The Kessel NYPA Watch, November 7, 2010 – By George J. Marlin
What is Richie Kessel hiding?
On August 23, 2010, over ten weeks ago, Street Corner Conservative (SCC) filed a short FOIL e-mail with NYPA requesting, among other things, disclosure of NYPA contributions to not-for-profits in 2009 and 2010. On September 14, 2010, SCC received a response from NYPA’s corporate secretary stating the Authority would release FOIL material “on or about October 26, 2010.” On November 1, SCC received this notification putting off the release of documents until December 7, 2010:
Dear Mr. Marlin:
This is in further response to your e-mail dated August 23, 2010 and received by this office on August 23, 2010, requesting the following records:
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 Iannarelli, 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.
Authority staff will need an additional period of time to identify, locate, retrieve and review any such responsive will contact you on or about December 7, 2010 with the status of your request.
Sincerely,
Karen Delince
Corporate Secretary
New York Power Authority
How long can it take to compile a list of NYPA 501(c)3 contributions?
Do NYPA officials fear embarrassment?
Did this upstate authority donate large sums to Long Island not-for-profits?
Did Richie Kessel direct contributions in return for honors and awards?
Are these unexplained delays designed to hide abuse and waste till after the new administration picks its new team?
New York rate payers have the right to know if their money was squandered to promote Kessel on his home turf of Long Island!
Richie Kessel, stop stonewalling and come clean!
Explore posts in the same categories: Richie Kessel NYPA Watch-SCC
streetcornerconservative.com 
November 25, 2010 at 7:36 am
The word on the street is that Kessel is going to demand that the 2011 budget be flat-lined. Seems like a good idea other than the fact that many capital improvement projects will not get done. The union contracts are around 3.5%. Overtime is up because workers are not getting replaced, but managers who are friends of Kessel are getting appointed. Factor those three things in and many other and there is a potential wavestorm.
Kessel is also turning people against each other. The STL RM (Turner) is holding meetings in a few weeks with all employees (union & management) to discuss the upcoming year expenditures. He discussed it with the union leadership (Dishaw and Malek) last week. I think they laughed about it because their contracts are in ink.
The bean counters at the facilities are now looking to cut back on everything. They will question every purchase. The problem is a bean counter doesn’t know how valuable a control circuit fuse sitting on a shelf can be. To the bean counter it is a wast of money. However taking a unit or line out of service because something as simple as a fuse didn’t get purchase can be embarrassing.
Lets get back to the days when NYPA was a technical organization. There are too many MBA’s and wannabees running the organization. The group in power (Welz, etc) got to where they are from the FOCUS directive back in the 90’s. FOCUS demanded that people stand up and be counted when things were wrong. Fix the wrongs, lock and load, etc. It was a lot of BS back then and the group that got promoted and made a lot of money because of it is sitting back counting their money instead of leading and doing their jobs. Its embarrassing.
November 20, 2010 at 8:20 am
The infrastructure is already beginning to deteriorate.Rolling black-outs not far behind. Maintenance work on generators and t-lines to be deferred until 2012. Huge legally mandated rate hike for customers criminally deferred by Kessel for years will destroy the organization in the media and ultimately politically. Management employees salaries flat indefinitely. Layoffs loom. Oh yea, 3.5% raises for the next 3 years for Union employees. Not bad for a company with 300 million dollars in revenue. Stop the looting now although it’s already too late. By the way Dyson was Mario’s boy. Remember those wonderful days? NOT!!
November 19, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Do you actually think NYPA is going to hand over anything of importance. The lawyers (lackies for Kessel) have become experts on stalling. The information you requested is easy retrieved and could have been gather and sent in days. The use of NYPA vehicles by Kessel and crew is totally out of hand.
I heard that Victoria Simon is finally out!! That’s what you get for not showing up for a no-show job. Now if they can get the rest of her do nothing crew out it would be a good start.
November 22, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Victoria Simon left on her own…seems that her hubby is a bigshot hedge fund guy – moving out to Cali. I guess they didn’t need her paltry $140k salary. It’s beyond ridiculous that you have quality people spend 20, 25, 30 years at NYPA and they’d be lucky to make what a young, connected, glorified admin like VS made. Same goes for Connorton in Marketing…now at nearly $130k; making more than his boss and about $25k above what the next highest non-manager (like him) in Marketing makes (and those making that amount have been at NYPA 20-30 years). Moral to the story is that it’s nice to be connected, particularly under the Kessel regime. Wake me up when they sweep this whole pathetic group out of NYPA.
November 25, 2010 at 4:20 am
Yes, you are right….she didn’t have a real job at the WPO because she didn’t contribute ANYTHING and she used her intern to do personal, non-NYPA business for her own gain while on company time. Good riddance.
November 18, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Does Dyson’s appointment to Cuomo’s transition team spell doom for Kessel and his cronies?
November 16, 2010 at 7:27 pm
At this moment Kessel is trying to have one of his flunkies “rush through” a new contract with the union giving them 3.5% raises for multiple years before the new Governor freezes wages for the rest of the state workers shortly after Jan.1 He should be fired immediately for fiscal mismanagement of NYPA. What a crook!What a buffoon!
November 13, 2010 at 7:40 am
Pasnytech … please let us know about the video conference incident. We had heard that Kessel thought the the recorder was off and he started to bad mouth the governor. His real character came out sounding like a street thug. Is that the truth? If so, he is as professional as I had originally thought.
Thanks
November 12, 2010 at 10:01 am
SCC – please, listen to STL Worker. I have friends in WPO who are just appalled at the activities of Kessel and his buffalo-wing munching associates. He isn’t even in charge – Fran Evans is the boss. She decides who is hired and fired, not Richie-boy.
We now have FOK-ers (Friends Of Kessel) in all key management positions, including IT, HR, Legal & Labor Relations. You really could not make this stuff up – it is SO corrupt.
The Marketing Department panic if they can’t get access to the internet to find articles about their Feckless Leader. Why don’t you ask about the “video conferencing incident….?” These people are so full of their own self importance that they actually think we watch them during their Bored (yes, I spelled that correctly) Meetings. It’s like watching the Muppet Show, without the intellect.
I wonder what happens if we all just keep on retiring…..
November 11, 2010 at 5:33 pm
SCC, please dont give up. The WPO power trip thinks they can make people go away. It is an embarrassment to those that work at the facilities producing power and keeping our system in order. He is a buffoon. Letters have been sent to the management staff and trustees, but they are either blinded or bought off.
Richie has hired many of his friends. His latest move has been to replace the entire management side of the negotiating committee with Frank Ryan, an old pal from Nassau County. The word on the street is that he will give the union a contract to earn their support and keep everyone quiet. This is at the expense of the management staff who is now making less than the union workers they supervise. The contract is up on March 31, 2011. The two sides have not even traded proposals. I guarantee at least a 3.5, 3.5, 3.5 & 3.5 over 4 years.
Kessell has got to go. He is a criminal. The people around him are either gypsies, tramps or thieves or all three. He hires cheats like himself.
Please help us.