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State officials eye ethics agency to help ‘deter political meddling’

ALBANY — Clean government advocates argued corruption has flourished in New York under an ethics enforcement agency designed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, saying a new independent commission would help deter political meddling.

At a hearing Wednesday organized by Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, D-the Bronx, lawmakers scrutinized the record of the Joint Commission on Public Integrity, which monitors lobbying activity and investigates complaints of ethical lapses and sexual harassment.

Riddled with abuses

“It is no secret to any of us here that Albany has a long history riddled with corruption and abuses of power, and it has long been subject to scrutiny for its failure to implement an effective ethical oversight regime,” Biaggi said.

JCOPE would be scrapped under a constitutional amendment plan advanced by Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, and a new entity would then be set up that, at least in theory, would not be subject to the level of political interference that sullied JCOPE’s reputation. That process could take a few years, at least.

In the meantime, Biaggi said, lawmakers should pass a ball aimed at correcting the deficiencies at JCOPE, to ensure public employees have stronger protections against harassment. Cuomo left office Monday night rather than attempt to fight allegations of sexual harassment from 11 women. He has insisted he never touched any women inappropriately.

Busy and accomplishments

Sanford Berland, a former judge who took over as the new JCOPE director last spring, acknowledged the agency has an image problem, though he contended it has been doing a far better job than what its public reputation suggests.

“Everyone at JCOPE is busy all the time,” Berland said.

“There is a difference between ‘busy’ and accomplishments, though,” parried Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, D-Queens.

Another witness before the panel was former Essex County District Attorney Julie Garcia. She resigned as a JCOPE commissioner in 2019 after the state Inspector General was unable to substantiate allegations that private deliberations of a JCOPE meeting earlier that year were leaked. Garcia subsequently got a phone call from a lawyer for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, indicating that Cuomo was disturbed by how she voted in a matter important to the governor.

That vote involved whether JCCOPE should review allegations that a Cuomo top aide and former campaign manager, Joseph Percoco, now in federal prison for a corruption conviction, had improperly used state resources to advance the Cuomo re-election campaign.

“Don’t know who to trust”

On Wednesday, Garcia offered public advice to new Gov. Kathy Hochul, who had been Cuomo’s lieutenant governor, suggesting she needs to proceed cautiously, as she is surrounded by Cuomo loyalists who remain in influential state jobs.

“You don’t know who to trust,” Garcia said.

Following the forum, Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, said he agrees there should be a concerted effort to fix the problems at JCOPE. He suggested that Hochul needs to replace many of the current staffers and install appointees who are serious about terminating corruption.

Berland lamented in his testimony that JCOPE does not have the funding to hire a forensic accountant for complicated financial investigations.

But Stec said JCOPE managers should be savvy enough to realize that such matters as Cuomo’s controversial pandemic book publishing deal, which netted the governor $5 million, should be immediately tackled while routine record-keeping matters are put on hold.

“Everything else can wait,” the senator said. “It didn’t look like they were jumping on that.”

John Kaehny, director of Reinvent Albany, a government reform advocacy group, said JCOPE should be dismantled.

“JCOPE has been completely compromised,” Kaehny said, adding that Hochul “needs to clean house” at the agency, replacing the Cuomo appointees with her own.

Sen. Phil Boyle, R-Suffolk County, said at the hearing that New York has not had an effective ethics enforcer since David Grandeau headed the now-defunct state Lobbying Commission. Boyle said Grandeau was balanced in his enforcement efforts and reviewed matters without regard to political considerations.

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