Signs of Institutional Corruption in Albany, NY (The City, Not the Capital)
Alysia Santo wrote <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Inside-Politics-No-revolving-do…; target="”_blank”">an excellent Insider Politics column in the Albany <i>Times-Union</i>
last week</a> on the need for a post-employment provision in the city that is the capital of New York state. But the
columnist went further than this, looking at some aspects of the city's
institutionalized corruption (without actually giving it a name).<br>
<br>
She focused on one recent instance involving Albany's commissioner
of development and planning, who has accepted a job with a firm that
is "responsible for nearly all commercial construction in the city."
The company "has sought city approval on several large projects" and
been granted incentives, including tax breaks, in recent years.
Albany has no post-employment provision that even requires a cooling-off
period before an official can take a job with a company he did business with as an official. In fact, it has no ethics code at all. One was discussed in 2009
(see <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/831" target="”_blank”">my blog post on
it</a>), but it was not passed.<br>
<br>
This is not an isolated incident. Not only have other city officials
taken jobs with this company, but they've been doing it for years. I
wrote <a href="http://www.cityethics.org/node/831" target="”_blank”">a blog post about the relationship between the company and the
commissioner</a> (and the then mayor and police chief) back in 2009. The commissioner's attitude then
about going to the company's fundraising parties says a great deal about the government's attitude toward perceived conflicts of interest:<blockquote>
''As far as why I attend specific events, I really think it's
nobody's business. Why I go or what I do when I'm off the clock, I
don't understand why that would be newsworthy.''</blockquote>
Considering that the council hasn't changed the law and the
commissioner spent another five years in office, it's clear that the
government does not think it's anybody's business how close
officials' relationships are, or appear to be, with companies that
get millions of dollars of government contracts and incentives, as
well as permits and other benefits.<br>
<br>
A government ethics program says that this is the public's business, because
it is public funds that are being spent. It says that the people who are
elected with contributions made at the fundraisers of restricted
sources are the people who spend this money and, therefore, that they have
fiduciary duties to the public (the officials who report to these elected officials
have the same fiduciary duties).<br>
<br>
Institutional corruption exists where officials do not believe they
have such fiduciary duties, or act as if they didn't. It is
evidenced not only by conduct, such as attending restricted sources'
fundraisers and taking jobs with these companies. It is also
evidenced by what officials say, and how their colleagues and,
especially, the most high-level officials respond to what they say.<br>
<br>
For example, the column says that the same commissioner said
recently that he has no direct vote on projects and incentives
received , and that wherever he got a job outside the city government, there would have been a
perceived conflict of interest. "That would mean I wouldn't be able
to take a job with anybody. That means I would work for the city for
the rest of my life?" He disputed that the subject was even a news
story. "What am I, the Kim Kardashian of Albany?"<br>
<br>
You don't have to have a direct vote to have a great deal of
influence on the special benefits companies obtain from the city
government. The mayor and council members should have immediately
made this clear. And for someone with the commissioner's experience,
there are jobs with companies he has not recently been involved
with, even in Albany. And jobs with other governments.<br>
<br>
No one else in the government seems too concerned. The mayor is
quoted as saying, "I understand the concern. But I also respect the
fact that Mike is looking to move on and has found a position."<br>
<br>
A council member is quoted as saying that she "was not surprised at
all" about the commissioner taking the job. "Over the years, it's
been clear they had a very strong working relationship."<br>
<br>
But the longest-serving council member is quoted as saying there is
a "history of similar arrangements in the past. ... These
situations come up more and more as the private sector gets more
involved in municipal development projects."<br>
<br>
No one can stop the commissioner from taking the job. But the mayor
and council could make an important statement by saying that they
will not speak with the commissioner in his new position, and that no city official or
employee should speak with him or with his staff. If the commissioner
believes that what he did while a public servant was private, what
he does as a private individual should have as little to do with the
public as possible. After all, he's not the Donald Trump of Albany.<br>
<br>
And then the mayor and council can make sure that the current
version of the 2009 ethics code (attached; see below), which appears
to be before a council committee, actually gets passed, and an
effective, independent ethics program is instituted in Albany.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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