Geoffrey Davis previously noted that several state agencies, including the Comptroller and Education Department, had for years approved of their pension credit arrangement.

'It's very confusing," he said of the pension laws.

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

Irene Jay Liu contributed to this story.

"Bills leave consumers numb to 'stimulus' - Siena poll shows most federal rebate checks will go in bank or be used to pay bills"

By ERIC ANDERSON, Deputy business editor, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Thursday, April 24, 2008

COLONIE -- The idea was to stimulate the economy by giving low- and middle-income taxpayers a rebate check to spend.

But a survey this week by the Siena Research Institute in Loudonville found that just one in five taxpayers who say they will get a rebate check plan to spend it.

"While 73 percent of voters expect to get a federal rebate check, 49 percent of them intend to use the money to pay bills."

"Only 20 percent anticipate going shopping to buy something new," said Steven Greenberg, a spokesman for the Siena New York Poll.

"This windfall of cash for New Yorkers may not help the economy much since only a small minority plan on spending the money."

Ted Potrikus, executive vice president of the Retail Council of New York State Inc. in Albany, described the survey as "a snapshot of a moment in time," said consumers very well could change their minds about what they do with the money.

"We will know how people spend or don't spend those checks on the day they get them," he said Wednesday.

"People may have been sitting on their wallets for a long time, and here's some money."

The survey was conducted between April 13 and 16 by phone with 624 New Yorkers.

Young adults, those 18 to 34, were the most likely to save their rebate, at 41 percent, while blacks were least likely, at 17 percent.

Instead, they were the most likely to pay bills, at 71 percent.

Blacks also were the least likely to spend it.

Just 10 percent of respondent said they plan to do so.

Results are at http://www. siena.edu/sri.

AND AS I STRUGGLE TO GET CAUGHT UP AND KEEP UP WITH THE "SWIRL" OUT THERE IN WHAT IS CALLED THE "REAL WORLD" THAT AFFECTS HOW WE ALL MUST LIVE OUR LIVES RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE ...

"Toshiba's net profit plunges 95 percent as it withdraws from HD DVD"

Associated Press

Last updated: 7:02 a.m., Friday, April 25, 2008

TOKYO -- Japanese electronics maker Toshiba said Friday its net profit plummeted a staggering 95 percent in the January-March quarter due to losses related to its exit from the next-generation video HD DVD business.

Toshiba Corp.'s profit stood at 1.25 billion yen ($12 million), sharply down from 26.17 billion yen a year earlier.

"Our net profit sharply fell due to the end of HD DVD business," Toshiba spokeswoman Hiroko Mochida said, adding the one-time charge for pulling the plug on its HD DVD business cost about 48 billion yen ($461 million).

On top of that, the operation racked up a 60.2 billion yen ($580 million) operating loss for the fiscal year ended March 31, she said.

Toshiba announced the end of its HD DVD business in February.

The technology had been competing against Blu-ray disc technology, backed by Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products, five major Hollywood movie studios and others.

Toshiba said a drop in flash memory chip prices also hurt its results.

Quarterly revenue fell 3 percent from a year earlier to 2.09 trillion yen (US $20 billion).

In the financial year through March, Toshiba's net profit declined 7 percent to 127.4 billion yen ($1.2 billion).

The earnings report came after the end of trading on the Tokyo stock exchange.

Shares in Toshiba fell 2 percent 848 yen ($8.15) on Friday.

"Many states appear to be in recession; tax revenue is dropping and deficits are growing"

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:12 a.m., Friday, April 25, 2008

The finances of many states have deteriorated so badly that they appear to be in a recession, regardless of whether that's true for the nation as a whole, a survey of all 50 state fiscal directors concludes.

The situation looks even worse for the fiscal year that begins July 1 in most states.

"Whether or not the national economy is in recession -- a subject of ongoing debate -- is almost beside the point for some states," said the report to be released Friday by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The weakening economy is hitting tax revenue in a number of ways: People's discretionary income is being gobbled up by higher food and fuel costs, while the tanking housing market means people are spending less on furniture and appliances associated with buying a house.

The situation is grim in Delaware, with a $69 million gap this year, and bleak in California, with a projected $16 billion budget shortfall over the next two years, the report said.

Florida does not expect a rapid turnaround in revenue because of the prolonged real estate slump there.

By mid-April, 16 states and Puerto Rico were reporting shortfalls in their current budgets as the revenue those budgets were built on -- typically, taxes --fell short of estimates.

That's double the number of states reporting a deficit six months ago.

The NCSL said the news is even worse for the upcoming fiscal year, with 23 states and Puerto Rico already reporting budget shortfalls totaling $26 billion.

More than two-thirds of states said they are concerned about next year's budgets.

The results are consistent with a drumbeat of bad economic news for states that several budget groups have produced in the past few months.

Last week, the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said 27 states are reporting projected budget shortfalls next year totaling at least $39 billion.

President Bush said Tuesday that the economy was not in a recession but a period of slower growth.

However, some economists have pointed to the string of declines in manufacturing orders to argue that the economy has fallen into a recession.

Bolstering their position, the Commerce Department reported Thursday that sales of new homes plunged in March to the lowest level in 16 1/2 years.

The government also reported that orders to factories for big-ticket goods fell for a third straight month in March, the longest string of declines since the 2001 recession.

Some states "have declined so much that they appear to be in a recession," the NCSL report said.

It also noted the silver lining for states where the economy is based on energy, such as North Dakota and Wyoming.

Alaska is making so much money from oil that it announced an estimated surplus next year of $8 billion, almost twice the state's annual budget.

In North Dakota, revenue is above legislative predictions by 13 percent, and in Louisiana, the oil and gas sector is robust.

"For energy-producing states, the fiscal situation is strong and the outlook is good," the report said.

Among other findings:

--More than half the 16 states reporting deficits this year have cut spending, including $1 billion by Florida lawmakers last year and across-the-board cuts in Nevada.

At least eight states are debating raising taxes or fees, including a proposed $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase in Massachusetts to raise $175 million.

--Twelve states, including Georgia, Idaho and Illinois, reported that personal income tax collections were failing to meet estimates, and in eight of these, collections were even below a reduced forecast.

--Many states, including Alabama, Arizona, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada and Wisconsin, plan to tap their rainy day funds, which contain money set aside for fiscal emergencies.

Nevada may use its entire rainy day balance.

------

On the Net:

NCSL: http://www.ncsl.org

"Tonko close to decision on run - NYSERDA president is weighing 21st District bid"

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, April 25, 2008

Former state Assemblyman Paul Tonko is one step closer to entering the race for Democrat Michael McNulty's 21st Congressional District seat.

Tonko, who heads the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, said he will attend the Albany County Democratic Committee's screening meeting for potential candidates Saturday and has filled out a questionnaire related to that appearance.

But Tonko was still firm Thursday that he hasn't made a decision about whether he will run.

He would join seven other Democrats and two Republicans who have already entered the race.

Tonko is aware that he would most likely have to quit his NYSERDA job before he could seek the congressional seat, being vacated by the retiring McNulty at year's end.

"I am working through a decision on my future and I will announce that decision in the very near future," he said Thursday.

Last July, Tonko, 58, an Amsterdam Democrat, became president and CEO of NYSERDA after resigning from the state Assembly.

He had represented the 105th Assembly District, including all of Montgomery and part of Schenectady counties since April 1983.

His interest in seeking the congressional seat has been rumored for months, and speculation has abounded as to how he would handle his state job if he wanted to run for Congress.

AND WITH RESPECT TO THE PARASITIC TEACHERS' UNIONS IN NEW YORK STATE, WE HAVE ...

"Teachers question union's stance - Guilderland bargaining unit accused by own members of being too close to school board"

By SCOTT WALDMAN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, April 25, 2008

GUILDERLAND -- A group of Guilderland High School teachers has criticized their union president over what they say is his cozy relationship with the administration.

They contend the leadership of the Guilderland Teachers Association has not acted in the best interest of the membership by endorsing school board candidates and giving them campaign contributions.

Matt Nelligan, a high school social studies teacher, chastised union President Chris Claus for rubber-stamping the administration on teacher cutbacks.

"I want a real union, not a company union," Nelligan said.

"Their collaboration with the district administration is shameful."

At least a dozen teachers have expressed their dissatisfaction.

The administration recently came under fire from members of the school board and community residents for releasing a directory of student names and addresses to the teachers association during the last election.

Claus has said he used the information to send postcards to parents that promoted particular candidates but would not do so again this year.

The union contributed at least $2,000 to candidates it favored in last May's election.

Claus said the union has offered financial and volunteer support to some school board candidates in this spring's election on May 20.

Claus said Thursday that he was surprised at the attacks from members of the union.

Claus, who is stepping down as president when his term ends in June, said he has worked with the district for years.

"My opinion is sought by the school district, and my opinion is valued by the school district," Claus said.

School board member Peter Golden said the public criticism is evidence that the union does not represent all teachers.

Golden, who is running for re-election, said taxpayers suffer when dissenting opinions are drowned out.

He is one of two incumbents and three other candidates seeking three open seats.

The union is backing three candidates.

"A board is supposed to represent everyone in the community, not just a small group plugged into the union," he said.

Carl Korn, spokesman for New York State United Teachers, said while many NYSUT locals endorse candidates in school board races across the state, some locals don't.

In addition to campaign contributions, union members donate their time by making phone calls, distributing fliers and attending meetings.

Korn said the average union local spends less than $1,000 per school board cycle, but that number varies greatly with the size of the district.

Nelligan said his dissident group of teachers would consider future endorsements as long as they don't involve union funds.

He said giving union money to candidates "corrupts" the process.

It would better serve everyone's interest, he said, if the union gained more autonomy from the district:

"You've got a two-headed monster -- the district and the union are working together."

Scott Waldman can be reached at 454-5080 or by e-mail at swaldman@timesunion.com.

"DiNapoli pulls another lawyer's pension - Private attorney was getting $106,700-a-year benefit"

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

Last updated: 11:29 a.m., Friday, April 25, 2008

ALBANY -- Another Long Island lawyer had his state pension plans altered by Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

DiNapoli said this morning that hes suspended the $106,700 annual payout to Albert DAgostino.

The action is part of DiNapolis on-going review of the records of every attorney in the Common Retirement System.

DAgostino had received pension service credit for work with Nassau County, Lawrence Union Free School District, Valley Stream Union Free School District, North Merrick Union Free School District, the Town of Hempstead and the Village of Valley Stream.

DAgostino retired in October 2000.

DiNapoli and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo are investigating how lawyers and other professionals who are not government employees, but work under contract, have gotten into the public pension system via loopholes or fraud.

Last month, DiNapolis office suspended the $61,459 annual pension of Lawrence Reich after an audit by DiNapolis office found five school districts inappropriately reported Reich as an employee.

Four lawyers from the Albany firm of Girvin and Ferlazzo were also removed from the pension system, while a fifth lost partial retirement credit, after DiNapoli concluded they were improperly listed as BOCES employees for the purposes of getting the retirement benefit.

"Comptroller notes more debt in budget - DiNapoli faults borrowing, revenue projections in enacted budget"

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:32 p.m., Friday, April 25, 2008

ALBANY -- State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Friday the recently enacted state budget raises spending by more than $5 billion over the previous fiscal year, projects tax revenues that are questionable in a weakening economy and contains $11.5 billion in new debt that will be issued over several years.

"It's clear this budget continues New York's long but not-so-glorious traditions of spending more than the state takes in and borrowing too much," DiNapoli said.

Total spending projections range from $121.4 to $121.7 billion.

The nearly on-time budget with less spending than originally proposed by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was "a remarkable achievement," DiNapoli said.

Final budget numbers are still pending, but the forecast for the national economy has continued to weaken, the report said.

Gov. David Paterson said on Thursday he will look for midyear cuts to help address a looming $5 billion deficit.

And on Monday he called for state agencies to find savings and halt hiring for all but "absolutely essential" positions.

The state employs more than 169,426 workers.

Jeffrey Gordon, spokesman for the Paterson administration's Budget Division, said the governor shares DiNapoli's concerns about the state's financial future.

Paterson will issue a detailed budget analysis next week and has initiated a review of state spending to begin cutting costs for next year, Gordon said.

DiNapoli said that without cost-cutting, future budget gaps could reach $9.5 billion in 2011-12.

He noted that none of the new borrowing is voter approved or tied to any comprehensive plan to address the state's "critical infrastructure needs."

"The reality is that the economy is in rough shape and the worst may still be around the corner," DiNapoli said.

"Governor Paterson took an important first step to address the budget's structural imbalance by telling state agencies to stop unnecessary spending now."

"All across New York, families are tightening their belts."

"It's time for the state to do the same."

According to the report:

--The budget continues to use debt to fill shortfalls, with New York's current debt of $53 billion projected to top $67 billion by 2012-13 with debt service then rising to $7.5 billion a year.

--New borrowing includes $105 million for the state to acquire clear title to New York's thoroughbred tracks from the New York Racing Association and $250 million for expansion at Aqueduct, $1.3 billion in new debt for various economic development programs and $9.3 billion for capital projects at the state and city university systems.

--Almost $1.5 billion in revenue may not materialize, such as the conversion of not-for-profit health insurers to for-profit status, sales tax from Indian retailers and VLT revenues.

--The budget uses $2.5 billion in one-time items, including $400 million in sweeps from various dedicated funds, such as the Environmental Protection Fund and the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Fund.

------

On the Net:

DiNapoli's report: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/budget/...dbudget0408.pdf

"Pension claims of seven defended - Lawyer draws distinction between his clients and attorneys suspected of defrauding system"

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

First published: Saturday, April 26, 2008

ALBANY -- A lawyer for a group of educators suing the New York State Teachers' Retirement System said his clients are not trying to defraud the system by seeking pension credits -- as some school and municipal attorneys are suspected of doing.

Albany attorney Thomas Latin said his seven clients -- former and current teachers and administrators at public schools -- had their salaries underwritten by grants to their public employers from a private, nonprofit organization, but that did not mean they were not public employees.

"This is a significantly different situation than lawyers on a public payroll," said Latin.

"The fact that you work under a grant doesn't mean you are in the employment of the grantor."

The educators seeking pension credits include Richard Blais, who worked for Hudson Valley Community College, and Niel Tebanno, who worked for Mohonasen Central Schools, under grants awarded to those public institutions by Project Lead The Way, of Clifton Park.

Both men are now retired from their public employers and are executives with Project Lead The Way, earning $167,200 annually.

The retirement system's lawyer said their work did not involve public service so their credits during the time Project Lead The Way was paying their schools for their salaries does not count toward pensions.

Latin called the dispute, now before a state Supreme Court judge, an honest difference of opinion.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office is probing abuses of the pension systems and could look at the matter as well as similar arrangements statewide.

"Our investigations are broad and encompass all areas where false or inaccurate representations were made to New York state pension systems," said John Milgrim, a spokesman for Cuomo.

Cuomo's office is representing the teachers' retirement system in the lawsuit brought by the seven people over having their pension credits denied.

In court papers, the attorney general maintains that public employers such as HVCC served as a conduit for people such as Blais to actually work for Project Lead The Way.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli froze the $102,259-per-year payout to Albert D'Agostino, a private lawyer who served six different municipalities part time, until further notice.

He has been retired for more than seven years after being recorded as a public employee for three Long Island school districts plus Nassau County, Hempstead and the village of Valley Stream.

He also received a 21-year retroactive pension credit during Comptroller H. Carl McCall's tenure.

DiNapoli spokeswoman Emily Desantis said the office is not criticizing the McCall decision as the review of the case continues.

She said more lawyers will likely be de-listed from the system or have their pensions frozen.

DiNapoli had already suspended the nearly $62,000 pension of Long Island lawyer Lawrence Reich because he was improperly reported as an employee by several Long Island school districts.

He also stripped five years of service from a lawyer with the Albany firm of Girvin and Ferlazzo and removed four lawyers from the firm from the pension system.

They were incorrectly reported as employees to the retirement system by Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES.

Abuses of the pension system involve lawyers who claimed their work with public employers rendered them public employees despite the fact that underlings in the law firms did the actual work.

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

AND WHILE WE ARE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE PARASITIC TEACHERS' UNIONS HERE IN NYS ...

THIS IS LIKE THE RATS ON A FARM GETTING GOVERNMENT CONTROL OVER THE FARMER, SO THAT HE NOT ONLY HAS TO KEEP THE CORNCRIB FULL FOR THEM ...

BUT CONSTANTLY HAS TO WORK TO MAKE IT EVER BIGGER ...

THESE TEACHERS ARE GREEDY THIEVES WHO DO LITTLE MORE THAN TURN OUT BATCHES OF STUPID, IRRESPONSIBLE CHILDREN WHO LEARN GREED FROM THESE TEACHERS ....

AND NOT MUCH ELSE ...

And so ...

"New York school unions lobby against property tax cap - Teachers' union lobbies against property tax cap plan to limit school spending in New York"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 1:12 p.m., Sunday, April 27, 2008

ALBANY -- A special commission created to find a way to cap New Yorkers' property taxes may not call for a cap after all.

The powerful New York State United Teachers union opposes the cap that would limit how much most school districts could raise through the local tax levy.

"A tax cap makes no sense if we are serious about our efforts to maintain a high-quality education system and close the achievement gap" between poor and wealthier districts, said Richard C. Iannuzzi, NYSUT's president.

"Tax caps do nothing to impact the rising costs facing school districts."

Instead, NYSUT and other lobbyists representing school boards and school administrators support a "circuit breaker."

That would provide a state subsidy to cap taxes, but only for homeowners determined to be of moderate income.

The state subsidy could cost the state more than $1.5 billion a year.

Who receives the benefit would be defined by income, house value and the region of the state.

It wouldn't cap taxes for businesses, landlords or directly affect tenants, unless provisions are added before the May 22 final report is issued to the governor and Legislature.

Gov. David Paterson is making a priority of reducing the state's local property taxes, which are among the nation's highest and blamed for an exodus of people and employers.

He notes that the state's STAR tax subsidy program now provides $5 billion a year in state funds to school districts which are supposed to use it to offset the burden on taxpayers.

But Paterson notes local school taxes have still gone up an average of 7 percent for five straight years despite increases in STAR and historic increases in traditional state school aid.

"Everybody -- everybody -- agrees property taxes are a problem, so that's a big plus," said Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, who heads the commission and must build a consensus.

"A second plus is that the governor has made this a statewide issue."

"I've been trying to push that rock up the hill for years."

Suozzi, a Democrat, said the state needs a "circuit breaker" that kicks in a tax break on the most hard-pressed New Yorkers, but New Yorkers also need a cap on local tax levies.

That could limit the amount of money a school district could raise in taxes to a fixed amount, such as 4 percent or 120 percent of the consumer price index, whichever is lower.

District residents, however, could also choose to suspend the limit in an annual vote.

"If you were to do a circuit breaker without a property tax cap, there would be less incentive for school districts to control their spending because the burden would be shifted to the state," Suozzi said.

"It would be a step backwards," said Kenneth Adams of the state Business Council.

"The only way this makes sense, the only way it works, is to have hard caps across the board because that's the way to force spending cuts."

But that goes against the teachers unions, which emerged as the most powerful lobbying force in Albany this budget season.

The group, which spends millions on lobbying and campaign contributions, last month helped win a record increase in school aid despite hard fiscal times, fought off a tougher requirement for getting tenure, and even got a statewide day of commemoration for teachers.

"When asked to choose between quality schools and lower taxes, parents and community members repeatedly vote in favor of investing more in public education," said Alan B. Lubin, NYSUT's executive vice president.

"I expected from the beginning that a lot of people would be interested in a circuit breaker," said E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, part of the fiscally conservative Manhattan Institute.

"But it's not a substitute for a cap."

He said a cap would help school districts eliminate some costly mandates issued by Albany.

If schools show they need more state aid because their capped local resources aren't enough, then the Legislature will be pressured to eliminate mandated programs and spending.

Identifying state mandates that should be eliminated is also part of the task of Suozzi's commission.

It held the last of its series of statewide hearings last week.

"The big issue is you give them more aid and they keep raising taxes," McMahon said.

"The way to limit taxes is directly, with a cap."

------

On the Net:

http://www.state.ny.us

http://www.nysut.org

http://www.manhattan-institute.org

"Analysis: Paterson's plan to cut taxes and spending harks back to Faso campaign in '06"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 10:02 a.m., Saturday, April 26, 2008

ALBANY -- "Eliot Spitzer has one set of rules for Eliot Spitzer and one for everyone else."

That's not from the now loud chorus of Spitzer bashers since the Democrat resigned March 17 after being implicated in a prostitution investigation.

It was said, repeatedly, throughout the 2006 campaign for governor by Republican candidate John Faso.

Back then, though, Faso fought for any attention in the face of the Spitzer campaign.

With the help of millions of dollars in slick television ads and a wildly popular crusader for a candidate, the Spitzer juggernaut drowned out what was perhaps the most talented bunch of candidates for governor in decades in New York.

Spitzer's popularity forced an early exit by Republican Bill Weld, the former Massachusetts governor with New York roots and the only candidate who ever ran a state and cut state taxes.

It also forced out Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, who lost big to Spitzer in the September 2006 primary even though Suozzi had real experience in crafting budgets, cutting taxes and saying "no" to special interests.

Spitzer, as governor, eventually turned to Suozzi as was the most qualified guy to run a special commission to find ways to cap property taxes.

But it was the warnings by Faso, trounced by Spitzer by a historic margin in the general election, that came back to haunt New York this week.

And it came from Spitzer's lieutenant governor-turned successor, Gov. David Paterson.

It was Faso, Paterson said in central New York Tuesday, who forced the property tax issue back in 2006.

Now, Paterson is calling for up to a 10-percent cut in spending in the face of a screeching slow down of the economy, and a critical look at the STAR tax subsidy program.

STAR now provides $5 billion in state funds to school districts which are supposed to use it to cut or curb school taxes, the biggest property tax for most New Yorkers.

But school taxes keep going up, despite almost annual record increases in state school aid, on top of STAR increases.

"I just know that when we put STAR in, property taxes went up 7 percent for five straight years," Paterson said, sounding a lot like Faso.

"Our response as a government is to create more STAR."

In 2006, Faso had warned voters that Spitzer wouldn't stand up to special interests, despite his promises to rein in state spending.

Spitzer's 2007 budget ballooned to an 8-percent increase in spending; his January 2008 budget proposal called for a 5-percent increase, a figure that had to be whittled down as tax revenues continued to sink.

In 2006, candidate Faso promised to submit a first budget with no spending increase to head off the predicted hard fiscal times ahead.

In September of that year, The Associated Press had out-of-state tax and public policy authorities review the property tax proposals of Spitzer, Suozzi and Faso.

Faso was credited with the one that would return money fast to New Yorkers and place a needed cap on spending -- something Spitzer at the time opposed.

"Providing the STAR program without a cap is a recipe for failure," Faso said Wednesday from his Manhattan law and lobbying office.

"We would have been better off without STAR at this juncture because all it did was provide momentary relief without fixing the overall problem."

Today it sounds prophetic.

Back in 2006, Faso was dismissed or ignored by most voters, campaign donors and some news organizations.

The polls gave Spitzer a 50-percent lead through much of the race and Spitzer TV commercials were everywhere, while Faso had trouble scraping up enough for a couple regional ads.

Less than a month before Election Day, Spitzer had raised $39.1 million to Faso's $3.4 million.

In October 2006, Faso even tried to tell New York that one of Spitzer's policy ideas was just plain crazy.

That's when Spitzer's plan surfaced to make it easier for illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses.

A year later, it would trigger a national firestorm and be Spitzer's biggest policy debacle, hurting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign in the process.

But the issue didn't get traction in 2006, despite newspaper coverage.

The point isn't -- as some in Albany are now claiming -- that Spitzer was a fraud.

His ideas -- some implemented, others on track to be -- remain the best blue print for reform in Albany in decades.

The point is that in 2006, when it counted, few listened to Faso, Suozzi or Weld.

Warm-focus TV ads, boisterous rallies and big endorsements carried the day and Spitzer had the market on those.

More people may be listening now to what Faso said then.

Perhaps most importantly, Paterson is.

------

Michael Gormley is the Albany, N.Y., Capitol editor for The Associated Press. He can be reached by e-mail at mgormley(at)ap.org.

"Fund sued over pension rejections - Employees of nonprofit that promotes science education had sought retirement systems credit"

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

First published: Friday, April 25, 2008

ALBANY -- Seven people working for a Clifton Park nonprofit educational firm attempted to inappropriately get into the New York State Teachers' Retirement System and qualify for public pensions, according to the lawyer for the pension fund.

The individuals, who were blocked from gaining public pension credits, are now suing the retirement system.

The revelation comes amid a broader state investigation of possible fraud by lawyers and other licensed professionals who enrolled in the New York State and Local Retirement System.

The teachers system, at $97 billion, is separate from the $154.5 billion state and local pension fund.

Wayne Schneider, head lawyer for the teachers' system, said seven people who work for Project Lead The Way, including one claiming to be an employee of Hudson Valley Community College, sought credits in the teachers retirement fund.

Schneider denied them last year.

The group has sued in state Supreme Court in Albany County.

Project Lead The Way, based in Clifton Park, contracts with schools, BOCES and community colleges, and promotes technology and science-based education.

"It's not public service,'' Schneider said about the work being done by the seven plaintiffs in the case against the teachers' system.

They are teachers and administrators with the firm, he said.

Among the seven individuals, Schneider said, was Richard Blais, who is listed in Project Lead The Way's 2006 IRS filings as vice president, with $167,200 in annual pay.

Blais allegedly attempted to get pension credits as an HVCC employee.

His lawyer, Thomas Latin, of Albany, did not return a call for comment, and Blais was unavailable at the Project Lead The Way office.

Also seeking credits was Diana Jensen-Dooling, the firm's state director.

Her lawyer, James Bilik, said she is an employee at the Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES in Spencerport, and rolled out a technology curriculum used in a number of schools across the state that follows Project Lead The Way's program.

Meanwhile, officials with the state attorney general's and comptroller's offices are expanding their investigation of people hired by school districts and municipalities who allegedly declared themselves public employees and inappropriately received credits toward pensions from the state retirement system.

Dennis Tompkins, a spokesman for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, said the focus currently is on the legal profession, and the office is comparing names of licensed lawyers to the more than 1 million names in its pension system.

Other licensed professions will be probed by the comptroller and the attorney general, including architects, engineers and physicians, officials said.

Already, DiNapoli has removed four lawyers with the Albany law firm of Girvin & Ferlazzo from the state pension system after determining that they wrongly declared themselves public employees of a BOCES that had contracted with them for legal work for schools.

A fifth lawyer lost part of his pension credits, but was allowed to keep credits from his prior public sector employment.

Also, a retired Long Island lawyer who served several school districts is being denied his $62,000 annual state pension.

He may be required to reimburse the state for payouts in recent years.

More lawyers are expected to be cut off or dropped from the system.

"We will be taking action on a number of attorneys in the near future,'' Tompkins said.

Defenders of the practice say the lawyers at worst exploited a loophole.

Investigators say some of the private professionals were clearly not public employees, and the actions could be criminal.

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

"Tonko resigns from state job - Move seen as clearing way for ex-assemblyman to run for Congress"

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

First published: Saturday, April 26, 2008

Saying it was the "appropriate time to do so," former state Assemblyman Paul Tonko resigned Friday as head of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, apparently the first step in his bid for a congressional seat.

The resignation to the authority's board was effective immediately.

The 58-year-old Amsterdam Democrat said, "It seemed to be the appropriate time to tender my resignation, and I will be making an announcement of my future plans in the impending days."

For months, Tonko was rumored to be eyeing a run for the 21st Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Michael McNulty, D-Green Island, who held it for 20 years.

Tonko declined to make it official Friday, saying, "I've shown an interest in it."

"There is much work that needs to be done in Washington, and for that reason, I am interested and will make an announcement in a number of days."

He would become the race's eighth Democrat, all of whom will be interviewed Saturday by the Albany County Democratic Committee's screening committee, which then could recommend an endorsement to the party's Executive Committee and co-chairmen.

Tonko was noncommittal on whether he felt he had to resign the $148,888-a-year post to avoid a possible conflict.

He said he was uncertain of the options, "but I chose to resign."

In a statement, Tonko said he informed Gov. David Paterson of his resignation and "after a long career in state service, I am looking forward to a new challenge."

Tonko became president and CEO of NYSERDA on July 1 after a long career in the Assembly.

Until a successor is named, NYSERDA Vice President Robert Callender will take over as the authority's head.

Tonko had represented the 105th Assembly District, including all of Montgomery and part of Schenectady counties, from April 1983 to June 2007.

He was chairman of the Assembly Committee on Energy.

Albany is the largest county in the congressional district, which stretches over seven counties, including Montgomery and Schenectady.

Asked if he would look into another job, Tonko said, "I'm a busy body."

"I'm always picking up work to do."

"Work and life is important whether that's in a voluntary capacity, or what, there's always work to be done."

He is a graduate of Clarkson University with a degree in mechanical and industrial engineering.

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

"Panel grants NYRA another extension"

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

First published: Saturday, April 26, 2008

ALBANY -- The New York Racing Association should have the rights to continue operating the state's three top tracks through July, although some outstanding issues involving tens of millions of dollars still need to be worked out.

A state oversight panel granted another short-term extension -- through July 13 -- to NYRA's operating rights, which were supposed to end Dec. 31 pending a long-term extension.

The hope is that issues blocking completion of a new 25-year franchise will be resolved by June 29, said Steven Newman, chairman of the oversight board.

Among the outstanding issues, the state has told NYRA that it must pay property taxes owed municipalities hosting Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga, a figure that could top $20 million.

Also, NYRA counts on $54 million annually from the New York City Off-Track Betting Corp., but Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing to close the OTB operation.

State lawmakers and Gov. David Paterson are privately discussing ways to save the financially ailing OTB.

"I don't think the executive branch sees any serious stumbling blocks to getting the NYRA franchise completed by this new deadline," said Paterson spokesman Morgan Hook.

NYRA, which is in bankruptcy, has proposed a reorganization that takes into account the OTB funds plus $105 million in state cash promised under a deal worked out earlier this year.

A spokesman for NYRA President Charles Hayward said the OTB matter isn't a factor in the bankruptcy case.

On a related topic, the state accepted bids from three teams trying to develop a video lottery parlor and other potential businesses at Aqueduct.

Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno will consider the bids from Capital Play LLC's team, which includes Extell Development, Plainfield Asset Management and Mohegan Sun; Aqueduct Gaming LLC, which includes Delaware North Cos. Gaming and Saratoga Harness Racing; and SL Green Reality Corp.

HEY, A DOLLAR AND A DREAM ...

YES ...

YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORK FOR A LIVING IN NEW YORK STATE TO LIVE THE LIFE OF ROYALTY ...

AND THE STATE NEEDS THE MONEY ...

SO BE A GOOD AMERICAN, KIDS, AND GET OUT THERE AND GET GAMBLING ..

IT'S COOL ...

AND IT HAS TO BE ALRIGHT, BECAUSE THE STATE IS SPONSORING IT ...

AND HONESTY IS NO LONGER THE BEST POLICY IN NEW YORK STATE IF IT EVER WAS ....

JUST LOOK AT NYRA, FOR EXAMPLE ....

IN NEW YORK STATE, CORRUPTION IS WHAT PAYS THE BIG BUCKS ...

AND THEN THE STATE STEPS IN AND BAILS YOU OUT WITH TAXPAYER MONEY AFTER YOU HAVE LOOTED YOUR ORGANIZATION INTO BANKRUPTCY ...

And so ...

"Paterson, legislative leaders consider bids for video slot machines, development at Aqueduct"

Associated Press

Last updated: 5:02 p.m., Monday, April 28, 2008

ALBANY -- Bidders who created Hard Rock cafes and others who helped bring big-time casinos to Connecticut are vying to turn Aqueduct race track into a Queens hot spot.

In related moves Monday, the New York Racing Association said it's closer to emerging from bankruptcy court protection and the state's racing regulator allowed race tracks and off-track betting facilities to take bets over the Internet, a potentially lucrative market.

NYRA, which holds the state's franchise to run thoroughbred racing at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga race tracks, said a federal judge has entered an order that is expected to move the private entity out of bankruptcy court.

NYRA said the judge approved its amended plan to pay back creditors, a deal funded by a $105 million state bailout.

The state Racing and Wagering Board's decision will allow bets to be taken from phones, including cell phones, over the Internet or by other electronic means.

Some Internet betting has been temporarily allowed since last summer.

The bidders who submitted proposals to run video slot machines at Aqueduct are a partnership of racing operator Capital Play Inc. and the Mohegan Sun casino; Aqueduct Gaming, which includes Delaware North Companies Gaming and Entertainment of Buffalo and Saratoga Harness Racing; and SL Green Realty Corp., a New York City developer with plans to build a Hard Rock entertainment facility.

The video slots franchise will be awarded after Gov. David Paterson and legislative leaders review the proposals over the next two weeks.

The state split the racing franchise from the video slots franchise earlier this year, although revenues from the video slot machines will help fund the tracks and thoroughbred racing.

Video slot machines are not allowed by law at Saratoga or Belmont.

AND WHILE WE ARE ON THE SUBJECT OF ELIOT "SHERIFF OF WALL STREET" SPITZER, WE HAVE ....

"Spitzer call girl sues 'Girls Gone Wild' for $10 million over 2003 spring break film"

Associated Press

Last updated: 4:52 p.m., Monday, April 28, 2008

MIAMI -- The call girl linked to former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is suing the founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series for more than $10 million.

Ashley Alexandra Dupre filed a lawsuit Monday in Miami federal court claiming she never gave "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis permission to use her name and likeness to advertise the videos.

Dupre contends she was 17 and not old enough to sign a contract when the videos were taken in 2003 in Miami Beach.

A spokesman for Francis didn't immediately return a call for comment Monday.

The now 22-year-old Dupre was identified in March as a prostitute named "Kristen" who had been involved with Spitzer.

He has since resigned.

"Clifton Park board's action angers member - Sandy Roth feels board should not have acted to make appointment to water board during his absence"

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELST, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 12:03 a.m., Tuesday, April 29, 2008

CLIFTON PARK -- Sanford "Sandy'' Roth, the Town Board's longest tenured member, chastised his colleagues Monday night for acting without him last week to appoint someone to the town's water authority after he specifically asked them to wait.

Just two weeks removed from the heart attack that forced the councilman's absence, Roth was back at the dais Monday and spent the better part of the meeting's first hour questioning the actions of his fellow councilmembers, whose vote led to an ugly and public split with their own Republican party leadership.

Roth called it a "disrespectful, disgraceful show'' on the part of some of his colleagues.

The disagreement centered on the appointment of resident John Ryan to the Clifton Park Water Authority Board.

Roth, the council's liaison to the board, had asked that the item be pulled until he could return.

Through an emissary at last week's meeting, Roth had expressed concerns about statements Ryan had made about the water authority in the past and a desire to interview others interested in the post.

The board voted 4-0 to approve Ryan's appointment anyway and, after getting repeatedly criticized by members of the public for doing so, charged that that town GOP Chairman Bob Wilcox had pressured them to appoint someone else, a campaign donor and volunteer.

Wilcox has denied doing so, saying that he only asked that the man, Dan Keegan, be considered.

Three Republican Board members Tom Paolucci, Scott Hughes and Lynda Walowit cast themselves as resisting party influence in favor of good government.

"I was dismayed completely, completely caught off guard,'' Roth said Monday night, directing many of his comments to Board member Tom Paolucci, who refused to remove the item from the agenda.

While Paolucci did not respond to Roth Monday evening, he has earlier said that he did not know how long the item would have to wait because it was not clear how soon Roth might return.

And while Roth said he understood Supervisor Phil Barrett's perspective that Barrett could not have affected the outcome by voting `no' if the other three voted `yes' he questioned why Barrett did not protest anyway.

"There is nothing to say that you can't vote no on something,'' Roth said to Barrett, also a Republican.

At the time, Barrett said he hoped Ryan would reach out to Roth soon.

Some have suggested the dispute was at least in part about the makeup of the town water authority and how that might affect whether Clifton Park signs on to the county's water plan, which county Republicans have stake in seeing succeed but toward which the town has been cautious.

In general, there has been heightened tension between town and county Republicans since the ouster of former town GOP Chairman Mike Lisuzzo late last year.

Others have said it was merely about a struggle for power within the party nothing more.

Accusing them of employing "innuendo'' and "smooth language,'' Roth questioned whether his colleagues truly put residents before politics, at one point alleging that Paolucci skipped out on a community meeting in Rexford recently in favor of a political forum.

"Don't always judge by what we say,'' Roth, who has been on the board since 1992, said.

"Judge by what we do.''

In other business, the board voted unanimously to impose a 60-day moratorium on new applications for cellular and other communication towers while the town examines its local laws to make sure they're up to date.

The town imposed a similar moratorium in 2001, which eventually yielded a law requiring a 500-foot buffer between antennas and residences, Barrett said.

Councilman Paolucci also presented a new town Web site on which residents can track their cost savings and how much carbon dioxide they keep out of the environment by swapping incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use less energy to generate the same amount of light.

The Web site will soon be linked to the town's site at www.cliftonpark.org.

WE HAVE NO MONEY FOR BASIC GOVERNMENT SERVICES TO PROTECT AND SAFEGUARD LIFE, HEALTH AND PROPERTY IN NEW YORK STATE, WHICH IS NOW OFFICIALLY IN A RECESSION ACCORDING TO THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE THIS MORNING ...

BUT THE "STATE" DOES HAVE MONEY TO POUR DOWN THE POCKETS OF CORPORATE STOCKHOLDERS, AT OUR EXPENSE ...

DESPITE THE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE IN OUR STATE CONSTITUTION WHICH PROHIBITS THIS CORORATE WELFARE ...

And so ...

"Bruno: AMD bid at $1.3B - Majority leader says state outbid Dresden, Germany, by $100M for Malta project"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

ALBANY -- New York state outbid Dresden, Germany, by about $100 million, according to State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, to convince Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to build its next computer chip factory in Saratoga County.

Bruno, R-Brunswick, made the comments Monday at the annual NYS Investors Conference in Albany.

Bruno said New York is offering AMD $1.3 billion, slightly more than previously reported.

"Either you fold up and walk away, or you deliver a message to the world that New York state is going to step up," Bruno said.

"And that's exactly what we did."

AMD is planning to build a $3.2 billion computer chip factory, or chip fab, at Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based semiconductor manufacturer already has two chip fabs in Dresden, in the heart of what's known as Silicon Saxony.

So it was a major coup for New York state when AMD said in June 2006 that it was building its next fab in the Empire State.

It's been widely reported since then that New York's incentive package is worth $1.2 billion, a mix of cash, tax breaks and infrastructure improvements.

But Monday, Bruno said the state's package is $1.3 billion -- and it had to be because Dresden was offering AMD $1.2 billion.

"That's what Dresden, Germany, had on the table," Bruno said.

Officials with Saxony Economic Development Corp., the state of Saxony's economic development arm, could not be reached.

Travis Bullard, an AMD spokesman, could not confirm Dresden's offer.

But he said that New York's offer includes $650 million in cash.

AMD can also apply to the state for up to $600 million in tax credits and rebates through the state's Empire Zone program.

"However, there is no guarantee that AMD would apply for or receive this money," he said.

AMD hasn't officially committed to Luther Forest.

The company has until July 31, 2009, to make up its mind and still be eligible for New York's incentive package.

The company is currently trying to secure a building permit for the site from the town of Malta, with the hope of being ready to break ground if needed by the end of the year.

AMD is planning up to three chip fabs at Luther Forest, built over a number of years.

The first one, known as Fab 4X, would be completed by 2011 or 2012 and employ 1,400 people.

Bruno insisted in front of a small group of reporters after his speech that the state package has always been $1.3 billion.

Stephanie Zakowicz, a spokeswoman with the Empire State Development Corp., the state's economic development arm, said that the package is valued at $1.248 billion precisely.

"Same as it's always been," she said.

Bruno also said that he is still expecting AMD Chief Executive Hector Ruiz to come to the region and visit Luther Forest.

Bruno originally said Ruiz was planning to visit, but that plan was derailed by the resignation of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

"We do want him to meet the new governor, but nothing has been scheduled yet," Bullard said.

Bruno also told reporters after his speech that the state is negotiating to bring another unnamed high-tech company to New York.

Bruno said its impact would be "second only to AMD."

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by email at lrulison@timesunion.com.

JUSTICE IN NEW YORK STATE IS A JOKE ...

HERE WE ARE, WITH THE STATE IN RECESSION, AND THE ELECTED STATE JUDGES OF NEW YORK STATE ARE WILFULLY WITHHOLDING JUSTICE WHILE THEY TRY AND JACK US UP FOR MORE MONEY FOR THEIR OWN POCKETS ...

And so ...

"Some judges refusing to hear cases of state lawmakers or their firms"

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press

Last updated: 7:02 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, 2008

ALBANY -- Some state judges are refusing to hear cases brought by the law firms of state legislators, who have failed to give them a raise for 10 years.

"Our chief judge has started a lawsuit, and I think when the judiciary is suing the Legislature I think it's a conflict for any judge to sit on a case," said Cattaraugus County Court Judge Larry Himelein.

That suit was filed April 10 by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, claiming it is illegal to reduce a sitting judge's salary, and with inflation that in effect is what has happened.

However, Himelein said he has recused himself from cases involving lawmakers' firms for about a year, saying he had never really thought about it before that.

"I still think it's a conflict for me to sit on a case where one of the lawyers sets my salary," he said, adding that would continue even if the judges get raises.

A judge for 15 years, he said "a number" of judges are doing the same thing, including some in Erie, Cattaraugus and Albany counties.

Asked who would hear those cases if all the state's judges did the same, Himelein said, "The clients could always get new lawyers."

David Bookstaver, spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, said such recusals are independent decisions, and the cases are assigned to other judges.

"It's certainly not systemic," he said, adding he didn't now how many judges were doing it around the state.

Lawmakers in both the Senate and Assembly have said they support judicial raises.

Himelein said in the Assembly they were linked to raises for lawmakers themselves and weren't authorized again this year.

State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno told the New York Post the issue could have been avoided if the Assembly leadership acted on the measure the Senate passed.

Dan Weiller, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, said the Assembly's Democratic leadership was declining to comment on the recusals.

In a 2007 opinion, the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics said "it would not be consistent with the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct for a judge to exercise recusal solely based on the long-standing issue of judicial salary increases presently before the Legislature.'"

In a later opinion, noting lawsuits by judges' associations against the Legislature were pending, the committee said such recusals were not required.

It also noted, "A judge must disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned."

"Cuomo rejects pork contracts - Cuomo rejects some of legislators' discretionary spending"

By VALERIE BAUMAN, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:52 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, 2008

ALBANY -- New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said his office has rejected more than 1,000 pork-barrel grants that legislators seek to distribute back to their districts in this election year.

The Legislature approved 6,500 so-called member item grants in the 2006-2007 fiscal year, but 2,700 groups that were approved haven't submitted paperwork to the state agencies and the attorney general's office to receive their money.

Cuomo said he suspects at least some of those requests weren't submitted because they would have to reveal conflicts of interest with the politicians who sought them.

"The law says you have to avoid or disclose conflicts of interest, so we said we're going to review the member items to make sure they're in line with the law," Cuomo said Tuesday.

The attorney general's office created a certification process as part of a reform of the long-criticized pork barrel spending.

Recipients of the pork barrel spending would have to sign a statement disclosing any conflicts, or indicating none existed, among other things.

Cuomo said his office can't go after the groups that didn't file for their money -- or the politicians -- because legally he can't prosecute groups if they don't accept the state money.

The more than 1,000 grants that Cuomo's office rejected didn't meet standards for a number of reasons, including indications in some cases that the money was going to a private interest rather than a public purpose.

Officials in Cuomo's office said they didn't know how many grants were rejected for that reason, or which politicians and recipients had sought to distribute the money.

Cuomo's office also said they could have rejected grants for minor technical reasons, including vague descriptions of how the money would be spent and where it would go.

The groups receiving the grants would also have to be in good legal standing -- meaning they couldn't have a recent history of problems with government contracts, and if the group is a charity it must be appropriately registered.

Rejected grant recipients will have a chance to make changes before final approval or rejection of the projects.

The attorney general's office plans to release details about pork-barrel grants after it's resolved whether the recipients will get the money.

He said this is the first time New York has had a system in place to monitor pork barrel spending.

"Self policing does not work," Cuomo said.

"It never has, it never will."

The rejected items amount to almost a third of the $122 million-worth of requests submitted so far from the 2006-2007 fiscal year.

The Legislature approved 6,500 of the grants they prefer to call member items with about $200 million in the current budget despite declining growth in revenues.

"Only a small number of Assembly majority items have been questioned and the issues raised primarily technical," Assembly spokeswoman Sisa Moyo said in a written statement.

"The vast majority of the initial rejections dealt with inadequate contract drafting and/or incomplete contract submission ..."

"We have not been apprised of any fraud in the member item system."

John McArdle, a spokesman for Senate majority Leader Joseph Bruno said the chamber has been working with Cuomo to resolve any problems slowing down the grant process.

"They're basic questions that they've had," he said.

"We answered them and (the grants) have been moving."

"'Girls Gone Wild' releases video of call girl agreeing to appear on camera"

By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:02 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, 2008

MIAMI -- The founder of "Girls Gone Wild" released a video Tuesday he said proved that the call girl involved in a scandal that brought down New York's former governor agreed to be filmed in 2003 for the raunchy series.

The release came one day after series founder Joe Francis and his companies were sued for $10 million in Miami federal court by Ashley Alexandra Dupre, who claims she was only 17 at the time and too young to sign a binding contract.

Dupre, now 22, also accused Francis of exploiting her image and name on various Internet sites.

In the new release, Dupre appears covered by a terrycloth towel and gives her name as Amber Arpaio.

An unseen questioner asks if she is 18.

"Yes I am," Dupre answers in a strong Southern accent.

"Do you know what 'Girls Gone Wild' is?" the questioner asks.

"Yes I do," she replies with a laugh.

"Can I use this on 'Girls Gone Wild'?" she is asked.

"Of course you can," Dupre answers.

The video also displays a New Jersey driver's license with the Amber Arpaio name and a birth date that would have made her appear to be in her 20s.

A lawyer and public relations firm representing Dupre declined comment.

Dupre rocketed to fame in March when she surfaced as a high-priced call girl in the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring that involved New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned soon after the scandal broke.

Dupre, going by the name "Kristen," met Spitzer at least once at a swanky Washington hotel, according to court documents.

In her lawsuit, Dupre said she was on spring break in Miami Beach in 2003 when she was approached by "Girls Gone Wild" producers, given alcoholic drinks and then signed a release agreeing to appear.

The series depicts women in various provocative poses or topless, often in such party locations as Mardi Gras or spring break beach towns.

Francis has said that Dupre was on the "Girls Gone Wild" bus for a week and made seven full-length videos.

He said the video of her agreement to appear is proof that her lawsuit has no merit.

"It is incomprehensible that Ms. Dupre could claim she did not give her consent to be filmed by `Girls Gone Wild', when in fact we have a videotape of her giving consent, while showing her identification," Francis said in a written statement.

After the Spitzer scandal, Francis made a public $1 million offer for Dupre to appear in one of his videos and go on a promotional tour.

But he rescinded the offer after realizing he already had footage of Dupre from 2003.

Francis has other legal problems, including federal tax evasion charges pending in California and lawsuits by filed by women in Panama City, Fla., claiming they were victims of underage exploitation.

Francis spent a year in jail and was released in March after pleading no contest to child abuse and prostitution charges for filming underage girls in that Panhandle beach town.

SQUEEZE THEM TAXPAYERS REAL HARD NOW, YOU HEAR ....

THAT'S WHAT THEY DESERVE FOR LIVING UP HERE IN THIS CORRUPT EMPIRE OF NEW YORK, AFTER ALL ...

WHERE WE GOT PARASITIC LAWYERS COMING OUT OF EVERY CRACK IN THE FLOOR ...

EATING US OUT OF HOUSE AND HOME ...

LIKE RATS IN A FARMER'S CORN CRIB ..

OR WEEVILS IN THE GRAIN ...

A PESTILENCE BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL A PESTILENCE ...

And so ...

"Pension case shifts burden of cost - Districts lost state reimbursement for legal services, and taxpayers may make up difference"

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

First published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

ALBANY -- When Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli pulled four lawyers from the state retirement system earlier this month, the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES, which listed the lawyers as employees, took them off its payroll as well.

But that didn't mean the Albany-based law firm of Girvin & Ferlazzo stopped working for school districts that are members of the HFM BOCES.

The firm is now working directly for 17 districts in Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery counties, rather than through the regional Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

That will likely cost taxpayers in those school districts more money.

"We are now contracting independently to the districts," rather than through BOCES, said Jeffrey Honeywell, one of the firm's partners.

State regulations allow districts to get reimbursement for services they purchase through BOCES rather than on their own.

The thinking is that BOCES organizations, which are educational cooperatives, use their buying power to get economies of scale.

As a result, the state offers reimbursements as an incentive.

"We did get reimbursement," said Ronald Limoncelli, superintendent of the Amsterdam school district, which will pay Girvin & Ferlazzo about $30,000 this year to handle personnel issues, such as employee grievances and contract negotiation with the district's six labor unions.

Last year, Limoncelli said, the state reimbursed Amsterdam about $20,000 of that cost.

This year, the district will have to pay it all.

Girvin & Ferlazzo will make about $317,300 for its work in the 17 districts this fiscal year, said a spokesman for the firm.

The new arrangement illustrates how the investigations by DiNapoli and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into alleged pension abuses are creating a ripple effect with local finances.

It also shows how law firms may be able to weather the scrutiny based on their local reputations or expertise.

Amsterdam officials don't want new lawyers since Girvin & Ferlazzo has handled its personnel issues for years.

It's a highly specialized area of law, and Limoncelli said that in the approximately two decades the district has used the firm, Girvin & Ferlazzo has never lost a grievance case.

Girvin & Ferlazzo came under fire this month from DiNapoli and Cuomo, who say lawyers in the firm were improperly listed as pension-eligible HFM BOCES employees when they should have been considered independent contractors.

DiNapoli stripped four of the firm's partners -- Honeywell, James Girvin, Kathy Ann Wolverton and Kristine Lanchantin -- of their state pension credits.

Another partner, Salvatore Ferlazzo, lost BOCES credits but kept other credits from an earlier job with the state.

Cuomo and DiNapoli are still scrutinizing Girvin & Ferlazzo's pension arrangement.

Both have said that independent contractors, such as members of a law firm, shouldn't be considered employees.

Doing so, Cuomo said, amounts to "payroll padding" for the sake of pension benefits.

Honeywell said that members of his firm are "fully cooperating" with Cuomo and are providing any documents or records investigators have sought.

But he also said the lawyers believe they did nothing wrong in being listed by HFM BOCES as employees.

"Nobody has ever said, 'don't do this,' " said Honeywell, adding that the state Education Department, which helps calculate and approve reimbursements, had for years periodically reviewed and approved the arrangement.

"This was not some hidden process."

In addition to providing legal services to the 17 districts, Honeywell said the firm is continuing to give counsel to HFM BOCES, even though the BOCES has also contracted with another law firm -- McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams -- to represent it in the pension issue.

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

AND WHILE WE ARE ON THE SUBJECT OF LIFE IN THE CORRUPT EMPIRE OF NEW YORK ...

THE "PAY TO PLAY" EMPIRE ...

WHICH IS NOW OFFICIALLY IN RECESSION ACCORDING TO NYS GOVERNOR DAVID "SPITZER'S GOOD BUDDY" PATERSON ...

WE HAVE ....

"GET OUT THE RUBBER STAMP, BOYS" ....

INTENTIONAL NEGLIGENCE BY DESIGN ...

BUY YOURSELF THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT POLITICIANS UP HERE IN THE CORRUPT EMPIRE ...

AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT A THING ...

AS LONG AS YOU KEEP MAKING YOUR "INSURANCE PAYMENTS", OF COURSE ...

HEY, THE POLITICIANS HAVE TO EAT, TOO ...

And so ...

"Pollution permit program faulted - Environmental lobbying group says renewals pass with little scrutiny"

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

First published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008

ALBANY -- The state's water pollution permit program is so backlogged that it is approving most renewals without asking too many questions, an environmental lobbying group said Monday.

The report from Environmental Advocates of New York said the state should hire more staff at the Department of Environmental Conservation to better scrutinize 1,100 permits overdue for renewal by at least a decade.

Federal Clean Water Act rules require that the state completely review permits and pollution levels at least every five years.

Environmental Advocates examined 32 of 343 water pollution permit renewals granted by DEC without such a review since July 2007.

"The most frightening problem our research uncovered is what we don't know," said Katherine Nadeau, a program associate at Environmental Advocates.

"Because of the lack of oversight, we can't say what is in our waters."

"And neither can the DEC."

DEC officials acknowledged the backlog but disputed the report.

"The facts have changed significantly in the last 16 months," Commissioner Pete Grannis' office said in a statement.

"DEC has increased staffing assigned to reviewing SPDES (State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits by 50 percent and increased the number of permits handled by about 100 percent."

But the backlog is real and will be difficult to reduce without more staff, said James Tierney, assistant commissioner for water resources.

DEC gives full scrutiny to permits from the largest polluters, but most permits get routine renewals.

"We do not have enough staff to do a full five-year review of every permit," Tierney said.

"We have maximized our benefit by focusing on the larger polluters."

Robert Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates, countered that "DEC should do what is required to make sure that sources of pollution are not harming our waters."

"Right now, they are not doing that."

"They have just moved from utter failure to failure."

Other findings include:

Some permits have gone without thorough review for more than 20 years.

Nearly all of the facilities that received renewals without scrutiny had permit violations resulting in the release of unsafe levels of pollution.

Permits renewed without such scrutiny do not routinely involve prior public notice, so citizens don't get a chance to comment beforehand.

A full copy of the report is available online at http://www. eany.org

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

LIKE RATS IN THE CORNCRIB ...

"Elected officials pile up pensions - Local officeholders often are listed as full-time employees to share millions in benefits"

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

First published: Wednesday, April 30, 2008

On paper, James Scalzo rarely sleeps.

He works full time as a cook at the Albany County jail, five days a week, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

But he's also serves on the Albany Common Council and, like most of his 15 colleagues, is listed as working 30 hours a week in that job at $13 an hour.

For both jobs, Scalzo, 58, is accruing pension credits in the New York State and Local Retirement System.

He said he never wanted the council pension, but was told he had to be included in the system.

Scalzo is among an unknown number of local officials who are as a group racking up full-time pension credits worth millions of dollars for what is generally considered to be part-time work.

In at least some cases, too, some participants accrue double pension credits, holding down regular full-time public sector jobs and elected positions.

A precise breakdown wasn't available on Tuesday, but the state comptroller's office lists more than 3,000 public employers, other than New York state, that offer pensions through the State and Local Retirement system.

Included in that are scores of towns, cities and counties.

And in those cities, towns and counties are elected officials who have the power to grant themselves full-time or nearly full-time retirement system credits, and who, in at least some cases, hold down full-time public sector jobs as well, allowing them to boost their pensions.

Scalzo says his job representing Albany's 10th Ward takes a lot of time, fielding phone calls from residents about potholes, barking dogs, or apartments where the heat has died in the middle of the night.

Those 30 hours just happen to be the minimum for a full-time job in the eyes of the pension system.

Below that, retirement benefits are less generous.

Council members are on the honor system when it comes to calculating the hours.

"Is there someone looking over our shoulder?"

"No," said Scalzo during an 8 a.m. interview last week at a neighborhood coffee shop.

In Albany County alone, $12 million of its total $114 million payroll went to pension costs, said Comptroller Mike Conners -- and that was two years ago.

What portion of that pension amount went to elected officials could not be determined.

But roughly half of the 39-member Albany County Legislature is currently accruing pension credits for two public sector jobs.

In addition to their elected posts, many hold or have held additional public sector jobs, including posts in the State Police, Senate and Assembly, and in fire departments.

In addition to the Albany Common Council, Albany County lists its 39 county legislators as full time.

When they retire, their pensions will be based not just on the pay from their regular jobs, but on their $20,298 County Legislature salaries as well.

The full-time status they granted themselves allows them to maximize the benefits.

This isn't quite the same as the "payroll padding" that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli have been cracking down on.

In those cases, outside consultants, such as lawyers, have been listed as employees of school districts and BOCES organizations, qualifying them for public pension credits.

In fact, say Cuomo and DiNapoli, they were independent contractors who do not qualify for public retirement benefits.

In the county and municipal system, elected officials every few years must keep a diary to account for their hours.

This is then reported to the retirement system.

But the sheer number of people in the pension system, combined with the fact that local lawmakers can choose to list themselves as full time, has drawn criticism.

"This has become a controversy in several areas of the state," said E.J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, which is part of the Manhattan Institute think tank.

He questions whether elected town and county officials really work full time.

"That's a racket," McMahon said.

"Nobody would run for these offices if they were full time."

Some of the elected officials though, disagree, saying that depends on the definition of work.

"We go to funerals."

"We go to wakes at night," said Albany County Legislator Gary Domalewicz, who explained that he considers such appearances part of the job.

"When you're an elected official you never stop working," added Albany County Legislator Sean Ward, who also works full time as executive assistant to the mayor of Green Island.

Between taking phone calls and attending events such as Little League games and school open houses, "I would venture to say we put in 30 to 40 hours a week if you are doing it right," Ward added.

Still, some county legislators concede there can be a thin line between socializing or other activities and work.

"What's work and what isn't?" asked Tim Nichols, who gets pension credits both as a county legislator and chief of staff to Assemblyman Bob Reilly.

"People would prefer a clear set of guidelines."

"The problem is there just doesn't seem to be any."

Even Nichols' boss has benefited from the system.

"In a way, I have two pensions," said Bob Reilly, a Colonie Democrat.

He draws a $48,000 pension from his years as a teacher and then an administrator at the state Education Department.

And he gets another $1,500 from his eight years on the Albany County Legislature, where he worked before running for Assembly.

Reilly gives his $79,500 Assembly salary to charity, however.

And in at least one twist that favors taxpayers, Reilly said he gets no retirement credits from the Assembly since he is already drawing a pension.

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