The Richie Kessel NYPA Watch, August 22, 2010 – By George J. Marlin
Street Corner Conservative.com has filed a request under New York State Freedom of Information Law with the FOIL officer of the New York Power Authority requesting certain public records of NYPA relating to various activities and policies of the C.E.O. of NYPA, Richie Kessel.
Street Corner Conservative will keep its readers informed of NYPA’s response to the FOIL request.
The following is the text of the letter sent to NYPA’s FOIL officer:
New York Power Authority
Office of the Secretary
123 Main Street, 15-M
White Plains, NY 10601
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am a taxpayer and resident of the State of New York and pursuant to New York Public Officer Law and the provisions of the regulations of the New York Power Authority (NYPA) adopted pursuant to the Public Officer Law (21 NYCRR Part 453), I demand access to the following records by email to me if possible:
1. Information and records as to contributions and payments to not-for-profit entities from NYPA or any subsidiary or affiliate including purchase of tickets or sponsorships to events conducted by any such not-for-profit for the period January 1, 2009 through and including July 31, 2010;
2. Information as to each NYPA facility or office the President and CEO of NYPA was physically present in during each business day of the period from February 13, 2009 through and including July 31, 2010;
3. Information and records as to discussions, memoranda, financial and analyses and information as to any proposed merger, consolidation, combination or other transaction of any kind between or among NYPA and the Long Island Power Authority created (whether or not by or on behalf of NYPA) from February 13, 2009 and through and including July 31, 2010;
4. Information and records as to health insurance coverage or benefits or indemnification against health insurance coverage provided to any NYPA Board member;
5. Information and records as to use of cars in NYPA’s car pool for the White Plains office from the period from September 1, 2008 through and including July 31, 2010 by any of Richard Kessel, Bert Cunningham, Rocco Iannerelli, Francine Evans, Sarah Barish Straus, Denise Ellison, Roni Epstein, Victoria Simon and Francis X. Ryan (collectively, the “Subject Employees”);
6. Information and records as to expense reports by any of the Subject Employees filed during or with respect to the period (or any part thereof) September 1, 2008 through and including July 31, 2010.
If all of the records I have requested cannot be e-mailed to me, please inform me by e-mail of the portions that can be e-mailed and advise me of the cost for reproducing the remainder of the records requested.
If the requested records cannot be e-mailed to me due to the volume of records identified as responsive to my request, please advise me of the actual cost of copying such records onto a CD-ROM, if that is possible.
Please advise me of the cost of providing paper copies of the requested records.
If my request is deemed to be too broad or not to reasonably describe the requested records, please contact me via e-mail so that I may clarify my request and, when appropriate, please advise me as to how NYPA records are filed, retrieved, or generated.
If for any reason any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of the reasons for the denial in writing and provide the name, mailing address, and e-mail address of the person to whom an appeal should be directed. Thank you for your expected cooperation.
Very truly yours,
George J. Marlin
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streetcornerconservative.com 
September 7, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Please add CFO – Libby McCarthy to this list as well as Tursi’s replacement – Ms. Pasquale.
Victoria Simon belongs to the little twerp’s (Gil Q)entourage…not saying she shouldn’t be looked at, but she’s not a FOKer by birth.
September 8, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Get rid of all the political non-entities and let the people who really know this business run it. This includes Gil, Fat boy and all their cronies who got their jobs because of who they know,not what they know.
August 29, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Yes, I hope you are successful finding out who NYPA has paid off. I would like to know how much money they gave to the Citizens Campaign for the Environment…. or How many jobs were awarded to members of CCE…. the CCE has sold out to industry they could care less about the envuronment.
August 28, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Mr Marlin – thank you.
Finally someone has had the balls to ask the obvious questions.
I understand that everything you have asked for should have been recorded. IT has a way of tracking when you logged into the system, when you logged out etc. Cars should also be logged. Time can be logged with the card key system at each site. The IRS should also be notified about the abuse of the cars. Isn’t it a taxable perk, if you have a car that is used to commute to and from work (rather than for official business to and from a site?)
-Jaded PASNY Tech.
Phil Mihiney – Yes, it will be very interesting to see how NYPA responds to this request. The information, while not readily available, is definitely there.
August 30, 2010 at 12:36 pm
PASNY Tech,
The records were always readily available when the previous IG wanted to screw some honest hard working employee. Why wouldn’t they be readily available now? IT has records of all of the requested information and Fleet has all the car records. And yes, use of the cars is by law taxable if used for commuting purposes. It is a shame all of the good people at NYPA have to put up with this nitwit and his posturing and blustering. WOW, 3%, is he trying to buy goodwill? How about all of the money lost by people in their pensions because of the lack of raises in past years. Where are Fred Dicker and Brodsky when you need them? Wish I had a way to contact George Marlin in private so I could fill him in on some other things. George, look into the upcoming Background screening contract, who is the lowest bid and who is trying to disqualify them so Vinnie Vesce’s company can get the contract.
August 28, 2010 at 7:30 am
SCC – Thank you for finally taking this on. Dickie Kessel will have a full team of lawyers working to thwart every one of your requests. However your persistence will pay off. Remember to question why Ms. Cusack is now an employee. I wonder how often she is at work. Does she have a PC? How often is she on line? That can all be tracked too.
Dickie had an all hands meeting last week. I think he is feeling the heat. He finally gave a merit increase (first since 2008) to the management employees. This raise didn’t go to his posse (Fran, Rocco,Victoria etc), it went to the people who keep the plants running and producing power. This revenue allows Dickie to give away more money to his friends and allies.
It was embarassing to hear him talk at the meeting. He is a buffoon. After telling everyone how much he travelled over the state this summer, he said that he felt the raise was justified. He said the UNION approved of the raise. Why would anyone running a company care that a bargaining unit approve of a pay raise to your management employees? This guy should be a contestant on “The Biggest Loser” not running the once proud New York Power Authority.
September 1, 2010 at 5:37 pm
Everyone gets raises except Executive Vice Presidents and Up. So most (if not all) of Richie’s posse will get raises. I don’t think he said the Unions approved the raises, he stated that he informed the Union reps in the AM that we were getting raises and they were “happy” for us.
It is true that NYPA can trace the wherebouts of a person by their ID badge. Most of Kessel’s posse has company issued vehicles – they don’t borrow from the Fleet. Also they all have Blackberrys and messages can be traced from where they were sent – that is another way to trace their wherabouts….
So the info that Mr. Marlin is requesting is available. The Corporate Secretary’s office will charge him 25 cents per page though (and I don’t think they will double side it – even though it is a default print setting.)
So what is happening with Gil – no one hears from him anymore……
August 24, 2010 at 3:03 pm
George,
As one in the know, be assured that the records you get will be doctored or mysteriously erased (like the previous IG’s blackberry, way to go Dom, or the plane records, Lori)or not available, can’t locate them, their dog ate them, take your pick, but these corrupt maniacs will somehow find a way to circumvent the law and not provide what you requested. Keep up the good fight, some day, some one will listen (probably when they want to get elected)and do something about this disgraceful situation.