"Pain, gain in budget figures - Paterson proposal calls for hike in welfare payouts, billions in cuts to health care, education"

By IRENE JAY LIU, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Monday, December 15, 2008

ALBANY — Gov. David Paterson will propose millions of dollars in increased state spending to programs serving poor New Yorkers — including an increase in welfare payouts for the first time in 18 years — when he unveils his first budget Tuesday.

But the plan also will include billions of dollars in cuts to health care and education to address the state's looming $15 billion budget deficit.

"The nation and the state are in the midst of the greatest economic crisis we have endured since the Great Depression, and there are families struggling to provide basic needs for their loved ones," the governor said in a statement released Sunday.

"Even in the face of dwindling government revenues, we need to make critical investments to ensure that people don't go hungry and families receive proper health care that is centered on prevention."

Paterson's proposals include: increasing the welfare grant to poor families by 30 percent over the next three years; expanding eligibility and reducing application requirements for the state's health insurance program; calling for increased federal dollars to pay for expanded health insurance for adults, indigent care at hospitals and community health clinics; and increasing funding for food pantries, soup kitchens, cancer screenings, lead poison prevention, obesity prevention and services for veterans.

Paterson's proposals come at a time when the state faces an estimated $15 billion combined deficit in this and next year's budget.

Paterson attempted to address this year's $1.5 billion deficit in November, but instead of working together to make cuts, the governor and legislative leaders held a public meeting that amounted to little more than partisan bickering and finger-pointing.

Paterson's budget proposal for the 2009-2010 fiscal year is expected to address the multibillion-dollar shortfall, including about $3.5 billion in cuts to health care.

Additional cuts will be across the board and will build upon a deficit reduction plan Paterson proposed in November to amend the $120 billion budget negotiated for this year.

"Really, no area is without reduction" in Paterson's proposal, said Kristin Proud, the governor's deputy director for state operations, speaking on a conference call to reporters Sunday.

The most expensive aspect of Paterson's plan is the increase in the welfare grant.

If implemented, it would increase 10 percent each year for three years, beginning in January 2010.

When fully implemented, the average family of three on public assistance would be eligible to receive a basic monthly allowance of up to $387, up from the current allowance of $291.

The basic monthly grant has remained the same since 1990, while inflation has increased by more than 65 percent, according to estimates from the governor's office.

The annual cost to the state of this increase would be $8 million in 2009-10, increasing to $109 million in 2012-13, when it is fully implemented.

The increase will cost counties an additional $76 million annually when fully implemented, as counties are responsible for a share of the costs of public assistance programs.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's office declined to comment on the current budget plan, but the Assembly has included a welfare grant increase in its budget resolution every year since 2006.

It has never passed due to opposition in the Senate, which has been under Republican control for decades.

"While we are concerned that New Yorkers are finding it more difficult to make ends meet and provide for their children during these challenging economic times, we will weigh each of the governor's proposals within the context of an overall balanced budget that will not be released until Tuesday," said Senate GOP spokesman Scott Reif.

The Senate will meet in special session today and is expected to vote on a bill that would phase out the Empire Zone program through 2011 and use the savings to provide tax breaks for companies, a move Senate Republicans say will stimulate the economy.

The Assembly will return to Albany on Tuesday to receive the governor's budget proposal, but is not expected to gavel into session.

The fate of Paterson's proposals is unclear, especially given the uncertainty over which party will control the Senate in January.

Democrats won the majority in November, but three Democrats have withheld their support from Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith.

Smith's office declined to comment on the governor's proposed budget until it is released Tuesday.

The cost of Paterson's proposed spending increases are a small fraction of the state's expected budget deficit, but some fiscal conservatives are saying that now is not the time to expand programs.

"Our role during the best and worst of economic times, in any budget process, is first of all to think of taking care of those most in need," said Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady.

"But I also think that we have the Cadillac of welfare services in New York state."

"We have services galore for people in need."

"I don't think now's the time to expand them."

Tedisco also noted that because counties share the cost of public assistance programs, property taxes might increase as a result of Paterson's proposals.

Meanwhile, a broad range of advocacy groups are preemptively calling for "shared sacrifice" in anticipation of Tuesday's budget proposals.

Today, a statewide coalition of hundreds of nonprofit, labor and faith-based organizations will release a letter signed by 100 economists calling for an income tax increase on wealthy New Yorkers.

On Sunday, 152 religious leaders, in collaboration with the Greater New York Hospital Association and the powerful health care workers union SEIU 1199, published an open letter to the governor and legislative leaders.

"A solution to our state's budget deficit must not fall on the weakest and most vulnerable," the letter reads.

Staff writer Irene Jay Liu can be reached at (518) 454-5081 or iliu@timesunion.com.

"Authority summoned in Bruno case - Former senator's business dealings focus of fed probe"

By JAMES M. ODATO AND BRENDAN J. LYONS, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Thursday, December 18, 2008

Federal investigators looking at the business activities of former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno subpoenaed the Long Island Power Authority for information about some friends of the Brunswick Republican who operate a Brooklyn construction business.

The subpoena, obtained by the Times Union under the Freedom of Information Law, shows the probe gathering information for a grand jury convened in Albany sought information from LIPA on Russell C. Ball and Dori Evans.

The married couple are longtime friends of the senator, and sold Bruno and his oldest son an apartment complex in Brunswick.

Evans worked for years as a fund-raiser for the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, and also helped Sen. Bruno raise funds in New York City.

Ball is chairman of Roadway Contracting on Gardner Avenue in Brooklyn.

He and Robert Bannon, also named in the subpoena, operate BB Gardner LLC at the same Gardner Avenue address.

The companies are believed to do contracting work for utility companies.

Bannon had no comment, and Ball did not return a call.

LIPA spokesman Ed Dumas said he was unaware of any connection between the firms, or between Bruno's consulting business also named in the subpoena and LIPA.

He said the public authority would not discuss its cooperation with the federal grand jury.

Former LIPA president Richard Kessell said he was aware of the subpoena, but he would not comment when asked if he was subpoenaed.

Kessell is now president of the New York Power Authority.

The LIPA subpoena, one of numerous served on many people and companies during the lengthy probe, asked the public authority for any records involving the individuals and firms, and about any contacts or communications with Bruno including any gifts or payments made to the senator or his company, Capital Business Consultants.

The material had to be turned over by Dec. 4.

Ball and Evans owned Tamarac Apartments and Tamarac Plaza in Brunswick.

Bruno and his son purchased the apartments.

Bruno and Joseph Magno, of Brunswick, later partnered on them; Magno confirmed he also was subpoenaed.

The grand jury remains active.

It is expected to hear testimony this week from Richard C. Burdick, Bruno's longtime Senate district director, according to a source briefed on the matter.

Burdick, who was paid approximately $166,000 a year before his recent retirement, helped coordinate Bruno's member item grants.

The 55-year-old was a key point of contact for anyone seeking an audience with Bruno.

In his position as district director, Burdick had the ability to help individuals obtain state jobs or promotions, according to people familiar with his work.

The person briefed on Burdick's scheduled testimony before the panel said it will be Burdick's second trip before the grand jury.

The person added that Burdick is not a target but that he is considered a "key witness."

People familiar with the probe said the FBI-led investigation is centered on the so-called "honest services" statute.

The federal law, which is incorporated into mail fraud, makes it illegal for a public official to receive a "personal benefit from an undisclosed conflict of interest ... even though the public agency involved may not suffer any monetary loss in the transaction," according to instructions routinely given to juries at federal trials.

Burdick said recently he worked with Bruno for 32 years, the past 20 handling the senator's member items in his senate district.

However, he said he was not involved in $500,000 in grants provided by Bruno to Evident Technologies of Troy, which he said were handled by the Senate Finance staff.

The grand jury has also sought information about community project grants that benefited Evident.

The grants which are typically given to non-profits raised questions because Evident is a for-profit operation, and its principals included some of Bruno's friends.

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

"Unemployment jumps in November"

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

Last updated: 12:57 p.m., Thursday, December 18, 2008

The state Labor Department today put the Capital Region's unemployment rate at 5.2 percent in November, up from 3.8 percent a year ago.

In the metro region, Schoharie County posted the highest rate, 6.5 percent, while Saratoga County's 4.9 percent was the lowest.

Job gains were reported in education and health services, up 1,800; professional and business services, up 500; and information, up 200.

But trade, transportation and utilities reported a loss of 1,500 jobs, government was down 700, construction and mining fell 600, manufacturing was down 400, and leisure and hospitality also fell by 400 jobs.

Many of the job cuts announced in recent weeks haven't yet occurred, and so aren't reflected in today's numbers.

Super Steel Schenectady, for example, which is shutting down operations in Glenville, won't cut positions until early next year.

"A house value and taxes head skyward"

December 17, 2008 at 4:01 pm by Dan Higgins, Albany, New York Times Union

It was a stretch for the Langenbach family of East Greenbush to buy a house in the first place.

Tom, 38, works a night shift unloading trucks at a warehouse for a local supermarket.

His wife, Lisa, 33, stays at home with five children, including two of Tom’s from a previous marriage.

But the couple got creative and found a way to go from being tenants to landlords in 2006.

They received a $20,000 grant from a first-time homeowner’s program administered by Rensselaer County that covered closing costs and the down payment.

And two years ago this month, they finally purchased the home on Cooper Avenue that they had been renting for about four years.

The house came with an 800-square-foot apartment over a detached garage.

They paid $150,000 for the property and began their lives as homeowners.

Soon after, their property was reassessed and now fear they may be out on the street.

Their new assessment weighed in at $311,000.

“Look at this,” Lisa Langenbach said of her modest, 1,170 square-foot, 70-year-old home.

“Welcome to our $300,000 house.”

For those of you not familiar with the process, property taxes are based on what’s called the assessed value of the real estate.

Each town or city determines what a house is worth, relative to all the other properties in its limits.

The amount is crucial because it determines the size of the owner’s property tax bill.

And when your assessment goes up dramatically, your taxes do too (there are exceptions to this, I realize. But explaining the nuances is for another day).

What’s important now is what happened to the Langenbach family.

Their school tax bill went from $1,800 a year, to $3,700.

As a result, their escrow account was underfunded so their monthly housing payment went up.

And they still are awaiting their town tax bill, which was $1,400 last year and will now be over $2,000.

They just can’t afford that.

Earlier this year when they learned about the new assessment, Tom Langenbach went to East Greenbush’s assessor’s office to find out what happened.

A private company hired by the town to reassess all the town’s properties, GAR Associates of Buffalo, counted the couple’s detached garage and apartment as a separate house worth $150,000 on its own.

Then, their main house was assessed at $160,000, and the two amounts were added together.

How, might you ask, is a two-car garage with a 700-square-foot apartment above it worth $150,000, and the house it belongs to be worth an additional $160,000?

And if the assessed value is supposed to reflect the market price, why is twice what the family paid for both structures just two years ago?

Certainly, the housing market is no longer expanding.

The Langenbachs missed their one opportunity to fix this ridiculous mistake.

They didn’t attend their town’s grievance day in May, at which they could have formally pleaded their case.

Tom Langenbach went to the assessor’s office last May, before grievance day, and his assessment was lowered from $311,000 to $287,000.

Being a first-time homeowner, he thought at the time that was the best he could do.

Now, they’re telling him he has to wait until May to formally protest the assessment again, and hope that someone uses common sense this time.

Problem is, the family is afraid they won’t last that long.

“They talk about keeping families in their homes."

"We wouldn’t have bought the house if we thought this was going to happen,” Langenbach said.

“We might be out on the street before we get a chance to fix this."

Susan McCarthy, who has been East Greenbush’s assessor for the last 24 years, said her heart goes out to the family, but there’s nothing that can be done until May.

“I want to help them but I have to do it within the confines of the law,” she said.

She said she will be happy to write a letter in January to the Langenbach’s mortgage company and tell them that the property will be valued significantly less in 2009, and hope that their escrow payment is reduced in anticipation of that.

I checked with the state’s Office of Real Property Services, and a spokesman there confirmed what McCarthy said.

State law is strict.

If you don’t formally protest your assessment on the fourth Tuesday in May, then you’re stuck.

I called GAR Associates, and project manager David Claron said it was possible the company made a mistake, but because the Langenbachs did not go to the formal grievance there was nothing that could be done.

Here’s hoping that this hard-working family can ride out the next few months without a disaster that would make them homeless.

"NY governor says Goldman's move to give up bonuses for execs cost state $178M in tax revenue"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 12:16 a.m., Saturday, December 20, 2008

ALBANY -- Underscoring how closely the fates of Wall Street and New York are intertwined, Gov. David Paterson said Friday that a single moment in the financial crisis -- the decision by Goldman Sachs executives to forgo bonuses -- cost the state $178 million.

The executives complied with the urging of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and others who said in November that major Wall Street companies benefiting from federal bailouts shouldn't pay out the usual huge bonuses to executives.

Paterson says it was the right thing to do, but the result is a further hit to the fiscal crisis of state government.

"Things could go even more south in a big hurry," Paterson told reporters.

Losing tax revenue from bonuses was a big hit to New York's finances because Wall Street taxes accounted for 30 percent of state revenue in the last fiscal quarter.

"I think it was the right urge," he said, but "the state lost $178 million in that moment."

The decision by Goldman Sachs' top executives to forgo bonuses in 2008 forced other investment bank bosses to follow suit.

Thousands of lower-tier brokers will still collect their hefty bonuses, however, because their employers don't want to lose their top talent.

It was not clear whether the $178 million figure Paterson gave referred solely to Goldman Sachs executives or also to other investment banks that followed its lead.

Paterson spokesman Errol Cockfield said he could not immediately clarify how the figure was calculated.

Seven executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., including Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, were to get no cash or stock bonuses for 2008.

Blankfein received total compensation of $54 million last year, according to calculations by The Associated Press, making him the sixth-highest-paid CEO of a Standard & Poor's 500 company in 2007.

It's the first time top Goldman Sachs executives have not received bonuses since the 139-year-old investment bank went public in 1999.

Wall Street employees often receive up to 80 percent of their total compensation from year-end bonuses.

Now those payments are attracting more scrutiny from lawmakers and consumer groups because taxpayers are footing the bill for the government's $700 billion financial bailout.

The Democratic governor projects the current deficit and the 2009-10 deficit to be $15.4 billion right now, but said that could get worse.

On Tuesday he proposed a mostly flat-growth 2009-10 budget, due April 1, of about $120 billion.

"This is a very, very difficult year for Americans," Paterson said.

"But I don't think it has been fully realized ... it could theoretically become another depression, it is that difficult."

He said the state's spending has to be cut, and he needs the $4 billion in fee increases and narrow tax increases he proposed in his budget Tuesday, to keep bond raters from downgrading New York's credit rating.

Tight and more expensive credit could further lead to a cash-flow problem.

"Then we will be on the brink of insolvency," he said.

"Ex-Assembly aide rejects plea offer - She allegedly swindled $53K in government benefits"

By ROBERT GAVIN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 3:20 p.m., Tuesday, December 23, 2008

ALBANY — A former state Assembly staffer accused of stealing close to $53,000 in benefits turned down a plea deal today to spend up to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison.

Diane Gamble, 61, of Watervliet, who retired in June making nearly $80,000, now still risks a maximum of 5 to 15 years behind bars if convicted of welfare fraud and grand larceny.

Albany County prosecutors say she lied about her wages to make it appear she earned less money than she did — then applied for Medicaid benefits with the phony figures.

Court papers allege she admitted she was "sorry" to an investigator in April.

Gamble was indicted on the felony case last month.

Albany County prosecutors offered Gamble a plea bargain to admit to grand larceny, but she rejected it before Judge Thomas Breslin in Albany County Court on Tuesday,

Her attorney, Terence Kindlon, called the offer "completely out of alignment with what's normal."

He said Gamble, a former aide to Bronx Democratic Assemblyman Jose Rivera, disputes allegations she fraudulently received $52,954.24 from the Albany County Department of Social Services between August 2004 and April 2008.

"There is a very legitimate basis for her receiving Medicaid benefits," Kindlon said, noting Gamble, who has more than 30 years of state service, is partially disabled.

He said there were "some very extenuating circumstances here," adding, "We feel the loss that they've calculated is wildly overstated."

Gamble was arrested on July 10.

By that point, court papers said, she already told investigators she had been on and off Medicaid for nine years and was "misrepresenting" her state income in letters to her caseworker sent under the assemblyman's letterhead.

Court papers allege Gamble failed to report all her earnings, and admitted not reporting a 2000 Mercedes sports utility vehicle, 2005 Volvo and 1990 Oldsmobile all registered with the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

"I would like to inform the Department of Social Services that I know what I did was wrong and intentionally did this so that I could continue to receive Medicaid benefits," she allegedly said to department fraud investigator on April 17.

"I am sorry for what I have done."

Gamble is free while her case remains undecided.

It is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Christopher Baynes.

"Home sales slowed more in November"

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

Last updated: 12:33 p.m., Tuesday, December 23, 2008

The Capital Region's real estate market has been trudging along for most of the year, with sales well below 2007 levels.

In November, though, it was as if the already slow market drove into a patch of sand.

Realtors sold only 539 homes in the region during the month -- a 32 percent drop from their pace in November 2007.

Sales were down 20 percent in Albany County, 41 percent in Rensselaer County and 32 percent in Saratoga County.

Schenectady County, where sales fell 9 percent, recorded the region's least dramatic drop, according to numbers released today by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors Inc.

Median sale prices, meanwhile, were flat in most areas.

For the year, closed sales are down 16 percent, while the median sale price is unchanged from 2007 levels, at $192,500.

"Ortloff pleads guilty to enticing minors - Former Parole Board member charged in October"

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

Last updated: 1:01 p.m., Wednesday, December 24, 2008

ALBANY - Former state Assemblyman George C. "Chris" Ortloff plead guilty in federal court today to a single count of online enticement of minors.

Ortloff, 61, of Plattsburgh, resigned his position with the state Parole Board in the wake of his arrest two months ago.

By signing a plea agreement today, Ortloff avoided being indicted by a federal grand jury.

Conviction on the felony charge carries a minimum 10-year federal prison term.

Under federal rules, his acceptance of responsibility could be a factor in helping him obtain a reduced sentence.

Between June and October, Ortloff communicated with an undercover State Police investigator he believed was the mother of two girls ages 11 and 12.

He made arrangements to meet the girls to have sex in a Colonie motel, where he was arrested Oct. 20.

As a member of the parole board, Ortloff was an outspoken advocate of tough penalties for sex offenders.

"Cash-strapped states weigh selling roads, parks"

By MARTIGA LOHN, Associated Press Writer

27 DECEMBER 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota is deep in the hole financially, but the state still owns a premier golf resort, a sprawling amateur sports complex, a big airport, a major zoo and land holdings the size of the Central American country of Belize.

Valuables like these are in for a closer look as 44 states cope with deficits.

Like families pawning the silver to get through a tight spot, states such as Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois are thinking of selling or leasing toll roads, parks, lotteries and other assets to raise desperately needed cash.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has hinted that his January budget proposal will include proposals to privatize some of what the state owns or does.

The Republican is looking for cash to help close a $5.27 billion deficit without raising taxes.

GOP lawmakers are pushing to privatize the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the state lottery.

Both steps require a higher authority — federal legislation in the case of the airport, a voter-approved constitutional amendment for the lottery.

But one lawmaker estimated an airport deal could bring in at least $2.5 billion, and the lottery $500 million.

Massachusetts lawmakers are considering putting the Massachusetts Turnpike in private hands.

That could bring in upfront money to help with a $1.4 billion deficit, while also saving on highway operating costs.

In New York, Democratic Gov. David Paterson appointed a commission to look into leasing state assets, including the Tappan Zee Bridge north of New York City, the lottery, golf courses, toll roads, parks and beaches.

Recommendations are expected next month.

Such projects could be attractive to private investors and public pension funds looking for safe places to put their money in this scary economy, said Leonard Gilroy, a privatization expert with the market-oriented Reason Foundation in Los Angeles.

"Infrastructure is more attractive today than ever," Gilroy said.

"It's tangible."

"It's a road."

"It's water."

"It's an airport."

"It's something that is — you know, you hear the term recession-proof."

Unions don't like privatization deals out of fear that worker wages and benefits will be squeezed as private operators try to boost their profit by streamlining services.

Taxpayers, too, can lose out if the arrangements don't work — and sometimes even if they do, said Mark Price, a labor economist with the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, Pa.

Higher tolls on privatized roads can push drivers onto state-operated roads, wearing them down faster and raising public costs over time.

"You're privatizing some profits in this process and socializing some losses," Price said.

Selling or leasing public assets can produce an immediate infusion of cash for the state, while foisting the tough decisions, such as raising tolls, onto private operators instead of the politicians.

"The downsides are often after they leave office," said Phineas Baxandall, a researcher with the consumer-oriented U.S. Public Interest Research Group in Boston.

Some states struck major privatization deals well before the economic crisis hit.

Indiana, for example, brought in $3.8 billion in 2006 by leasing the Indiana Toll Road for 75 years.

Chicago stands to collect $2.5 billion by leasing Midway Airport, if the federal government approves, and has raised an additional $3.5 billion since 2005 through deals for the Chicago Skyway toll road, parking ramps and parking meters.

But in September, investors walked away from a $12.8 billion bid to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike for 75 years after legislators failed to act on the deal.

And Texas lawmakers uneasy over a proposed private toll road system approved a two-year moratorium on such contracts last year.

David Fisher, who managed Minnesota's state-owned properties a few years ago under former Gov. Jesse Ventura, warned that the state has a hard time finding buyers for properties such as old mental institutions.

Fisher said some public properties belong in private hands, such as Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort, a top-rated getaway in Biwabik, and Ironworld, a museum and library in Chisholm.

Both are owned and subsidized by Iron Range Resources, a state agency.

"Certainly those things could be privatized, I think without harm to the state, but I don't know that you could find the right buyer," Fisher said.

"Oil cash bolsters chip fab"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Sunday, December 28, 2008

MALTA — It was oil wealth from the Persian Gulf that was responsible for saving the dreams of Tech Valley.

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi, an oil-rich city-state and the capital of the United Arab Emirates, stepped forward to invest at least $7 billion in Advanced Micro Devices Inc., saving the future of a $4.6 billion computer chip factory planned for Saratoga County.

AMD, which first announced plans for the chip fab in June 2006, has been suffering billions of dollars in losses as part of a fierce price war with rival Intel Corp.

When 2008 began, many in the Capital Region's business and political circles were privately wondering whether AMD would have the financial assets and balance sheet to build the fab, planned for the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta, despite $1.2 billion in state subsidies.

Some even suggested that AMD might not survive to build another fab.

It has two facilities in Dresden, Germany.

With the price of oil hitting record highs this summer, AMD worked out a plan with Abu Dhabi to spin off its factories in Dresden and build a third fab at Luther Forest.

Although the price of oil has since plunged with the global economic meltdown, plans for the chip fab are still on track, with initial clearing scheduled to begin in March.

The joint venture between AMD and Abu Dhabi is temporarily being called The Foundry Co., although that name will change.

Foundries are third-party companies that manufacture computer chips for other firms, and most of them are in Asia.

AMD says it hopes its American-based foundry can create a new market for U.S.-based foundry manufacturing that will compete fiercely with the Asian firms.

If successful, the Luther Forest chip fab would be the crown jewel of the technology manufacturing cluster state economic development officials are touting as Tech Valley.

The factory would employ roughly 2,000 workers, and economic development experts expect thousands of additional construction and service jobs to be created as a result of a ripple effect of development in the region.

Of course, that prospect has brought anxiety to town planners in Saratoga and Rensselaer counties worried that economic expansion could overrun roads, emergency services and school districts.

Although those anxieties exist all across the region, officials in those same areas as well as outlying areas in Washington, Warren and even Fulton and Montgomery counties also hope the fab will inject much-needed growth into their economies, long hurt by the loss of manufacturing jobs.

Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or lrulison@timesunion.com.

"Former highway official sentenced to probation - Stephentown's former roads superintendent was convicted of felony"

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

First published in print: Wednesday, December 24, 2008

STEPHENTOWN — The former town highway superintendent was sentenced Tuesday to five years' probation on a felony conviction of filing forged documents to cover up illegal gravel purchases for the town.

Neil Gardner, who had held the town position since 1985, was convicted in October during a nonjury trial of 12 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument and 12 counts of offering a forged instrument for filing, both low-level felonies.

He was removed from office after the guilty verdict.

Gardner could have faced up to seven years in prison, but Judge Robert Jacon said at the sentencing that two factors led to his lighter sentence — Gardner's presentencing probation report that showed he had a clean record and "the numerous, numerous letters of support for the defendant that came from the community," Jacon said to a courtroom packed with Gardner's friends, family and supporters.

After Jacon issued his sentence, Gardner's family hugged and wept.

Some applauded and yelled kudos to the judge.

Many claimed the charges were politically motivated and unnecessary because Gardner, a Republican, never himself profited from the gravel purchases.

He also had explained to the Town Board on a couple of occasions during on the record meetings where the gravel was coming from and how it was being paid for.

"The sad part of this case was it did not have to happen," Jacon said to the court.

"Hopefully, everyone in the community will learn a lesson from this instead of this driving a wedge between people."

"It does no good to hold a grudge, especially this time of year."

Gardner refused to comment.

His attorney, Thomas Spargo, said he plans to appeal the conviction.

In October 2006, state Department of Environmental Conservation investigators took records from offices of the town clerk, Gardner and Russ Freeman of Russ Freeman Excavating, Nassau.

The firm regularly performed work for the Stephentown Highway Department.

The investigation started when information surfaced that the rural town was mining gravel from an unpermitted site.

After that allegation surfaced, the town asked Gardner to require Freeman, whose company participated in the mining, to produce load slips verifying the purchases before Cormier could be paid.

The load slips stated the gravel came from a Troy Sand & Gravel mine, not the Cormier property, which led to the felony charges against Gardner and Freeman.

Freeman pleaded guilty in Town Court in October 2007 to second-degree offering a false instrument for filing and was fined $1,000.

He died of cancer a year ago.

"Schumer: NY could get billions more in federal aid"

By MICHAEL VIRTANEN, Associated Press

Last updated: 3:05 p.m., Monday, December 29, 2008

ALBANY -- New York Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday the state and New York City would both get big boosts in federal financial aid -- up to $18 billion altogether over two years -- under a new economic stimulus package being developed by President-elect Barack Obama's transition team and congressional leaders.

The $800 billion economic package is expected to include $5 billion for New York as part of $80 billion to $100 billion in additional Medicaid payments to the states, Schumer said.

That's meant to ensure Medicaid remains strong, and that states can avoid tax hikes and spending cuts that would counteract the federal stimulus, he said.

"President-elect Obama understands we have to push money into the economy or it will get worse," Schumer said.

"If the federal government is putting money in while the state governments are taking it out ... the government is giving with one hand and taking away with another."

The consensus among leaders is the stimulus package should contain more aid for the states, and Medicaid reimbursement is a key vehicle for doing that, he said.

According to Schumer's office, Congress and the transition team are working to have the stimulus measure signed in to law by the end of January, with a second package to follow the next year.

That would mean $10 billion in direct additional health care aid to New York over the two years, though Schumer noted, "If the economy starts moving ahead, the second year may not come to pass."

The biggest piece of the stimulus package would be for infrastructure spending, such as roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and information technology, with $20 billion Schumer hopes will go nationally to mass transit the first year.

That would mean about $4 billion for New York City and projects like the Seventh Avenue subway, he said.

On Sunday, Schumer said the package could allow the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to go ahead with subway station upgrades and hybrid bus purchases among other projects put at risk by the recession and the MTA's fiscal problems.

The Medicaid boost would involve changing the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage, the federal matching rate that funds all states' Medicaid programs.

Under the plan, New York's rate could be temporarily increased by about 10 percent, resulting in at least $5 billion a year for two years.

"Even with this money from Washington, Albany is still going to have to make very hard choices about service cuts, tax cuts and layoffs," Schumer said.

However, it will help relieve pressure on the state budget, freeing up dollars for education or something else, he said.

"A $5 billion dollar increase in (Medicaid assistance) would be a huge shot in the arm for New York," Gov. David Paterson said.

"The funding, should it happen, is a step in the right direction, but we have a multiyear spending problem that needs to be evaluated in the context of any aid package, and ultimately we have to adjust spending to get New York back on track for the long term."

Paterson has proposed a 2009-10 budget of $121.1 billion, which includes layoffs, a 3.3 percent cut in school aid, 88 new or higher fees, and the early release of 1,600 inmates.

The proposal he released Dec. 16 to the Legislature would increase total spending by 1.1 percent -- or $1.3 billion -- and close $15.4 billion in deficits over two years.

New York is one of 11 states that divides Medicaid costs with localities.

Even if this federal boost goes directly to the state, New York City should still benefit, Schumer said.

Paterson's budget also calls for cutting 3,108 jobs from the state work force of 196,000.

Attrition would account for most of the reduction, but the proposal includes 521 layoffs in 2009-10, largely through consolidating state offices.

New York City would get whacked for more than a half-billion dollars in reduced state school aid, municipal aid and school tax relief.

"Health commissioner's effort to sell soda tax falls flat"

By FRED LEBRUN, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Dr. Daines, don't give up the day job.

One of the constant wonders of our times is how really bright people like our state health commissioner can come up with remarkably dumb ideas like trying to sell to the masses a wildly unpopular fat tax on soft drinks through a simplistic YouTube presentation.

Dr. Richard Daines says the idea came to him at 5 a.m.

To which I can only say no more pepperoni pizzas after midnight for you, doctor.

If you haven't seen this fascinating little video promoting the fat tax, it's on our Times Union Web site.

Of course Americans are too darned fat, as if we don't already know that.

Travel around the world and you will have that point driven home time and again.

In addition, look at the zillions we spend on diet fads and shortcuts to the hard work we all know we should be doing to lose weight.

And, just as obviously, canned sodas are for the most part frivolous, costly, empty calories, and lousy for our health.

Forget obesity; consider the fortune you've spent on your teeth.

I'll wager soft drinks have given dentists more condos and world cruises than any other source.

But we digress.

No matter how justifiable Dr. Daines' argument might be on the merits, or demerits, of soft drinks contributing to childhood obesity, the minute he began to lecture ever so gently on why this 18 percent tax would be good for us, he lost the argument.

The ensuing howl of indignation from the public was predictable and not undeserved.

He left his lofty perch as the state's authority figure on public health to engage in ersatz pop science, and the people called him on it.

Bloggers pointed out quite rightly that calorie intake of any sort is only part of a complex set of factors leading to obesity, childhood and otherwise.

But most of all, Dr. Daines got nailed as the representative of government supporting a tax on what people choose to eat or drink.

Big Brother enforcing what's good for us.

Dr. Daines put himself on the wrong side of that not so fine line between the perception of coercing people into doing the right thing, versus persuading them.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with taxing all soft drinks, diet and non-diet, but not an absurd and punitive 18 percent.

A few pennies, perhaps.

Some for the general fund, some dedicated to a carefully thought-out educational effort to get people to change damaging habits while encouraging healthy ones.

I suspect Dr. Daines thought that was what he was doing, but the truth is in the video he sounds far less like a teacher and far more like a preacher.

Philosophically, taxing what isn't good for us because some bureaucrat says so is tricky business and bound to be viewed with great, if not violent, skepticism.

Where does it end?

I wonder, for example, what the great early 19th-century French gourmand Brillat-Savarin would say about this proposed tax in light of his legendary consumption of quantities of rich foods, which he elevated into an art form.

What could be worse for us than multiple courses of heavily sauced dishes, dripping in calories?

Yet such dishes are the epitome of the culinary arts.

Do we therefore expose those excess calories to some sort of progressive tax?

And who will be the judge?

It always comes down to that; who thinks they have the right to pass judgment.

I believe the prevailing public view is that no one does.

Of course, the public overreacted to Dr. Daines' video, but that was to be anticipated.

Unquestionably there is, after all, an appropriate public health issue at the heart of this silliness.

Dr. Daines quotes a figure of several billion dollars as the cost of obesity to the health care system, a price we all share.

So we all have a stake.

But coming up with a public health plan to deal with childhood and adult obesity as a societal as well as a personal issue strikes me as immensely complicated, requiring finesse and guile.

Before the state embarks on any sort of campaign, whether disguising a general tax or not, the subject demands a heck of a lot more thought and preparation than it got in this video.

Using the media to carry the message only works effectively when we have a pretty good idea of what specific changes are desired, of how we can engage the public appropriately, and how we can quantify the results.

Dr. Daines should farm this one out to the high-priced folks in advertising and marketing.

The same ones, incidentally, who have done such a marvelous job in selling the American people on canned soft drinks in the first place.

Fred LeBrun can be reached at 454-5453 or by e-mail at flebrun@timesunion.com.

"Tug of war over Empire Zones - With Paterson under budget pressure, state tax breaks could be in danger"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Wednesday, December 31, 2008

COXSACKIE — Proposed changes to the state's Empire Zone tax break program don't sit well with Alexander "Sandy" Mathes.

Mathes is executive director of Greene County Industrial Development Agency, and his organization has been successful in attracting big-name tenants like Serta and Save-A-Lot to two business parks here off the Thruway and Route 9W using the Empire Zone program.

"Economic development in New York is a challenging sport to begin with, even with the tools we have in place," Mathes said Tuesday.

"Nobody's happy with what we have."

"Let's make it better."

Like other economic developers in the region, Mathes is worried that changes proposed by Gov. David Paterson could do away with the benefits, which give companies new to or expanding in Empire Zones various tax breaks paid for by the state.

And that would make projects like those here in Greene County and other rural areas nearly impossible to complete.

Today, Mathes expects to close on the sale of 21 acres at Kalkberg Commerce Park in Coxsackie for a new $27.5 million warehouse and headquarters for liquor distributor Empire Merchants North.

Construction already is under way at nearby Greene Business & Technology Park for the new $6 million headquarters and assembly plant for DynaBil Industries Inc.

Neither deal would have been possible without Empire Zone benefits.

Mathes said the possibility of Empire Zone changes is already putting future projects in jeopardy.

"How can I do a deal?" he asked.

"The state's credibility is in question, and we need to figure this out as soon as possible."

New York faces a $15 billion budget shortfall in the next two fiscal years, and one of Paterson's proposals is to change the Empire Zone program.

Critics have said the program, which in eight years has grown from $30 million to $582 million in benefits given to companies, is too costly and aids undeserving projects.

Paterson's plan, which would raise the bar for entry into the program and force many companies out, would save the state $562 million over the next two budget years.

Paterson spokeswoman Erin Duggan said the governor's plan will allow the state to "wisely and effectively" use the state's limited financial resources.

"The residents of the state expect nothing less," she said.

"A stronger, streamlined Empire Zone program will help stimulate economic growth and job creation, while advancing industrial competitiveness and keeping jobs, and families, in the state."

Brian McMahon, executive director of the New York State Economic Development Council, a trade group based in Albany, said many projects in upstate New York — including the $4.6 billion computer chip factory planned for Saratoga County by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. — may see their Empire Zone status put at risk with the governor's changes.

The AMD project is expected to reap $600 million in tax breaks by being in an Empire Zone.

Without them, along with a $650 million cash grant the state has offered, the factory likely would have been located elsewhere.

"This is the program that gives us a competitive advantage," McMahon said.

"It levels the playing field."

"There have been huge benefits that have come to New York because of this program."

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

"Lawmaker wants to postpone Mets, Yanks bond vote"

Associated Press

Last updated: 4:05 p.m., Friday, January 2, 2009

NEW YORK -- A state assemblyman investigating the financing for the Mets and Yankees new ballparks wants to postpone a vote on additional public bonds for the projects.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky released a letter Friday requesting the city Industrial Development Agency to delay the Jan. 16 vote.

The teams are asking the city for $450 million more in public bonds to pay for their new parks.

The IDA has scheduled a Jan. 15 hearing to discuss the requests.

IDA spokeswoman Janel Patterson said the agency had followed the public process and would vote as scheduled.

The Yankees are asking for another $259 million in tax-exempt bonds and $111 million in taxable bonds, on top of the $940 million in tax-exempt bonds and $25 million in taxable bonds already granted for its $1.3 billion stadium.

The Mets want another $83 million, in addition to the $615 million already approved for their $800 million park.

Brodsky has said the first round of public support for the ballparks was granted without sufficient public input, and wants the city to provide more documentation about the process before any vote takes place for more bonds.

"Foundation under scrutiny - Discrepancies in resume for Bruno's daughter at nonprofit"

By JAMES M. ODATO AND BRENDAN J. LYONS, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Sunday, January 4, 2009

ALBANY — The FBI's investigation of former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno has expanded to the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, according to sources familiar with the probe.

In particular, a knowledgeable source said, the FBI is probing the work activities of Susan M. Bruno, the elder daughter of the former Senate leader.

The recent FBI inquiry at the Research Foundation — a private arm of SUNY that handles about $1 billion a year in grants and other funds for the SUNY campuses and employs more than 17,000 people — is tied to the ongoing federal grand jury investigation of Joseph Bruno's political activities and private business dealings.

In recent weeks, federal agents questioned top SUNY official John J. O'Connor, according to two people familiar with the matter.

O'Connor, president of the Research Foundation since 2000, last month was named interim chancellor of the 64-campus SUNY system.

He has been SUNY's vice chancellor since 1997.

A knowledgeable source said the FBI inquired about Susan Bruno's fundraising activities on behalf of SUNY's Maritime College in New York City, including donations to the college made by political acquaintances of the former senator.

Joseph Bruno, 79, resigned his Senate seat in July after 32 years in the chamber, the last 14 as its leader.

He is the subject of a three-year federal criminal investigation.

In recent months, the federal probe has intensified.

Numerous people who have had business dealings with Joseph Bruno — including some who hired him as a private consultant during his public career, served with him in the Senate, represented labor unions or were linked to his thoroughbred horse-breeding interests — have been summoned before a grand jury in Albany.

Susan Bruno, 47, was hired by the Research Foundation in 2003.

She currently serves as a special assistant to O'Connor and is paid $84,120 a year.

According to material supplied by SUNY, some of her duties involve trying to develop academic bridges to England, an area of special interest to O'Connor.

"We are declining comment," SUNY spokesman David Henahan said on behalf of both SUNY and O'Connor in response to the Times Union's questions about the federal probe.

Associates of Susan Bruno say privately that during the past five years, she seldom appeared at the office — perhaps once a month, according to one person — and that she was allowed the unusual arrangement of working from her home.

Her long absences from foundation offices at the corner of State Street and Broadway led staffers to use her private office for meetings, according to those who have worked with her.

Susan Bruno did not respond to requests for comment made through the foundation.

The Times Union found several discrepancies on the one-page resume Bruno provided the Research Foundation around the time she was hired in May 2003 as an assistant director of foundation relations for legislation.

The position requires a "bachelor's degree or equivalent," according to a job description provided by the Research Foundation.

Bruno's resume, turned over to the Times Union under a Freedom of Information Law request, states she attended SUNY Cobleskill for "two full years of college courses" and also holds an "NYS Real Estate License."

There are no dates listed for either entry in the document.

There are unanswered questions, however, about each of those entries.

"We do not have a Susan Bruno on record, and we've checked all of our records," said Kate Birchenough, a spokeswoman for SUNY Cobleskill.

She added that the college's records system would show enrollment and attendance for any student by that name going back to 1916.

Mary Jo Moore, a spokeswoman for the New York Department of State, which licenses real estate professionals, said their records go back to 2002; the agency has no record of a professional real estate license under the name Susan Bruno.

Moore, at the newspaper's request, checked the files for appraisers, brokers and salespersons, which all are licensed professions.

"She's not licensed as a real estate broker or salesperson," Moore said, later adding that there was nothing on file for an appraisal license.

Bruno's resume is spotted with typographical errors and misspellings.

It indicates she took a "design course" at the "Ritner School of Design" in Boston.

Steve Rittner, head of Rittners School of Floral Design, confirmed last week that Bruno attended and completed a floral design course there in the summer of 1981, when she was 20.

"She successfully completed the course and she left a very positive record here," Rittner said.

"It was a summer program."

"... She took an accelerated version."

The floral design course is a postsecondary course that does not yield a degree, Rittner said.

Her resume also includes work experience from 1985 to 1991 as a customer service representative at her father's former telecommunications company, Coradian.

Her resume states that while at Coradian, Bruno handled client relations with two large companies: Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, an architecture and engineering firm that has an office in Albany, and Finch Pruyn & Co. Inc., a paper company in Glens Falls.

The names of both companies are misspelled on Bruno's resume.

From 1991 to 2003, Bruno's resume indicates she was a legislative assistant in the state Assembly.

Records on file with the state comptroller place Bruno's pay at $44,563 annually at the time she left the post with the Assembly Republicans.

A former GOP Assembly staff official said Bruno was "autonomous," meaning no one seemed to supervise her during her legislative career, and that she was highly paid for the post she held.

Former Assemblywoman Maureen O'Connell recalled Bruno as providing "excellent" support.

When the Research Foundation hired Susan Bruno five years ago as an assistant director for foundation relations, she was paid a salary of $70,000.

Cathy Kaszluga, a foundation spokeswoman, confirmed Bruno's salary but declined to say whether she was officially allowed to work from home.

Kaszluga also declined to answer questions about the apparent discrepancies in Bruno's resume — including whether her qualifications met the requirements for the job.

''I do not think I'll be able to give you anything beyond what we've already provided, given that she is a private citizen working for a private company,'' Kaszluga said in an e-mail last week.

The foundation had turned over some of Bruno's personnel information to the Times Union, but declined to provide copies of her time and attendance records.

The foundation maintains it is not subject to the Freedom of Information Law and is allowed to choose what it discloses.

However, Robert J. Freeman, executive director of the State Committee on Open Government, an arm of the Secretary of State's office, said a recent decision by an Albany-based state Supreme Court justice ruled the foundation is subject to New York's FOI law.

General information provided by the Research Foundation indicates Bruno's duties involve four areas: an effort to accumulate grants for young SUNY faculty researchers; two annual dinners to recognize faculty researchers and those who have patented or licensed inventions; a U.S./Britain community college information exchange; and encouraging SUNY participation in a scholarship program for study in Britain.

A person who spoke on condition of anonymity said the FBI's inquiry reached out to Matthew P. Behrmann, a former vice president for foundation relations, about Susan Bruno.

When contacted by a reporter, Behrmann said, "I don't think I can help you out," and declined further comment.

Behrmann no longer works for the foundation.

The FBI's inquiry has been broad.

Recently, investigators have displayed an interest in CMA Consulting in Latham, the company Joseph Bruno joined as CEO after quitting the Senate, according to a grand jury witness.

CMA, with tens of millions of dollars in state contracts, has had a long-standing business relationship with the Research Foundation, which has paid the firm more than $1.5 million.

Brendan J. Lyons can be reached at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com; James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.

"Hammered, then nailed, by debt - Bankruptcy filings in Capital Region for businesses, consumers are up from 2007"

By CATHY WOODRUFF, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Sunday, January 4, 2009

ALBANY — Check out a few of the documents on file at U.S. Bankruptcy Court here and you'll start to get the picture quickly enough.

A single woman in Schenectady with annual take-home pay of $20,450 lists $25,000 in debts, more than $20,700 of it charged on credit cards.

A divorced Rensselaer County woman with three children and annual take-home pay of $26,500 owes $80,605.

More than $61,700 of it stems from charges on credit cards issued by banks, department stores and clothing retailers.

You'll also find plenty of couples with incomes many would consider comfortable, who apparently were derailed financially by a failed small business or a job loss — sometimes exacerbated by mortgage payments on a house no longer worth as much as they owe on it.

While the Capital Region still isn't feeling as much disruption as other regions of the country from mortgage foreclosures and job layoffs, the financial hammer came down plenty hard on many residents as the economy soured last year.

Bankruptcy filings in the court's Albany office hit 4,355 in 2008, up more than 21 percent from 2007's total.

Nationally, bankruptcy filings were up 30 percent in the 12 months through Sept. 30.

Consumer bankruptcy filings were up more than 39 percent, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, which tracks bankruptcy trends.

The increases in Albany include a sharp rise in Chapter 11 filings from businesses seeking court protection to continue operating while they restructure their debts.

2008 saw 29 Chapter 11 filings that included restaurants, builders and small family businesses.

In contrast, Chapter 11 filings numbered 17 in 2007 and 19 in 2006.

So-called consumer filings — petitions from individuals whose personal financial difficulties have spiraled beyond their ability to recover — are plentiful in the local court's caseload.

In the 11 months through November, consumer bankruptcies were already running nearly 9 percent ahead of the total for all of 2007.

"It's mostly people who have gotten over their head in credit cards," said Marc Ehrlich, a Troy attorney who represents bankruptcy clients and also acts as a trustee to oversee the liquidation of assets in bankruptcy proceedings.

More and more, he said, people "are trying to live a lifestyle using credit cards that their income doesn't justify."

Albany attorney Richard Croak estimated that his firm's bankruptcy work was up about 25 percent over 2007.

He said some 400 cases were filed last year, compared with closer to 300 the year before.

A big reason, he said, has been the burden of high mortgage payments as homeowners try to stave off foreclosure.

"A lot of these people are facing this problem with these adjustable-rate mortgages," he said, and even the drop in the prime rate last month won't necessarily help them soon enough.

"A lot of these mortgages are tied to rates that are not the prime rate," he said.

Between bankruptcies and foreclosures, Randy Passonno's Collar City Auction business is surging, too.

Bankruptcy auctions tapered off early this decade to about 10 percent of the Duanesburg auctioneer's business.

Now, Passonno said, it's probably closer to 25 percent, and his projections for 2009 put such auctions closer to 40 percent of his business.

Collar City will auction two grocery stores and a home in rural Franklin and St. Lawrence counties on Jan. 14 as a result of a family business bankruptcy, and is preparing to sell off inventory from an area flooring business on Jan. 17.

Passonno said he is hearing from banks, businesses and trustees across the country who need his company's services.

"I think that, over the last five years, many businesses and individuals have overextended because of the availability of credit that was out there," he said.

Recent Passonno auctions have included car dealerships in Kingston and on Long Island.

Passonno and others close to the bankruptcy scene say the signs are strong that this year will be even tougher.

"We expect a big 2009," said Croak, the Albany bankruptcy attorney.

"It's a terrible thing, and I don't see any end in sight."

Cathy Woodruff can be reached at 454-5093 or by e-mail at cwoodruff@timesunion.com.

"E-mail: NY GOP Senate staff to aid campaigns"

Associated Press

Last updated: 2:26 p.m., Monday, January 5, 2009

ALBANY -- An internal e-mail revealed that Senate Republican staffers, facing the end of their days in the chamber's powerful and lucrative majority, planned to use taxpayer-funded researchers to help the GOP try to regain control of the Senate in 2010.

But Senate Republican spokesman John McArdle shot down the directive written by a top aide to Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and first reported Monday in the New York Post.

McArdle called the e-mail dumb and says the plan it outlined was never implemented and would never be authorized by Skelos.

McArdle said there's a separation between "pure politics" and government operations, but that line has always been fuzzy in Albany -- in both parties.

Legislative staff often contribute to campaigns and work for candidates, using compensatory time in place of overtime pay.

And for both parties, their political platforms mirror their legislative agendas on statewide and key regional issues.

Good-government groups have long complained about a lack of transparency between political and government work done in the Legislature and paid for by New Yorkers.

That includes the many perks of incumbents, such as state paid newsletters and television interviews that allow lawmakers to tout their accomplishments.

In the legislature, the majority party in the Senate and Assembly command more staff and funding and controls what legislation makes it to a vote.

After ruling the Senate for more than four decades, Republicans lost power in November when Democrats won 32 seats to 30 for the GOP.

"At a time when the state's economy is tanking, we find the Senate Republicans scheming on how to use tax dollars to assist in their re-election efforts," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

"What you're planning (in the e-mail) is a blatant connection between policy and politics."

"In Albany, that connection is there, but it's more subtle ... does every conference do this?"

"Probably, but we've never seen it in writing," Horner said.

The e-mail said that based on previous discussions, the Senate Research Project, now controlled by Republicans, would expand to support specific senators on district issues and to aid their re-election bids.

Senate Research staff is used to evaluate issues that could be addressed by legislation.

Researchers gather press accounts and studies and report back to the majority leader.

McArdle said the memo went too far.

The Dec. 22 memo between the Senate Republican Campaign Committee and Senate majority conference staffers says, in part:

"As we discussed, Senate Research will have a significantly expanded role and marked different focus moving forward."

"Senate Research staff is to be assigned to Senate districts or regions, as you deem appropriate ... to make the work product produced more salient to members and their re-election programs."

The memo was written by Thomas Dunham, a top Skelos aide.

A spokesman for the Republican Senate campaign committee didn't respond to a request for comment.

"It was an e-mail that should never have been sent," McArdle said.

"Where it veered off in the policy area is wrong, dumb and frankly was never authorized by anybody."

"Where it gets wrong is to suggest that there may be political involvement by a separate entity in a purely governmental function and that's not what is being proposed," McArdle said.

"Certainly it was not discussed, certainly not by Sen. Skelos."

"Nothing ever got implemented, it never got beyond an e-mail that was sent from one staff member to another."

McArdle said no directive was sent to staff advising them to reject the contents of the e-mail, but "the message will certainly be delivered."

"State still a failure to you - Authors of landmark report on dysfunction still fault leaders, but cite hope"

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

First published in print: Tuesday, January 6, 2009

New York's Legislature is still broken, according to NYU law school's Brennan Center for Justice, which four years ago placed it among the nation's most dysfunctional.

Thanks to the iron grip that Senate and Assembly leaders have on legislation, New Yorkers may be paying more for their auto insurance while coping with one of the nation's most outmoded balloting systems.

Additionally, New Yorkers can learn little about laws being formed, since there is hardly any open debate.

And lawmakers can continue to "vote" on bills without actually showing up.

But all is not lost: The study's authors note that with the state Senate about to change hands for the first time in decades, there's a chance for increased openness in that chamber.

"While there isn't much to cheer about looking back in either chamber (the Senate and Assembly), there is the promise of substantial reform from the likely new incoming Senate majority," said Andrew Stengel, co-author of the report.

He was referring to the possibility that Democrats, who won 32 of the 62 Senate seats in the November elections, will this week take control of the Senate.

If they follow through on pledges to make that chamber more open and democratic, there could be real improvements, said the authors.

As was the case in the initial 2004 report, legislative leaders criticized the findings.

"The latest report by the Brennan Center is disappointing because it continues to misrepresent the substantive reforms that have been made," said Dan Weiller, press secretary to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

He noted that some measures such as a 2007 bill passed in the Assembly to legalize same-sex marriage came after a lengthy floor debate and vote.

Silver, while not named in all instances, is faulted for what the survey said was a "stranglehold" on potential legislation going through his house.

"We have to ask (Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver) if we can draft it," the report quotes one Democratic lawmaker as saying, regarding bills they want to debate.

Not that the Republicans who control the Senate have been any more transparent.

The Brennan Center notes that the Senate a few years ago moved to ban proxy votes in committees.

But they still allowed absentee ballots, which allow lawmakers to artificially inflate their attendance records.

Scott Rief, spokesman for the Senate Republicans, said their Dean Skelos has been outspoken about both the need to lower property taxes "as well as the importance of achieving passage of additional reforms that will empower rank-and-file lawmakers."

The lack of input and power by the Legislature's various committees continue to be a weak spot.

The authors note that election issues are overseen by four legislative committees but they have all been "silent on the state's failure to comply with federal election law" that requires replacing New York's ancient lever-action voting machines.

Another problem: the rapidity with which some bills are passed, with little public debate.

Last June, for instance, a bill extending homeowner insurance protection to coastal residents in and around New York City sailed through the Senate and Assembly in a single day.

Attached to that bill, though, was a provision allowing auto insurers to lower or raise their rates by 5 percent without approval of the state Insurance Department.

Then there is the closed-door nature of lawmaking, which Stengel said described as the most troubling aspect of the Legislature's dysfunction.

He cites the 2003 law creating incentives to developing brownfields as an example.

"It was negotiated behind closed doors."

"There was no public review," Stengel said.

Initially, brownfields development was to be funded with $120 million in bonds but the potential cost of this program, which is also a windfall for some real estate developers, is now $3.1 billion when one counts the tax breaks that are offered.

Gannett News Service and Associated Press contributed to this report. Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or rkarlin@timesunion.com

"Susan Bruno resume eyed - SUNY outfit to check credentials after report raises questions"

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

First published in print: Tuesday, January 6, 2009

ALBANY -- The Research Foundation of the State University of New York will examine the credentials of Susan M. Bruno following a Times Union story on Sunday that raised questions about information contained in her resume.

Bruno, 47, the elder daughter of former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, apparently listed inaccurate information in her resume when she took a job with the Research Foundation five years ago.

That information includes a line indicating she had ''two full years of college courses'' at SUNY Cobleskill, with no dates provided.

In fact, SUNY Cobleskill officials last week said they had no record of Bruno attending school there.

On Monday, a spokeswoman contacted the Times Union saying they made a mistake and that Bruno had registered briefly as a student in the fall of 1980.

''She was registered as a student from September 1980 to Nov. 13, 1980, in the flora-culture program,'' said Holly Cargill-Cramer, SUNY Cobleskill's director of communications and public affairs.

Cargill-Cramer said the regular semester that year ended on Dec. 18.

Still, Bruno's incomplete semester falls short of the two full years of courses listed on her resume, which the Research Foundation provided to the Times Union under a Freedom of Information Law request.

''We will be following up with Cobleskill to get details from them directly,'' said Cathy Kaszluga, vice president of corporation communications for the Research Foundation.

''We have to examine it now.''

Bruno has declined to respond to requests for comment.

The Times Union began examining Bruno's credentials after learning an FBI investigation of her father has expanded to the Research Foundation and, in particular, the work activities of Susan Bruno, according to a person with knowledge of the case.

The Research Foundation is a not-for-profit arm of SUNY that handles about $1 billion a year in grants and other funds for the SUNY campuses and employs more than 17,000 people, most of those through foundation programs in the SUNY system.

About two months ago, federal authorities questioned top SUNY official John J. O'Connor, according to two people familiar with the matter.

O'Connor, president of the Research Foundation since 2000, last month was named interim chancellor of the 64-campus SUNY system and he has been SUNY's vice chancellor since 1997.

He declined to comment.

Joseph Bruno, 79, resigned his Senate seat in July after 32 years in the chamber, the last 14 as its leader.

He is the subject of a three-year federal criminal investigation that has intensified over the past five months.

Susan Bruno was hired by the Research Foundation in May 2003, records show.

She currently serves as a special assistant to O'Connor and is paid $84,120 a year.

People who have worked for the Research Foundation said Bruno was known for having long absences from foundation offices at the corner of State Street and Broadway.

At one time, staffers used her private office for meetings because, they said, she was rarely there.

There are several discrepancies on the one-page resume of Bruno's on file at the Research Foundation, where she was hired as an assistant director of foundation relations for legislation.

The position requires a "bachelor's degree or equivalent," according to a job description provided by the Research Foundation.

Bruno's resume also indicates that she held a ''NYS Real Estate License.''

A spokeswoman for the New York Department of State, which licenses real estate professionals, said their records go back to 2002 and the agency has no record of a professional real estate license under the name Susan Bruno.

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

"Feds clear AMD-Abu Dhabi deal"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 5:44 p.m., Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The federal government has determined there are no national security concerns with a joint venture between Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi that would build a $4.6 billion computer chip factory in Malta.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an arcane federal board that investigates large business deals with foreign companies for national security issues, told AMD in a letter dated Monday that the joint venture may proceed.

AMD received the letter today, said spokesman Travis Bullard.

Abu Dhabi is investing as much as $9 billion in the joint venture.

The Malta factory, planned for the Luther Forest Technology Campus, would be build by the joint venture.

Land could be cleared starting in March.

"Audit: NY agency relied on collusion, bid rigging"

Associated Press

Last updated: 4:46 p.m., Tuesday, January 6, 2009

ALBANY -- A central New York agency caring for the mentally disabled funneled more than $1 million of work to favored vendors, including family and friends of staff members, according to a state audit released Tuesday.

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said he has turned over the findings on the Central New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office to the Oneida County District Attorney's office for further investigation.

The audit revealed that agency staff rigged work bids and cut backdoor deals with vendors going back as far as 2003.

DiNapoli said in some cases the state paid at least 40 percent more for work done at group homes than it should have.

"This is at minimum a flagrant disregard for the law," DiNapoli said in a news release.

"These employees are supposed to protect taxpayers, not make up phony bids as part of some bid rigging scheme to funnel a million taxpayer dollars to favored vendors."

"And they were so blatant they didn't even try to cover their tracks."

Auditors made a dozen recommendations to improve the agency.

The Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, which oversees the Central NY DDSO, has taken steps to address the issues and tighten internal controls, DiNapoli said.

It has also ceased doing business with all but two of the vendors.

During prior audits in 2007, the Comptroller's Office found other questionable practices by DDSO, including the agency hiring dozens of relatives of employees to provide repair and respite care services totaling about $253,000 and problems with overtime hours worked by staff.

As a result, it launched the most recent audit in January 2008.

The disabilities services office oversees 197 community-based group homes, 306 family care homes and 23 other program sites that provide care for about 4,000 individuals in Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego counties.

It has its administrative offices in Rome and Syracuse.

"Former CSEA treasurer admits theft - Health department clerk admits embezzling $40,000"

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

Last updated: 4:12 p.m., Wednesday, January 7, 2009

ALBANY -- A former treasurer for the region's largest state and municipal workers' union pleaded guilty to a felony embezzlement charge today in U.S. District Court.

Carol A. Bruno, 53, of Main Avenue, Wynantskill, allegedly embezzled about $40,000 from CSEA's Region IV accounts over a two year period.

The thefts began in March 2004, according to court documents.

Three months ago, a federal grand jury in Albany handed up an indictment charging Bruno with one count of embezzlement.

Bruno, who works for the state Health Department as a $60,385-a-year clerk, was expelled from the union and her treasurer's position in July 2007, according to union officials.

The union discovered the missing funds and alerted law enforcement authorities.

For her guilty plea to embezzlement from a laborers union Bruno faces a maximum penalty of up to five years.

However, under federal sentencing guidelines, she could face probation or 6 to 12 months in prison.

Bruno's attorney, Terence L. Kindlon, told U.S. District Senior Judge Lawrence Kahn that Bruno is prepared to make restitution.

CSEA already was reimbursed by a bonding company, according to Kindlon.

Sentencing was scheduled for May 6.

Bruno is free on bond pending sentencing.

"Intel will miss its already-lowered 4Q targets - Intel chops another $500M from 4Q sales figures in sign of PC makers' tight fists"

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:45 p.m., Wednesday, January 7, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO -- Even after sharply reducing its outlook for the fourth quarter, Intel Corp. said Wednesday that it would miss its revenue projection by about $500 million, a sign that PC makers and buyers are being more tightfisted than it seemed only two months ago.

Intel shares closed down 6 percent.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, the world's largest chip maker, now says revenue was $8.2 billion for the last three months of 2008, a 23 percent decline from the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting $8.7 billion, which was at the low end of the range Intel provided in November of $8.7 billion to $9.3 billion.

Intel's profits also are being hit.

It expects its gross profit margin to be at the bottom of its previous guidance, which was for 53 to 57 percent of revenue.

Gross profit is the amount of money a company earns after manufacturing costs are stripped out.

It's a valuable gauge of how well companies are controlling their costs, and is particularly useful in looking at chip makers since their manufacturing expenses are huge.

Intel is scheduled to provide more detail when it releases full fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 15.

The fact that Intel has had to revise its fourth-quarter guidance twice indicates how deeply the economic meltdown has damaged the semiconductor industry.

It also reveals how hard it is for even conservative companies -- Intel formally stopped doing mid-quarter updates in 2006 -- to figure out how badly they're being hurt.

Intel blamed the latest revision on weaker-than-expected demand, piling up in a chain reaction.

Businesses are putting off upgrading to new computers until the economy and their finances improve.

And consumers, singed by layoffs and falling home prices and stock portfolios, have scaled back their spending as well.

In turn that has prompted PC makers to try to save money by burning through their existing inventories of chips instead of buying lots of new ones.

These trends have slammed chip makers since the downturn intensified in September, and now appears to be worsening.

The news came as little surprise to industry analysts, who have been warning for months that PC suppliers like Intel might miss even their lowered forecasts.

"It's not something that indicates any kind of share loss or structural change in the company or the markets," said Cody Acree, senior semiconductor analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co.

"Right now the economy is causing everybody up and down the manufacturing channel to live hand to mouth."

More details will emerge when Intel reports its full quarterly results Jan. 15.

Intel's primary competitor in the market for microprocessors, which are the brains of personal computers, has also slashed its forecasts.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc. warned last month that its fourth-quarter sales would drop 25 percent from the previous quarter.

That implies a drop of 33 percent from the previous year.

Intel shares fell 93 cents, or 6.1 percent, to close at $14.44.

AMD shares fell 12 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $2.66.

Intel also needs to absorb a charge for the deterioration of the value of its investment in Clearwire Corp., an Internet provider specializing in a new type of wireless broadband technology called WiMax.

Intel, which invested $1.6 billion in Clearwire, plans to take a $950 million non-cash charge in the fourth quarter because of Clearwire's falling market value.

Clearwire's stock price has fallen from around $12.50 in October to around $5 today, leaving it with a market capitalization of $833 million.

Questions have circled about Clearwire's aggressive network buildout plans in the souring economy.

Time Warner Cable Inc., another Clearwire investor, said Wednesday it would take a similar charge, for approximately $350 million.

Google Inc. put $500 million into Clearwire, but spokeswoman Jane Penner declined to comment Wednesday on whether the Internet search leader intended to recognize a loss on its investment.

Representatives for Comcast Corp., which invested $1.05 billion in Clearwire, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

WHAT A LOAD OF HORSE****!

"NY Gov. Paterson: perilous present, hopeful future"

By VALERIE BAUMAN, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:15 p.m., Wednesday, January 7, 2009

ALBANY -- New York Gov. David Paterson's first State of the State was a pep talk for lawmakers and voters to persevere through tough fiscal times he insisted were only temporary.

"We must sacrifice what we want today so that we can pay for what we need tomorrow," Paterson said.

"But this must be a shared sacrifice -- we must all share the pain."

"And we should always keep our eyes on our brighter future."

After months of alerting all who would listen that the state's economic woes were serious, Paterson took the opportunity Wednesday to make a tempered encouragement.

Hailing the state's strong work force, university system, research science and trademark New York confidence, Paterson said the state is well-equipped to emerge from the global financial meltdown.

"We knew the bad news," said Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, a Long Island Democrat.

He noted Paterson delivered his $121.1 billion budget proposal in December -- a month early -- full of spending cuts and tax and fee increases to combat an estimated $15 billion deficit over two years.

Usually, the State of the State speech comes before the budget presentation.

"It was a challenge, now, to do the inspirational part," DiNapoli said.

"I think he was successful."

The governor revealed a few of his top priorities including accessible and lower cost college loans, steering more drug offenders to treatment instead of long mandatory prison terms, and a property tax cap.

"It was certainly a sobering, yet uplifting message," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon, a Manhattan Democrat.

"There's no escaping the harsh reality that balancing the budget will require tough cuts, tough choices."

Paterson introduced a plan to combat childhood obesity that would ban trans fats in restaurants and junk food sales in schools.

He also wants the Legislature to agree to require chain restaurants statewide to post calorie content, and a revolving loan fund to get healthy food markets in poor communities.

"It's prevention -- or at least very early on solving a problem before it becomes an established life problem," said Dr. Richard Daines, the commissioner of the state Department of Health.

Paterson also proposed establishing an upstate research consortium to develop hybrid electric batteries and energy storage technologies as part of an attempt to return manufacturing jobs to New York.

"The future of America's energy and transportation policies rest on the development of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles," Paterson said.

"The state that positions itself in this market will revitalize its economy for years to come."

He set a statewide goal of meeting 45 percent of electricity needs by 2015 through improved efficiency and clean renewable energy.

Paterson said hitting that goal would create about 50,000 jobs.

Paterson was interrupted by applause -- by Democrats and Republicans -- nearly 40 times.

At the rousing end of his speech, many lawmakers nearly leaped to their feet to give him another standing ovation.

Still, some advocates weren't impressed that Paterson avoided some issues.

"There's a disconnect between the speech and the budget, there is a wide gap between what he said about education the cuts he's called for," said Billy Easton of the Alliance for Quality Education.

Paterson called for a long-term commitment to education Wednesday, less than a month after his proposal for a 3.3 percent cut to school aid, or $698 million, for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

In a rare, if not unprecedented, move Paterson never mentioned the 6 million acre Adirondack Park, where he plans some funding cuts including in the Environmental Protection Fund that can be used to buy wilderness to protect it from development.

John Sheehan of the Adirondack Council said the park's absence in the speech is a serious concern.

The lack of mention flies in the face of Paterson's effort to fight childhood obesity and get kids to be more active, said Paul Ertelt, spokesman for the Adirondack Mountain Club, an environmental group.

Overall, lawmakers were complimentary of Paterson's speech.

He spoke from memory for 63 minutes, citing economic data, scientific theory and historic dates without flaw, impressing even lawmakers who have worked with him for 20 years.

"That young man is absolutely amazing," Sen. Dale Volker, a 68-year-old Republican from Erie County, said of the 54-year-old Democratic governor in his 10th month in the job.

"We can disagree, but I've never seen anyone overcome a disability the way he has."

------

Associated Press Writers Michael Gormley and Michael Virtanen contributed to this report from Albany.

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On the Net: http://www.ny.gov/governor/keydocs/speech--0107091.html

"NY lawmaker sworn in amid assault investigation"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY and COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:55 p.m., Wednesday, January 7, 2009

ALBANY -- Hiram Monserrate was sworn in Wednesday as a new state senator, despite facing charges that he slashed his girlfriend's face with a piece of broken glass in a jealous rage.

Monserrate, part of a new influx of lawmakers who helped Democrats gain control of the Senate for the first time in four decades, stood on the floor on the historic day and swore to uphold the federal and state constitutions and his office.

He was surrounded by a dozen applauding friends, relatives and staff, but his girlfriend was conspicuiously absent.

Others said the charges should have kept Moserrate from taking office, and one senator turned away before a photo could be taken with the new lawmaker.

"I guess they were wrong."

"I'm here, and I'm here for the long haul," Monserrate said of his critics.

"Of course my colleagues are treating me nice," he said.

Monserrate was charged with assault and weapon possession after Karla Giraldo's face was slashed on Dec. 19 at his Queens home.

Both the former New York City councilman and Giraldo say the incident was an accident -- Monserrate told police that he tripped while holding a glass of water and that the glass accidentally hit her.

But authorities say evidence, including surveillance videos, paints a more violent picture of a heated argument and a frightened, bleeding woman in distress.

Investigators say Monserrate purposely smashed her face with broken glass because he thought she was also dating a police officer.

The videos come from several cameras in the apartment building.

The first shows the two arguing and Monserrate throwing a policeman's union card down a garbage chute, according to a law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The two return into the apartment, and the video catches them sometime later, Giraldo's face covered with a bloody towel.

The official said it's believed Monserrate smashed the glass over furniture before hitting her with it.

Investigators on Monday seized similar glasses from his home.

Monserrate is seen yanking Giraldo by the shoulder down the second-floor stairwell, according to the official who saw the video.

Giraldo is crying, and pounding on a neighbor's door as he pulls her away, the official said.

She drops the towel, which is later found on a stairwell.

The two are then shown downstairs in a small vestibule, where Monserrate tries to pull Giraldo outside.

"She's holding on with two hands, like a kid who didn't want to leave his bike."

"She looks terrified," the official said.

Giraldo went to the emergency room; the gash over her eye required 25 stitches.

Doctors contacted Queens police and reported a woman was assaulted, the official said.

According to the police report, Giraldo initially said she was assaulted, then changed her account after learning officers planned to arrest him.

She later filed a statement with police saying she did not wish to press charges.

The Queens district attorney's office said the case is pending.

On Wednesday in Albany, Monserrate declined to discuss the allegations.

Asked about the continued attention on whether he should be seated, he said, "That's politics."

Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith said there was no legal reason to prevent Monserrate from being seated, and in the upcoming days "we will make some decisions about how we handle his actual role."

Brooklyn Republican Sen. Martin Golden, who earlier introduced a resolution to delay Monserrate's swearing in for a month until the issue is resolved, accepted Monserrate's handshake but turned away before the press could take their picture together.

Golden told The Associated Press that the Queens Democrat should have been kept out of the seat Wednesday, and that the pending criminal case involved "an absolutely horrendous assault on a woman."

"It definitely takes the institution down and we don't need that," Golden said.

Monserrate, a council member since 2001, was elected to the Senate in November.

If convicted of felony second-degree assault, he could face seven years in prison and the loss of his seat.

------

Associated Press Writer Colleen Long contributed to this report from New York City. Associated Press writer Michael Virtanen in Albany also contributed to this report.

"A call for greatness - Governor urges tackling the economic crisis with the same bravery that built the Empire State"

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

First published in print: Thursday, January 8, 2009

ALBANY -- Gov. David Paterson used his State of the State Message to remind New Yorkers of something they already knew -- the state's economy faces grave hardships -- and to remind them of something they might have forgotten: New York's history of overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges.

"The state of our state is perilous," Paterson said Wednesday, referring to the damage done by the collapse of Wall Street and the larger national downturn.

The governor also conjured images of turning points, such as the victory over the British at the 1777 Battles of Saratoga, the 19th-century gamble on the Erie Canal and construction of the Empire State Building during the Great Depression, to a packed Assembly chamber that included members of the state Legislature as well as former governors Hugh Carey and Mario M. Cuomo.

This year's address-- Paterson's first since ascending to the governorship after Eliot Spitzer's inglorious exit in March -- came with unique timing: The speech is usually used to introduce the details of the state budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

But Paterson released his proposed 2009-10 budget three weeks ago, stealing some of the thunder from the State of the State.

Despite grappling with a $15.4 billion budget deficit, which if unchecked could exceed $47 billion over four years, Paterson stressed that some key initiatives remained intact, including battles against childhood obesity and upstate urban crime.

The governor talked up a number of new or previously unheralded initiatives, including a sweeping energy-conservation plan and the creation of an upstate research consortium to speed the creation of plug-in electric vehicles.

Paterson drew a standing ovation from Republicans when he mentioned his support for the property "tax cap" approved by the GOP-controlled Senate last summer; the measure faces opposition in the Democrat-controlled Assembly.

"Maybe I should change parties," Paterson joked in response to the applause.

Especially on Wednesday, that would be a bad idea: The governor's address began just after the first session of the newly composed state Senate, in which Democratic Sen. Malcolm Smith was elected to lead the chamber as majority leader and president pro tempore the first member of his party to do so in more than four decades.

As might be expected from a politician who is legally blind and must rely on memorization, the governor frequently departed from the previously released text.

Nevertheless, the speech included extensive quotes from historic figures and even poetry: The governor began his remarks by recalling one of his favorite poems from childhood, Edward Rowland Sill's "Opportunity," in which a prince picks up a broken sword thrown away by a coward "and with battle-shout/Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,/And saved a great cause that heroic day."

Despite the inspirational rhetoric, some were struck by what wasn't in the speech such as any reference to campaign finance reform.

"It's telling: It seems like the governor is not interested" in an issue that was central to Eliot Spitzer's agenda, said Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Funding advocates, knowing there will be a tight budget, questioned how some of the initiatives will develop in light of the state's financial pressures.

It was like a "virtual speech," remarked Billy Easton, director of the Alliance for Quality Education, which advocates increased school funding something that is not in the budget plan.

Lawmakers, who will either approve or fight Paterson's budget plans in the coming months, tried to keep things amiable, but hinted at the difficult negotiations ahead.

Assembly Democratic Speaker Sheldon Silver said he realized the fiscal crisis will require tough choices.

"There is no way to sugarcoat it."

"Inevitably there will be fewer resources,'' said Silver.

And Sen. Dean Skelos, who on Wednesday went from majority to minority leader, suggested the governor would face a fractious Senate, even though it is now under a 32-30 Democratic majority.

"I can guarantee you there are more factions within the Democratic conference than within the Republican conference," Skelos said.

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

Gov. Paterson's State of the State Message highlighted some of his key policy proposals for the year ahead:

Reform of the Rockefeller drug laws to end sentencing requirements that critics call draconian.

With the Legislature controlled by Democrats, this is a realistic proposal with little financial cost.

"45 by 15," a plan to have 45 percent of New York's electricity produced through more efficient or renewable sources by 2015.

Similar plans date to the Pataki era; popular but potentially costly.

Creation of an upstate research consortium to spur the production of hybrid batteries for plug-in electric cars.

Would encompass the Capital Region and points west along the Mohawk Valley, tapping the region's universities and technology sectors.

Battling childhood obesity.

Paterson's wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, will head up this effort.

It fits in with the governor's proposed "fat tax'' on non-diet drinks such as soda.

Fighting hate crimes.

The governor wants to introduce a broad-based tolerance program in schools in the wake of highly publicized crimes against Latin American immigrants in Long Island, Brooklyn and Syracuse.

Rick Karlin

"Update: Ex-Guilderland chief pleads guilty to misconduct - Murley at casino at least 53 times when he claimed he was at work"

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 1:43 p.m., Friday, January 9, 2009

ALBANY - Former Guilderland Police Chief James R. Murley pleaded guilty this morning to misdemeanor official misconduct, satisfying allegations that the longtime lawman was gambling at an Oneida County casino while being paid for his town job.

Murley, 62, who retired in May 2007 amid allegations of misconduct, admitted in Albany City Court that on at least 53 occasions - between February 2001 and August 2004 - he collected his salary when he was actually at Turning Stone Casino in Verona.

On three other occasions, he admitted, he was at the casino while falsely claiming to be out sick.

Visiting Judge Kenneth Connolly sentenced Murley to an $800 fine, plus a $200 state surcharge.

Under the terms of the agreement, Murley also will pay $13,500 in restitution to the town and must continue to undergo gambling counseling - with the court receiving monthly updates.

The case was heard in Albany City Court because the Guilderland Town Justices recused themselves.

Murley, who sat in the bustling court room's public gallery for about 40 minutes before his case was called, made no statement while leaving court.

But his attorney, William J. Gray, said the case is a lesson on how addictions of all kinds can rend families.

"This gambling, it's an insidious thing," Gray said outside court.

"The important part then is to get the treatment and get yourself well and get yourself back to health."

Today was Murley's first, and likely only, day in court.

He pleaded guilty as the charge was filed, and Connolly issued a conditional discharge, meaning that if Murley stays in the program to the satisfaction of his counselors over the next year he will not be subject to any additional monitoring.

The conviction will stay on his record, prosecutors said.

As the State Police investigation into Murley's conduct gained steam and the nature of the allegations became known, there was speculation that the former chief could face more serious charges.

He could have received up to a year in jail for the misdemeanor conviction.

But Heather Orth, a spokeswoman for Albany County District Attorney David Soares, said the primary concern was that Murley get counseling.

"We hope Mr. Murley gets the helps he needs," Orth said, noting the case highlights that gambling addictions are serious and can afflict anybody.

Assistant District Attorney Linda Griggs of the Public Integrity Unit prosecuted the case.

In his 34 years as chief, Murley became a fixture in both law enforcement circles and the local media.

His tenure began to unravel amid sexual harassment complaints that ultimately led to probe into his activities while allegedly on the job.

Murley also was accused of borrowing money from people he supervised and of trying to get a locksmith not to charge an acquaintance for work.

He retired from the $97,000-a-year job in May 2007 to avoid removal proceedings, keeping his health and pension benefits.

Paterson's address was hollow

Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Sunday, January 11, 2009

Gov. David Paterson should consider himself a lucky man, because he got a free ride with this year's state of the state address.

Under normal circumstances, we the people might be inclined to shoot the messenger when the economic news is as dire and gloomy and bottomless as what Paterson outlined in his address.

By that I mean we could expect the reaction from the public and political opposition to be harshly critical of his bleak talk and plans or lack of them, to solve our problems.

But curiously, reaction to the hour-long speech before the joint houses of the Legislature was timid, even from the political opposition that usually rips apart even the most innocent proposals offered up in these ceremonial events.

It seems the vast majority of both politicians and the public were dazzled by the fact a legally blind man could memorize his remarks instead of reading them from a teleprompter.

None of the reaction I heard, though, even questioned whether the speech was worth memorizing in the first place.

Because it wasn't much.

It gave us the state of the state as "perilous," but offered only hollow rhetorical exhortation to pick up a broken sword and fight the enemy, instead of real inspiration.

There was no theme.

Now, granted state of the state addresses of the best sort are still only meringue pies, mostly billowy show and little substance.

And this year, the state of the state followed, instead of led up to, the proposed budget.

The more substantive budget proposal eclipsed the state of the state, leaving the latter little more than a required formality.

On top of that, the usual feisty Republican opposition was reeling from losing majority control of the state Senate only moments before and appeared in no mood to take on the governor.

Regardless, the state of the state is an important benchmark of expectations for an administration, a preview of priorities and policies, and in the current awful economic climate we're in, offers us a plan forward, even in chaos.

I heard no plan.

Oh, there were a few well-aimed shots in the dark, such as taking on childhood obesity as a societal health issue, providing 226,000 young people with the possibility of cheaper health insurance, trying to come up with a better hybrid car battery and upping the ante on more renewable energy in our portfolio.

But the big picture plan, as far as I can see, is to pray for a federal bail-out that will enhance Medicaid and probably bring a ton of hard dollars for shovel-ready construction projects across the state, and otherwise simply wait out the recession.

That stimulus package is now scheduled for passage by Congress in February, which means serious budget negotiations here in New York won't begin until after that, suggesting the probability of another late budget this year.

In spite of all the noise about getting things done earlier, it's going to be same old, same old.

Not that any of this is entirely Paterson's fault, even if it is his responsibility to deal with.

The Senate Republicans were particularly unhelpful in trying to find meaningful budget cuts in the last quarter of 2008, making it all that much harder this year.

But back to the state of the state address.

I didn't hear much for upstate, and what I did hear told me it's being made up on the fly.

The governor said he'll ask for an upstate revitalization fund and ask the Empire State Development Corp. where to invest.

How much and for what, to be determined.

He mentioned tourism around Niagara Falls, and biotech for Buffalo, as if they were notes on napkins, not at all fleshed out.

How far we've fallen in a year.

Last year, Gov. Eliot Spitzer gave a separate state of the state for upstate, created a $1 billion upstate revitalization fund and gave upstate a co-chair for the ESDC, the state's most influential tool of economic development.

Upstate is back to no state of the state speech of its own, although Paterson has said he will be conducting town meetings at various locations upstate to hear concerns.

Who knows what's happened to that $1 billion, but I suspect it's gone the way of all funds these days.

Last year, in a troubling move, Paterson removed the upstate co-chair from the ESDC as well.

Sure, these are parochial, upstate interests I'm concerned about here.

But it took us what seems decades to get serious respect for upstate problems, only to see our status slip right back to where it used to be.

Or so it seems from the state of the state.

As I said, the governor got a free ride this year.

Events are so overwhelming, no one is yet holding him accountable for playing a bad hand as best he can.

But we will, we will.

Fred LeBrun can be reached at 454-5453 or by e-mail at flebrun@timesunion.com.

"Head of NY public integrity panel resigns"

Associated Press

Last updated: 6:16 p.m., Monday, January 12, 2009

ALBANY -- The head of New York's state Public Integrity Commission that was created by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer then criticized for its investigation of him will resign in February.

John Feerick, an architect of New York's ethics laws, is resigning for what he says are health concerns four months after his commission leveled the only charges against Spitzer aides in the 2007 scandal.

Feerick took up the job as head of the commission that replaced the state lobbying commission and the state ethics commission, which regulated executive chamber employees.

The commission was criticized in its first year for a lengthy investigation that some top aides to Spitzer misused state police to document the use of state aircraft by Sen. Joseph Bruno, then the Senate's Republican leader.

Although aides were accused of ethics violations, Spitzer wasn't.

Still, it was the first investigation that recommended actions against Spitzer aides, and two accepted the charges without penalties.

"I feel proud of all that has been accomplished by the commission in its many areas of responsibility, as reflected in its reports and daily work, and how it has done its work in a dispassionate and nonpartisan manner," Feerick said in a prepared statement.

Spitzer appointed Feerick as chairman of the Ethics Commission in April 2007, and he became chairman of the Public Integrity Commission when it was created in September 2007.

He went on to become the first chair of the Commission on Public Integrity when it began on September 22, 2007 by merging the Ethics Commission and the New York Temporary State Commission on Lobbying.

The former dean of the Fordham Law School, Feerick headed the so-called Feerick Commission, a historic panel that in the 1980s brought many of the state's ethics measures into law.

In July, the commission charged four former state officials with misusing state police to discredit the governor's political foe.

Two accepted charges without penalties.

The commission said it found insufficient evidence to charge anyone else but harshly criticized Spitzer and his administration for a lack of cooperation in the investigation despite public promises to cooperate fully.

The report also complained that the executive chamber refused to release more than 100 documents and created "numerous improper obstacles" to the investigation by withholding documents and gradually releasing information over 10 months.

The state inspector general continues to investigate a claim that information was improperly passed between the commission and the Spitzer administration during the investigation.

"Jimino touts Rensselaer County economy"

By KENNETH C. CROWE II, Staff writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 10:13 a.m., Wednesday, January 14, 2009

SCHODACK — Rensselaer County, which has submitted, sewer, road and housing projects to the state for consideration for federal funding, must get its share of federal stimulus funds and help business expand, County Executive Kathleen Jimino told Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce this morning.

While acknowledging the loss of 353 jobs at six employers in the county during the second half of 2008, Jimino also pointed to $388.3 million in new investment that retained 1,000 jobs and created 460 positions.

"We have to be ready to receive, accommodate, facilitate new projects," Jimino told the audience of about 150 people.

The county and the chamber are planning a series of meetings with businesses around the county to seek input on the local economic situation.

"Analysis: Good government loses in Senate pick"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 1:35 p.m., Saturday, January 17, 2009

ALBANY -- As Democratic candidates, David Paterson and Andrew Cuomo promised they were different from Albany's entrenched political class that cloaked itself in secrecy and privilege.

As governor and attorney general, and with a U.S. Senate seat in the balance, Paterson and Cuomo have proven themselves different.

They set the bar even lower, Paterson conducting his search in secret for a new U.S. senator and Cuomo employing a dubious legal claim to duck questions on whether he wants to be that senator.

It's a surprising political move, given the raging scandals over plum political appointments such as the Illinois governor being accused of trying to sell his appointment to succeed Barack Obama.

In New York, Paterson's senate choice to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton will have two lucrative years to accumulate the vast power of incumbency and a huge fundraising advantage before facing voters in 2010.

Lobbyists see a much surer bet in contributing to a sitting senator who can get their clients a contract, a grant or favorable legislation and who already has the backing of the Democratic party with a nearly 2:1 enrollment advantage over Republicans.

For Paterson, it's an opportunity to add the best vote-getter and fundraiser to his 2010 ticket to help him get elected to the job he assumed when Eliot Spitzer resigned.

He also has an opportunity to pick Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, gaining some luster for himself while picking up a chit from the famous family and from her big booster, President Barack Obama, who owes Kennedy for her early endorsement.

Kennedy also counts New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as an ally.

Paterson said in December that his selection process for this priceless opportunity would be confidential.

He has said the background information he requested of more than 10 candidates was a personal request and not a governmental one, so he wouldn't make any of the information public, not even their names.

His refusal to even release the blank form sent to candidates is one element of his search that may violate the state's open government laws, according to state government's top authority and good-government advocates.

Kennedy, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, and U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Steve Israel and others have all put their reputations on the line by telling New Yorkers they are in the mix, risking a political setback should they not be Paterson's chosen one.

But not Cuomo.

He used a lawyer's sleight of hand to be the new Hamlet on the Hudson, avoiding getting his hands dirty by politicking or committing, while keeping his name in the mix without risking another political loss.

His father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, famously wore the Hamlet label for his very public indecision on whether to run for president in 1988 and 1992.

He never ran.

Andrew Cuomo hid behind attorney-client privilege by refusing to say if he was interested in the Senate seat, a great spot for a guy trying to put his last political defeat -- the 2002 race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination -- behind him.

Meanwhile, his surrogates lobbied hard behind the scenes even, according to a New York Times report, cutting down Caroline Kennedy in the process.

Meanwhile, he teased reporters a bit, but wouldn't put his name on the line to tell the New Yorkers who would pay his salary if he's even applied.

The result: Kennedy got the focus of the intense media glare and her public image suffered, allowing Cuomo to surpass her in two polls this week.

Cuomo, a lawyer who spent most of his career as a government administrator and politician, probably is wrong about attorney-client privilege.

Legal experts told The Associated Press that his interest in a job doesn't seem to fit what is confidential under the statute that protects the client -- in this case Paterson's office -- in discussions of legal issues and legal advice.

"I'd give them both a 'D' for 'Why are you deceiving the public?'" and 'Is there a problem here?'" said Barbara Bartoletti, legislative director of the League of Women Voters.

"If there's nothing to hide, wouldn't you want to share your deliberations?"

Hopes were higher for Paterson and Cuomo.

Here's the attorney general 10 months ago, when he was named honorary chairman of Sunshine Week to shed more light on government.

"I believe that the success of representative government hinges on the 'informed consent' of the electorate."

"By definition, government is only as good as the trust citizens' place in it."

"That trust can be earned when information that can empower the citizenry is pulled from the shadows and made open and accessible."

"My office will continue working toward making government more accountable and restoring public integrity across the state."

And here's Paterson in 2006, then just a minority party state senator chiding Republicans who then controlled the chamber:

"Reform is the biggest joke that the Legislature tries to perpetrate on the public, and the public is not laughing."

Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group said the governor is wrong to keep secret the information about his selection.

"I know how someone might not want their name out there because they might not get it, but the public's right to know trumps all of that," Horner said.

"It's not his senator."

"It's the public's senator."

------

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.

"Judge rules to keep NY senator, girlfriend apart"

Associated Press

Last updated: 4:56 a.m., Saturday, January 17, 2009

NEW YORK -- A judge has upheld an order of protection keeping a New York state senator and his girlfriend away from each other.

State Sen. Hiram Monserrate's girlfriend Karla Giraldo had sought to have the order lifted, but a Queens judge refused the request during a hearing Friday. In a statement, Giraldo said that she did not need protection.

Monserrate is facing charges of assault and weapon possession in the slashing of Giraldo's face on Dec. 19 during a fight.

The cut required more than a dozen stitches.

Giraldo's lawyer says his client wants to have a relationship with Monserrate, a former city councilman.

Prosecutor Scott Kessler argued that the order of protection was necessary.

He said it was common for victims of domestic violence to recant initial statements made to authorities.

"Paterson to re-interview US Senate hopefuls"

Associated Press

Last updated: 4:25 p.m., Friday, January 16, 2009

ALBANY -- Gov. David Paterson says he will have follow-up discussions with applicants for his appointment to the U.S. Senate, likely extending the process beyond the presidential inauguration next week.

The Democratic governor says he is having what he calls "new thinking" about the appointment of a successor to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

He didn't elaborate, but says he wants to take the time he needs for a good decision.

Paterson now says about 20 people he won't identify have applied for consideration.

That's more than he's mentioned in the past, from as few as "about 10" last month to roughly 15 earlier this week.

Paterson had planned to make the appointment after Clinton is confirmed as President Barack Obama's secretary of state.

"Bruno indicted - Grand jury issues 8-count indictment for mail and wire fraud"

By BRENDAN J. LYONS AND JAMES M. ODATO, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 12:44 p.m., Friday, January 23, 2009

ALBANY -- A federal grand jury today indicted former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, accusing him of eight counts of public corruption.

Bruno is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate at 1:30 p.m. today.

Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew T. Baxter has scheduled a press conference for 2:30 p.m.

The 35-page indictment of Bruno was unsealed and filed in federal court sometime after noon.

Bruno, who reigned for years as one of the most powerful lawmakers in New York, is charged with using his office to deprive the public of the honest services of government.

Today's indictment marks the culmination of a three-year FBI investigation into the shadowy public and private dealings of the Brunswick Republican who rose through the ranks of state government and became one of the Capital Region's most iconic political leaders.

Bruno, 79, retired from his state Senate seat in July after 32 years in the post.

The investigation had dogged Bruno during the last two years of his political career as information surfaced publicly about the FBI's deep foray into his real-estate dealings, investments, political decisions and his ownership and breeding of thoroughbred horses.

Bruno's ties to labor unions, and his secretive work as a private business consultant for an unknown number of private clients, including a Connecticut investment firm, were at the heart of the probe.

The charges expected to be detailed in the indictment are believed to be built entirely on an ''honest services'' provision of federal statutes that has been used repeatedly by federal prosecutors to take down some of the nation's most corrupt government officials and lobbyists.

The broadly written law, which was inserted into federal statutes 20 years ago by Congress, prohibits public officials from using the mail or interstate communications to deprive the public of an inherent "right to honest services."

The law has become a favored weapon of many prosecutors because it does not require a quid pro quo, which is often difficult to prove in the world of pay-to-play politics where multimillion-dollar deals and campaign fund payoffs are known to be arranged with winks and nods.

The investigation began three years ago, when FBI agents from a white-collar crime unit in Albany began examining a series of private jet flights provided to Bruno by people with whom he did business both politically and privately, a source close to the case said.

The chartered jet flights, in some cases worth thousands of dollars per hour, ferried Bruno to private vacations in South Florida, political fundraisers, government functions and at least once to Kentucky horse country.

The FBI's interest in the flights was triggered, in part, by a related inquiry by the state's now-defunct lobbying commission, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

The FBI's examination quickly expanded and agents began sifting through bank records related to a private consulting firm Bruno ran from his Brunswick home.

The hundreds of thousands of dollars that Bruno was paid through that firm serve as the foundation of many of the counts listed in the indictment.

Bruno abruptly resigned from that firm, Wright Investors Service of Milford, Conn., last year.

He has declined to disclose how much he was paid as their consultant over an approximately 10-year period.

Still, the FBI has continued to look closely at Bruno's role in helping Wright secure contracts for investments from New York labor union pension and benefit funds.

In September, several New York labor union officials were summoned before the federal grand jury in Albany and peppered with questions about their interaction with Bruno as it related to Wright Investors.

Their appearances were part of a flurry of grand jury testimony before the federal panel over the past four months, including as recently as Friday.

''They wanted to know did Bruno recommend them (Wright) and did he disclose that he had an interest,'' an attorney for some of the labor officials, who testified before the panel in September, said.

''He didn't disclose his interest, but he didn't really push."

"He put in a word for them the same way you might recommend someone try a restaurant.''

At least one of Bruno's consulting customers included Loudonville resident Jared Abbruzzese, a wealthy businessman and horse racing enthusiast who also was behind a consortium that had vied to manage three of New York's storied but financially troubled horse racing tracks, including Saratoga.

Abbruzzese, a close friend of Bruno's, bankrolled some of the jet flights, and his name also was listed in federal grand jury subpoenas that have been sent out over the past two years in the probe.

Other horse racing enthusiasts and associates of Bruno's were listed in the subpoenas, which sought business records dating to January 2001.

The former senator, now CEO for a Latham-based technology firm, CMA Consulting Services, has declined to disclose his income or clients of his home-based private business, Capital Business Consultants.

Bruno also has declined to say whether any of his private clients had an interest in state government contracts or funding.

The impending conclusion of the 3-year-old investigation has stoked some speculation in federal law enforcement circles that the timing may be tied to the recent change of administration in Washington, D.C., as the Bush era ends and President Barack Obama revamps the Justice Department's leadership.

Glenn T. Suddaby was the U.S. Attorney in New York's Northern District for most of the investigation.

Suddaby recently was appointed a federal judge and his Justice Department post was filled by acting U.S. Attorney Andrew T. Baxter.

Six months ago, Bruno resigned from the Senate seat he held since 1976.

To many, he left a legacy as an iconic Capital Region politician who rose from an impoverished childhood to become one of the three most powerful elected officials in state government.

Yet over the past two years Bruno, a Korean War veteran who gained a reputation in the Senate as a hard-nosed fighter, has been dogged by the FBI probe.

His former political aides were defensive at times when asked about the investigation, including Bruno's use of private jets.

Bruno has repeatedly said he has done nothing wrong.

Two years ago, Bruno publicly acknowledged the FBI probe in a hastily called news conference at the Capitol after reporters began asking questions about it.

He said he was not a target, that it involved his outside business dealings and that he was cooperating fully.

Then, before leaving public office six months ago, he again said he was not concerned by the grand jury investigation and that he's done nothing wrong.

''There is nothing there, and I am told by my lawyers, who I met with yesterday, there is absolutely nothing that we have done wrong,'' Bruno said in July.

''But would it be nice if people would just go on and let me live my life?"

"Yes, that would be very, very nice.''

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

"Bruno indicted - Grand jurors accuse Bruno of trading power for money"

By BRENDAN J. LYONS AND JAMES M. ODATO, Staff writers, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 4:34 p.m., Friday, January 23, 2009

ALBANY -- A federal grand jury today indicted former state Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno on felony charges alleging he used his position to extract $3.2 million in private consulting fees from clients who sought to purchase his influence.

A defiant Bruno blasted the U.S. Attorney's Office, calling it "politicized," and described FBI as "overzealous."

Bruno described the 8-count indictment handed up today as "a three-year fishing expedition that . . . stinks."

The 79-year-old Republican faces corruption charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Bruno pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Albany and was released without bail.

In a 35-page indictment filed at noon, grand jurors asked Bruno to forfeit much of his fortune and assets for his alleged crimes.

Bruno, who reigned for years as one of the most powerful lawmakers in New York, is charged with using his office to deprive the public of the honest services of government.

The indictment marks the culmination of a three-year FBI investigation into the shadowy public and private dealings of the Brunswick politician who rose through the ranks of state government and became arguably the Capital Region's most iconic political leader.

Bruno retired from his state Senate seat in July after 32 years in legislative service.

He is now a lobbyist, chief executive of friend Kay Stafford's Latham company, CMA Consulting.

The indictment lays out Bruno's alleged deceptions, such as not disclosing his dealings to ethics authorities.

It describes "schemes" involving use of his public office to do business with labor unions, who he steered to Wright Investors Service, a Connecticut firm that paid him nearly $1.4 million from 1994 to 2006, and McGinn, Smith & Co., an Albany investment firm that paid Bruno $632,116 from 1993 to 2005. The firms ended up receiving investment advisory fees or brokerage fees paid by the union benefit funds.

People named in the indictment were Bruno's friends Leonard J. Fassler, Jared E. Abbruzzese and Russell C. Ball who paid Bruno hundreds of thousands of dollars for alleged consulting services, even though Bruno provided virtually no consulting.

Only Bruno was charged, although the actions of his associates were unflattering.

In one case, Abbruzzese paid Bruno $80,000 for a nearly worthless horse raised by Bruno at his thoroughbred breeding business at his farm and home in Brunswick.

The investigation had dogged Bruno during the last two years of his political career as information surfaced publicly about the FBI's deep foray into his real-estate dealings, investments, political decisions and his ownership and breeding of thoroughbred horses.

The ''honest services'' provision of federal statutes has been used repeatedly by federal prosecutors to take down some of the nation's corrupt government officials and lobbyists.

The broadly written law, which was inserted into federal statutes 20 years ago by Congress, prohibits public officials from using the mail or interstate communications to deprive the public of an inherent "right to honest services."

Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio of Queens is awaiting trial under a similar indictment.

The law has become a favored weapon of many prosecutors because it does not require a quid pro quo, which is often difficult to prove in the world of pay-to-play politics where multimillion-dollar deals and campaign fund payoffs are known to be arranged with winks and nods.

Bruno maintained that the federal prosecutors invented a crime to stick on him while letting former Gov. Eliot Spitzer off the hook for what Bruno called admitted felonies.

The former Democratic governor, a foe of Bruno, resigned in 2008 after he was identified as a patron of an expensive call-girl service.

"This is not the first time we have seen deeply flawed, dysfunctional or even illegal behavior by those with prosecutorial power," Bruno said.

He said looks forward to a public trial.

The investigation began three years ago, when FBI agents from a white-collar crime unit in Albany began examining a series of private jet flights provided to Bruno by people with whom he did business both politically and privately, a source close to the case said.

The chartered jet flights, in some cases worth thousands of dollars per hour, ferried Bruno to private vacations in South Florida, political fundraisers, government functions and at least once to Kentucky horse country.

The FBI's interest in the flights was triggered, in part, by a related inquiry by the state's now-defunct lobbying commission, according to a source familiar with the investigation, and focused on Abbruzzese, a Loundonville businessman, race horse enthusiast and jet owner.

The FBI's examination quickly expanded and agents began sifting through bank records related to a private consulting firm Bruno ran from his Brunswick home.

The hundreds of thousands of dollars that Bruno was paid through that firm serve as the foundation of many of the counts listed in the indictment.

Bruno abruptly resigned from that firm, Wright Investors Service of Milford, Conn., last year.

He has repeatedly declined to disclose how much he was paid as its employee and has refused to identify his personal consulting clients.

Five months ago, Bruno resigned from the Senate seat he held since 1976.

To many, he left a legacy as an iconic Capital Region politician who rose from an impoverished childhood to become one of the three most powerful elected officials in state government.

But he had developed a taste for fine things nice cars, jet travel and expensive suits.

Brendan J. Lyons can be reached at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com; James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or at jodato@timesunion.com.

"Jobless rate soaring in area - Region's unemployment rate hits 5.9 percent as 6,000 thrown out of work"

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

First published in print: Friday, January 23, 2009

The Capital Region lost 6,000 jobs last year, pushing the region's December unemployment rate to 5.9 percent.

The rate is nearly two percentage points higher than the 4.1 percent rate a year earlier, the state Department of Labor said Thursday.

And it's the highest rate the region has seen since 1991.

"These are sobering numbers, to put it bluntly," said state Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith.

The statewide jobless rate climbed to 7 percent in December, up from 6 percent in November.

That seasonally adjusted statistic represents the biggest month-to-month increase ever recorded by the Labor Department.

The grim numbers come during what some economists say is the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

And they reflect the downturn's spreading toll, even in geographic areas that had seemed resistant to its effects.

"While New York state lagged the nation in entering the recession, we are catching up with a vengeance," said James Parrott, deputy director and chief economist of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a Latham-based think tank.

In the Capital Region, the downturn hit some sectors especially hard.

Construction, for example, lost 1,800 jobs from December 2007 to last month.

Trade, transportation and utilities — a Labor Department category that includes many retail jobs — lost 2,700 positions, while the hospitality sector lost 1,000.

Even government, long touted as a source of regional economic stability, lost 1,200 jobs over the year, as local and state governments enacted hiring freezes.

James Ross, who analyzes Capital Region employment date for the Labor Department, said much of the downsizing resulted from curbed consumer spending.

Stores didn't hire as many workers as usual, for example, and neither did hotels.

Not all industries suffered: Education and health services added 1,000 jobs in the Capital Region, Ross said.

But recent employment cuts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy could be a sign that even strong sectors are weakening, he said.

"As the recession continues, I think we'll see a broadening of the industries that are affected," Ross said.

"And it doesn't look like there's going to be a quick turnaround."

The stark Labor Department numbers were not unexpected by many observers, largely because recent months have provided nearly constant negative economic news, including frequent layoff announcements.

The federal government reported Thursday that first-time applications for unemployment benefits jumped last week by 62,000 to 589,000.

That was much more than the 540,000 tally economists expected.

Part of the rise was blamed on a backlog of claims that piled up in recent weeks as several states — including New York — experienced computer crashes from a crush of filings, a government analyst said.

The number of unemployed people continuing to draw jobless benefits soared by 97,000 to 4.6 million, the U.S. Labor Department said.

That figure, too, was above analysts' expectations, and was up considerably from a year ago, when 2.7 million people were receiving such aid.

The pickup shows that those out of work are having trouble finding a new job.

"The sad part about this is that nobody was surprised," said Denis Hughes, president of the New York State AFL-CIO.

"And many people are of the opinion that we're going to see higher numbers as we head into the next year."

Indeed, economics forecaster Global Insight, a Massachusetts firm, is predicting the Capital Region jobless rate will rise to 7.2 percent by year's end.

"The U.S. economy is now in a deep recession," the group said in a report released this month.

"A return to solid growth is at least a year away."

The state Labor Department on Thursday had no shortage of depressing statistics.

Among them was the statewide loss of 49,300 private-sector jobs from November to December, and the loss of 102,000 positions in the last three months of the year.

Every metropolitan area in the state saw unemployment increases.

And no metro area had a higher jobless rate than Glens Falls and vicinity, where December unemployment was 7.7 percent, up from 5.1 percent a year earlier.

In New York City, the jobless rate was 7.2 percent, up from 5.2 percent a year ago.

Local numbers

18 The number of years since the Capital Region last had a jobless rate that high, in 1991.

121,400 Number of jobs lost statewide during 2008.

15 The number of years since New York state last had a jobless rate that high, in 1994.

Source: New York Department of Labor

"Legislative system under indictment - Federal case against Bruno spotlights weak state government ethics laws"

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

First published in print: Sunday, January 25, 2009

At the end of his news conference Friday, after the court appearance that followed his indictment on federal corruption charges, former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno suggested that if what he did could be seen as a crime, then other lawmakers may be equally guilty.

In fact, in the eyes of good-government groups, Bruno's indictment is equally an indictment of New York's weak government ethics laws.

After a three-year investigation, the indictment accused Bruno of dishonest public service over 13 years.

The eight counts lay out the case that he enriched himself with $3.2 million from people and organizations seeking his influence in state government.

Bruno pleaded not guilty.

Federal officials who brought the case, in their own post-indictment news conference, strongly suggested that New York's government ethics laws need to change to prevent dishonesty by lawmakers and to reveal conflicts of interest.

It echoed what government reform advocates in Albany have argued for years.

"This is an indictment of not only Joe Bruno, but New York state's ethics laws," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause, the citizen lobbying organization that promotes open government.

"Joe Bruno's indictment emphatically highlights the shameful state of New York's ethics laws, graphically demonstrating why the Legislature should not be expected to police the ethics of its own members."

Lerner said the only officials able to root out corruption in state government in recent years are those with federal subpoena power.

Even with such tools, federal officials said Friday, it was difficult to assemble a case against a man who was the most powerful legislative leader in Albany from 1995 to 2008.

"Mr. Bruno exploited his office by ... not revealing his business relationships and potential conflicts of interest," Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Baxter said.

The indictment filed by Baxter asserts that Bruno made millions from companies for which he was working, and from a consulting firm he created, by helping individuals, unions and other entities pursue state business.

It alleges he reported the sources of his income on his required annual financial disclosure forms, but incompletely, by purposely masking details and without telling the Legislative Ethics Committee, which reviewed the disclosures, who was paying him for what.

Even if Bruno is not guilty, as he energetically insists, the allegations suggest how easily a New York lawmaker could conceal profiteering.

Law enforcement agents in the three-year Bruno probe had to overcome "the lack of transparency in state government," FBI Special Agent in Charge John Pikus said.

The backroom dealing was difficult to penetrate, added Steven Perez, a special agent in charge of investigating racketeering for the U.S. Department of Labor.

Bruno was charged with federal mail and wire fraud for allegedly depriving the public of the honest services of a government official — a statute commonly used to pursue public corruption without evidence of actual bribery.

In his news conference Friday, Bruno maintained that the "honest services" provisions of federal law could put a target on all legislators who have to work for a living.

"I did nothing wrong."

"I broke no laws," he said.

"We are a part-time Legislature."

"That's what this legislature is. . . ."

"Most of the people in the Legislature work."

"This is a threat to everybody in government."

The former Senate leader said he checked with unspecified "counsel" and "ethics people" to assure his business dealings were legal.

Several Senate staffers who worked for Bruno were called as witnesses before the grand jury that indicted him.

Despite repeated pronouncement of "ethics reform" laws in recent years, New York's rules for public officials are widely viewed as among the weakest of any large state.

Dollar amounts on state financial disclosure forms, which are not published on the Internet, exist as only broad ranges of value — and even those vague range values are withheld from the public.

Descriptions of income or gift sources are allowed to be similarly opaque.

Public officials in New York are not required to disclose conflicts of interest.

Such conflicts, when they are discovered, are actionable only if ethics officials, who operate in secrecy, deem them to be "significant."

And state prosecutors cannot bring criminal charges under the state's ethics laws without a referral from an ethics panel, which consists of members appointed by the very politicians they regulate.

Even if prosecutors clear those hurdles and bring charges, a violation of the ethics law is only a misdemeanor, not a felony.

What Bruno did — according to the federal indictment against him — is easily concealed by lawmakers because no independent monitors are keeping watch, government reform advocates say.

That's one reason, critics say, why it took a federal probe to uncover a similar scheme recently alleged against Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio, D-Queens, who, like Bruno, awaits trial.

The federal indictments are offering reform groups, which repeatedly call New York state government dysfunctional, more ammunition to call for an oversight body to police the Legislature.

"There is no watchdog," said Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Pubic Research Interest Group.

"You've had an astonishingly long list of lawmakers getting into trouble."

"We haven't reached the tipping point yet."

Horner said it isn't surprising Bruno didn't take ethics oversight seriously:

The ethics panel, chosen by him and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, has never charged any lawmakers with wrongdoing.

A reform agreement two years ago resulted in a reconstituted panel — nine members, mostly non-elected appointees of the legislative leaders.

However, the ninth member, meant to be a tie-breaker chairman agreed upon by both the Senate and Assembly, has never been named.

The panel is currently led by one Assembly member and one Senate member in what one seasoned state official called an "elegant deception" of real reform.

Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, D-Queens, whose district is flanked by lawmakers recently convicted of or charged with fraud — former Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin and Seminerio, respectively — said the image of his profession is getting tarnished.

A lawyer with aspirations of becoming attorney general, Gianaris said he is unsure if the Bruno case will spur change.

Assembly leaders have been mum on the indictment and Senate leaders issued terse news releases suggesting that Bruno is simply confronting another of life's challenges and it's time to move on.

"If someone wants to break the law they're not going to disclose they're breaking the law," Gianaris said.

"The disclosure laws need improvement in New York."

"But that won't solve the problem, because people who want to do bad things will find a way to do bad things."

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

"Report: Novello used staff for spending sprees, grocery shopping and private rides"

Staff reports, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 10:36 a.m., Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A state investigation accuses former state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello of abusing her position by having staff members act as personal chauffeurs to drive her, her family, and her friends to airports, shopping malls and other spots, while taxpayers paid the staff overtime costs of nearly $50,000.

Inspector General Joseph Fisch has forwarded his findings to the Albany County District Attorney's Office for potential felony criminal charges.

While commissioner, Novello ordered three state employees based in Albany to work more than 2,540 overtime hours to take her on shopping sprees to Colonie Center and Crossgates Mall, water her house plants, buy her groceries and perform other personal tasks, according the report.

Two security guards testified that they worked nights and weekends, remaining "on call" to ferry Novello to shopping sprees at local malls and Stuyvesant Plaza.

They also said they checked her mail at her Albany apartment, picked up dry cleaning, moved furniture and stored her car at one guard's home.

Novello "shamelessly and blatantly exploited and abused her staff, adding new dimension to the definition of 'arrogance' and 'chutzpah.'"

"Her misconduct was neither inadvertent nor occasional, because she had been warned in a formal memorandum," Fisch said in a statement.

"Rather than cease her abuses, she undertook to disguise her actions in order to avoid detection."

"Her conduct was disgraceful and unconscionable."

Novello, 64, served as U.S. surgeon general under President George H. W. Bush and state health commissioner from 1999 to 2006 under former Gov. George Pataki.

The investigation uncovered improper behavior, including:

Security guards repeatedly transported Novello's mother to the Newark, N.J., airport to catch flights to Puerto Rico.

A health department investigator in New York was used as a driver, taking Novello to Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue.

An Albany guard was ordered to work Christmas Day in 2006 to drive Novello to Newark, then pressured to charge vacation time and use his own car to retrieve her even though her term as commissioner had ended, investigators allege.

Novello earned $196,000 as commissioner, including a $60,000 stipend as board president for the Health Research Institute.

During her tenure, she was assigned a state car.

The Inspector General also concluded that Novello grossly underestimated her tax benefits in annual state and federal filings for her personal use of the auto and state drivers.

"Does Joe Bruno understand gravity of where he is?"

By FRED LEBRUN, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Joe Bruno is headed for a rude awakening.

After listening to the former Senate majority leader's heated reactions to the federal indictments against him for allegedly abusing his office for profit to the tune of $3.2 million, I wonder if he's living on the same planet as the rest of us.

He just doesn't seem to get it.

In a news conference after the long-anticipated indictment was announced by the feds on Friday, and again Monday night on a Channel 9 news program, a feisty Joe promised to fight the charges in open court.

He proclaimed repeatedly that he had done absolutely nothing wrong, and that the feds are on some sort of ill-defined, perhaps politically motivated but certainly vindictive fishing expedition to nail him for something.

Certainly the former Senate majority leader has every right to defend himself as he sees fit, and he wisely stayed away from commenting on the specifics of the eight counts against him.

But even so, because Joe is such a talker he said far more than was good for him.

I'm surprised that his top-notch attorney, Bill Dreyer, let him spout off the way he did.

But back to the rude awakening.

The senator told Brian Taffe of Channel 9 repeatedly that he knew the difference between right and wrong, and that he had done nothing wrong legally, morally or ethically.

Then, in a broken narrative with Brian, he emphasized how if he had abandoned the world of public service earlier, he easily could have made as much as he is accused of taking in inappropriate consulting fees.

Also, he said that the opinions and views of someone in his position had real value.

These were not exactly self-incriminating statements, but that he voiced them at all left me wondering if his idea of right and wrong is out there somewhere.

Now that's an argument that will keep Jesuits up late.

But right from wrong is not the issue for Joe Bruno.

It is legal vs. illegal.

And he made reference to how easy it is, through a zealous prosecutor, to get a grand jury to indict even a ham sandwich.

Well, if truth be told, for political corruption charges such as those he faces, it's not all that much harder to put that ham sandwich behind bars.

Bruno doesn't sound like he understands the gravity of where he's at.

When he compared himself to Mother Teresa, that's when I realized there is a side of the senator we have rarely seen before: self-delusional.

That is one bizarre comparison.

The context was that he felt the standards used by the feds to indict him were such a stretch that they could have indicted her just as easily.

On what charge he didn't say.

I think he was just reaching for something absurd.

Unfortunately, he found it.

He also seems to think the public will widely rally behind him because of his 32 years of public service and the many good works he directed toward this region.

Dream on, Joe.

Those were public dollars you were distributing, not your own, and you are about to learn how quickly people forget, and would rather believe the worst of you.

During the last Bush years, the Justice Department was as politicized and unreliable as any part of government, so Joe is pushing plausible buttons when he asks us to consider the motivation of the accusers.

Look, for example, at the travesty of the so-called Albany terrorists prosecutions, presentation scalps for Washington.

But the problem from Republican Bruno's perspective with painting the feds as biased against him in a new Democratic administration is that the investigation in this case was done by the FBI during a favorable Republican administration.

An administration that may well have dragged it out short of an indictment, certainly.

But that's when the incriminating investigation took place.

So claiming political motivation rings hollow.

Joe Bruno is a fighter and always has been, but what lies ahead has to be daunting and depressing.

Because the courtroom process will go on and on with every tawdry detail.

I'm afraid a prolonged trial, regardless of its outcome, will leave the final and overwhelming public impression of Joe Bruno's career, and it will not be flattering.

I leave it to others to decide on whether that is fair or not, starting with a jury.

Fred LeBrun can be reached at 454-5453 or by e-mail at flebrun@timesunion.com.

"Truth issue rises at Capitol - Is it just Albany politics, or is Gov. David Paterson letting his power slip away to the Legislature because of his mixed messages?"

By IRENE JAY LIU, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Sunday, February 1, 2009

In politics, where half-truths and equivocation are common or even expected, Gov. David Paterson faces a credibility problem that undermines his ability to lead the state out of fiscal crisis.

The perception that Paterson fudges the truth, whether deliberately or out of a desire to please, has until this past week only had small-bore political implications — isolated incidents that have frustrated Capitol operatives and bewildered reporters.

In the nine months since he became governor, Paterson may or may not have called New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg a tantrum-prone liar.

He may or may not have offered North Country Democratic Sen. Darrel Aubertine a position with the New York Power Authority to help the Senate GOP retain its majority.

And he did or did not make a promise to Senate Republicans to stay off the campaign trail during their fight to keep their majority.

But the credibility blips turned into a pattern during the governor's handling of the Senate appointment process, and reached critical mass with Paterson's continued denial of involvement in his staff's whisper campaign against Caroline Kennedy.

The governor maintains that he did not sign off on the trash-talking after Kennedy withdrew from consideration for Hillary Rodham Clinton's seat.

But reporters in the Capitol, constrained by their obligation to protect anonymous sources, are convinced that's not the case.

In the wake of the appointment debacle, Paterson's credibility has taken a hit among lawmakers, lobbyists, the media and voters — the very constituencies he must appeal to in his efforts to close the state's projected $15.4 billion deficit.

According to a Siena Research Institute poll released Thursday, Paterson now has his highest disapproval ratings since becoming governor in March 2008: 54 percent favor him; 30 percent have an unfavorable opinion.

Things were not always this way: "I think when the governor first started, there was a lot of good will."

"Everyone wanted to help him out, give him the benefit of the doubt," said a top Senate GOP staffer, referring to Paterson's early successes in producing an on-time budget in April and mid-year cuts in August.

"His bully pulpit has shrunk," said a Democratic lawmaker.

Paterson's power "is really based on his poll numbers."

"If everyone hates the guy — look at George Bush — no one will listen."

"If you're popular, most people listen to you."

Another Democratic lawmaker said that the past week's events have only worsened a perception of disorder in the Paterson administration.

"It's tough to take him seriously given the whole series of events last week, and the problems he's had with staff leading up to last week," the lawmaker said.

"You want a strong leader to say, 'The buck stops with me and I'm in charge here.'"

"And it doesn't appear that he's in charge."

In recent days, the governor has appeared to be reacting to the events around him rather than setting the agenda.

On Monday, he abruptly canceled a state-funded junket to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, after the media criticized the trip.

That evening, he attempted to return focus to the budget by hastily scheduling a leaders' meeting with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith for Tuesday morning.

The purpose of the meeting was never made clear, even after it was scheduled, according to Assembly and Senate sources.

In a news conference after the leaders' meeting, the visibly subdued governor was uncharacteristically vague in his comments to reporters.

He said the leaders would close this year's budget gap as "soon as we possibly can" and would reconvene the leaders "as soon as possible."

Filling in the details, Silver and Smith said they expected to act on a proposal by the end of this week.

Silver, who usually chooses to hang back and let others speak during news conferences, was noticeably more assertive in Tuesday, even jumping to Paterson's defense when a reporter questioned why the governor hadn't called a leaders' meeting earlier.

Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, who was not invited to the meeting, held his own news conference, and told reporters that Paterson had a "massive credibility problem."

With the governor weakened and the Senate Democrats scrambling to hire staff after only three weeks in the majority, lawmakers and lobbyists agree that Silver — a skilled negotiator among even the most experienced politicians — will take the reins in addressing this year's deficit reduction proposal and next year's budget.

"The speaker's in charge," said a prominent lobbyist and longtime Albany observer, who added that this week's deficit reduction plan is a political gift to Paterson in the short-term, but will ultimately weaken Paterson's position negotiating next year's budget.

Political logic holds that lawmakers should wait to see what comes to New York in the federal stimulus package that passed the House last week and is expected to move through the Senate in the days ahead.

"The only reason to do a deficit reduction proposal right now is to keep the governor on life support — but not strong," the lobbyist said.

Staff writer Irene Jay Liu can be reached at (518) 454-5081 or iliu@timesunion.com.

"No-work state worker big surprise to legislators - Leaders of legislative insurance panels to grill agency about how investigator lacked duties"

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

First published in print: Saturday, February 7, 2009

ALBANY - Dumbstruck leaders of the Legislature's insurance committees say they will be demanding explanation from the New York State Insurance Fund's top officers about how one of their employees has gone without work for years.

Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Monroe County, and Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem, said they were flabbergasted after reading the tale of Randall Hinton, the Insurance Fund's Albany branch employee with the title of director of investigations.

A story in the Times Union Thursday detailed how Hinton is paid nearly $94,000 a year but laments that he has done no meaningful work since 1999 and nothing for the past three years.

Hinton blamed his superiors for denying his requests for duties commensurate with his qualifications because he was being punished for suing their colleagues.

As a result, Hinton said he has languished in an out-of-the way office without any work for three straight years.

Amid millions of layoffs nationwide, the article sparked widespread interest after being listed on the Drudge Report.

It has drawn hundreds of thousands of visits to the Times Union's Web site.

Comments on the site have ranged from some supporting Hinton for going public and saying they suffer from hostile work circumstances to many sharply critical of a man with a good paying job complaining about anything.

Hinton said he sits with his feet up on his desk and watches cars go by on I-90, listens to his iPod and reads every day.

"I want some answers," said Breslin, a lawyer who said he was measuring his words carefully.

"I'll talk to Joe (Morelle) first and ask for some responses from the parties involved and if we're not satisfied we'll call a hearing."

"We would want responses from the parties involved."

Morelle said he knows Insurance Fund Chairman Robert H. Hurlbut well and will be calling him first, but he will also seek information from Executive Director David Wehner about Hinton's situation.

"The suggestion that he hasn't done anything for 10 years, I don't have the words to describe how disturbing that is," said Morelle, who is also a private businessman near Rochester.

"Unbelievable."

He said he doesn't want to jump to conclusions but if necessary he would conduct a full blown investigation.

"It sounds almost too fantastic to be true," Morelle said.

Hinton said he did not want to comment at this time because he is seeking a lawyer.

Robert Lawson, a spokesman for the Insurance Fund, maintained Hinton has an assignment as supervisor of an injury report program, although Hinton and his former boss have said the program was disbanded about three years ago.

Even before then, the assignment was very light duty, Hinton and his former boss said.

Hinton has objected to being denied the work associated with an investigations director and the tools to do the job.

He said he has sought opportunities for advancement and has been ignored.

His post at the Insurance Department was provided him through a settlement of a lawsuit he lodged a decade ago against the Department of Environmental Conservation, where he had served as director of investigations.

He said he was required to work in a storage closet for two years before the suit.

His discrimination suit settlement called for him to get a similar title and said that he would supervise personnel at the Insurance Fund, which sells workers' compensation and disability insurance policies to private businesses.

A Native American, Hinton, 55, with 27 years of state service, alleges in a new Division of Human Rights complaint that he is being discriminated against and is suffering from retaliation.

He asserts that Republicans at the helm of the Insurance Fund are blackballing him for having sued officials in the Pataki administration, from which they came, a claim that his former boss backs up.

The Insurance Fund's top posts come with nine-year appointments, allowing them to hold jobs for years beyond Gov. George Pataki's December 2006 departure.

For instance, Wehner's post expires in January 2015.

Breslin and Morelle said the length of the terms may need to be modified.

"That's incredibly long," Morelle said.

As for Hinton seeking a post as director of fraud investigations, a position already occupied by an appointee making $140,000 a year, Lawson said:

"I'd like to be PR for the New York Yankees too."

"I do not put any credence in this business that people who worked for the Pataki administration are trying to keep him down."

Asked if Hinton is doing any work, Lawson said:

"I have to assume he is."

Gov. David Paterson's spokesman had no comment and after being pressed, Lawson called from the Insurance Fund with the following statement:

"NYSIF does not tolerate the type of behavior described in Thursday's Times Union story."

"Such behavior would violate our longstanding policy against fraud, waste and abuse."

"Mr. Hinton had definite duties and responsibilities and we intend to investigate the matter and take all appropriate steps to address the situation."

Lawson said he expects there will be "continuing discussions with him" and that public disclosure may be limited because of the action Hinton has filed against the Insurance Fund.

Hurlbut was unavailable, but board member Denis Hughes, president of the New York AFL-CIO, said he was unaware of the work concerns involving Hinton, a non-union employee with a civil service protection on his post, until told about it by a reporter.

He said Hinton should use the proper channels to resolve his complaints.

James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 and jodato@timesunion.com.

"'An operational dysfunction' - Cuomo speaks to redundancy of local government structures"

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

First published in print: Tuesday, February 10, 2009

COLONIE — Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began his week by taking his quest to consolidate New York's byzantine collection of local governments on the road.

Specifically, Wolf Road.

While his travels on Monday were confined to a roughly two-mile stretch of that suburban thoroughfare, Cuomo managed to span the state's political spectrum, meeting with members of the New York Conservative Party as well as a convention of county executives.

While the first group might sound like an unlikely stage for a Cuomo — a Democrat and Clinton administration alumnus whose father, former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, was ousted from office in part by their opposition — the attorney general found the Conservatives to be a surprisingly receptive audience for his warning that overlapping or outdated government structures are crippling New York.

Cuomo's address "resonated with most people," said Thomas Teresky, a Conservative Party member from Suffolk County, Long Island.

Cuomo got a similarly warm response from county officials, even as he called for less government and bemoaned the calcified condition of New York's bureaucracy.

"There is an operational dysfunction in the state of New York," said Cuomo, who threw in a bit of soaring rhetoric that recalled his father's oratorical style.

"It was very much a speech that would appeal to a lot of New Yorkers," said Kathy Jimino, the Republican Rensselaer County executive.

Cuomo's proposal, unveiled in December, would make it easier to consolidate some of the state's 10,521 governmental bodies, ranging from sewer or sanitation districts to villages and towns, if residents so desire.

(The actual number of bodies, he noted, could be even higher.)

Many of these districts are strongholds for local political machines, and Cuomo acknowledges that passing a bill to eliminate them would be a challenge, given the number of state lawmakers who view them as the "bread and butter" of the state's vast patronage landscape.

But during a meeting Monday afternoon with the Times Union editorial board, he said history has shown that such government mergers are possible: In the 1930s, there were some 10,000 local school districts in New York; today, there are 700.

"If you can consolidate school districts, why can't you figure out how to consolidate sewer districts?" Cuomo said.

Pushing for government consolidation — which some good-government groups, editorial pages and business boosters have long advocated — may sound far afield from the duties of the state's top lawyer.

Cuomo said he launched the campaign after realizing that the laws surrounding these districts are so impenetrable that even his own attorneys can't understand them.

Additionally, he's found that many of the pension abuses he's been uncovering since last year have come through these entities.

"It's everywhere," he said.

Political observers note that launching such a nuts-and-bolts legislative campaign would make sense if Cuomo, as many have speculated, is interested in running for governor in 2010.

"If you want to consider this a preview of a gubernatorial run, no one could blame you," said Doug Muzzio, a political science professor at Baruch College.

The consolidation initiative "is an unsexy but clearly important endeavor, and the fact that he's even pushing it is interesting," said Muzzio.

The issue, he added, appeals to suburban and upstate voters who are hard-pressed by local property taxes.

Add Cuomo's successes in curbing college loan kickbacks and conflicts of interest in the health insurance field and he's building a track record as a pragmatic reformer, noted Muzzio.

"It's hard to attack a crusader," said Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who like Muzzio said Cuomo's activities could also serve him well if he seeks a U.S. Senate seat or simply wants to reinforce his campaign for another term as attorney general.

Muzzio noted that Cuomo's outreach to the Conservatives — who historically have backed Republicans in statewide races — makes tactical sense: While the party is unlikely to embrace Cuomo on social issues such as abortion, they might be convinced to simply stay out of a gubernatorial race, especially if they aren't happy with the Republican candidate.

"There can be benign neutrality," Muzzio said, explaining that Conservatives could deprive a Republican candidate of an important voting block in a close race.

"All they have to do is shut up."

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

"AMD's chip fab plans hit snag - Vote delayed a week after not enough shareholders cast their votes"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 2:26 p.m., Tuesday, February 10, 2009

MALTA — In a surprise development this morning, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. adjourned its shareholder vote to approve the spinoff of manufacturing and clear the way for a $4.6 billion computer chip factory in Malta.

The company, meeting in Austin, Texas, did not get enough shareholders to vote on the matter.

Only 41.7 percent of the company's shares were voted, meaning there was no quorum.

Therefore, the company needs more time to collect more votes to get to the 50 percent required for a quorum.

AMD spokesman Travis Bullard said that 97 percent of the votes received voted in favor of the deal, which would create a joint venture with a fund controlled by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The vote was rescheduled for next Wednesday in Austin.

"All parties remain fully committed to closing the transaction in the next few weeks," Bullard said.

AMD shares dropped after the delay.

MarketWatch put the decline at 8.9 percent, to $2.15.

It's unclear which shareholders have not sumitted their votes yet.

An examination of AMD's recent regulatory filings by the Times Union shows that large institutional investors, including a fund managed by the government of Abu Dhabi, control 43.24 percent of the shares.

Company directors and officers control an additional 1.39 percent.

That adds up to 44.63 percent, which is more than the percentage of votes received to date.

The vote is the final approval AMD must get to spin off its manufacturing to the joint venture, which has been dubbed The Foundry Co.

In follow-up questions, the Times Union asked Bullard if some shareholders were holding back their support of the deal.

"This shouldn't be interpreted as a lack of shareholder support," he said.

"AMD just needs additional time to solicit proxies from its stockholders to establish the requisite quorum for the conduct of business at the special meeting of stockholders."

Bullard added this: "While we all would have preferred that the vote had occurred as originally scheduled, we recognize that the timeline we set for the special meeting of stockholders was too aggressive, and that we ultimately needed to allow more time for stockholders to participate in the vote. "

He said the company is confident it can get all the votes it needs to hold the vote by next week.

Because of today's inaction, the transaction with Abu Dhabi might not close until early March.

Just a few weeks ago, AMD said it had hoped to close within 24 to 48 hours of today's vote.

"All parties remain fully committed to closing the transaction in the next few weeks," Bullard said.

"We continue to aggressively pursue closing the transaction in February, but given the adjournment of the special shareholder meeting, the transaction close may occur in early March."

He added later that the company will try its best to close the deal by the end of February.

The agreement between the Abu Dhabi investment fund called Advanced Technology Investment Corp. and AMD contains a clause specifying that if the deal doesn't close by March 7, ATIC can back out.

ATIC is 100 percent owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Another Abu Dhabi investment fund, known as Mubadala Development Company, is an 8 percent shareholder of AMD and will increase its holdings under the deal.

Representatives from both funds said that both entities voted their shares are are ready to move ahead with the deal.

"Mubadala voted their 8.2 percent," said Mubadala spokesman Richard Mintz.

"We're ready to go."

"We're totally committed to the vote."

Bullard said the delay should not have any impact on site plans, submitted to the Malta Planning Board, to start clearing trees at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta by March 17.

But he said that date is merely a target and not set in stone.

The chip fab is expected to be one of the largest economic development project in state history.

Michael Relyea, president of the Luther Forest Technology Campus Economic Development Corp., the nonprofit that owns the property where the chip fab will be built, cancelled a previously schedule press briefing with reporters after the vote was adjourned.

"The adjournment of today's shareholders vote is essentially a non-issue," Relyea said in a statement.

"Luther Forest Technology Campus considers the 97 percent approval rating from the initial 42 percent of votes as an overwhelmingly positive indicator for the final steps of the deal."

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunon.com.

"Bruno trial slated for November - Defense team plans to challenge use of honest services statute, calling it a 'controversial theory'"

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

First published in print: Wednesday, February 11, 2009

ALBANY — A November trial has been tentatively scheduled for former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, who was indicted by a federal grand jury last month on allegations he made millions of dollars through his senatorial position.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday told U.S. District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe they are ready to go to trial in three months.

''The United States would like a quick trial on this matter,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Coombe said during a pretrial conference in Sharpe's chambers.

But Bruno's attorneys, William Dreyer of Albany and Abbe Lowell of Washington, D.C., said they intend to file pretrial motions challenging the integrity of the government's indictment and a criminal case that has been built largely on the federal theft of honest services statutes.

''It's a controversial theory,'' Lowell told the judge.

''I can see no realistic way we can go in May,'' Sharpe said.

The judge then outlined a motion schedule that would lead up to a trial he tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 2.

Attorneys in the case said they expect the trial to last about a month.

The government last week turned over dozens of boxes of evidence and electronic files to Bruno's attorneys.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericak, one of the prosecutors on the case, said his office had not turned over all documents to the defense that may be related to the Bruno investigation.

''We've investigated other things, other people,'' Pericak said, adding those records were not part of the discovery materials turned over last week.

Among the documents that were turned over was an FBI report from an April 2006 interview that Bruno had with FBI agents in Albany.

The FBI report, which is known as a ''302,'' is not filed in public records.

It allegedly contains notes from at least two FBI agents who interviewed Bruno that spring after he requested to meet with them when he learned of the probe.

The document's existence confirms that Bruno knew roughly three years ago that he was the subject of a federal criminal probe.

It also means he waited more than 18 months to publicly disclose the investigation to his senatorial colleagues and the public.

Bruno finally went public in December 2007 after his office began receiving questions about the probe from newspaper reporters.

Lowell, who has extensive experience in white-collar crime and public corruption cases, told the Times Union Tuesday that the defense intends to challenge the veracity of the government's indictment with an eye towards getting it dismissed before reaching trial.

''We will be filing motions that address three issues, (including) the impartiality for the grand jury, and the process by which the indictment occurred, more to do with whether this was a case brought in the press,'' Lowell said.

The four attorneys and the judge agreed that jury selection in Bruno's case, if it reaches trial, may require a large pool of potential panelists and necessitate that jurors are ''pre-screened'' through a questionnaire to eliminate people who have conflicts such as political biases or preconceptions about Bruno's innocence or guilt.

''We're going to have all of the issues associated with notoriety,'' Sharpe said.

Bruno did not attend the pre-trial conference.

Lowell said jury selection could be fickle because of Bruno's iconic political status and ''people are going to have strong opinions on the politics, on the public official.''

If convicted on any of the charges in the eight-count felony indictment, Bruno, a 79-year-old Brunswick Republican, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, although under federal sentencing guidelines he would likely face much less time behind bars.

The indictment outlines more than a decade of instances where Bruno, while occupying the state's powerful position of Senate majority leader, allegedly concealed one after another payments steered to him personally by people and organizations seeking an advantage in state politics.

The indictment claims that from 1993 through 2005, all of Bruno's annual financial disclosures, required by the state's Ethics in Government law, contain false, misleading and incomplete information.

The indictment also outlines a series of deals and business arrangements dating back to 1993 in which Bruno made money from companies or individuals who had an interest in state government, or profited as a ''consultant'' for steering labor unions, which rely heavily on state government contracts, to invest in companies that were paying Bruno hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The charges also delve into Bruno's penchant for race horses and several shadowy financial deals tied to the thoroughbred industry.

Bruno's consulting work for a Connecticut investment firm, and his efforts to steer New York labor union leaders to invest their pension funds there, brought him the most private wealth, more than $2 million, according to the charges.

The indictment is the culmination of a more than three-year FBI investigation into the public and secretive private dealings of a powerful politician who emerged from a childhood of poverty to become arguably the Capital Region's most iconic political leader.

Bruno retired from his state Senate seat in July after 32 years in legislative service.

He is now a lobbyist and chief executive of his close friend Kay Stafford's Latham company, CMA Consulting.

There are no allegations of wrongdoing related to CMA Consulting.

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

"Analysis: Fed stimulus doesn't end NY fiscal fight"

By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:25 p.m., Monday, February 16, 2009

ALBANY -- A sad school girl in a dark classroom all alone.

A frantic mother racing her unconscious child to a hospital that had closed.

These and other images are still being broadcast as special interests spend millions on ads blasting the spending cuts Gov. David Paterson is pursuing despite New York's $24.6 billion share of the new federal stimulus package.

"Their conduct has been, I think, reprehensible," Paterson told The Associated Press Monday, referring to the health care lobby ads.

The stimulus money headed to New York for use over the next two years has turned a historic fiscal crisis into a manageable, almost routine shortfall.

So why are the million-dollar TV commercials from unions still warning of a threat to the American dream in New York?

And why is Paterson still calling for painful cuts?

"The ads say this is the worst cut ever."

"Yes!"

"Exactly!"

"This is three times the worst budget ever," Paterson said Monday, after seeing the ads over the weekend.

"They can keep running their ads, do whatever they think they can do to my polls, and roll out as many blind people in wheelchairs as they like," Paterson said, referring to one recent ad attacking his cuts.

"I'm still going to reduce this deficit."

Paterson said the cuts he's proposed for hospitals, schools and just about every other state-funded program are still needed in the 2009-10 budget due April 1 to end decades of overspending.

Failure to do so, he said, will inevitably create another fiscal crisis in just three years, when there will be no federal bailout.

And while the bailout could cover most of the projected $30 billion in deficits forecast for the next two fiscal years, Paterson notes that if spending isn't reduced, the state will face deficits totaling $38 billion between the 2011-12 and 2012-13 fiscal years.

That would force much deeper cuts and higher taxes.

Just click from this story or turn this page for an illustration of what Paterson sees as New York's future if spending isn't checked: California faces insolvency without midyear fixes that include $14.4 billion in higher taxes, deep cuts, and the possible layoffs of 10,000 state workers.

Back in New York, however, the public worker unions note that the federal stimulus bill is intended to prevent public worker layoffs that would worsen the recession and reduce services.

Worse, they say the cuts to education will threaten the future of New York.

"It's the story of a place where the American dream is in danger," states one of the TV ads by the New York State United Teachers union.

The warning includes images of sad faces on children, concerned nurses, scared seniors, and an angry laborer in a hard hat.

The two sides don't even agree on terms.

The stimulus aid is targeted to eliminate cuts in education, from elementary schools to colleges.

But what is the cut?

Paterson said it's the nearly $698 million cut he proposed in December, or about 3.3 percent less than the current $21 billion in school aid.

He notes that would still leave school aid at 42 percent above the 2003-04 level.

But the teachers' union and other advocates say Paterson's December proposal amounts to a cut of $2.5 billion, based on what was projected to be an increase in school aid under a 2007 law requiring a four-year plan to increase school aid.

William Van Slyke, a spokesman for the Healthcare Association of New York State, which represents hospitals, said at least a half-dozen upstate hospitals have announced layoffs and cutbacks in anticipation of cuts and two hospitals in Queens are planning to close.

"We think we're going to see more and more of that," Van Slyke said Monday.

"And we are resting on nearly $9 billion in (health care) stimulus relief and a $1.3 billion cut ... I think it will be very difficult for legislators to explain to their constituents who lost their access to health care or their health care job why they didn't act when they had the means to do so."

In one of the HANYS ads, a frantic mother finds her child unconscious, and the parents race in their car to the hospital.

"I don't believe it!" the mother shouts, turning to the child as the car pulls to a stop.

"The hospital is closed?"

"Where are we supposed to go now?"

The narrator then blames Paterson: "Is yours next?"

The ads call for Albany to avoid cuts by more deeply taxing the rich -- described as low as the $250,000 per household annual income many consider middle class, especially if a kid or two is in college or the household is located near New York City.

"An unfair tax system shouldn't put our kids and our future at risk," the NYSUT ad continued.

"We continue to believe it makes more sense to balance the budget by asking the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay their fair in taxes than by asking working families to pay in the form of deep cuts to schools and health care and increases in taxes and fees aimed at the middle class," said Dan Cantor, executive director of the Working Families Party, which is influential in the Democratic party, which controls state government.

Multimillion dollar ad campaigns by lobbyists decrying cuts have hurt governors' approval ratings and clout with the Legislature in recent years.

"My sense is, because they have shown they have millions of dollars to spend, it shows we should cut them," Paterson quipped last week to students at Morrisville State College as he discussed the lobbying.

On Monday, he sketched a picture of life in New York if his cuts are rejected and income taxes are increased:

"We can't use taxing on the rich, because theoretically we'd have done it, and we can't use the stimulus because we've spent it."

"And that's what I want people to start looking at."

"We've got to stand up to the culture of spending in Albany and put a stop to it."

"Because what are we going to do in 2011, when there's no stimulus."

"What are we going to do then?"

------

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.

"Big business, Bloomberg top political donor lists - New York mayor is top individual giver: real estate, health care industries give the most as Albany's pay-to-play culture is criticized amid $94 million in contributions"

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

Last updated: 3:15 p.m., Tuesday, February 17, 2009

ALBANY - The real estate and health care industries made up the state's major contributors during the 2008 legislative election cycle, which saw an eye-popping $94 million in contributions, according to a study released today by NYPIRG.

"This is a record setting number,'' remarked NYPIRG's legislative director Blair Horner, who along with others said the findings show how business interests as well as a tiny number of wealthy individuals make up the lion's share of campaign donors.

Each industry coughed up about $5.4 million.

That was followed by the insurance/financial/banking sectors which gave $4.2 million then lawyers/lobbyists and food/alcohol which gave $2.9 million and $2 million respectively.

NYPIRG also listed the state's top 115 donors which included some familiar names such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, $878,000; lobbyist Patricia Lynch, $80,125; and former Senator Alfonse D'Amato, $43,500.

Small donors -- that is those who gave less than $100 to political candidates -- barely registered in the survey, comprising less than 2 percent of individual contributors.

The numbers suggest that average New Yorkers have no real influence in the state Capitol's notorious pay-to-play culture, said Horner and others who are calling for campaign finance reforms and eventually a move to publicly funded elections.

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

"AMD spin-off gets OK - Shareholders' decision on manufacturing operations clears path to chip plant"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Thursday, February 19, 2009

MALTA - After a week of some doubts, shareholders of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. approved the spin-off of the company's manufacturing operations Wednesday, paving the way for construction of a $4.6 billion computer chip factory here.

AMD needed the OK to create a joint venture with an investment fund owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi known as the Advanced Technology Investment Co.

The move also includes an infusion of cash from the oil-rich city state that will stabilize AMD's finances.

The joint venture, currently being called The Foundry Co., will make computer chips for AMD and other companies using AMD's two existing chip fabs in Dresden, Germany.

It is also planning to expand its manufacturing capabilities by building a third fab at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta that would employ 1,465 people.

Initial ground-clearing on a 222-acre site is slated to begin next month.

The approval has been in doubt since last week after fewer than 50 percent of the company's shares were voted during the regularly scheduled shareholder vote on the spin-off.

Such a quorum is required to make the vote official.

The vote had been adjourned until Wednesday, when AMD was able to obtain a razor-thin margin of 50.26 percent of the shares to be cast.

Of those, an overwhelming 94 percent voted in favor of the plan.

Now AMD says it expects to close the deal by March 2, just two weeks before it wants to start initial tree and soil clearing at Luther Forest.

"AMD did not have a plan B," Malta Town Supervisor Paul Sausville said.

"They voted, and shareholders obviously understood the importance of this to their business."

Now starts the meticulous process of site plan approval by the Malta Planning Board, which will meet next Tuesday to continue reviewing plans for the chip fab, which were submitted to the town earlier in the month.

Sausville said the Town Board will discuss hiring a project management firm to help the town oversee the project during its Monday meeting.

AMD is funding that hiring, although AMD spokesman Travis Bullard said the project manager will have total autonomy and will get its direction from the town, not AMD.

"They'll just send us the bill," Bullard said.

Sausville said the project manager will keep the town on top of needed approvals and project requirements.

He noted that the lost opportunity costs on a $4.6 billion project come out to $300,000 for each day the project is delayed.

Sausville said there are other small yet important details that must get taken care of before the chip fab can get its certificate of occupancy from the town, scheduled for 2011.

The zoning law that covers the fab requires 7.5 miles of pathways and trails be constructed at Luther Forest and that those trails be connected with existing public trails in the towns of Malta and Stillwater, including the Zim Smith Trail, a major trail that runs through Saratoga County.

A $100,000 state grant given to the nonprofit Saratoga PLAN to design an extension from the Zim Smith to Luther Forest has been held up due to government red tape.

"This is just one of several issues that could be problematic for the project," Sausville said.

Bullard, the AMD spokesman, said some of that trail work at Luther Forest will be done this spring.

"It shouldn't be an issue," he said.

"A lot of that stuff is under way."

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

"AMD changes chip fab design - Malta Planning Board is shown plans for more-compact factory"

By LARRY RULISON, Business writer, Albany, New York Times Union

First published in print: Thursday, February 12, 2009

MALTA — Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has changed the design of its $4.6 billion computer chip factory planned for Luther Forest Technology Campus.

Company officials and their engineers discussed the design Tuesday night with the Malta Planning Board as AMD seeks site plan approval and construction permits.

The 1.3 million-square-foot complex, which also includes office building and manufacturing support space, will be esthetically different than originally planned.

Renderings previously shown to the town had large footbridges between the clean room manufacturing space and the administrative offices.

Those plans included a large rotunda at the entrance, which looked much like AMD's corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The new design, created by M+W Zander — the same company that designed and built Albany NanoTech — is much more square and compact and doesn't include the bridges or rotunda.

The office space is now flush with the manufacturing area.

Steve Groseclose, AMD's global environmental, health and safety director, told the planning board that the new design fits better with the 222-acre parcel where the factory will be located.

"It nestles in there quite gracefully," he said, adding that the new design will better reflect the fab's future owners.

AMD is in the process of spinning off its costly manufacturing into a joint venture backed by money from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The new company will have its own name and branding that has yet to be disclosed — a closely guarded secret.

Creation of the joint venture — temporarily called The Foundry Co. — has been delayed for at least a week.

That's because AMD hadn't yet received enough votes from shareholders to approve the deal.

As of Tuesday morning, 41.7 percent of shares had been voted, short of the 50 percent required.

It was unclear if large institutional shareholders or individuals were holding up the process.

The Times Union called five of AMD's largest shareholders, such as Oppenheimer Funds Inc. in New York and Capital World Investors in Los Angeles, and they either did not respond or declined to say if they cast their votes.

The only shareholder that has confirmed having voted is Mubadala Development Co., an Abu Dhabi government investment fund that owns more than 8 percent of AMD's shares and is headed by Abu Dhabi's crown prince.

AMD is hoping to secure approval to begin clearing trees and moving soil at the Luther Forest site by the planning board's March 10 meeting.

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

"Paterson's poll numbers head south in Siena survey"

By IRENE JAY LIU, Capitol bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

Last updated: 2:35 p.m., Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The latest statewide poll from the Siena Research Institute poll is more bad news for Gov. David Paterson, who according to its findings is the weakest he's ever been since becoming governor last March.

His favorable rating, his job performance rating and his position in 2010 primary and general election head-to-head matchups have all fallen to their lowest levels.

The survey indicates that recent challenges faced by Paterson — from the ugly endgame to the selection of New York's newest U.S. senator to ongoing resistance to his budget proposal for the fiscal year ahead — are beginning to have real impact on his previously high levels of popular support.

The poll, relased this morning, finds that:

Paterson is now viewed favorably by 40 percent of voters and unfavorably by 47 percent, down from last month's favorable-unfavorable rating of 54 percent to 30 percent favorable rating, and his high of 64 percent to 19 percent in November.

His job performance rating is 28 percent positive, 69 percent negative — a considerable change from 51 percent to 45 percent last month.

The Siena poll also finds that only 19 percent of voters are prepared to elect Paterson as Governor in 2010, compared to 57 percent who prefer "someone else."

That's well down from 32 percent and 36 percent last month, and 42 percent to 32 percent in November.

In terms of Paterson's chances in the 2010 gubernatorial race, the polls finds that in a hypothetical Democratic primary, Paterson trails state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo 27 percent to 53 percent.

Last month Paterson led Cuomo 35 percent to 33 percent; in November, the governor led the AG 53 percent to 25 percent.

In potential general election matchups, Paterson trails former Mayor Rudy Giuliani 36 percent to 51 percent, after leading Giuliani 44 percent to 42 percent last month and 51 percent to 38 percent in December.

Cuomo leads Giuliani 51 percent to 38 percent.

This is the second set of bad polling news for Paterson in recent days: A Quinnipiac survey released last week found a similar softening of support for the governor.

Irene Jay Liu can be reached at 454-5081 or iliu@timesunion.com.