THE TALK-1300 REPORT

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

Post by thelivyjr »

TALK RADIO 1300 on June 12, 2016 at 9:55 am:

In the published transcript of her address to the people of Hoosick Falls on January 14, 2016 ( http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/fil ... al_tps.pdf ), EPA Administrator Judith "Sweet Judy" Enck is quoted as saying:

I AM VERY VERY SORRY THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH THIS.

I AM SORRY THAT WE DO NOT KNOW HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN DRINKING CONTAMINATED WATER.

IT IS GOOD THAT THIS IS ALL OUT IN THE OPEN.


end quotes

The context for her statement that she is "very, very sorry" comes from that April 20, 1989 Metroland article quoted above here, when as co-chair of Rensselaer County Environmental Action, "Sweet Judy," as she is affectionately known in her hometown of Poestenkill, New York, met with then-Rensselaer County Executive John L. "Smiling Jack" Buono in his office on the fifth floor of the Rensselaer County Office Building on the afternoon of Friday, October 14, 1988, and made a deal with "Smiling Jack" to sell out the people of Rensselaer County for political gain for herself.

The details of that meeting were related later that night by a witness to the meeting on the Jim Bleighkampe Show on radio station WGY after I appeared live on that same show on the evening of October 14, 1988 to notify the people of Rensselaer County that I had pulled my engineering license out of the Rensselaer County Office Building and would no longer certify the environmental health programs of the Rensselaer County Department of Health.

When she went into that meeting with Buono on Friday, October 14, 1988, "Sweet Judy" had in her hand a copy of a memo from myself as Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer to Buono dated 11 October 1988, wherein was stated as follows:

SUBJECT: Integrity of Environmental Health Programs

As the Director of the Environmental Health Division, it is my responsibility to certify on behalf of Rensselaer County the integrity of the Code Enforcement Programs to the State of New York for the purpose of payment of our State operating funds.

I have reached a juncture where such certification by myself is no longer feasible.

My certification of our operations is as a licensed professional.

My conduct is governed in large part by Part 29 of the Codes of the Education Department which sets forth the actions deemed to constitute unprofessional conduct on the part of licensed individuals.

Section 29.1(b)(6) defines unprofessional conduct as "willfully making or filing a false report, or failing to file a report required by law or by the Education Department, or willfully impeding or obstructing such filing, or inducing another person to do so."

I can no longer vouch for the integrity of our programs and will not place my professional standing in jeopardy.

It is my professional opinion stated in writing to yourself that the programs I am responsible for have been very seriously undermined and compromised.

As my internal investigation proceeds, the probability of actions for damages against the Department increases, due to errors of omission and commission of former engineers and the Public Health Director.

As the Public Health Law requires me to conduct investigations into incidents involving public health nuisance or hazard, I find myself in the course of such investigation returning to our own files with consistent violation of code on the part of County staff.

end quote

Later, that same evening, on the six o'’clock news on TV Channel 13, Bill Lampden was shown holding a copy of that same memorandum in his hand, telling the millions of viewers of Channel 13 that because of that memo, I was in big trouble and my head was going to roll, which, of course, it did.

And co-chair of Rensselaer County Environmental Action Judith Enck stood by and let it happen, without a peep from her.

Is it possible that my writing in that memo was so arcane or esoteric or complicated that somebody like Judy Enck would have been as unable to decipher it as was Bill Lampden of TV Channel 13?

I suppose it could have been that way, but then, if that was the case, how did Judy Enck ever manage to become the administrator for the EPA in New York state?

A question for our times, Jim, if there ever was one.

In closing, once again, as a citizen, I have to commend you for your guts, grit and integrity in bringing all of this to our attention.

How you escaped the neutering and gelding process your cohorts in the MSM go through to become politically reliable remains a mystery to me, but suffice to say on behalf of many of us out here who do care about that six-year old child in the picture above here that we are very glad you did.

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

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TALK RADIO 1300 on June 14, 2016 at 1:38 pm:

This young American citizen in Hoosick Falls, New York, who while only six, has been poisoned by PFOA in his drinking water as a result of a long, unbroken trail of negligence and misconduct and incredible greed coupled with a callous disregard for human life and health and depraved indifference to human suffering in the County of Rensselaer and the State of New York is being taught some serious lessons here in how power politics works in the State of New York, lessons he is not likely to forget in his lifetime, as foreshortened as it now might be by the PFOA in his bloodstream.

Thanks to TWITTER, he has become a modern day Milk Carton Child, just one more face in an endless parade of faces of children who are missing, who have been abused, who have been bullied and committed suicide as a result, who have been murdered by their parents, or who have been shot in gang violence on the way home from school, so that he has become invisible.

People learned to deal with the original Milk Carton children by the expedient of not looking at them, turning the milk carton so all you could see was the label, or by putting it behind the cereal box.

They have learned to deal with the new Milk Carton Children like this young American by waiting for his picture to disappear beneath an avalanche of new TWEETS, which are coming in, in a flood, every minute, like the faces of the shooting victims in Orlando, Florida.

What this young American citizen now needs to realize and come to grips with is that Hoosick Falls has had its moment of glory in the “tragedy spotlight,” its “five minutes of fame” that professional politicians like our beloved and esteemed and revered governor Andy Cuomo need to exploit for political gain, and now Andy has moved on, as he has had to do to get ahead in politics, for the greater good of all of us, and not just a small child in Hoosick Falls, New York who is trying to get some attention from Andy.

This six-year old needs to realize and accept that there is a far bigger tragedy for Andy to exploit now, as he needs to do, and as he did last night by going to New York City to make a political speech and capitalize on the tragedy of the moment, the mass shooting in Orlando, milking it for all it is worth by putting his focus on mourning the dead in Orlando, Florida, as is fitting for a future U.S. president, as opposed to mourning a small child in Hoosick Falls, a small, politically unimportant and financially poor community in upstate New York whose local tragedy is simply too obscure to gain national political attraction, which is what it is all about these days for presidential contenders like our very own Andy Cuomo.

Let us face facts here like adults, even if only six-years old –- Hoosick Falls and this young 6-year old are gone from the political radar, such is the nature of politics in the USA today, where tragedies to milk and exploit on a daily basis are becoming a dime a dozen, and so are competing with each other for the face time of a nationally ranked politician like Andy Cuomo.

What this young American needs to understand and accept is that for Andy Cuomo to move ahead in politics, he not only has to be visible, he has to be visible at the right time in the right places before the right people, and that just is not Hoosick Falls, anymore.

Andy came there, he looked around a little bit, said, yeah, okay, I’ve been here, let’s get moving, so the spotlight came and went.

And this young child has been relegated to obscurity as a result.

It may not be the way we would like it to be, but it is the way it is.

And as good American citizens, we just have to accept it.

For some to be more important in the eyes of professional politicians like Andy Cuomo, as they must be for Andy to garner their political support, well, let’'s face it, there have to be some like us and this six-year child who are less important, otherwise, politics as we know it won’'t work right anymore.

And that is the way it is.

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

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TALK RADIO 1300 on June 15, 2016 at 6:03 am:

This story brings us back to an article in the Times Union entitled “Feeding off taxpayers no crime, lawyer says – Cronyism, big spending called usual government practice at Strevell trial” by James M. Odato published Thursday, January 18, 2007, wherein was stated:

A defense lawyer for the Rensselaer County entrepreneur whose organization got more than $1 million in member item grants directed by Sen. Joseph L. Bruno is arguing in federal court that dishonesty isn’t necessarily a federal offense.

William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, the former director of the now-defunct Institute for Entrepreneurship, also said that Strevell’s actions, including putting relatives on the state payroll, were normal practices in government.

Fanciullo asserted that the U.S. attorney’s case against Strevell is full of allegations that should not be classified as federal crimes.

Strevell is charged with nine counts of mail fraud and six counts of wire fraud.

The case before U.S. District Court Justice Gary L. Sharpe centers on Strevell’s lavish spending on himself and on parties that honored lawmakers who helped him get public money.

Among its funding sources, the institute received two $500,000 discretionary grants, known as member items, through Bruno in 1999 and 2001.

Strevell allegedly misused some of the $8 million in mostly taxpayer funds raised by the institute during his reign from 1998 to 2001, when he and his brother, Chauncey, the former chief operating officer, abruptly quit.

While at the institute, Strevell hired friends, relatives of powerful Republicans, his daughter and his daughter’s boyfriend.

He also used institute funds to purchase clothing and trips for himself and family members.

end quotes

Feeding off the taxpayers in Rensselaer County certainly is not a crime in Rensselaer County, nor is feeding off the taxpayers in New York State a crime in New York State.

And while dishonesty isn’t necessarily a federal offense, it definitely is not an offense in either Rensselaer County or the State of New York.

It is honesty that will get you in real big trouble, as this editorial from the Troy Record entitled “Give Paul Plante a break” from 4 April 1989 makes patently clear:

Trying to form an opinion on the entire Paul Plante episode is an exercise in frustration.

This much is pretty clear: He is headstrong, possesses a pretty good temper and is honest to a fault.

The latter has not been challenged even by his attackers.

As a matter of fact, that appears to be the bone they have to pick with him – that he is too honest and is unyielding in his honesty.

What this has meant to Mr. Plante is that he is being attacked from all sides and, to defend himself against the attacks, he has expended all his financial resources.

At the end of last week, even his attorney, who had been doing a fine job in his defense, deserted him.

Perhaps “deserted” is too strong a word.

Attorney Lewis Oliver withdrew from Mr. Plante’s defense because the embattled county environmental health director ran out of money to pay his attorney for the legal services.

Because of delays caused by legal maneuvering, Mr. Oliver’s bill for legal services already is in the thousands of dollars.

All of this time and money is being spent not to defend Plante against charges of misfeasance or malfeasance.

He is not accused of being dishonest or incompetent.

The charges are that he was rude and insubordinate and violated county work rules.

Big deal!

For this, he has to deplete his savings and go into debt?

Enough is enough.

County Executive John L. Buono should direct his attorney to stop playing games with Paul Plante’s life and professional reputation.

Enough time has been spent on these hearings – time spent hearing secretaries testify about his displays of temper and other idiosyncrasies.

Every day costs money, not just Mr. Plante’s, but that of county taxpayers.

Bring the hearings to a close as expeditiously as possible and then address the real issue:

Was Paul Plante just an honest government employee who followed the rules and insisted others do the same?

Somebody in county government must have the intestinal fortitude to face this issue.

end quotes

But of course, nobody in Rensselaer County then, or now, actually, has any intestinal fortitude whatsoever.

Which is why it is not a crime in Rensselaer County or the State of New York to be dishonest and to feed off the taxpayers, as Felix Strevell, a hero to many in Rensselaer County government was doing.

That’s the way you do it, folks, money for nothing and the chicks are free, as the song goes!

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

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TALK RADIO 1300 on June 15, 2016:

These people are asking for a corrupt system to investigate itself to end the corruption that caused their drinking water to become contaminated with PFOA, as if that corrupt system will somehow take an action against itself to clean itself up and end that corruption which caused their drinking water to become contaminated with PFOA.

It will be very interesting to see how that all works out.

My bet would be a white-wash if there ever were any hearings held.

Let's look back at the record here for a moment.

In the NEWS 10 ABC article "State officials respond to NEWS10 questions about Hoosick Falls water contamination" by Lindsay Nielsen published roughly five (5) months ago on February 26, 2016, where NEWS10 ABC spoke face-to-face with state officials to get questions answered about the water contamination in Hoosick Falls, we had New York State Director of State Operations Jim Malatras, the same one who met with the Hoosick Falls folks today, telling us "Just so we're clear, we followed the EPA standard," and "The village followed the EPA standard."

Does anyone think he is going to retract that statement now in some type of hearing?

And who is it that is going to stand up on the witness stand to refute what he is saying?

Howie Zucker?

Basil Seggos?

And have we already forgotten Republican Senate majority leader John Flanagan being quoted in POLITICO on Feb. 18, 2016 as saying "the reality is" that neither he nor Andy Cuomo cares about who may be to blame for things in Hoosick Falls?

Is he going to suddenly start caring today because of Steve McLaughlin bringing these Hoosick Falls people around to see New York State Director of State Operations Jim Malatras, who has already told us months ago "Just so we're clear, we followed the EPA standard," and "The village followed the EPA standard?"

Stay tuned, people, anything is liable to happen here now, so don't touch that radio dial.

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

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TALK RADIO 1300 on June 17, 2016 at 6:42 am:

Winners and losers is what you are looking at here, Jim, with Felix Strevell the obvious winner, and myself the obvious loser.

A clash of creeds, where “creed” is defined as “a set of beliefs or aims that guide someone’s actions.”

Felix Strevell has given the Office of the U.S. Attorney the upraised middle finger and told them to go **** off, as they are nothing, while the Office of the U.S. Attorney has not only given me the upraised middle finger and told me to go **** off, as I am a nothing, but they helped Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino put me in a cage in the Stratton VA Hospital as an alleged mentally ill and dangerous person based on a fraudulent Mental Hygiene Law 9.45 order Kathy was able to procure from one of her pet doctors, this to protect and defend the corruption in Rensselaer County that Felix Strevell was so successfully able to feed off of.

There used to be a quaint saying from the days of my youth that honesty is the best policy, but the juxtaposition of these two stories in the post above clearly demonstrates that such is not the case.

In a culture of corruption, it is really more advantageous to be firmly over on the side of corruption, as this story shows.

From the tally above here, it is quite obvious that despite being a felon, Felix Strevell has done quite well for himself and his family, financially speaking.

On the other side of the coin, my side of the equation is the loss of a profession, a livelihood, my retirement, my bank account.

For being honest, poverty has been my reward.

A lot of life lessons for young people to ponder here as they plot out the path of their own futures, for sure.

If I had it to do over, would I do it different?

Would I follow the path of success that Felix Strevell followed?

Hell no.

But then, that is just me.

I would be who I am and take the lumps.

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

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TALK RADIO 1300 on June 19, 2016 at 6:25 pm:

You would have thought, Jim, that when the Times Union published an article on Thursday, January 18, 2007, entitled “Feeding off taxpayers no crime, lawyer says – Cronyism, big spending called usual government practice at Strevell trial” by James M. Odato, wherein was stated that “(A) defense lawyer for the Rensselaer County entrepreneur whose organization got more than $1 million in member item grants directed by Sen. Joseph L. Bruno is arguing in federal court that dishonesty isn’t necessarily a federal offense,” that there would have been some kind of a loud and vocal uproar from the editorial board of the Times Union, wherein they would be howling for blood, rhetorically asking its readers, “where the hell does William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, the former director of the now-defunct Institute for Entrepreneurship, get off telling us that Strevell’s actions, including putting relatives on the state payroll, were normal practices in government?”

The gall of him to say that in public.

“What is up with that?” you might have thought they would say.

But if you did think that, that they would have spoken out, as any reasonable and rational person would think, you would have been wrong, as there was nothing but silence as those questions were never asked or even entertained.

Instead, those comments were met by an editorial silence at the Times Union which gave consent to those practices, to wit: of course feeding off the taxpayers in New York State is no crime, as lawyer William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, says.

That is what the taxpayers exist for, afterall, to be fed off of by those in public office in New York State.

Why?

Because they let it happen, and they never complain.

And of course cronyism and big spending are usual government practices.

It’s been that way for better than a hundred years, and even Teddy Roosevelt as governor of New York State was unable to do a thing about it, so who is going to be foolish enough to question it today?

Certainly not the people of the State of New York, and as a consequence, not the editorial board of the Times Union, either.

That is because eighteen (18) years earlier, in 1989, the position taken by the Times Union concerning such matters was already very firmly established in an article in the Times Union from May 27, 1989, wherein was stated:

The following are the key events in the nine-month controversy over Paul Plante:

1988:

Oct. 11 – Plante, the county’s environmental health director, alleges that the chairman of the County Legislature’s Health Committee, Daniel Ashley, D-Troy, developer Steven Anderson and local real estate dealers are involved in land fraud.

Ashley and Anderson deny the allegation.

Anderson calls it a “demonstration of (Plante’s) mental instability.”

end quotes

At that time, of course, this same developer Steven Anderson had been charged by Plante with wilfull violation of the NYS Public Health Law, a class A misdemeanor with a penalty of a year in jail, a charge which had been separately investigated and upheld by the NYS Health Department under then-NYS Health Commissioner Dr. David Axelrod in early-1988, but the Times Union willfully chose to ignore that, and to instead publish a false story on May 27, 1989 putting forth the idea that it had some sort of evidence that Plante was in fact mentally unstable, when such assertion was completely false and instead was a fabrication by this Anderson and the Times Union to discredit the Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer.

Readers with long-term memories still intact and functioning will recall that this same Steven Anderson appeared in the pages of the Times Union as a hero with a starring role on 10 January 1988 in a story entitled “Developers see a zealot in new county health officer” by Laurie Anderson, wherein was stated “Plante is involved in several fierce feuds with developers, the most public of which involves Anderson, who is attempting to rally the county legislature, Buono, and the state Health Department to make Plante more compliant.”

As people in Rensselaer County bemoan these groundwater contamination issues in Hoosick Falls today, they should meditate for a moment on that phrase “to make Plante more compliant.”

They should meditate on what the word “compliant” means when it is applied to someone like Plante whose duty it was as the “new county health officer” to protect the groundwater in Rensselaer County for the people of Hoosick Falls and Rensselaer County.

“Compliant” means willing to turn one’s back and look the other way, or in essence, to comply with the dictum laid down in 2007 by lawyer William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, that feeding off the taxpayers in New York State is no crime.

“Compliant” in someone whose duty it was to enforce the Public Health Law in the Rensselaer County Health District means “sleazy” and “untrustworthy,” and if Plante could have found it in himself to abandon his own now-discredited creed of “honesty is the best policy” as a responsible public official, and to have instead adopted the creed expressed in 2007 by lawyer William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, that feeding off the taxpayers in New York State is no crime, Plante never would have been removed from his position as Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer in May of 1989 by then-Rensselaer County Executive John L. “Smiling Jack” Buono, on the grounds that Buono could not “in good conscience condone the conduct of an employee who consistently stated that he worked for the State of New York, rather than Rensselaer County,” which meant Plante was being true to the Rules of the New York State Board of Regents which governed his professional conduct as a licensed professional engineer in New York State with a duty to protect and safeguard life, health and property, as opposed to bowing to the wishes of Rensselaer County Executive Buono, who wanted Plante to be nothing more than a political whore who would rubber-stamp whatever it was that Buono wanted rubber-stamped for the developers Buono was politically beholden to, to include his political superior, “Iron Duke” Joe Bruno of Brunswick, New York, who had also been charged by Plante with wilfull violation of the Public Health Law like Anderson.

In the political context, “compliant” means politically reliable, willing to accept bribes and look the other way, which Plante was not, and so he had to go, and the trusty Times Union was there with Buono, and TV Channel 13 to help usher Plante out the door.

Winners and losers, Jim.

And a very New York State story it is!

In a culture of corruption, where feeding off the taxpayers is expected, accepted and tolerated by the taxpayers who are being fed off of, it is better to be on the side of corruption, not going against the flow by being against it, and trying to end it.

And so it goes.

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

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TALK RADIO 1300 on June 21, 2016 at 1:39 pm:

Putting the editorial board of the Times Union aside for the moment, Jim, who you really would have thought would have raised a huge public stink when the Times Union, the newspaper of record in Albany, the capital city of New York State, published an article on Thursday, January 18, 2007, entitled “Feeding off taxpayers no crime, lawyer says – Cronyism, big spending called usual government practice at Strevell trial” by James M. Odato, wherein was stated that “(A) defense lawyer for the Rensselaer County entrepreneur whose organization got more than $1 million in member item grants directed by Sen. Joseph L. Bruno is arguing in federal court that dishonesty isn’t necessarily a federal offense” was our very own Andy Cuomo, who was New York State Attorney General at the time.

That should have been red meat for our Andy, and you would have thought he would jump on it with a vengeance.

I mean, who of us can ever forget our very own Andy chomping at the bit to get his snapping teeth into corrupt public officials like Felix Strevell in the Times Union story entitled “Pact puts Capitol on notice – DA Soares, Cuomo vow to share resources to clean up corruption in state government” by Michelle Morgan Bolten, Staff writer, Times Union, first published Friday, January 12, 2007, wherein we were informed as follows:

ALBANY — In what they touted as a historic pact, Albany County District Attorney David Soares and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo launched a joint effort Thursday to root out corruption in state government.

“This is not the changing of the guard,” Cuomo said.

“It’s the changing of an era.”

end quotes

There is a case of where Andy wouldn’t have had to do any rooting whatsoever.

To the contrary, in that Times Union article, William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, the former director of the now-defunct Institute for Entrepreneurship, laid it all out for Andy, telling him as New York State Attorney General through the pages of the venerable Times Union, that Strevell’s actions, including putting relatives on the state payroll, were "normal practices in government.”

If Andy really wanted to change an era, you would have thought that that was the era Andy would want to change.

But apparently not.

Not from the blast of silence we got from out of Attorney General Andy back then, after that article was published.

From what I can make of this, Andy never intended to change the era by rooting out corruption in state government.

To the contrary, it very much looks like he took control of it, and has been able to capitalize on it, instead, to his benefit as a politician.

As to things staying the same in New York State, as were described by William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, in that Times Union article, with no change and certainly no change of eras, they stay the same because they have become entrenched.

They have become entrenched because people in New York State are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

Which brings us to today, with Felix Strevell giving the Office of the U.S. Attorney the upraised middle finger and telling them to go **** off, as they are nothing, while the Office of the U.S. Attorney has not only given me the upraised middle finger and told me to go **** off, as I am a nothing, but they helped Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino put me in a cage in the Stratton VA Hospital as an alleged mentally ill and dangerous person based on a fraudulent Mental Hygiene Law 9.45 order Kathy was able to procure from one of her pet doctors, this to protect and defend the corruption in Rensselaer County that Felix Strevell was so successfully able to feed off of.

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

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TALK RADIO 1300 on June 23, 2016 at 2:15 pm:

Truth be told, Jim, and it should be, when William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, the former director of the now-defunct Institute for Entrepreneurship, told us through the pages of the venerable Times Union that Strevell’s actions, including putting relatives on the state payroll, were normal practices in government in the article “Feeding off taxpayers no crime, lawyer says – Cronyism, big spending called usual government practice at Strevell trial” by James M. Odato on Thursday, January 18, 2007, wherein we were informed that “(A) defense lawyer for the Rensselaer County entrepreneur whose organization got more than $1 million in member item grants directed by Sen. Joseph L. Bruno is arguing in federal court that dishonesty isn’t necessarily a federal offense,” he was speaking with a confidence that came from a conviction that he was right in that assessment.

I would say that that conviction that he was right about dishonesty not being a federal offense came to him from a Federal Bureau of Investigation record at page 206 of what is now known as the Jimino Bible, which is a 600+ page record submitted to the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City on behalf of Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen Jimino and her co-defendants, in or about November of 2005.

The FBI record, entitled UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OPINION, stated as follows with respect to a Hobb’s Act public corruption investigation in Rensselaer County in early-1989, to wit:

Assistant United States Attorney, Barbara Cottrell, Northern District of New York, advised on May 1, 1989, that no evidence of any violation of federal law had been uncovered as result of investigation to date.

For this reason, AUSA COTTRELL declined prosecution at this time.

end quotes

As the 600+ page Jimino Bible clearly shows, there was plenty of dishonesty in Rensselaer County at the time of that FBI investigation, including an attempt to bribe then-Rensselaer County Executive John L. Buono with $80,000, an attempt to corrupt a health officer in Rensselaer County, denial of honest services by both Rensselaer County and New York State, a series of class E felonies for wilfull violation of the NYS Education Law regarding the practice of professional engineering in New York State, and fraudulent land sales by among others, then-NYS Senator Joe Bruno, but as the FBI record in the Jimino Bible made patently clear, to the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, none of that rose to the level of a violation of federal law, so that investigation was turned off like a light bulb, and the FBI were sent scurrying out of Rensselaer County like a chicken-killing dog with a shotgun-toting farmer hot on its trail, KI YIIII, KI YIIII, KI YIIII.

According to one of those FBI agents whose tail got scalded as a result of that investigation, when Joe Bruno’s name came up, which it did, that was the end of the investigation.

And Joe was the patron of Felix Strevell.

And that brings us to this following letter from THE SAND LAKE ADVERTISER on May 4, 2001, at page 3:

“WHO DESTROYED EVIDENCE?” ASK HISTORIANS

As historians and other scholars continue to pour over the recently released 250-page Federal Bureau of Investigation file on public corruption in the Rensselaer County Department of Health, early reports are that several disturbing questions are arising from that review, foremost of which is exactly who destroyed evidence taken from then-Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer Paul R. Plante, P.E. by a special agent of the FBI in early 1989.

The evidence in question, including a signed letter from the then-Deputy Rensselaer County Executive James Girzone to Poestenkill Town Supervisor Richard Amadon concerning Algonquin Estates in Poestenkill, which demonstrated both knowledge and intent by public officials acting in concert in Rensselaer County to evade provisions of State law intended to protect and safeguard life, health and property, was critical to any investigation where proof of knowledge and intent were necessary elements of proving a crime involving public corruption.

As Plante has previously reported, the evidence in question was confiscated from Plante in 1989 by an FBI special agent acting under color of an alleged corruption investigation by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York.

The evidence subsequently disappeared, however, being lost or destroyed allegedly by an assistant US attorney in Albany, and the FBI investigation was abruptly halted by the US Attorney’s Office shortly thereafter.

With the recent release of the Rensselaer County Health Department public corruption file by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, historians are finally able to begin the task of independently corroborating Plante’s version of events regarding the lost or destroyed evidence and the alleged role of the United States Attorney’s Office in the loss or destruction of that evidence and subsequent cover-up of corruption by public officials and others in Rensselaer County.

Respectfully submitted,

Paul R. Plante

end quotes

Just three and one-half months later, on 22 August 2001, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York helped Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino put the writer of that letter in a cage in the Stratton VA Hospital as an alleged mentally ill and dangerous person based on a fraudulent Mental Hygiene Law 9.45 order Kathy was able to procure from one of her pet doctors, this to protect and defend the corruption in Rensselaer County that Felix Strevell was so successfully able to feed off of, corruption which the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York was well-aware back in 1989.

So no wonder in 2007, William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, the former director of the now-defunct Institute for Entrepreneurship, felt so confident telling us that dishonesty in New York State wasn’t a federal offense.

He was speaking with a confidence that came from a conviction that he was right in that assessment which came to him from the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, itself.

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

Post by thelivyjr »

TALK RADIO 1300 on June 24, 2016 at 7:06 am:

With respect to William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, the former director of the now-defunct Institute for Entrepreneurship, speaking with a confidence that came from a conviction that he was right in his assessment that “feeding off taxpayers” was not a crime in New York State, nor was dishonesty by public officials in New York State, and by extension, Rensselaer County, a federal offense, that confidence and conviction that he was right in that assessment came from the events described in this 27 February 2001 writing to Hon. Donald T. Kinsella, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief, Criminal Division, Northern District of New York, U.S. Department of Justice, 445 Broadway, Room 231, James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse, Albany, New York 12207-2924, as follows:

Dear Mr. Kinsella:

With respect to that document and its relevance to the instant matter of your letter to me dated February 7, 2001, in or about January of 1989, some three (3) months after the events in Exhibit A had transpired, I was paid a visit at my home by Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Thomas Dauenhauer, who appeared at my home in Poestenkill, County of Rensselaer, State of New York, to inform me that I was the subject of an investigation being conducted by the Office of the United States Attorney into corruption in government in the County of Rensselaer, State of New York, and that if I had anything to say in my defense, I had best say it to him at that time.

At that time, in or about January of 1989, I recounted to Special Agent Dauenhauer all of the events detailed in Exhibit A, which events conclude on October 12, 1988, and then I filled him in on what had transpired in the matter since that time, which is as follows:

Agent Dauenhauer then informed me that if I had any evidence to corroborate what I had told him, that that would be the time to do so.

Accordingly, in response to Special Agent Dauenhauer’s query to me concerning involvement by the Rensselaer County Republican Party or party official David Dudley in the matter, I showed Special Agent Dauenhauer an October 1988 Albany Times Union article wherein was clearly stated that the Rensselaer County Department of Health was under the control of the Rensselaer County Republican Party as of October 12, 1988.

We then listened to a public address made by Rensselaer County Executive John L. Buono on local TV Channel 13 out of Menands, New York on or about October 12, 1988 wherein County Executive Buono made mention of the sum of $80,000.

When Special Agent Dauenhauer asked me if I had direct knowledge of this $80,000, I told Special Agent Dauenhauer of a meeting on the fifth floor of the Rensselaer County Office Building in or about March of 1988, where the $80,000 was openly discussed by Buono and a group of land developers and professional engineers and surveyors doing business in Rensselaer County.

I told Special Agent Dauenhauer that it was my understanding that the money was a bounty on my head, that whoever removed me from my office as Associate Public Health Engineer in Rensselaer County would get the money, and that if Buono wanted that money, he knew what he had to do to get it.

Thereafter, in October of 1988, Buono did act by having me barred from entry into the Rensselaer County Office Building while my office and files were ransacked and destroyed.

That money also served as an incentive for the assault on my person by a back-hoe operator in or about July of 1988 detailed in Exhibit A, which assault has left me in great pain and physical distress since.

In response to a request by Special Agent Dauenhauer for any further corroboration, I provided Special Agent Dauenhauer with a copy of a transcript of a March 1, 1988 meeting between New York State Health Department officials with oversight responsibility in Rensselaer County and land developers, professional engineers and land surveyors doing business in Rensselaer County, which transcript had been handed out at the subsequent March 1988 meeting in the Rensselaer County Office Building where the $80,000 was discussed.

In the transcript of the March 1, 1988 meeting, New York State Public Health Engineer James Decker verifies on the record that on Tuesday, March 1, 1988, the New York State Department of Health was aware of the negligent practices on-going in the Rensselaer County Department of Health at the time I took office in 1986.

In the transcript of the March 1, 1988 meeting, the Rensselaer County developers can be seen negotiating with New York State Health Department Division of Environmental Protection Director Leo Hetling to allow them to return to the improper practices of 1986, and the meeting concludes with Hetling telling the developers, “We’ll look at it.”

At the subsequent March 1988 meeting in the Rensselaer County Office Building where the $80,000 was discussed, New York State Public Health Engineer James Decker was present to verify that the transcribed March 1, 1988 meeting did in fact take place, and to also verify that the New York State Department of Health would not interfere if Rensselaer County were to return to the corrupt and fraudulent practices of 1986.

Subsequent to that meeting, I came under intense pressure to issue fraudulent approvals for land subdivisions in Rensselaer County, and in October of 1988, I became disabled and unable to further perform the duties of a licensed professional engineer in the Rensselaer County Health District.

Now, I know that all of the above was made the subject of an FBI file of some two-hundred fifty (250) pages in length, including the March 1, 1988 transcript, because I provided a copy of that FBI file to the office of U.S. Attorney French just this past year in connection with this matter, and so it is I who must confess to being confused by your February 7, 2001 letter to me wherein you inform me to bring this matter back to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, when that same agency ceased investigating this matter at the direction of the Office of the United States Attorney.

As was made clear to me by Special Agent Dauenhauer in or about May of 1989, without specific instructions to proceed from the Office of the United States Attorney, the Federal Bureau of Investigation considered this matter involving myself and the State of New York to be a dead issue.

More to the point, according to Special Agent Dauenhauer, material evidence in the form of letters as to knowledge and intent on the part of Rensselaer County officials to willfully violate the law collected from myself by Special Agent Dauenhauer as chain of custody from myself to the Office of the United States Attorney was allegedly removed from the record and destroyed by the Office of the United States Attorney at the time the FBI investigation was quashed in 1989.

So, given all of the above, which is documented in your own records, I am uncertain as to how to proceed further in this matter.

Accordingly, I am requesting that your office inform me as to exactly what procedure I am to follow at this time in bringing these alleged criminal matters back to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation where in or about 1989, the Office of the United States Attorney has already quashed the matter, and relevant evidence has been removed from the record, and/or lost and destroyed.

Thanking you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter, I remain

Respectfully,

Paul R. Plante

end quotes

As was stated above, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York responded to that 27 February 2001 writing on 22 August 2001 by aiding and assisting Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino in putting the writer of that letter in a cage in the Stratton VA Hospital as an alleged mentally ill and dangerous person based on a fraudulent Mental Hygiene Law 9.45 order Kathy was able to procure from one of her pet doctors, this to protect and defend the corruption in Rensselaer County that Felix Strevell was so successfully able to feed off of, corruption which the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York was well-aware back in 1989.

So, as was stated above, no wonder in 2007, William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, the former director of the now-defunct Institute for Entrepreneurship, felt so confident telling us that dishonesty in New York State wasn’t a federal offense.

He was speaking with a confidence that came from a conviction that he was right in that assessment which came to him from the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, itself.

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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Re: THE TALK-1300 REPORT

Post by thelivyjr »

TALK RADIO 1300 on June 24, 2016 at 2:25 pm:

So, winners and losers, Jim, and a clash of creeds, where “creed” is defined as “a set of beliefs or aims that guide someone’s actions.”

One creed, the winning one in New York State today as exemplified by Felix Strevell in this story of yours above here, says feeding off the taxpayers of New York State is not a crime and dishonesty by public officials is neither a federal offence, nor an offense in either New York State or Rensselaer County.

The other creed, the losing one, said honesty by public officials in New York State is the best policy, but as this story clearly demonstrates, it isn’t, really.

In a Culture of Corruption growing like barnacles on a boat bottom, as is the case in New York State today according to U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, it really is better for your career as a public servant to be over on the side of corruption, as opposed to going against the flow by being against it.

As to the involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in that earlier Hobb’s Act public corruption investigation in Rensselaer County which was turned off like a lightbulb after then-NYS Senator Joe Bruno’s name surfaced in connection with fraudulent land sales in Rensselaer County, we can verify that involvement from an FBI MEMORANDUM to SAC Albany 2/24/89 Subject: ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION IN RENSSELAER COUNTY GOVERNMENT RELATING TO LAND DEVELOPMENT, wherein was stated:

On 2/13/89, the writer (FBI Special Agent) attended a disciplinary hearing held in Conference Room B, Fifth Floor, Rensselaer County Office Building, relating to charges Rensselaer County has brought against Environmental Health Director PAUL PLANTE.

There were approximately 18 to 20 spectators in attendance at this hearing, including people who appeared to be interested, members of the general public, and others who were obviously from the press.

There appears to be a lot of public interest in this disciplinary hearing.

PHILIP LANCE is Rensselaer County’s Hearing Officer for this disciplinary hearing.

LANCE is Assistant Counsel to the county’s Department of Social Services.

Representing the county was Assistant County Attorney GORDON MAYO.

PLANTE is represented by Attorney LEWIS OLIVER.

Also in attendance was Rensselaer County Public Health Director KENNETH VAN PRAAG.

At the beginning of the hearing MAYO proposed that the hearing be closed despite the fact that PLANTE, the subject of the disciplinary hearing, waived his right to a closed hearing and desires the hearing to be open to the public and media.

MAYO contended that there was “due cause” to close the hearing and cited numerous lawsuits against the county which might be affected by comments in an open hearing.

MAYO put forth the position that the proper forum for this disciplinary hearing was a “closed hearing” and contended that a public audience was detrimental to a “fair hearing” citing pressure against witnesses.

MAYO alleged that people had received threatening phone calls from PLANTE and further stated that two unnamed county employees were “worried about their well-being” if PLANTE returned to work.

PLANTE’s attorney rebutted with the argument that there was a lot of public interest as evidenced by people standing in the room and the media present.

OLIVER entered into evidence in the hearing Exhibits A and B, which were PLANTE’s waiver of a confidential hearing and another form relating to that waiver.

OLIVER then charged that the real reasons PLANTE was being fired were not the reasons in the charges and that the charges were retaliation for PLANTE trying to enforce health regulations of the county.

OLIVER further advised the Hearing Officer that minutes of the disciplinary hearing would be made public in any case, therefore, the county’s argument concerning fears of comments being made affecting a lawsuit were invalid.

OLIVER further contended that the county’s lawsuits had absolutely nothing to do with the charges against PLANTE and did not see how there could be any damaging testimony or comment made in PLANTE’s hearings which would impact on the unspecified lawsuits mentioned by MAYO.

OLIVER further noted that disciplinary hearings such as this are closed to protect the employee being brought before the disciplinary hearing, however, in this case, the employee, PLANTE, desires an open hearing having waived his right to a closed hearing in writing.

MAYO, in comments to the Hearing Officer, referred to the “circus atmosphere such as this” (referring to the atmosphere in the hearing room), although this writer noted the room was quiet, none of the spectators interrupted any of the proceedings, and everyone appeared to be respectful.

The only comment made by any member of the public was when one elderly gentleman requested that the Hearing Officer find a larger room to conduct this hearing.

After a half hour recess, the Hearing Officer advised those present that he saw the proceeding solely as a personnel matter and, citing pending litigation against the county, ruled to close the hearing to the public.

The Hearing Officer, in his comments, mentioned the need for balance, the balance being the public’s interest and fairness to other county employees.

The Hearing Officer mentioned “fairness to other employees” as one of the reasons for closing these hearings to the public.

The Assistant County Attorney then asked LANCE to clear the Hearing Room, stating again that this is a personnel matter not a criminal matter, and opposed a motion to adjourn the meeting pending an appeal regarding the openness of the hearing.

A reporter then requested the Hearing Officer adjourn the meeting until such time as an attorney for the media could present arguments as to why the meeting should be open rather than closed.

The meeting, in fact, adjourned until 2/14/89, at 1 p.m., at which time a closed session was held between the Hearing Officer and attorneys for PLANTE, the county, and the media.

Coming out of this meeting was another adjournment until 2/22/89, which would give the media’s attorney an opportunity to get New York State Supreme Court ruling forcing the county to have an open hearing.

The writer observed that the county’s representative, MAYO, was extremely nervous and is further of the opinion that in a normal hearing such as this the government body involved, in this case Rensselaer County, should not insist on a closed hearing when the person being disciplined or facing the charges waives his right to such a hearing, as the principle reason for a closed hearing is to protect the employee who faces disciplinary charges.

end quotes

The FBI Special Agent’s observation that Gordon Mayo was extremely nervous on 2/13/89 is interesting and enlightening, because Mayo clearly knew the FBI was in the room observing the proceedings, and at that time, Mayo wasn’t sure how that was all going to go down.

Once he was assured that the FBI was going to be taken care of, and gotten rid of, however, which they were, he was able to settle down, and get on with the business at hand, which was getting rid of the Rensselaer County Associate Public Health Engineer, who was going against the flow by not being dishonest himself, while interfering with the ability of Rensselaer County politicians to feed off the taxpayers as is their due in this state.

And the rest is history, which brings us up to today, with Felix Strevell, a federal felon who has done quite well for himself financially, giving the Office of the U.S. Attorney the upraised middle finger and telling them to go **** off, as they are nothing, while the Office of the U.S. Attorney has not only given me the upraised middle finger and told me to go **** off, as I am a nothing, but they further helped Rensselaer County Executive Kathy Jimino to put me in a cage in the Stratton VA Hospital as an alleged mentally ill and dangerous person based on a fraudulent Mental Hygiene Law 9.45 order Kathy was able to procure from one of her pet doctors, this to protect and defend the corruption in Rensselaer County that Felix Strevell was so successfully able to feed off of.

Thanks for letting that story be told in here, Jim, to those of us who do care about the government we have in this county and in this state, it was a valuable public service on your part, which we greatly appreciate.

Paul Plante, NYSPE

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