This article I wrote appears in the New York Post on January 30, 2009.

Statement of George J. Marlin of Streetcornerconservative.com on Newsday LIPA exposé:

“I call on Attorney General Cuomo to launch an investigation of the shocking disclosure in today’s Newsday by Mark Harrington that LIPA’s prior administration led by Richie Kessel hid $6 billion in private expenditure for which Long Island’s already shell-shocked ratepayers will be responsible over the next 30 years. LIPA bills will be dramatically higher as a result of the amounts which were intentionally hidden from the public. I respectfully request that the AG also investigate whether applicable state and federal civil and criminal laws were complied with and whether the public and LIPA Board were given required disclosures. I also request that an independent forensic audit be conducted that would analyze LIPA’s books and records regarding the matters in the Newsday story. Sadly, I do not feel that Comptroller DiNapoli’s office should conduct that review in light of the fact that a member of his family has worked for many years in a senior position at LIPA and is expected by many to join Richie Kessel at NYPA in another senior position.”

Assemb. Marc Alessi (D-Wading River), a frequent critic of no-bid contracts and political patronage at LIPA in the past, said he hoped federal scrutiny of any LIPA contract would shed more light on the utility’s past practices. “I’m not surprised there are federal subpoenas into former contracts at LIPA,” he said. “It became a disgusting patronage mill over the past 10 years.”

Source: Mark Harrington, Newsday, December 18, 2008

For the record, Richie Kessel, a Democratic appointee of Pataki, ran LIPA over the ten-year period referred to by Democratic Assemblyman Alessi.

The continuing investigation of former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno has washed up on Long Island.  The Times Union’s Jim Odato reported last week that LIPA had received a subpoena, which by its terms appears to be focused on Richie Kessel’s tenure as Chairman and CEO of LIPA, related to construction work done for LIPA by an obscure firm named Roadway Contracting and its principals, Russell Ball and Dori Evans, and one Robert Bannon — all reported to be political supporters of Senator Bruno. Interestingly, Kessel who always enthusiastically welcomes press inquiries told Odato and Newsday’s Mark Harrington that he was aware of the LIPA subpoena but would neither confirm nor deny whether he personally had received one. By all appearances, LIPA is cooperating with the US Attorney and the current LIPA senior management team is uninvolved in the matters under investigation.

Street Corner Conservative had many issues with Senator Bruno’s policies during his time as Majority Leader and his role in increasing State spending and taxes but hopes that a thorough investigation reveals that Bruno’s conduct in this matter did not violate the law. We note, however, that Kessel’s history reveals him to be a bipartisan purveyor of favors with public monies and that during his time at LIPA, Kessel directed monies to lobbyists and other politically-favored vendors through subcontracts paid with LIPA ratepayer funds. We will be watching this matter with interest.

Merry Christmas to all Street Corner Conservative readers especially those past and current NYPA employees whose interest in the matters covered by this blog is most appreciated.

According to the State Authority Budget Office’s Annual Report issued on July 1, 2008 for the Year Ended December 31, 2007, LIPA which was run by Richie Kessel until Fall 2007 and for the prior ten years, has 49 employees making over $100,000 or fully 49% of its workforce. Not only is NYPA which actually operates power plants throughout the State a much larger entity than LIPA, NYPA’s 1,600-person work force is also more modestly compensated. At NYPA, only 18% of the workforce makes more than $100,000 and the average salary is $81,000. Comparing Kessel’s LIPA to authorities across the State, the 49% of LIPA’s workforce making more than $100,000 compares to 7% of the State authority employees making over that pay level. Finally, the 49 LIPA employees making over $100,000 make an average of $154,000 a year (the comparable number for NYPA is $125,000). Look for NYPA’s non-union workforce to enjoy Kessel’s largesse with public money and for State electric customers to pick up the tab.

In looking at these numbers, it is important to remember that at LIPA, the actual maintenance and generating and transmission and distribution work is done by KeySpan’s (now National Grid) well-qualified workforce so that LIPA’s highly paid employees are operating from the comfort of their offices in Uniondale and elsewhere on the Island and not atop utility poles.

Street Corner Conservative will have more on the ABO Report in the future. Thanks to James Heaney of the Buffalo News for focusing the public and Street Corner Conservative on the ABO report.