Richie Kessel: BIG Republican Political Donor

“I lost contact with Richie Kessel, who somehow was able to swim the political rapids from the Democratic side to the Republican side.”

                                                                                                           – Mario Cuomo

While a professed life-long Democrat, Kessel’s State political contributions, all a matter of public record on the State Board of Elections web site, belie his protestations.  Kessel in fact donated a total of $1,600 to Republican George Pataki and did not donate personally to his successor, Governor Eliot Spitzer or then-Lieutenant Governor David Paterson or now Governor Paterson.  While press reports stated that Kessel attended Attorney General Cuomo’s recent Long Island fundraiser, there is no record of Kessel contributing to AG Cuomo then, prior to or in the past three years since the AG’s 2006 election.  (Street Corner Conservative will be following any political giving by Kessel this year and next.)  To be complete, Kessel has donated to appointed Comptroller DiNapoli, now a State-wide official, on multiple occasions.

Some speculate that Kessel’s multiple contributions to Pataki were to curry favor with the GOP Governor who said the following in 1994: “I think they’ve [LILCO] been poorly run.  But on the other hand, I think if there is anybody who could run it worse, it would be Richie Kessel.”  In 1995, however, Pataki reversed himself and hired Kessel as LIPA Chair and CEO in 1997, confident that in an effort to keep his LIPA job, Kessel would do as directed.  In addition, Pataki surely knew that Kessel’s closest political friends and patrons were three powerful Long Island Republicans, Al D’Amato, Joe Mondello and Dean Skelos, who would have a direct pipeline to Kessel.  In 2008, lobbyist D’Amato and then Majority Leader Skelos intervened with the hapless Paterson Administration to secure Richie his latest political sinecure at NYPA.

Specifically, based on Board of Elections records, Richie has given to Republican Governor Pataki, then-Republican Senator Mike Balboni and current Republican Senator Ken LaValle and Republican Assemblyman McDonough.  Richie’s friendship with former Republican Senate Majority Leader Skelos may explain why Richie has not donated to any Democratic candidate for State Senate, a top priority of State and Long Island Dems.  On the other side of the aisle, Richie has donated to some Democrats in addition to DiNapoli, including Democrat Roger Corbin who was recently arrested by the FBI for accepting over $200,000 from a Nassau County housing developer and forgetting to declare it on his income taxes.  Corbin is, of course, entitled to the presumption of innocence.  Newsday reports that the Corbin investigation continues.  We find it interesting that Richie has not contributed to either County Executive Tom Suozzi or Nassau Comptroller Weitzman in either of their races.  Given his long-standing interest in the County Executive’s seat, Richie may have wanted to avoid supporting someone he might one day oppose in a Democratic primary for County Executive, a race Kessel lost to Ben Zwirn a number of years ago.

Lastly, we note Mrs. Richie Kessel donated to Town of Hempstead Republican Supervisor Kate Murray in her last re-election campaign in 2007.  Street Corner Conservative understands that Kessel’s spouse works for the Town of Hempstead in a patronage position.  Supervisor Murray, of course, is the official who many believe is holding up approvals on the Lighthouse Project at the Nassau Coliseum.  Those wishing to follow this from home can go to the Board of Elections web site at www.elections.state.ny.us.

THE KESSEL COUNTDOWN: ­579 DAYS UNTIL RICHIE KESSEL IS FIRED BY THE NEW GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK.

Notes and Asides

It now is readily apparent that Richie Kessel directed FOIL staff at NYPA to violate the law and delay disclosure of legally required information to hide his whereabouts.  Street Corner Conservative filed its initial FOIL request on February 17 of this year requesting Kessel’s phone logs, calendar and physical whereabouts.  Kessel had FOIL staff reply on February 24 that they “will advise you whether your request will be granted or denied on or about March 10, 2009.”  The next NYPA response (March 10, 2009) stated that Street Corner Conservative would be contacted on or about May 6, 2009 on the status of the request for Kessel phone logs, calendar and physical whereabouts.  Then on May 6, 2009, Kessel’s phone records were transmitted and on May 18, 2009—three months after the original FOIL request was filed, the seven-page Kessel calendar was made available.  As for the details on Kessel’s physical whereabouts, FOIL staff stated in the May 18, 2009 correspondence that “the record responsive to this portion of your request is being reviewed and we will contact you on June 1 to advise of the availability of such records.”

Now, Street Corner Conservative is not one to complain or whimper about minor miscues or immaterial issues.  Here’s why this matters:

For a guy who casts himself as a roly-poly consumer advocate committed to protecting the little guy, Kessel in fact hides the ball from taxpayers, the media and our elected representatives when that serves his interests and those of his Long Island political patrons.  Here’s one example that should trouble NYPA’s Board, upstate media and State electeds of both parties.  When Kessel was advocating for windmills off Jones Beach on the south shore of Long Island, he pronounced that the project would cost about $300 million.  After rumors surfaced that the cost estimates were ballooning Kessel repeatedly refused to provide cost information to Newsday.  Newsday at first played nice, continued to be stonewalled and then resorted to FOIL.  Faced with the legal requirement to now disclose the data, Kessel’s LIPA at last confessed that the project would in fact cost over $800 million and would raise LI electric rates even higher.  After Kessel was sacked by Governor Spitzer and after the true costs were revealed, Kessel’s successor killed the project.  And now at NYPA Kessel takes advantage of Earth Day to announce…windmills…in the Great Lakes.

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As NYPA dribbles out the information about Richie Kessel’s schedule, phone calls and whereabouts, Street Corner Conservative offers the following tidbits about Richie:

Consistent with what our correspondents tell us, when he does appear in White Plains or other NYPA facilities around the State, Richie arrives late, leaves early and is mostly concerned about promoting himself at press conferences.  He spends an awful lot of time on Long Island for a fellow running a White Plains-based energy agency serving primarily upstate and WNY customers.

He has many conversations with registered lobbyists like Long Island warhorses, Al D’Amato and Jerry Kremer.  A final tidbit, Richie has been intent on placing windmills upstate from the first days of his tenure.

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Our intrepid correspondents at NYPA tell us that Richie Kessel and his band of Long Island insiders are working full time on a scheme to buy the Long Island power plants owned by Keyspan in the event LIPA passes on such opportunity as our NYPA correspondents tell us is becoming more likely.

The following scenario derived from that inside information should scare NYPA customers, bondholders, rating agencies and those who care about upstate.

Here’s what Street Corner believes could happen: in the event LIPA determines not to buy the old, tired LILCO plants, Kessel will leverage the pristine NYPA balance sheet, borrow billions and buy at premium prices the old Keyspan plants.  He’ll claim that rates will be cut by some unproven double digit percentage based on creative use of tax exempt financing and exemption from federal corporate income tax in NYPA’s hands.  He’ll then run for County Executive based on this latest “success” once Tom Suozzi leaves for greener political pastures.

THE KESSEL COUNTDOWN: ­586 DAYS UNTIL RICHIE KESSEL IS FIRED BY THE NEW GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK.