"Editorial: ESD's reckless spending"
The Albany, New York Times Union editorial board
Aug. 25, 2020
Updated: Aug. 25, 2020 8:33 p.m.
THE ISSUE:
A scathing comptroller's report says New York recklessly spent on economic development projects.
THE STAKES:
The investments failed to deliver the jobs upstate New York so desperately needs.
Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state government has invested billions of dollars in high-technology projects across upstate New York.
The stated goal of the spending is laudable: creating jobs in a region that has been lagging economically for decades and is losing population as a result.
Certainly, upstate needed the help — and still does.
But a stinging audit from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that investments made by Empire State Development, the state's economic development arm, were often reckless, lacked proper oversight and did not deliver the jobs they promised.
The audit focuses on $2.2 billion the state spent through SUNY Polytechnic Institute, which was run by Alain Kaloyeros until he was charged and ultimately convicted in a federal bid-rigging case, which left him facing years in prison.
Before the corruption scandal, SUNY Poly was considered an Albany high-tech success story for its ability to spin public investments into private jobs.
That led Mr. Cuomo to push the school to replicate its model in Rochester, Buffalo and elsewhere.
The effort has not succeeded, Mr. DiNapoli's brutally honest report found.
It takes particular aim at the decision by SUNY Poly and ESD to invest nearly $800 million in a solar-panel factory built in Buffalo for Tesla, the electric car company owned by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk.
The massive investment was made despite Mr. Musk openly conceding that his company had "limited experience" in solar-panel manufacturing.
Unsurprisingly, the Tesla project fell well short of the promised return.
The failure was part of a pattern.
Mr. DiNapoli's review of four major projects that attracted ESD investment, including new facilities for IBM and Albany Molecular Research, met only 40 percent of their goal of 2,710 jobs.
The audit concluded that a "lack of due diligence" at ESD provided "no real scrutiny" of its investments.
The effort, then, seems more about generating positive headlines than the hard work of creating the jobs that upstate New York so desperately needs.
Also lacking, the audit said, was transparency, with ESD often dragging its feet on the release of job updates and other data.
Such secrecy, we're sorry to say, has been the norm under Mr. Cuomo.
ESD contested the findings, describing the report as unfair and saying reforms instituted after Mr. Kaloyeros' 2016 ouster "have yielded increased transparency, oversight and accountability."
Perhaps.
But it's difficult to argue with the numbers in Mr. DiNapoli's detailed audit or its conclusions.
The unavoidable truth is that New York spent billions of dollars on economic development and has too little to show for it.
What a missed opportunity for upstate New York.
And what a reminder of how so much of the $4 billion, give or take, that the state throws at economic development is wasted.
It leaves much for the governor and lawmakers to consider as they ponder, with the state facing years of multi-billion dollar deficits, where New York might save some serious money.
To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com
https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/arti ... 09a3f12c1f
CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
Re: CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
"McLaughlin to face criminal charges in attorney general's case -Investigation of Rennselaer County executive began two years ago and focused on campaign funds"
Brendan J. Lyons, Kenneth C. Crowe II, Albany, New York Times Union
Nov. 30, 2021
Updated: Nov. 30, 2021 10:26 a.m.
TROY — Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin is expected to face criminal charges in a state attorney general's investigation that began as a probe of his 2017 campaign for county executive and his financial dealings when he was a member of the state Assembly, including the use of campaign funds.
The investigation, which has involved the FBI, began in 2019 but stalled last year as the coronavirus pandemic struck New York, leading to a shutdown of the court system and limiting the activities of grand juries.
The Times Union reported in January 2020 that the investigation had examined whether McLaughlin, 58, had given bonuses or pay increases to former staffers in the state Assembly in exchange for them returning some of the funds to him, or using the money to donate to his campaign account, according to multiple people who were interviewed by investigators.
McLaughlin has not yet been accused of wrongdoing, but people familiar with the investigation said there is expected to be court activity in the coming days.
Before he was elected county executive in 2017, McLaughlin had been a four-term assemblyman serving from 2011 through 2017.
In the Assembly, he maintained a small staff that at times included members of his campaign team, including Jennifer R. Polaro, his former longtime campaign treasurer, and Nick Wilock, who served as his Assembly campaign manager and remains employed as a Republican aide in that chamber.
Polaro and Wilock each served as McLaughlin's chief of staff at different times.
Polaro did not respond to a request for comment.
Wilock said he was contacted by investigators in the case more than two years ago but has not heard anything since.
He declined further comment.
Campaign filings indicate that Wilock donated to McLaughlin's Assembly campaign account only in 2012, when he gave $500 that November.
Polaro, who also worked for McLaughlin at that time, made two donations that October — 10 days apart — of $2,500 and $1,800.
A year earlier, her husband, Scott, who runs a construction and gravel business, gave McLaughlin $500, according to Board of Elections records.
The investigation by the FBI and state attorney general's office has also focused on Richard W. Crist, McLaughlin's county operations director and closest political confidant.
Attorneys for both men could not be reached for comment. McLaughlin and Crist did not respond to requests for comment this week.
In March 2019, Crist was placed on leave from his $105,000-a-year county job — with McLaughlin's consent — after the Times Union reported that he was a focus of the criminal investigation.
Crist returned to work at his county job five months later, and people close to him had claimed the probe found no wrongdoing.
Three people interviewed by investigators within the past eight months said the probe also has focused on the campaign and business dealings of both McLaughlin and Crist, who ran McLaughlin's successful inaugural county executive campaign, but was not involved in his Assembly elections.
In 2019, citing interviews with multiple people familiar with the investigation, the Times Union reported that law enforcement officials were gathering records and conducting interviews on a range of matters related to Crist, including his work with various political campaigns.
Crist, 54, is a former Troy Record reporter who has run a private political consulting firm, Hudson Valley Strategies, that has been paid more than $300,000 over the past nine years by campaign accounts for dozens of candidates, including several who were elected as judges, sheriffs and state legislators, according to state records.
Two people with knowledge of the investigation said people associated with companies that handled printing jobs for political campaigns — and had been hired at Crist's direction — had been subpoenaed two years ago or interviewed regarding that work.
The investigation has focused, in part, on the amount of money those companies were paid in comparison with entries made in Board of Elections filings, the sources said.
Crist has not been accused of wrongdoing.
On Monday evening, he was placing calls to Republicans in Rensselaer County alerting them of the pending charges against McLaughlin, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The investigation had also examined whether companies were paid campaign funds for work that Crist would take on with the help of volunteers, the sources said.
Chris Valcik, who operated a company called Custom Graphics that had been used by Crist, confirmed two years ago that he had been interviewed by the FBI about that work.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/articl ... 662226.php
Brendan J. Lyons, Kenneth C. Crowe II, Albany, New York Times Union
Nov. 30, 2021
Updated: Nov. 30, 2021 10:26 a.m.
TROY — Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin is expected to face criminal charges in a state attorney general's investigation that began as a probe of his 2017 campaign for county executive and his financial dealings when he was a member of the state Assembly, including the use of campaign funds.
The investigation, which has involved the FBI, began in 2019 but stalled last year as the coronavirus pandemic struck New York, leading to a shutdown of the court system and limiting the activities of grand juries.
The Times Union reported in January 2020 that the investigation had examined whether McLaughlin, 58, had given bonuses or pay increases to former staffers in the state Assembly in exchange for them returning some of the funds to him, or using the money to donate to his campaign account, according to multiple people who were interviewed by investigators.
McLaughlin has not yet been accused of wrongdoing, but people familiar with the investigation said there is expected to be court activity in the coming days.
Before he was elected county executive in 2017, McLaughlin had been a four-term assemblyman serving from 2011 through 2017.
In the Assembly, he maintained a small staff that at times included members of his campaign team, including Jennifer R. Polaro, his former longtime campaign treasurer, and Nick Wilock, who served as his Assembly campaign manager and remains employed as a Republican aide in that chamber.
Polaro and Wilock each served as McLaughlin's chief of staff at different times.
Polaro did not respond to a request for comment.
Wilock said he was contacted by investigators in the case more than two years ago but has not heard anything since.
He declined further comment.
Campaign filings indicate that Wilock donated to McLaughlin's Assembly campaign account only in 2012, when he gave $500 that November.
Polaro, who also worked for McLaughlin at that time, made two donations that October — 10 days apart — of $2,500 and $1,800.
A year earlier, her husband, Scott, who runs a construction and gravel business, gave McLaughlin $500, according to Board of Elections records.
The investigation by the FBI and state attorney general's office has also focused on Richard W. Crist, McLaughlin's county operations director and closest political confidant.
Attorneys for both men could not be reached for comment. McLaughlin and Crist did not respond to requests for comment this week.
In March 2019, Crist was placed on leave from his $105,000-a-year county job — with McLaughlin's consent — after the Times Union reported that he was a focus of the criminal investigation.
Crist returned to work at his county job five months later, and people close to him had claimed the probe found no wrongdoing.
Three people interviewed by investigators within the past eight months said the probe also has focused on the campaign and business dealings of both McLaughlin and Crist, who ran McLaughlin's successful inaugural county executive campaign, but was not involved in his Assembly elections.
In 2019, citing interviews with multiple people familiar with the investigation, the Times Union reported that law enforcement officials were gathering records and conducting interviews on a range of matters related to Crist, including his work with various political campaigns.
Crist, 54, is a former Troy Record reporter who has run a private political consulting firm, Hudson Valley Strategies, that has been paid more than $300,000 over the past nine years by campaign accounts for dozens of candidates, including several who were elected as judges, sheriffs and state legislators, according to state records.
Two people with knowledge of the investigation said people associated with companies that handled printing jobs for political campaigns — and had been hired at Crist's direction — had been subpoenaed two years ago or interviewed regarding that work.
The investigation has focused, in part, on the amount of money those companies were paid in comparison with entries made in Board of Elections filings, the sources said.
Crist has not been accused of wrongdoing.
On Monday evening, he was placing calls to Republicans in Rensselaer County alerting them of the pending charges against McLaughlin, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The investigation had also examined whether companies were paid campaign funds for work that Crist would take on with the help of volunteers, the sources said.
Chris Valcik, who operated a company called Custom Graphics that had been used by Crist, confirmed two years ago that he had been interviewed by the FBI about that work.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/articl ... 662226.php
Re: CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
"Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin arraigned in state probe - Politician faces felonies over the alleged misuse of campaign funds"
Kenneth C. Crowe II, Brendan J. Lyons
Dec. 1, 2021
Updated: Dec. 1, 2021 7:29 p.m.
TROY — Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin stands accused of misusing campaign funds and falsifying campaign finance filings after a judge on Wednesday unsealed an indictment emerging from a long-running investigation by the state attorney general's office and the FBI.
McLaughlin, a Republican, was indicted on two felony counts, grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing.
The state attorney general's probe began as an investigation of his 2017 campaign for county executive and also examined his financial dealings when he was a member of the state Assembly.
McLaughlin allegedly stole $5,000 in funds from his campaign account on Nov. 21, 2017 — just weeks after winning election to his county post — and then falsely reported the expense in campaign documents filed with the state Board of Elections.
According to the charges, McLaughlin wrote a check from his campaign account to Hudson Valley Strategies, a consulting firm owned and operated by his closest confidant, Richard W. Crist, who is the county's director of operations.
Crist allegedly deposited the check in his firm's bank account and then drafted a new check — for $3,500 — that he brought to McLaughlin's former campaign treasurer, Jennifer R. Polaro, who had previously worked as McLaughlin's chief of staff in the state Assembly. .
Crist, according to the indictment, delivered the payment to Polaro at a State Police barracks in Sand Lake.
At the time, Polaro and McLaughlin had recently had a falling out; she claimed that he owed her money as well as a laptop and iPad that she had loaned to him.
Polaro had gone to the barracks, in part, because McLaughlin had accused her of harassing him, and she had countered that he owed her money.
A trooper, apparently unaware of the origin of the funds, facilitated the exchange between Polaro and Crist.
In the weeks preceding the transaction, Polaro had learned that McLaughlin was not intending to set her up with a job with his new administration in Rensselaer County.
Although they had worked closely together for several years, McLaughlin and Polaro also had a fiery relationship.
Two months before the alleged payment from the campaign funds was made, the Times Union had reported that Polaro had accused McLaughlin of roughing her up at his Brunswick residence.
In an audio recording of the incident obtained by the Times Union, Polaro warned the then-assemblyman that at least two neighbors may have witnessed an argument between them.
The Times Union did not name Polaro at the time.
“You put your hands on me for the last time today,” she could be heard telling McLaughlin on the recording.
“Did you ever think I was going to let you beat me up and get away with it?”
McLaughlin responded, “I didn’t touch you."
"I didn’t (expletive) touch you.”
His campaign later produced a recording in which Polaro recanted the allegations — though she subsequently told the Times Union she had been pressured to do that.
McLaughlin arrived in the courtroom for his arraignment at around noon Wednesday in front of Judge Jennifer Sober.
The newly reelected county executive, who was represented by attorney Benjamin W. Hill, has until Jan. 17 to enter a plea.
He was released on his own recognizance.
McLaughlin didn't speak during the proceedings before Sober.
He rushed from the courtroom without responding to reporters' questions.
The Times Union first reported Tuesday on the likelihood that criminal charges would be filed against him.
The Rensselaer County Legislature's Democratic minority leadership called for McLaughlin to resign, while the Republican chairman of the GOP-controlled legislature stuck by him.
"I think he should step down."
"It's a public trust issue.," Minority Leader Peter Grimm, D-Troy, said.
County Legislature Chairman Michael Stammel, R-Rensselaer, said, "He's still innocent until proven guilty."
The investigation has been in the backdrop of the county's rough-and-tumble political community since it began in 2019.
It was anticipated McLaughlin would face legal action in the spring of 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic shut down the state court system, halting grand jury presentations.
Members of the attorney general’s public integrity unit last month presented their case to a county grand jury, which returned the indictment.
As part of the same investigation of McLaughlin, Polaro was arrested by the State Police on March 11, 2020, and charged with a misdemeanor larceny charge over an incident in Schenectady in March 2017.
A person briefed on the investigation, but not authorized to publicly comment, said the charge against Polaro stemmed from an ATM withdrawal that had been made at Rivers Casino that month from a campaign account.
The Times Union reported in January 2020 that the investigation had also examined whether McLaughlin, 58, had given bonuses or pay increases to former staffers in the state Assembly in exchange for them returning some of the funds to him or using the money to donate to his campaign account, according to multiple people who were interviewed by investigators.
But there are no charges related to those allegations.
Under state law, McLaughlin — whose second term begins in January — would have to leave office if he's convicted of a felony.
He would be succeeded by the deputy county executive until a special election could be held.
Stacey A. Farrar, the director of budget, is the current deputy county executive.
Republicans have speculated that she may be replaced by Jim Gordon, the county director of purchasing and a McLaughlin confidant.
Gordon is a North Greenbush councilman-elect and a former Troy councilman whose unsuccessful 2015 campaign for Troy mayor was rattled by the disclosure that his wife called 911 during a domestic disturbance at the couple's Lansingburgh residence.
McLaughlin was a four-term state assemblyman when he was first elected county executive in 2017.
In the Assembly, he maintained a small staff that at times included members of his campaign team, including Polaro, who was his former longtime campaign treasurer, and Nick Wilock, who served as his Assembly campaign manager and remains employed as a Republican aide in that chamber.
Polaro and Wilock each served as McLaughlin's chief of staff at different times.
The investigation by the FBI and state attorney general's office had also focused on Crist.
Neither he not his attorney could be reached for comment.
In March 2019, Crist was placed on leave from his $105,000-a-year county job — with McLaughlin's consent — after the Times Union reported that he was a focus of the criminal investigation.
Crist returned to work five months later, and people close to him had claimed the probe had found no wrongdoing.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... 09a3f12c1f
Kenneth C. Crowe II, Brendan J. Lyons
Dec. 1, 2021
Updated: Dec. 1, 2021 7:29 p.m.
TROY — Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin stands accused of misusing campaign funds and falsifying campaign finance filings after a judge on Wednesday unsealed an indictment emerging from a long-running investigation by the state attorney general's office and the FBI.
McLaughlin, a Republican, was indicted on two felony counts, grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing.
The state attorney general's probe began as an investigation of his 2017 campaign for county executive and also examined his financial dealings when he was a member of the state Assembly.
McLaughlin allegedly stole $5,000 in funds from his campaign account on Nov. 21, 2017 — just weeks after winning election to his county post — and then falsely reported the expense in campaign documents filed with the state Board of Elections.
According to the charges, McLaughlin wrote a check from his campaign account to Hudson Valley Strategies, a consulting firm owned and operated by his closest confidant, Richard W. Crist, who is the county's director of operations.
Crist allegedly deposited the check in his firm's bank account and then drafted a new check — for $3,500 — that he brought to McLaughlin's former campaign treasurer, Jennifer R. Polaro, who had previously worked as McLaughlin's chief of staff in the state Assembly. .
Crist, according to the indictment, delivered the payment to Polaro at a State Police barracks in Sand Lake.
At the time, Polaro and McLaughlin had recently had a falling out; she claimed that he owed her money as well as a laptop and iPad that she had loaned to him.
Polaro had gone to the barracks, in part, because McLaughlin had accused her of harassing him, and she had countered that he owed her money.
A trooper, apparently unaware of the origin of the funds, facilitated the exchange between Polaro and Crist.
In the weeks preceding the transaction, Polaro had learned that McLaughlin was not intending to set her up with a job with his new administration in Rensselaer County.
Although they had worked closely together for several years, McLaughlin and Polaro also had a fiery relationship.
Two months before the alleged payment from the campaign funds was made, the Times Union had reported that Polaro had accused McLaughlin of roughing her up at his Brunswick residence.
In an audio recording of the incident obtained by the Times Union, Polaro warned the then-assemblyman that at least two neighbors may have witnessed an argument between them.
The Times Union did not name Polaro at the time.
“You put your hands on me for the last time today,” she could be heard telling McLaughlin on the recording.
“Did you ever think I was going to let you beat me up and get away with it?”
McLaughlin responded, “I didn’t touch you."
"I didn’t (expletive) touch you.”
His campaign later produced a recording in which Polaro recanted the allegations — though she subsequently told the Times Union she had been pressured to do that.
McLaughlin arrived in the courtroom for his arraignment at around noon Wednesday in front of Judge Jennifer Sober.
The newly reelected county executive, who was represented by attorney Benjamin W. Hill, has until Jan. 17 to enter a plea.
He was released on his own recognizance.
McLaughlin didn't speak during the proceedings before Sober.
He rushed from the courtroom without responding to reporters' questions.
The Times Union first reported Tuesday on the likelihood that criminal charges would be filed against him.
The Rensselaer County Legislature's Democratic minority leadership called for McLaughlin to resign, while the Republican chairman of the GOP-controlled legislature stuck by him.
"I think he should step down."
"It's a public trust issue.," Minority Leader Peter Grimm, D-Troy, said.
County Legislature Chairman Michael Stammel, R-Rensselaer, said, "He's still innocent until proven guilty."
The investigation has been in the backdrop of the county's rough-and-tumble political community since it began in 2019.
It was anticipated McLaughlin would face legal action in the spring of 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic shut down the state court system, halting grand jury presentations.
Members of the attorney general’s public integrity unit last month presented their case to a county grand jury, which returned the indictment.
As part of the same investigation of McLaughlin, Polaro was arrested by the State Police on March 11, 2020, and charged with a misdemeanor larceny charge over an incident in Schenectady in March 2017.
A person briefed on the investigation, but not authorized to publicly comment, said the charge against Polaro stemmed from an ATM withdrawal that had been made at Rivers Casino that month from a campaign account.
The Times Union reported in January 2020 that the investigation had also examined whether McLaughlin, 58, had given bonuses or pay increases to former staffers in the state Assembly in exchange for them returning some of the funds to him or using the money to donate to his campaign account, according to multiple people who were interviewed by investigators.
But there are no charges related to those allegations.
Under state law, McLaughlin — whose second term begins in January — would have to leave office if he's convicted of a felony.
He would be succeeded by the deputy county executive until a special election could be held.
Stacey A. Farrar, the director of budget, is the current deputy county executive.
Republicans have speculated that she may be replaced by Jim Gordon, the county director of purchasing and a McLaughlin confidant.
Gordon is a North Greenbush councilman-elect and a former Troy councilman whose unsuccessful 2015 campaign for Troy mayor was rattled by the disclosure that his wife called 911 during a domestic disturbance at the couple's Lansingburgh residence.
McLaughlin was a four-term state assemblyman when he was first elected county executive in 2017.
In the Assembly, he maintained a small staff that at times included members of his campaign team, including Polaro, who was his former longtime campaign treasurer, and Nick Wilock, who served as his Assembly campaign manager and remains employed as a Republican aide in that chamber.
Polaro and Wilock each served as McLaughlin's chief of staff at different times.
The investigation by the FBI and state attorney general's office had also focused on Crist.
Neither he not his attorney could be reached for comment.
In March 2019, Crist was placed on leave from his $105,000-a-year county job — with McLaughlin's consent — after the Times Union reported that he was a focus of the criminal investigation.
Crist returned to work five months later, and people close to him had claimed the probe had found no wrongdoing.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... 09a3f12c1f
Re: CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
"Lobbyists helped Hochul raise $10M. What are they getting back?" - Governor's fundraising marathon leaned on powerful firms with deep-pocketed clients"
Chris Bragg, Albany, New York Times Union
Updated: Dec. 24, 2021 1:58 p.m.
ALBANY — At a press conference last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul was asked about a sensitive subject: her heavy reliance on Albany’s top lobbyists to raise campaign funds, even as those firms and individuals seek action from her administration.
“My message to anyone who wants to support me is very clear: 'Thank you for investing in good government,’" Hochul responded.
"That's it.”
After assuming the governorship in late August, Hochul raised funds at among the fastest clips in state history — $10 million in three months.
And at least one interest group heard a different message.
On Dec. 8, Hochul attended a fundraiser arranged by the Manhattan law firm Feuerstein Kulick, a major player in the expanding field of cannabis law.
The firm advises companies on winning licenses from state governments across the country.
New York has yet to select the companies that will win potentially lucrative licenses to sell recreational marijuana.
An email obtained by the Times Union indicates that one week before the fundraiser, Feuerstein Kulick attorney Nancy Baynard encouraged cannabis clients to donate heavily, stating that the firm was in touch with the “director of finance for Hochul’s administration/campaign.”
“From our conversations with lobbyists in our network, participating in an event like this could provide many of our clients with access to the governor’s staff throughout the (licensing) application process," Baynard wrote.
"This is obviously quite valuable to application clients such as yourselves."
"In addition to providing access to the governor’s staff, this fundraiser provides us invaluable opportunity to educate Kathy Hochul.”
“We need to raise $100,000 for the event, and we believe keeping the event small will maximize our clients’ time with the governor, so we’re hoping that clients would be willing to donate $10,000,” the attorney continued.
“We need to get back to Gov. Hochul’s staff as soon as possible with an indication as to our ability to deliver the requested funds.”
From the email, it’s not clear which lobbying firms were advising Feuerstein Kulick that campaign donations could generate access to Hochul’s government staff.
The Dec. 8 fundraiser was held at the Vandy Club, a third-floor lounge overlooking Grand Central Station in midtown Manhattan that's available exclusively to tenants of the recently built 93-story skyscraper there.
The Vandy Club is also where the major lobbying and law firm Greenberg Traurig, which rents office space in the building, had its own fundraiser for Hochul.
Greenberg lobbyist Lynelle Bosworth, who hosted a panel discussion this summer on the state's cannabis application process featuring two Feuerstein Kulick attorneys, declined to say whether her firm had a role in the Dec. 8 fundraiser.
A spokeswoman for the law firm later said Greenberg played no role in that event.
Feuerstein Kulick co-founder Mitch Kulick, who heads his firm's cannabis practice and is a former attorney in Greenberg's Manhattan office, declined to answer questions; Hochul's campaign would not say how it gained access to the event space.
Hochul's campaign said that, contrary to what's suggested in the the email, members of her government staff did not help set up the Dec. 8 fundraiser.
"In keeping with Gov. Hochul's commitment to maintain high ethical standards, fundraising events are organized and attended solely by campaign staff members, regardless of what outside parties may incorrectly indicate," said campaign spokesman Jerrel Harvey.
"Consistent with all fundraising activities, members of the campaign's staff arranged an event at the Vandy Club on Dec. 8."
When major lobbying firms have sought to have intimate fundraisers, Hochul's campaign has requested they commit to raising even more — $250,000 — for events where Hochul appears in person, according to people with knowledge of the events.
The lobbying firms raise the money from their clients, who then attend the events.
They are often exclusive to the lobbying firm and those clients, who gain a few minutes interacting with the governor.
On her first day in office, Hochul said she wanted to make New Yorkers "believe in their government again" and change “the culture of Albany" through ethics reforms and more.
She also faced the prospect of a difficult 2022 Democratic primary challenge from Attorney General Letitia James.
Hochul chose to build a massive campaign war chest that could scare off competition, aiming to raise $10 million by year's end.
In doing so, Hochul accelerated the long-existing practice of campaigns outsourcing fundraising to lobbyists: At least eight firms with major Albany presence held high-dollar events between August and October.
The fundraising helped establish Hochul as the clear favorite in the primary; James abruptly dropped out of the gubernatorial race on Dec. 9.
As she has aggressively raised those funds, Hochul is also overseeing state government.
Those dual priorities can create awkward overlaps in timing, such as a day in October when Hochul announced $25 million in grants to nonprofits.
That same day, she held an event with potential campaign donors organized by the nonprofit that had lobbied for those funds.
Now, Hochul must decide whether to sign or veto many bills of interest to the lobbying firms that aided her.
Four months into her tenure, two vetoes she has already issued give a flavor of how those firms seek to exert influence.
The vetoes came soon after those firms had held Hochul fundraisers.
Based on a comparison of the firms' memos opposing the bills and Hochul's subsequent veto messages, the lobbyists' messages were heard.
Though many of Hochul's early donors won’t be known until a filing deadline in January, some political action committees have recently disclosed their giving, and the limited sample shows $101,000 donated by interests favoring the two vetoes that Hochul issued.
Hochul's campaign declined to identify the campaign donors at specific lobbying firm events, and whether those donors ever spoke to the governor about the two bills that she rejected.
"Gov. Hochul has acted on 286 bills since being sworn into office four months ago, with 260 signed into law and 26 vetoed to date," her government press secretary Hazel Crampton-Hays said Monday.
(Hochul subsequently signed several more bills last week.)
"We welcome the views of different advocacy groups on pieces of legislation, but every decision is made by the governor and her team based on the facts and what is best for New Yorkers."
"No donation has any influence on any government decisions, and we strongly reject any implication otherwise."
Hochul has at times made decisions contrary to the interests of donors and lobbyists that held fundraisers.
Privately, some lobbyists say the fundraising is geared not towards a specific legislative outcome, but rather a means of building goodwill as they press for access and careful consideration of their efforts.
Occasionally — as in the Feuerstein Kulick email — such typically quiet wishes can be heard out loud.
A 'duplicative' office
New Yorkers pay some of the highest utility bills in the country.
Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a bill that would have created the Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, intended to give ratepayers a greater voice in legal and regulatory proceedings such as those considering proposed rate hikes.
Lobbyist William Crowell issued an opposition memorandum on behalf of his client, Energy Coalition New York, that argued the creation of the additional state-funded office was "duplicative and unnecessary."
On Nov. 8, Hochul vetoed the bill, and called the proposed new office "duplicative."
In her veto message, the governor wrote the new office “would establish a superfluous construct that is duplicative of existing state programs and services."
She also said the new office would be “redundant.”
Hochul's veto message bore similarities to one written by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in 2019, when the bill first passed both legislative houses.
The first three sentences of both documents are nearly identical, and some other passages are paraphrased.
Cuomo had written in 2019 that “the provisions of this bill would be redundant to services for residential customers that are already provided by the state.”
Records show that Crowell lobbied the respective staffs of Cuomo and Hochul concerning the bill two years apart, ahead of both vetoes.
He is of counsel at the major lobbying firm Dickinson & Avella, which held a Hochul fundraiser on Oct. 26, less than two weeks before the second veto.
He doubles as founder and executive director of Energy Coalition New York, which consists of seven New York gas and electric utilities that collectively pay Dickinson & Avella about $14,600 monthly.
Crowell had used the word “duplicative” in memos dating back to 2014, a year after the bill was first introduced.
In his memo this year, he also quoted the “redundant” line from Cuomo’s 2019 veto.
Crowell has lobbied for business interests for over two decades, once serving as an Albany lobbyist for Enron — the notorious Texas-based energy company that declared bankruptcy 20 years ago this month — while working at a different lobbying firm.
He declined to say whether Energy Coalition members attended the Oct. 26 fundraiser or spoke to Hochul about the bill.
Another firm that held a Hochul fundraiser this fall, Hinman Straub, also lobbied Hochul’s office against the Utility Consumer Advocate bill on behalf of Consolidated Edison, another Energy Coalition member.
Before the veto, Hochul’s campaign received $2,500 from National Fuel Gas New York, a member of the Energy Coalition.
On Oct. 22, another member, National Grid, donated $5,000.
She received $3,000 from AT&T, whose lobbying firm also pressed Hochul’s office to reject the bill.
AARP, the 38-million member organization that represents Americans over age 50, has long lobbied in favor of the bill.
Its Albany lobbyist, William Ferris, said a million New Yorkers are at least 60 days behind on their utility bills, with past-due payments adding up to around $1 billion.
“We have a billion-dollar problem,” Ferris said.
“When that (collection) process unfolds, what voice will be there for consumers?”
AARP does not have a political action committee that gives campaign donations in New York, Ferris said.
Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the Democrat who sponsored the bill, said the proposed office was not duplicative of other government entities.
He noted that while consumers are ostensibly represented by the Public Service Commission and an office within the Department of State, neither entity is able to act solely on behalf of consumer interests.
“The reasoning behind the veto is just nonsense,” Dinowitz said.
“ ... The Utility Consumer Advocate office would do something no other (New York) office does, and almost every other state has one.”
Dinowitz believes Hochul's veto was the result of a busy governor being ill-advised by staff — probably a holdover from Cuomo’s administration, he said, judging from the similarities in the veto messages.
In 2019, Crowell had reported lobbying Rebecca Wood, a deputy special counsel in Cuomo's office who holds the same title in Hochul's administration.
The lobbyist declined to say whom he lobbied on the bill in 2021.
Softening the blow for consumer advocates, on the same day Hochul issued the veto she signed two less sweeping bills meant to protect residential utility customers.
Unlike the bill she vetoed, there was relatively little lobbying on the two she signed.
Dinowitz wants Hochul’s campaign well-funded to take on a Republican opponent next November.
He said large contributors are likely looking for a seat at the table, not a quid pro quo.
“I assume they think they at least get easier access,” Dinowitz said.
“There are a lot of businesses and other groups that donate money, and I don’t think they think they’re getting anything concrete in return — but (they) want to be part of the whole conversation.”
Child health bill
When Greenberg Traurig held its Hochul fundraiser on Oct. 28, the firm spent $13,700 on food and drinks and $400 on a photographer, according to campaign finance records.
A week later, Hochul vetoed a bill of concern to a Greenberg client, the New York Health Plan Association, which represents health insurance companies that provide managed care — insurance plans in which patients agree to visit only certain doctors and hospitals and the cost is monitored by a managing company.
Around the time of the Greenberg fundraiser, a number of the firm's clients donated to Hochul, as did members of the Health Plan Association, including $7,500 from MVP Health Care on Oct. 27.
In September, another member, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, donated $35,000.
The Legislature had passed a bill prohibiting insurance companies administering the Child Health Plus program — a state-sponsored health insurance plan for low-income children — from requiring that participating doctors also sign up for the commercial health care network operated by the insurer.
The bill’s sponsors argued that if the legislation passed, families of uninsured children would have a greater choice of pediatricians, and that insurance providers were using the taxpayer-funded program as “bait” for their profit-making activities, forcing doctors that want to care for uninsured children to participate in the insurer's health care network.
A Health Plan Association opposition memo, however, argued that the measure was a “provider protection bill that will result in less choice for health plan members.”
And Hinman Straub issued a memo on behalf of Empire BlueCross that argued the bill allowed doctors "to pick and choose which programs they wish to participate in based on a product’s reimbursement rates."
On Nov. 3, after both Hinman Straub and Greenberg Traurig held their fundraisers, Hochul vetoed the bill — making arguments similar to those pushed by the Health Plan Association and Hinman Straub, as well as others they hadn't made.
Hochul wrote that allowing doctors to "favor participation only in plans with higher reimbursement" rates would leave children with "fewer health care options."
Himnan Straub lobbied against the bill on behalf of four clients, including Empire BlueCross; a firm representing MVP Health Care also reported lobbying Hochul’s office.
Greenberg Traurig reported lobbying Hochul’s office on several bills for the Health Plan Association this fall, but did not lobby Hochul on the child health bill, the firm says.
UnitedHealth Group, another Health Plan Association member, has given Hochul $27,500.
The Health Plan Association itself donated $5,000 to Hochul after the veto, and had previously given $1,000.
Notably, Hochul signed a bill on Oct. 8 opposed by the Health Plan Association.
The measure mandates coverage for ostomy supplies, needed after a life-saving procedure allowing bodily waste to pass through into a bag on the outside of the body, for the Child Health Plus program.
Greenberg Traurig lobbied Hochul's office on behalf of the Health Plan Association, and Hinman Straub and MVP also lobbied her office.
Since 2019, Democrats have held majorities in the Assembly and Senate, and the Legislature has become more favorable to bills meant to aid consumers — measures that are often opposed by large corporations.
Those companies — which argue such bills represent unnecessary and costly additions to an already vast bureaucracy — have been left to lobby the more moderate, business-friendly Democrats holding the governor's office.
As of Monday, Hochul had vetoed about 9 percent of the bills she has taken action on.
That was more than the 6 percent Cuomo vetoed in 2020, but less than the 19 percent Cuomo vetoed in 2019.
And on Tuesday, Hochul signed 40 more bills and issued no vetoes, bringing the veto percentage down to about eight.
The signings included a bill Hinman opposed on behalf of BlueCross requiring health plan notifications to specify between partial denials of medical claims and full denials.
By the end of the month, Hochul must decide whether to veto or sign hundreds of remaining bills passed by the Legislature this year, including a number with significant opposition from lobbying firms that raised six-figure sums for her campaign.
Written By Chris Bragg
Chris Bragg is a political and investigative reporter for the Capitol bureau and contributor to Capitol Confidential. You can reach him at cbragg@timesunion.com or 518-454-5303.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/articl ... 09a3f12c1f
Chris Bragg, Albany, New York Times Union
Updated: Dec. 24, 2021 1:58 p.m.
ALBANY — At a press conference last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul was asked about a sensitive subject: her heavy reliance on Albany’s top lobbyists to raise campaign funds, even as those firms and individuals seek action from her administration.
“My message to anyone who wants to support me is very clear: 'Thank you for investing in good government,’" Hochul responded.
"That's it.”
After assuming the governorship in late August, Hochul raised funds at among the fastest clips in state history — $10 million in three months.
And at least one interest group heard a different message.
On Dec. 8, Hochul attended a fundraiser arranged by the Manhattan law firm Feuerstein Kulick, a major player in the expanding field of cannabis law.
The firm advises companies on winning licenses from state governments across the country.
New York has yet to select the companies that will win potentially lucrative licenses to sell recreational marijuana.
An email obtained by the Times Union indicates that one week before the fundraiser, Feuerstein Kulick attorney Nancy Baynard encouraged cannabis clients to donate heavily, stating that the firm was in touch with the “director of finance for Hochul’s administration/campaign.”
“From our conversations with lobbyists in our network, participating in an event like this could provide many of our clients with access to the governor’s staff throughout the (licensing) application process," Baynard wrote.
"This is obviously quite valuable to application clients such as yourselves."
"In addition to providing access to the governor’s staff, this fundraiser provides us invaluable opportunity to educate Kathy Hochul.”
“We need to raise $100,000 for the event, and we believe keeping the event small will maximize our clients’ time with the governor, so we’re hoping that clients would be willing to donate $10,000,” the attorney continued.
“We need to get back to Gov. Hochul’s staff as soon as possible with an indication as to our ability to deliver the requested funds.”
From the email, it’s not clear which lobbying firms were advising Feuerstein Kulick that campaign donations could generate access to Hochul’s government staff.
The Dec. 8 fundraiser was held at the Vandy Club, a third-floor lounge overlooking Grand Central Station in midtown Manhattan that's available exclusively to tenants of the recently built 93-story skyscraper there.
The Vandy Club is also where the major lobbying and law firm Greenberg Traurig, which rents office space in the building, had its own fundraiser for Hochul.
Greenberg lobbyist Lynelle Bosworth, who hosted a panel discussion this summer on the state's cannabis application process featuring two Feuerstein Kulick attorneys, declined to say whether her firm had a role in the Dec. 8 fundraiser.
A spokeswoman for the law firm later said Greenberg played no role in that event.
Feuerstein Kulick co-founder Mitch Kulick, who heads his firm's cannabis practice and is a former attorney in Greenberg's Manhattan office, declined to answer questions; Hochul's campaign would not say how it gained access to the event space.
Hochul's campaign said that, contrary to what's suggested in the the email, members of her government staff did not help set up the Dec. 8 fundraiser.
"In keeping with Gov. Hochul's commitment to maintain high ethical standards, fundraising events are organized and attended solely by campaign staff members, regardless of what outside parties may incorrectly indicate," said campaign spokesman Jerrel Harvey.
"Consistent with all fundraising activities, members of the campaign's staff arranged an event at the Vandy Club on Dec. 8."
When major lobbying firms have sought to have intimate fundraisers, Hochul's campaign has requested they commit to raising even more — $250,000 — for events where Hochul appears in person, according to people with knowledge of the events.
The lobbying firms raise the money from their clients, who then attend the events.
They are often exclusive to the lobbying firm and those clients, who gain a few minutes interacting with the governor.
On her first day in office, Hochul said she wanted to make New Yorkers "believe in their government again" and change “the culture of Albany" through ethics reforms and more.
She also faced the prospect of a difficult 2022 Democratic primary challenge from Attorney General Letitia James.
Hochul chose to build a massive campaign war chest that could scare off competition, aiming to raise $10 million by year's end.
In doing so, Hochul accelerated the long-existing practice of campaigns outsourcing fundraising to lobbyists: At least eight firms with major Albany presence held high-dollar events between August and October.
The fundraising helped establish Hochul as the clear favorite in the primary; James abruptly dropped out of the gubernatorial race on Dec. 9.
As she has aggressively raised those funds, Hochul is also overseeing state government.
Those dual priorities can create awkward overlaps in timing, such as a day in October when Hochul announced $25 million in grants to nonprofits.
That same day, she held an event with potential campaign donors organized by the nonprofit that had lobbied for those funds.
Now, Hochul must decide whether to sign or veto many bills of interest to the lobbying firms that aided her.
Four months into her tenure, two vetoes she has already issued give a flavor of how those firms seek to exert influence.
The vetoes came soon after those firms had held Hochul fundraisers.
Based on a comparison of the firms' memos opposing the bills and Hochul's subsequent veto messages, the lobbyists' messages were heard.
Though many of Hochul's early donors won’t be known until a filing deadline in January, some political action committees have recently disclosed their giving, and the limited sample shows $101,000 donated by interests favoring the two vetoes that Hochul issued.
Hochul's campaign declined to identify the campaign donors at specific lobbying firm events, and whether those donors ever spoke to the governor about the two bills that she rejected.
"Gov. Hochul has acted on 286 bills since being sworn into office four months ago, with 260 signed into law and 26 vetoed to date," her government press secretary Hazel Crampton-Hays said Monday.
(Hochul subsequently signed several more bills last week.)
"We welcome the views of different advocacy groups on pieces of legislation, but every decision is made by the governor and her team based on the facts and what is best for New Yorkers."
"No donation has any influence on any government decisions, and we strongly reject any implication otherwise."
Hochul has at times made decisions contrary to the interests of donors and lobbyists that held fundraisers.
Privately, some lobbyists say the fundraising is geared not towards a specific legislative outcome, but rather a means of building goodwill as they press for access and careful consideration of their efforts.
Occasionally — as in the Feuerstein Kulick email — such typically quiet wishes can be heard out loud.
A 'duplicative' office
New Yorkers pay some of the highest utility bills in the country.
Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a bill that would have created the Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, intended to give ratepayers a greater voice in legal and regulatory proceedings such as those considering proposed rate hikes.
Lobbyist William Crowell issued an opposition memorandum on behalf of his client, Energy Coalition New York, that argued the creation of the additional state-funded office was "duplicative and unnecessary."
On Nov. 8, Hochul vetoed the bill, and called the proposed new office "duplicative."
In her veto message, the governor wrote the new office “would establish a superfluous construct that is duplicative of existing state programs and services."
She also said the new office would be “redundant.”
Hochul's veto message bore similarities to one written by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in 2019, when the bill first passed both legislative houses.
The first three sentences of both documents are nearly identical, and some other passages are paraphrased.
Cuomo had written in 2019 that “the provisions of this bill would be redundant to services for residential customers that are already provided by the state.”
Records show that Crowell lobbied the respective staffs of Cuomo and Hochul concerning the bill two years apart, ahead of both vetoes.
He is of counsel at the major lobbying firm Dickinson & Avella, which held a Hochul fundraiser on Oct. 26, less than two weeks before the second veto.
He doubles as founder and executive director of Energy Coalition New York, which consists of seven New York gas and electric utilities that collectively pay Dickinson & Avella about $14,600 monthly.
Crowell had used the word “duplicative” in memos dating back to 2014, a year after the bill was first introduced.
In his memo this year, he also quoted the “redundant” line from Cuomo’s 2019 veto.
Crowell has lobbied for business interests for over two decades, once serving as an Albany lobbyist for Enron — the notorious Texas-based energy company that declared bankruptcy 20 years ago this month — while working at a different lobbying firm.
He declined to say whether Energy Coalition members attended the Oct. 26 fundraiser or spoke to Hochul about the bill.
Another firm that held a Hochul fundraiser this fall, Hinman Straub, also lobbied Hochul’s office against the Utility Consumer Advocate bill on behalf of Consolidated Edison, another Energy Coalition member.
Before the veto, Hochul’s campaign received $2,500 from National Fuel Gas New York, a member of the Energy Coalition.
On Oct. 22, another member, National Grid, donated $5,000.
She received $3,000 from AT&T, whose lobbying firm also pressed Hochul’s office to reject the bill.
AARP, the 38-million member organization that represents Americans over age 50, has long lobbied in favor of the bill.
Its Albany lobbyist, William Ferris, said a million New Yorkers are at least 60 days behind on their utility bills, with past-due payments adding up to around $1 billion.
“We have a billion-dollar problem,” Ferris said.
“When that (collection) process unfolds, what voice will be there for consumers?”
AARP does not have a political action committee that gives campaign donations in New York, Ferris said.
Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, the Democrat who sponsored the bill, said the proposed office was not duplicative of other government entities.
He noted that while consumers are ostensibly represented by the Public Service Commission and an office within the Department of State, neither entity is able to act solely on behalf of consumer interests.
“The reasoning behind the veto is just nonsense,” Dinowitz said.
“ ... The Utility Consumer Advocate office would do something no other (New York) office does, and almost every other state has one.”
Dinowitz believes Hochul's veto was the result of a busy governor being ill-advised by staff — probably a holdover from Cuomo’s administration, he said, judging from the similarities in the veto messages.
In 2019, Crowell had reported lobbying Rebecca Wood, a deputy special counsel in Cuomo's office who holds the same title in Hochul's administration.
The lobbyist declined to say whom he lobbied on the bill in 2021.
Softening the blow for consumer advocates, on the same day Hochul issued the veto she signed two less sweeping bills meant to protect residential utility customers.
Unlike the bill she vetoed, there was relatively little lobbying on the two she signed.
Dinowitz wants Hochul’s campaign well-funded to take on a Republican opponent next November.
He said large contributors are likely looking for a seat at the table, not a quid pro quo.
“I assume they think they at least get easier access,” Dinowitz said.
“There are a lot of businesses and other groups that donate money, and I don’t think they think they’re getting anything concrete in return — but (they) want to be part of the whole conversation.”
Child health bill
When Greenberg Traurig held its Hochul fundraiser on Oct. 28, the firm spent $13,700 on food and drinks and $400 on a photographer, according to campaign finance records.
A week later, Hochul vetoed a bill of concern to a Greenberg client, the New York Health Plan Association, which represents health insurance companies that provide managed care — insurance plans in which patients agree to visit only certain doctors and hospitals and the cost is monitored by a managing company.
Around the time of the Greenberg fundraiser, a number of the firm's clients donated to Hochul, as did members of the Health Plan Association, including $7,500 from MVP Health Care on Oct. 27.
In September, another member, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, donated $35,000.
The Legislature had passed a bill prohibiting insurance companies administering the Child Health Plus program — a state-sponsored health insurance plan for low-income children — from requiring that participating doctors also sign up for the commercial health care network operated by the insurer.
The bill’s sponsors argued that if the legislation passed, families of uninsured children would have a greater choice of pediatricians, and that insurance providers were using the taxpayer-funded program as “bait” for their profit-making activities, forcing doctors that want to care for uninsured children to participate in the insurer's health care network.
A Health Plan Association opposition memo, however, argued that the measure was a “provider protection bill that will result in less choice for health plan members.”
And Hinman Straub issued a memo on behalf of Empire BlueCross that argued the bill allowed doctors "to pick and choose which programs they wish to participate in based on a product’s reimbursement rates."
On Nov. 3, after both Hinman Straub and Greenberg Traurig held their fundraisers, Hochul vetoed the bill — making arguments similar to those pushed by the Health Plan Association and Hinman Straub, as well as others they hadn't made.
Hochul wrote that allowing doctors to "favor participation only in plans with higher reimbursement" rates would leave children with "fewer health care options."
Himnan Straub lobbied against the bill on behalf of four clients, including Empire BlueCross; a firm representing MVP Health Care also reported lobbying Hochul’s office.
Greenberg Traurig reported lobbying Hochul’s office on several bills for the Health Plan Association this fall, but did not lobby Hochul on the child health bill, the firm says.
UnitedHealth Group, another Health Plan Association member, has given Hochul $27,500.
The Health Plan Association itself donated $5,000 to Hochul after the veto, and had previously given $1,000.
Notably, Hochul signed a bill on Oct. 8 opposed by the Health Plan Association.
The measure mandates coverage for ostomy supplies, needed after a life-saving procedure allowing bodily waste to pass through into a bag on the outside of the body, for the Child Health Plus program.
Greenberg Traurig lobbied Hochul's office on behalf of the Health Plan Association, and Hinman Straub and MVP also lobbied her office.
Since 2019, Democrats have held majorities in the Assembly and Senate, and the Legislature has become more favorable to bills meant to aid consumers — measures that are often opposed by large corporations.
Those companies — which argue such bills represent unnecessary and costly additions to an already vast bureaucracy — have been left to lobby the more moderate, business-friendly Democrats holding the governor's office.
As of Monday, Hochul had vetoed about 9 percent of the bills she has taken action on.
That was more than the 6 percent Cuomo vetoed in 2020, but less than the 19 percent Cuomo vetoed in 2019.
And on Tuesday, Hochul signed 40 more bills and issued no vetoes, bringing the veto percentage down to about eight.
The signings included a bill Hinman opposed on behalf of BlueCross requiring health plan notifications to specify between partial denials of medical claims and full denials.
By the end of the month, Hochul must decide whether to veto or sign hundreds of remaining bills passed by the Legislature this year, including a number with significant opposition from lobbying firms that raised six-figure sums for her campaign.
Written By Chris Bragg
Chris Bragg is a political and investigative reporter for the Capitol bureau and contributor to Capitol Confidential. You can reach him at cbragg@timesunion.com or 518-454-5303.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/articl ... 09a3f12c1f
Re: CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
"Public housing complex focus of ballot-fraud investigation - Dozens of absentee ballots were collected from residents at Lansingburgh Apartments, where a candidate is a manager"
Brendan J. Lyons, Albany, New York Times Union
Updated: Dec. 24, 2021 5:17 p.m.
TROY — A public-housing apartment complex in Lansingburgh has become a focus in the widening criminal investigation of alleged absentee ballot fraud in the November election.
Absentee ballots were filed on behalf of 45 residents who live in the apartments, many listing "permanent illness or physical disability" as the reason for the person not voting in person, according to records on file at the Board of Elections.
Several of the ballots were released to Peggy S. Castle, a Republican and manager of the Lansingburgh apartment complex; she ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Rensselaer County Legislature in last month's election.
Most of the absentee ballots at the apartment complex were returned to Jim Gordon, the county's director of purchasing and a political ally of county Executive Steve McLaughlin.
Gordon, a Republican, won a seat on the North Greenbush Town Board in the November election.
He is a former Troy councilman and ran unsuccessfully for mayor there in 2015.
Reached for comment on Friday, Gordon disconnected the call and declined to respond to a follow-up request for comment.
Castle could not be reached for comment.
The Times Union contacted several individuals who had absentee ballots delivered to them by Gordon or Castle, according to Board of Elections records on file.
None of the residents said they were pressured by Castle or others to register to vote or to file an absentee ballot.
One man said he voted for Castle, and supported her candidacy, but that he was not pleased she had insisted he register on the Conservative line even though he is a Democrat; he said he had asked to be registered with that party.
He asked not to be identified for this story.
The ballot-fraud investigation is being conducted by the State Police, FBI and the state attorney general's office.
Sources familiar with the matter said investigators visited the Lansingburgh apartment complex on 114th Street earlier this week to conduct interviews with residents there.
It's unclear whether Gordon or Castle have been interviewed by investigators.
County Republican leaders previously told the Times Union that they were unaware of any fraudulent activity during the election by their party, and that they had simply taken advantage of a directive from the state Board of Elections that allowed individuals to use absentee ballots if they did not want to vote in-person due to the pandemic.
Earlier this month, State Police interviewed Rensselaer Mayor Michael E. Stammel at City Hall, seizing his mobile phone as part of the wider investigation that began with allegations of voter fraud in that city's mayoral race.
"I myself or nobody affiliated with me during the election process, that I am aware of, had anything to do with any wrongdoing with any absentee ballots or any voting intimidation or anything to with the election other than assisting those people who wanted to vote by absentee ballots with their approvals," Stammel said a day after he was interviewed by an investigator.
Stammel, a Republican, won reelection when a judge recently certified his victory over Democratic challenger Richard J. Mooney, who had asked a court to throw out a significant number of absentee ballots, including some filed on behalf of voters who said they had not authorized anyone to file absentee ballots for them.
Last month, a 32-year-old Rensselaer man told the Times Union that absentee ballots applied for on behalf of him and his wife — and submitted to the Rensselaer County Board of Elections — were fraudulent because he has never voted in an election or applied to vote by absentee ballot, and that someone had forged their signatures on the documents.
Days after a story on his allegations were published by the Times Union, the tires on his vehicle were slashed outside his residence.
The man, who spoke to the Times Union on condition of not being identified, also said that he had never met Rich Crist, whose name was listed on the absentee applications as the person authorized to pick up the couple's ballots from the elections board.
Crist is the county's operations director, a longtime Republican operative and a confidant of McLaughlin.
In an unrelated investigation, McLaughlin was arraigned Dec. 1 in Rensselaer County Court on a two-count felony indictment charging him with grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing in connection with his use of campaign funds.
Crist, who serves as McLaughlin's spokesman, has declined to respond to questions for several weeks.
Earlier this week, the County Legislature voted to give pay raises to dozens of county employees, including Crist, Gordon and McLaughlin, who received a $20,000 pay hike that will boost his annual salary to $142,000.
Democrats in the Legislature's minority voted against the pay hikes, some publicly questioning how the body could approve a pay raise for McLaughlin three weeks after he was arrested on felony charges related to his public office.
The Rensselaer man who alleges his and his wife's signatures were forged on the absentee ballot applications had said he was interviewed by State Police investigators last month and told them the documents had been signed without the couple's knowledge, and that his wife's first name was misspelled on one of the documents.
The accusations of ballot fraud have been leveled by opposing Republican and Democratic camps in a year in which a high number of absentee ballots were issued to political operatives and campaign volunteers on behalf of voters who authorized others to handle their ballot.
Written By Brendan J. Lyons
Brendan J. Lyons is a managing editor for the Times Union overseeing the Capitol Bureau and investigations. Lyons joined the Times Union in 1998 as a crime reporter before being assigned to the investigations team. He became editor of the investigations team in 2013 and began overseeing the Capitol Bureau in 2017. You can reach him at blyons@timesunion.com or 518-454-5547.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/articl ... 727708.php
Brendan J. Lyons, Albany, New York Times Union
Updated: Dec. 24, 2021 5:17 p.m.
TROY — A public-housing apartment complex in Lansingburgh has become a focus in the widening criminal investigation of alleged absentee ballot fraud in the November election.
Absentee ballots were filed on behalf of 45 residents who live in the apartments, many listing "permanent illness or physical disability" as the reason for the person not voting in person, according to records on file at the Board of Elections.
Several of the ballots were released to Peggy S. Castle, a Republican and manager of the Lansingburgh apartment complex; she ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Rensselaer County Legislature in last month's election.
Most of the absentee ballots at the apartment complex were returned to Jim Gordon, the county's director of purchasing and a political ally of county Executive Steve McLaughlin.
Gordon, a Republican, won a seat on the North Greenbush Town Board in the November election.
He is a former Troy councilman and ran unsuccessfully for mayor there in 2015.
Reached for comment on Friday, Gordon disconnected the call and declined to respond to a follow-up request for comment.
Castle could not be reached for comment.
The Times Union contacted several individuals who had absentee ballots delivered to them by Gordon or Castle, according to Board of Elections records on file.
None of the residents said they were pressured by Castle or others to register to vote or to file an absentee ballot.
One man said he voted for Castle, and supported her candidacy, but that he was not pleased she had insisted he register on the Conservative line even though he is a Democrat; he said he had asked to be registered with that party.
He asked not to be identified for this story.
The ballot-fraud investigation is being conducted by the State Police, FBI and the state attorney general's office.
Sources familiar with the matter said investigators visited the Lansingburgh apartment complex on 114th Street earlier this week to conduct interviews with residents there.
It's unclear whether Gordon or Castle have been interviewed by investigators.
County Republican leaders previously told the Times Union that they were unaware of any fraudulent activity during the election by their party, and that they had simply taken advantage of a directive from the state Board of Elections that allowed individuals to use absentee ballots if they did not want to vote in-person due to the pandemic.
Earlier this month, State Police interviewed Rensselaer Mayor Michael E. Stammel at City Hall, seizing his mobile phone as part of the wider investigation that began with allegations of voter fraud in that city's mayoral race.
"I myself or nobody affiliated with me during the election process, that I am aware of, had anything to do with any wrongdoing with any absentee ballots or any voting intimidation or anything to with the election other than assisting those people who wanted to vote by absentee ballots with their approvals," Stammel said a day after he was interviewed by an investigator.
Stammel, a Republican, won reelection when a judge recently certified his victory over Democratic challenger Richard J. Mooney, who had asked a court to throw out a significant number of absentee ballots, including some filed on behalf of voters who said they had not authorized anyone to file absentee ballots for them.
Last month, a 32-year-old Rensselaer man told the Times Union that absentee ballots applied for on behalf of him and his wife — and submitted to the Rensselaer County Board of Elections — were fraudulent because he has never voted in an election or applied to vote by absentee ballot, and that someone had forged their signatures on the documents.
Days after a story on his allegations were published by the Times Union, the tires on his vehicle were slashed outside his residence.
The man, who spoke to the Times Union on condition of not being identified, also said that he had never met Rich Crist, whose name was listed on the absentee applications as the person authorized to pick up the couple's ballots from the elections board.
Crist is the county's operations director, a longtime Republican operative and a confidant of McLaughlin.
In an unrelated investigation, McLaughlin was arraigned Dec. 1 in Rensselaer County Court on a two-count felony indictment charging him with grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing in connection with his use of campaign funds.
Crist, who serves as McLaughlin's spokesman, has declined to respond to questions for several weeks.
Earlier this week, the County Legislature voted to give pay raises to dozens of county employees, including Crist, Gordon and McLaughlin, who received a $20,000 pay hike that will boost his annual salary to $142,000.
Democrats in the Legislature's minority voted against the pay hikes, some publicly questioning how the body could approve a pay raise for McLaughlin three weeks after he was arrested on felony charges related to his public office.
The Rensselaer man who alleges his and his wife's signatures were forged on the absentee ballot applications had said he was interviewed by State Police investigators last month and told them the documents had been signed without the couple's knowledge, and that his wife's first name was misspelled on one of the documents.
The accusations of ballot fraud have been leveled by opposing Republican and Democratic camps in a year in which a high number of absentee ballots were issued to political operatives and campaign volunteers on behalf of voters who authorized others to handle their ballot.
Written By Brendan J. Lyons
Brendan J. Lyons is a managing editor for the Times Union overseeing the Capitol Bureau and investigations. Lyons joined the Times Union in 1998 as a crime reporter before being assigned to the investigations team. He became editor of the investigations team in 2013 and began overseeing the Capitol Bureau in 2017. You can reach him at blyons@timesunion.com or 518-454-5547.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/articl ... 727708.php
Re: CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
"Churchill: Rensselaer County's season of shame - A sprawling ballot fraud investigation and charges against County Executive Steve McLaughlin are a return to the bad old days."
Chris Churchill, Albany, New York Times union
Dec. 28, 2021
TROY — Anyone who has lived in these parts for more than a few trips around the sun will likely know about Rensselaer County's bipartisan history of political corruption.
There was, to name one notable example, Troy's infamous ballot fraud scandal of 2009, which led to several Democratic officials and operatives pleading guilty to participating in a scheme to cast sham votes.
Those with longer memories might recall the 1994 corruption conviction of former county Democratic Chairman Edward McDonough.
On the Republican side, former Legislature Chairman Martin Reid in 2016 pleaded guilty to stealing unemployment benefits.
And, of course, we shouldn't overlook the 2009 conviction of former State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, for decades the most powerful force in county politics.
Yes, Bruno's conviction was later overturned after the U.S. Supreme Court limited the law under which he was prosecuted, and the Brunswick lawmaker was subsequently acquitted in a second trial.
Still, Bruno's saga and many other cases contributed to the widespread view that "public service" — hee-hee, har-har — was a dirtier business in Rensselaer County than in most other places.
If the county's bad reputation had started to fade in recent years given a relative dearth of newer allegations, the ignominy has now returned with a vengeance.
Where does one even begin?
Well, let's start at the top, with County Executive Steve McLaughlin.
Fresh off a commanding reelection victory, McLaughlin this month was indicted on two felony counts alleging that in 2017 he used $3,500 from his campaign account to settle a personal debt, then falsely reported the expense to the state Board of Elections.
County Minority Leader Peter Grimm, a Democrat from Troy, says McLaughlin should resign — but that's an overreach.
Innocent until proven guilty is a principle worth honoring, and prosecutors shouldn't have what would amount to veto power over elections.
Plus, it's odd that McLaughlin is now being charged for something that allegedly happened four years ago, when he was still a member of the state Assembly.
What took so long?
The delay by Attorney General Letitia James seems unfair both to McLaughlin, who did not return a request for comment, and to voters who should have known about the allegations long before his reelection.
That aside, common sense and basic propriety would suggest this is a kooky moment to hand McLaughlin a big raise — but that's what the Republican just received.
With seemingly little public notice or debate, the county Legislature last week boosted his pay from $121,300 to $142,000.
Merry Christmas, Steve!
(And for county taxpayers, a big middle finger.)
"We figured he deserved the raise," said Mike Stammel, chairman of the Republican-controlled Legislature, who cited McLaughlin's record of accomplishment and pay relative to other county executives as reasons for the boost.
Stammel noted that the increase was only about half of what McLaughlin had wanted.
But what about the indictments?
Doesn't it look bad to reward a person facing criminal charges?
"I didn't think it was our place to look at the accusations," Stammel said, adding that to forgo the increase would be akin to presuming McLaughlin's guilt.
Stammel may have good reason to take an especially dim view of prosecutors, given that his phone was recently seized as part of a metastasizing ballot fraud investigation being conducted by the FBI, state police and the New York attorney general's office.
So far, the probe has stretched from Hoosick Falls, where the village police chief was suspended after being questioned by investigators, to Lansingburgh, where a public housing complex is an apparent focus of the investigation, to Rensselaer, where a voter who alleged fraud says his tires were slashed.
What a mess.
Stammel, though, derided the investigation as politically motivated, adding that prosecutors could just as easily be looking into ballot machinations by county Democrats but are instead focusing only on Republicans.
"I truly believe that this is an orchestrated attempt to make me look bad," Stammel said Monday.
"There's more to this story than meets the eye, and I hope it comes out."
Rensselaer County's history does offer reasons to withhold judgment.
In addition to Bruno's acquittal, several accused in the 2009 fraud scandal had charges dropped or were subsequently acquitted, and former County Executive Henry Zwack was among those acquitted after patronage bribery allegations in 2002.
Still, it's hard not to view all that's been happening in recent weeks, the charges filed and the potential for more yet to come, as a return to the shameful days of yore, when the stink from certain elected officials threatened to taint what's wonderful about Rensselaer County.
It feels like old times, and not in a good way.
cchurchill@timesunion.com ■ 518-454-5442 ■ @chris_churchill
https://www.timesunion.com/churchill/ar ... 731946.php
Chris Churchill, Albany, New York Times union
Dec. 28, 2021
TROY — Anyone who has lived in these parts for more than a few trips around the sun will likely know about Rensselaer County's bipartisan history of political corruption.
There was, to name one notable example, Troy's infamous ballot fraud scandal of 2009, which led to several Democratic officials and operatives pleading guilty to participating in a scheme to cast sham votes.
Those with longer memories might recall the 1994 corruption conviction of former county Democratic Chairman Edward McDonough.
On the Republican side, former Legislature Chairman Martin Reid in 2016 pleaded guilty to stealing unemployment benefits.
And, of course, we shouldn't overlook the 2009 conviction of former State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, for decades the most powerful force in county politics.
Yes, Bruno's conviction was later overturned after the U.S. Supreme Court limited the law under which he was prosecuted, and the Brunswick lawmaker was subsequently acquitted in a second trial.
Still, Bruno's saga and many other cases contributed to the widespread view that "public service" — hee-hee, har-har — was a dirtier business in Rensselaer County than in most other places.
If the county's bad reputation had started to fade in recent years given a relative dearth of newer allegations, the ignominy has now returned with a vengeance.
Where does one even begin?
Well, let's start at the top, with County Executive Steve McLaughlin.
Fresh off a commanding reelection victory, McLaughlin this month was indicted on two felony counts alleging that in 2017 he used $3,500 from his campaign account to settle a personal debt, then falsely reported the expense to the state Board of Elections.
County Minority Leader Peter Grimm, a Democrat from Troy, says McLaughlin should resign — but that's an overreach.
Innocent until proven guilty is a principle worth honoring, and prosecutors shouldn't have what would amount to veto power over elections.
Plus, it's odd that McLaughlin is now being charged for something that allegedly happened four years ago, when he was still a member of the state Assembly.
What took so long?
The delay by Attorney General Letitia James seems unfair both to McLaughlin, who did not return a request for comment, and to voters who should have known about the allegations long before his reelection.
That aside, common sense and basic propriety would suggest this is a kooky moment to hand McLaughlin a big raise — but that's what the Republican just received.
With seemingly little public notice or debate, the county Legislature last week boosted his pay from $121,300 to $142,000.
Merry Christmas, Steve!
(And for county taxpayers, a big middle finger.)
"We figured he deserved the raise," said Mike Stammel, chairman of the Republican-controlled Legislature, who cited McLaughlin's record of accomplishment and pay relative to other county executives as reasons for the boost.
Stammel noted that the increase was only about half of what McLaughlin had wanted.
But what about the indictments?
Doesn't it look bad to reward a person facing criminal charges?
"I didn't think it was our place to look at the accusations," Stammel said, adding that to forgo the increase would be akin to presuming McLaughlin's guilt.
Stammel may have good reason to take an especially dim view of prosecutors, given that his phone was recently seized as part of a metastasizing ballot fraud investigation being conducted by the FBI, state police and the New York attorney general's office.
So far, the probe has stretched from Hoosick Falls, where the village police chief was suspended after being questioned by investigators, to Lansingburgh, where a public housing complex is an apparent focus of the investigation, to Rensselaer, where a voter who alleged fraud says his tires were slashed.
What a mess.
Stammel, though, derided the investigation as politically motivated, adding that prosecutors could just as easily be looking into ballot machinations by county Democrats but are instead focusing only on Republicans.
"I truly believe that this is an orchestrated attempt to make me look bad," Stammel said Monday.
"There's more to this story than meets the eye, and I hope it comes out."
Rensselaer County's history does offer reasons to withhold judgment.
In addition to Bruno's acquittal, several accused in the 2009 fraud scandal had charges dropped or were subsequently acquitted, and former County Executive Henry Zwack was among those acquitted after patronage bribery allegations in 2002.
Still, it's hard not to view all that's been happening in recent weeks, the charges filed and the potential for more yet to come, as a return to the shameful days of yore, when the stink from certain elected officials threatened to taint what's wonderful about Rensselaer County.
It feels like old times, and not in a good way.
cchurchill@timesunion.com ■ 518-454-5442 ■ @chris_churchill
https://www.timesunion.com/churchill/ar ... 731946.php
Re: CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
REUTERS
"Fed's Clarida: Policy normalization in 2022 is consistent with framework"
By Jonnelle Marte
JANUARY 13, 2022
Jan 13 (Reuters) - Beginning to normalize monetary policy this year would be “entirely consistent” with the Federal Reserve’s new average inflation targeting framework, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said in a paper released Thursday.
Clarida said he expects the labor market to reach maximum employment by the end of 2022 if the unemployment rate falls to 3.5%.
“Given this outlook and so long as inflation expectations remain well anchored at the 2 percent longer-run goal ... commencing policy normalization in 2022 would, under these conditions, be entirely consistent with our new flexible average inflation targeting framework,” Clarida wrote.
Clarida also said he expects the “unwelcome” inflation surge that started last year “will in the end prove to be largely transitory under appropriate monetary policy.”
He said he believes the underlying inflation rate is close to the Fed’s 2% longer-run target and that pressures may ease as supply chain bottlenecks ease.
The Fed official announced this week that he will resign on Friday here, two weeks ahead of the end of his term.
His resignation followed reports that he corrected his previous financial disclosure late last month to show he sold a stock fund and then swiftly repurchased it shortly before the Fed announced an array of rescue efforts to stem the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reporting by Jonnelle Marte; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-fed ... SL1N2TT298
"Fed's Clarida: Policy normalization in 2022 is consistent with framework"
By Jonnelle Marte
JANUARY 13, 2022
Jan 13 (Reuters) - Beginning to normalize monetary policy this year would be “entirely consistent” with the Federal Reserve’s new average inflation targeting framework, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said in a paper released Thursday.
Clarida said he expects the labor market to reach maximum employment by the end of 2022 if the unemployment rate falls to 3.5%.
“Given this outlook and so long as inflation expectations remain well anchored at the 2 percent longer-run goal ... commencing policy normalization in 2022 would, under these conditions, be entirely consistent with our new flexible average inflation targeting framework,” Clarida wrote.
Clarida also said he expects the “unwelcome” inflation surge that started last year “will in the end prove to be largely transitory under appropriate monetary policy.”
He said he believes the underlying inflation rate is close to the Fed’s 2% longer-run target and that pressures may ease as supply chain bottlenecks ease.
The Fed official announced this week that he will resign on Friday here, two weeks ahead of the end of his term.
His resignation followed reports that he corrected his previous financial disclosure late last month to show he sold a stock fund and then swiftly repurchased it shortly before the Fed announced an array of rescue efforts to stem the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reporting by Jonnelle Marte; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-fed ... SL1N2TT298
Re: CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
"Dozens subpoenaed in intensifying Rensselaer County ballot fraud investigation - County workers, GOP elections commissioner among those summoned by federal grand jury"
Brendan J. Lyons, Kenneth C. Crowe II, Albany, New York Times Union
March 8, 2022
TROY — Dozens of Rensselaer County workers and others have been served with federal grand jury subpoenas as part of an intensifying FBI investigation that's examining the filing of absentee ballots in elections over the past two years.
The subpoenas seeking testimony before a federal grand jury beginning later this month have been issued to numerous rank-and-file county workers as well as to Jason Schofield, the Republican commissioner for the county's Board of Elections.
Sources said the subpoenas were served on individuals who may have done campaign work or who had absentee ballots issued on their behalf.
"I can't really discuss anything," Schofield said Tuesday morning.
The subpoenas seeking testimony of witnesses came after subpoenas requesting documents from the Rensselaer County Board of Elections were served on the county last month, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Those subpoenas sought absentee ballot documents and communications involving multiple county officials.
They were served on the county days after FBI agents seized the mobile phones of county Operations Director Richard W. Crist and Jim Gordon, the county's director of purchasing.
Both men are political allies of County Executive Steve McLaughlin.
The phones were seized at their respective residences on the morning of Feb. 3, according to two people briefed on the matter.
The seizures took place the same day McLaughlin appeared in Rensselaer County Court for a pre-trial conference in an unrelated criminal case involving the alleged theft and misuse of campaign funds.
McLaughlin has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges in that case, which is being prosecuted by the state attorney general's office.
The Times Union reported in November and December that absentee ballots handled by Crist and Gordon were being examined by both State Police and FBI agents in separate investigations.
The federal investigators are examining Gordon's role in gathering absentee ballots at a public housing complex in Lansingburgh.
State Police investigators were reviewing Crist's involvement with absentee ballots in the Rensselaer mayoral race; they seized incumbent Mayor Michael Stammel's mobile phone in mid-December at City Hall.
Absentee ballots were filed on behalf of 45 residents who live in the Lansingburgh apartments.
Many of the documents list "permanent illness or physical disability" as the reason for the individual not voting in person, according to records on file at the Board of Elections.
Several of the ballots were released to Peggy S. Castle, a Republican and manager of the apartment complex; she ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the County Legislature in November's election.
Most of the absentee ballots at the complex were returned to Gordon, who in November won a seat on the North Greenbush Town Board.
He is a former Troy councilman and ran unsuccessfully for mayor there in 2015.
County Republican leaders previously told the Times Union that they were unaware of any fraudulent activity by the party during the 2021 election, and that they had simply taken advantage of a directive from the state Board of Elections that allowed individuals to use absentee ballots if they did not want to vote in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/articl ... 09a3f12c1f
Brendan J. Lyons, Kenneth C. Crowe II, Albany, New York Times Union
March 8, 2022
TROY — Dozens of Rensselaer County workers and others have been served with federal grand jury subpoenas as part of an intensifying FBI investigation that's examining the filing of absentee ballots in elections over the past two years.
The subpoenas seeking testimony before a federal grand jury beginning later this month have been issued to numerous rank-and-file county workers as well as to Jason Schofield, the Republican commissioner for the county's Board of Elections.
Sources said the subpoenas were served on individuals who may have done campaign work or who had absentee ballots issued on their behalf.
"I can't really discuss anything," Schofield said Tuesday morning.
The subpoenas seeking testimony of witnesses came after subpoenas requesting documents from the Rensselaer County Board of Elections were served on the county last month, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Those subpoenas sought absentee ballot documents and communications involving multiple county officials.
They were served on the county days after FBI agents seized the mobile phones of county Operations Director Richard W. Crist and Jim Gordon, the county's director of purchasing.
Both men are political allies of County Executive Steve McLaughlin.
The phones were seized at their respective residences on the morning of Feb. 3, according to two people briefed on the matter.
The seizures took place the same day McLaughlin appeared in Rensselaer County Court for a pre-trial conference in an unrelated criminal case involving the alleged theft and misuse of campaign funds.
McLaughlin has pleaded not guilty to two felony charges in that case, which is being prosecuted by the state attorney general's office.
The Times Union reported in November and December that absentee ballots handled by Crist and Gordon were being examined by both State Police and FBI agents in separate investigations.
The federal investigators are examining Gordon's role in gathering absentee ballots at a public housing complex in Lansingburgh.
State Police investigators were reviewing Crist's involvement with absentee ballots in the Rensselaer mayoral race; they seized incumbent Mayor Michael Stammel's mobile phone in mid-December at City Hall.
Absentee ballots were filed on behalf of 45 residents who live in the Lansingburgh apartments.
Many of the documents list "permanent illness or physical disability" as the reason for the individual not voting in person, according to records on file at the Board of Elections.
Several of the ballots were released to Peggy S. Castle, a Republican and manager of the apartment complex; she ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the County Legislature in November's election.
Most of the absentee ballots at the complex were returned to Gordon, who in November won a seat on the North Greenbush Town Board.
He is a former Troy councilman and ran unsuccessfully for mayor there in 2015.
County Republican leaders previously told the Times Union that they were unaware of any fraudulent activity by the party during the 2021 election, and that they had simply taken advantage of a directive from the state Board of Elections that allowed individuals to use absentee ballots if they did not want to vote in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/articl ... 09a3f12c1f
Re: CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
"Regulators face questions over retail pot licenses for the convicted"
Rebekah F. Ward, Albany, New York Times Union
March 17, 2022
ALBANY — Following the release last week of draft regulations that would allow those with marijuana convictions to get priority in New York’s retail cannabis industry, the unprecedented move has stoked controversy in the fledgling industry.
Confusion about the plan emerged after regulators issued their proposed eligibility requirements for retail cannabis licenses that include terms such as "justice involved," prompting questions, for instance, about how a potential applicant whose marijuana conviction had been expunged or sealed could access those records to prove they qualify.
State Sen. Jeremy Cooney, D-Rochester, who has been a proponent of equity programs within the state cannabis industry, noted that the eligibility requirements drafted for the first 100-plus conditional retail licenses are very specific.
Individuals applying must demonstrate they have owned a profitable business for at least two years, as well as confirm their marijuana-related offense; nonprofits can also apply, but face more requirements.
"I think that (typically) we're going to see an older applicant, someone who had a conviction maybe 20 years ago but has moved on in their career to do other things — maybe they own a cleaning business, maybe they have a small corner store," Cooney said, noting that this could leave out many younger or recently incarcerated individuals, as well as those with off-the-books businesses.
In a news conference after the draft regulations were released, Office of Cannabis Management Director Chris Alexander emphasized that the conditional licenses would constitute a "small segment of the potential dispensary licenses," and is just one of many steps in laying the industry’s foundation.
But that did little to assuage its detractors’ concerns.
"I think it’s really problematic," said Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, R-Pulaski.
"It just sends the wrong message that you would be rewarded for committing a crime in the past (by) getting preference."
Michelle Bodian, an attorney at a law firm that represents a range of emerging players in New York's cannabis sector, said she has been reminding clients that the draft regulations could shift significantly during the ongoing 60-day public comment period.
"There's a lot of strong reactions on both sides of the equation."
"You know, these didn't go far enough, these went too far," Bodian said.
"I think this is the opening foray, and we’ll see potential revisions."
Who is in the running
The regulations coined a new term for its applicant pool when they restricted eligibility to "justice involved" individuals.
Last week, mixed messages circulated around the type of criminal justice involvement that would qualify: a press release from the governor’s office referred to "cannabis-related criminal offenses," which would rule out non-criminal violations.
In a Cannabis Control Board meeting, OCM senior policy Director Axel Bernabe nodded to a more inclusive category, those "arrested or convicted of a marijuana-related offense."
But the regulations, as drafted, land somewhere in between: they say applicants are eligible if they were "convicted" of a marijuana-related offense or had a family member who was, whether or not that offense was a misdemeanor or felony conviction that required the person to be fingerprinted.
Freeman Klopott, an OCM spokesman, said that the regulators will not alter the category of eligible offenses since the control board "cannot promulgate regulation that expands on what is prescribed by law."
The law, Klopott said, excludes marijuana-related arrests that did not lead to convictions, but does account for individuals convicted of violations.
Eli Northrup, a criminal defense attorney with The Bronx Defenders, thinks the initial license category is "a really positive thing."
But he still hopes it will be open to anyone arrested on marijuana charges, and not only those who were convicted of an offense.
"People may be arrested and face consequences based on a cannabis arrest, but then the case gets resolved based on a conviction for another offense," Northrup said.
"There are so many consequences that stem just from an arrest."
Albany County District Attorney David Soares said he understands the push to address previous harms perpetrated against communities of color, and even the preference for people with minor charges; but he is questioning whether those involved in more serious criminality should be considered.
"I'm concerned about the message we'd be sending out if members of violent street organizations 10 years ago would be in line to receive that (priority) benefit," Soares said, "rewarding individuals who were protecting their market share through violence."
Steve DeAngelo, a cannabis rights advocate, said he finds it "refreshing" that New York regulators are prioritizing formerly incarcerated people.
But he is focused on New York’s ability to pull in those legacy operators — people who have been selling cannabis illegally — into the formal market, and doesn’t think the regulations are set up for them, due to the business ownership requirement.
The regulations would disqualify, for instance, someone who operated a business but was not able to turn a net profit for a two-year period.
"I think that the broader question is whether this even serves the social equity communities, if we're really talking about just people who have already been successful enough to be 10 percent owners of a (profitable, on-the-books) business for two years in a row," DeAngelo said, pointing to the fact that the regulations don’t mention any equity categories besides the "justice involved."
Uncharted territory
When drafting New York’s license requirements, lawmakers specified that regulators should attempt to give at least 50 percent of the final licenses to social equity applicants.
Their focus should be "communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of cannabis prohibition or who qualify as a minority or women-owned business, distressed farmers, or service-disabled veterans."
Eyeing this wording, potential cannabis businesses fronted by people in each of the categories have sprung up across the state in the past year.
According to attorneys and representatives for equity companies now left out of the conditional licensing, the move to restrict the early applications to "justice involved" contenders was unexpected.
The decision to focus on potential retailers with marijuana convictions in New York means the applicant pool could lead to more minority candidates, due to the disproportionate rate of arrests.
"It’s certainly drawing from that population," said Melissa Moore, a director at Drug Policy Alliance.
"As a result of stop-and-frisk and targeted racist policing practices, in New York, 80 to 90 percent of arrests were of Black and Latinx young people."
According to federal legal precedent, even regulations that specify a category that appears to be a "proxy" for race may be subject to constitutional challenge on the basis of discrimination, according to Edward Jay Blum, a legal strategist whose cases against affirmative action practices were recently granted review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Blum said that racial quotas "have been declared unconstitutional, regardless of the area of public policy" – though there is a carve-out for those intended to remedy "purposeful discrimination."
State Sen. Liz Krueger, who was instrumental in the passage of the law and its equity provisions, said she could not speak to whether regulators considered constitutional challenges when drafting the regulations, though she said they are in line with the law.
But, she added, nothing in government is immune from lawsuits.
"I learned a long time ago, you can sue on constitutional grounds almost on anything you want."
"Then it’s up to the courts to decide," Krueger said.
Even with no legal challenges courts would be tacitly drawn into the regulations since each applicant will need to prove their marijuana conviction record.
For many applicants, that may be accomplished automatically since they will be required to submit to a criminal background check.
But advocates, stakeholders and even one Office of Court Administration official worried that some records would not be accessible since convictions are in the process of being expunged — deleted from most places — a move also mandated by the state’s legalization bill.
Anthony R. Perri, deputy counsel for criminal justice of the New York State Unified Court System, said that "an individual may access their own sealed (or) expunged criminal court records."
However, expunged records would not show up on a background check by a state agency, making them harder to verify.
And it becomes more complicated if a person’s "justice involved" status depends on the conviction of a family member unable to access the records themselves, such as a since-deported parent.
"In that case, there's no way for them to access the record once it's been expunged," said The Legal Aid Society’s Emma Goodman.
"A group of us have talked about whether there should be a specific ability for OCM to access records for that very specific purpose."
Alexander, the OCM's director, said last week that the regulations represented a different strategy from other states and are certain to face questions and challenges.
"(But) if we want a different outcome for our equity entrepreneurs in this state, then we have to take a different approach," Alexander said.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... 007045.php
Rebekah F. Ward, Albany, New York Times Union
March 17, 2022
ALBANY — Following the release last week of draft regulations that would allow those with marijuana convictions to get priority in New York’s retail cannabis industry, the unprecedented move has stoked controversy in the fledgling industry.
Confusion about the plan emerged after regulators issued their proposed eligibility requirements for retail cannabis licenses that include terms such as "justice involved," prompting questions, for instance, about how a potential applicant whose marijuana conviction had been expunged or sealed could access those records to prove they qualify.
State Sen. Jeremy Cooney, D-Rochester, who has been a proponent of equity programs within the state cannabis industry, noted that the eligibility requirements drafted for the first 100-plus conditional retail licenses are very specific.
Individuals applying must demonstrate they have owned a profitable business for at least two years, as well as confirm their marijuana-related offense; nonprofits can also apply, but face more requirements.
"I think that (typically) we're going to see an older applicant, someone who had a conviction maybe 20 years ago but has moved on in their career to do other things — maybe they own a cleaning business, maybe they have a small corner store," Cooney said, noting that this could leave out many younger or recently incarcerated individuals, as well as those with off-the-books businesses.
In a news conference after the draft regulations were released, Office of Cannabis Management Director Chris Alexander emphasized that the conditional licenses would constitute a "small segment of the potential dispensary licenses," and is just one of many steps in laying the industry’s foundation.
But that did little to assuage its detractors’ concerns.
"I think it’s really problematic," said Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, R-Pulaski.
"It just sends the wrong message that you would be rewarded for committing a crime in the past (by) getting preference."
Michelle Bodian, an attorney at a law firm that represents a range of emerging players in New York's cannabis sector, said she has been reminding clients that the draft regulations could shift significantly during the ongoing 60-day public comment period.
"There's a lot of strong reactions on both sides of the equation."
"You know, these didn't go far enough, these went too far," Bodian said.
"I think this is the opening foray, and we’ll see potential revisions."
Who is in the running
The regulations coined a new term for its applicant pool when they restricted eligibility to "justice involved" individuals.
Last week, mixed messages circulated around the type of criminal justice involvement that would qualify: a press release from the governor’s office referred to "cannabis-related criminal offenses," which would rule out non-criminal violations.
In a Cannabis Control Board meeting, OCM senior policy Director Axel Bernabe nodded to a more inclusive category, those "arrested or convicted of a marijuana-related offense."
But the regulations, as drafted, land somewhere in between: they say applicants are eligible if they were "convicted" of a marijuana-related offense or had a family member who was, whether or not that offense was a misdemeanor or felony conviction that required the person to be fingerprinted.
Freeman Klopott, an OCM spokesman, said that the regulators will not alter the category of eligible offenses since the control board "cannot promulgate regulation that expands on what is prescribed by law."
The law, Klopott said, excludes marijuana-related arrests that did not lead to convictions, but does account for individuals convicted of violations.
Eli Northrup, a criminal defense attorney with The Bronx Defenders, thinks the initial license category is "a really positive thing."
But he still hopes it will be open to anyone arrested on marijuana charges, and not only those who were convicted of an offense.
"People may be arrested and face consequences based on a cannabis arrest, but then the case gets resolved based on a conviction for another offense," Northrup said.
"There are so many consequences that stem just from an arrest."
Albany County District Attorney David Soares said he understands the push to address previous harms perpetrated against communities of color, and even the preference for people with minor charges; but he is questioning whether those involved in more serious criminality should be considered.
"I'm concerned about the message we'd be sending out if members of violent street organizations 10 years ago would be in line to receive that (priority) benefit," Soares said, "rewarding individuals who were protecting their market share through violence."
Steve DeAngelo, a cannabis rights advocate, said he finds it "refreshing" that New York regulators are prioritizing formerly incarcerated people.
But he is focused on New York’s ability to pull in those legacy operators — people who have been selling cannabis illegally — into the formal market, and doesn’t think the regulations are set up for them, due to the business ownership requirement.
The regulations would disqualify, for instance, someone who operated a business but was not able to turn a net profit for a two-year period.
"I think that the broader question is whether this even serves the social equity communities, if we're really talking about just people who have already been successful enough to be 10 percent owners of a (profitable, on-the-books) business for two years in a row," DeAngelo said, pointing to the fact that the regulations don’t mention any equity categories besides the "justice involved."
Uncharted territory
When drafting New York’s license requirements, lawmakers specified that regulators should attempt to give at least 50 percent of the final licenses to social equity applicants.
Their focus should be "communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of cannabis prohibition or who qualify as a minority or women-owned business, distressed farmers, or service-disabled veterans."
Eyeing this wording, potential cannabis businesses fronted by people in each of the categories have sprung up across the state in the past year.
According to attorneys and representatives for equity companies now left out of the conditional licensing, the move to restrict the early applications to "justice involved" contenders was unexpected.
The decision to focus on potential retailers with marijuana convictions in New York means the applicant pool could lead to more minority candidates, due to the disproportionate rate of arrests.
"It’s certainly drawing from that population," said Melissa Moore, a director at Drug Policy Alliance.
"As a result of stop-and-frisk and targeted racist policing practices, in New York, 80 to 90 percent of arrests were of Black and Latinx young people."
According to federal legal precedent, even regulations that specify a category that appears to be a "proxy" for race may be subject to constitutional challenge on the basis of discrimination, according to Edward Jay Blum, a legal strategist whose cases against affirmative action practices were recently granted review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Blum said that racial quotas "have been declared unconstitutional, regardless of the area of public policy" – though there is a carve-out for those intended to remedy "purposeful discrimination."
State Sen. Liz Krueger, who was instrumental in the passage of the law and its equity provisions, said she could not speak to whether regulators considered constitutional challenges when drafting the regulations, though she said they are in line with the law.
But, she added, nothing in government is immune from lawsuits.
"I learned a long time ago, you can sue on constitutional grounds almost on anything you want."
"Then it’s up to the courts to decide," Krueger said.
Even with no legal challenges courts would be tacitly drawn into the regulations since each applicant will need to prove their marijuana conviction record.
For many applicants, that may be accomplished automatically since they will be required to submit to a criminal background check.
But advocates, stakeholders and even one Office of Court Administration official worried that some records would not be accessible since convictions are in the process of being expunged — deleted from most places — a move also mandated by the state’s legalization bill.
Anthony R. Perri, deputy counsel for criminal justice of the New York State Unified Court System, said that "an individual may access their own sealed (or) expunged criminal court records."
However, expunged records would not show up on a background check by a state agency, making them harder to verify.
And it becomes more complicated if a person’s "justice involved" status depends on the conviction of a family member unable to access the records themselves, such as a since-deported parent.
"In that case, there's no way for them to access the record once it's been expunged," said The Legal Aid Society’s Emma Goodman.
"A group of us have talked about whether there should be a specific ability for OCM to access records for that very specific purpose."
Alexander, the OCM's director, said last week that the regulations represented a different strategy from other states and are certain to face questions and challenges.
"(But) if we want a different outcome for our equity entrepreneurs in this state, then we have to take a different approach," Alexander said.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... 007045.php
Re: CORRUPT AND INEPT GOVERNMENT
REUTERS
"New York set to ban natural gas in new buildings -environmental groups"
By Reuters Staff
APRIL 4, 2022
April 4 (Reuters) - New York Governor Kathy Hochul will soon release a budget that likely will include a plan to make New York the first state to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in new construction, according to Food & Water Watch and other environmental groups.
Officials at the governor’s office were not immediately available for comment.
In her State of the State address in January, Hochul committed to “zero on-site greenhouse gas emissions for new construction no later than 2027.”
A decision by the state would follow similar gas bans in New York City in December and dozens of smaller U.S. cities in recent years as they seek to shift from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy.
In the near-term, the new laws will do little to reduce New York’s carbon emissions, as numerous older buildings will not be affected and new structures would use electricity generated by burning fossil fuels anyway.
Longer-term, however, carbon emissions should drop because the state’s Climate Act of 2019 requires all power generation to come from clean sources by 2040, including 70% from renewable energy by 2030.
The gas industry has warned that giving up on gas would boost consumer costs because electric heat is much more expensive.
With the economy recovering from the pandemic, New York’s gas use rose to around 3.44 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2021 from about 3.39 bcfd in 2020 when lockdowns depressed demand.
That compares with a record high of 3.63 bcfd in 2018, according to federal energy data going back to 1997.
Gas use by New York’s residential and commercial consumers slid for a third year in a row in 2021 to around 1.97 bcfd, the lowest since 2016, while consumption increased for industrial customers to 0.24 bcfd and power generators to 1.23 bcfd.
Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Tomasz Janowski
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-new ... SL2N2W21DI
"New York set to ban natural gas in new buildings -environmental groups"
By Reuters Staff
APRIL 4, 2022
April 4 (Reuters) - New York Governor Kathy Hochul will soon release a budget that likely will include a plan to make New York the first state to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels in new construction, according to Food & Water Watch and other environmental groups.
Officials at the governor’s office were not immediately available for comment.
In her State of the State address in January, Hochul committed to “zero on-site greenhouse gas emissions for new construction no later than 2027.”
A decision by the state would follow similar gas bans in New York City in December and dozens of smaller U.S. cities in recent years as they seek to shift from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy.
In the near-term, the new laws will do little to reduce New York’s carbon emissions, as numerous older buildings will not be affected and new structures would use electricity generated by burning fossil fuels anyway.
Longer-term, however, carbon emissions should drop because the state’s Climate Act of 2019 requires all power generation to come from clean sources by 2040, including 70% from renewable energy by 2030.
The gas industry has warned that giving up on gas would boost consumer costs because electric heat is much more expensive.
With the economy recovering from the pandemic, New York’s gas use rose to around 3.44 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2021 from about 3.39 bcfd in 2020 when lockdowns depressed demand.
That compares with a record high of 3.63 bcfd in 2018, according to federal energy data going back to 1997.
Gas use by New York’s residential and commercial consumers slid for a third year in a row in 2021 to around 1.97 bcfd, the lowest since 2016, while consumption increased for industrial customers to 0.24 bcfd and power generators to 1.23 bcfd.
Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Tomasz Janowski
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-new ... SL2N2W21DI