New York State School Board Association’s Director of Governmental Relations David Allan Little will address the Newburgh School Board, parents and community members Tuesday, January 31 at 7 p.m.

UPDATE 1/31/12: The School District has announced Mr. Little will not be speaking this evening, but will be rescheduled for a date to be determined.

Kerry Butrick has sent out a press release promoting a special guest speaker this Tuesday evening whom will address the school board, parents, and community members.   The talk will be in the Board of Education Auditorium at 124 Grand Street at 7 p.m.

Text of press release:

The Newburgh Enlarged City School District would like to extend a special invitation to parents and community members to attend the Tues., January 31, 2012, Board of Education meeting which will include a special presentation by New York State School Board Association’s Director of Governmental Relations David Allan Little. Little will discuss the impact of New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s budget with respect to state aid and the tax cap, as well as the fiscal crisis that is affecting districts across New York State.

Little, a graduate of Wittenberg University and the Capital University Law School, has directed NYSSBA’s Governmental Relations Department since November of 1999. He previously served as counsel in both the New York State Assembly and Senate. In addition, Little’s credentials include positions with Home Rule Counsel and Counsel to the Majority Leader for Local Government, as well as serving nine years on the Brittonkill Board of Education, the last seven as its president. He has also served on the Rensselaer County Legislature, the Capital District Regional Planning Commission and the Board of Directors of the Cornell Cooperative Extension.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Board of Education Auditorium, 124 Grand Street, Newburgh, New York. Little’s presentation will be made available on the Newburgh Enlarged City School District website, www.newburghschools.org. For more information about upcoming Board of Education meetings, a detailed meeting schedule is available by visiting the “Board of Education” section of the website, and then “Meeting Agendas and Minutes”.

For additional information on what’s happening with the Board of Education and the Newburgh School District generally, you may want to check out newburghedinfo.com, a source of unofficial news and information about the Newburgh Enlarged City School District.

Newburgh Industrial Development Agency Meeting January 17, 2012

Last night at the Newburgh Industrial Development Agency Meeting Chairman Joshua Smith made an announcement that resolved the longstanding absence of one of the board’s members.  Mr. Smith said that he had received an email from Spencer Gulliver that said he had to resign because he had moved out of state.  Mr. Smith also said that he and the NIDA CEO had informed the City Manager and Mayor Judy Kennedy prior to her inauguration (January 1st) that this was the case.

This will open up a position of board member for the NIDA.  The appointment is made by the Newburgh City Council, and there is no term limit.

Video clip of the announcement is below.

January 9, 2012

Mayor Judy Kennedy
Councilwoman Regina Angelo
Councilman Cedric Brown
Councilman Curlie Dillard
Councilwoman Gay Lee
Corporation Counsel Michelle Kelson
NIDA Chair Joshua Smith

Re: Petition for Termination of Newburgh IDA board members Spencer Gulliver and Jerry Maldonado

Dear Mayor and City Council,

It is your responsibility to appoint the members of the Newburgh Industrial Development Agency Board (“NIDA”.)  While the NIDA is an independent public authority from the city, it is reasonable to expect that the council and mayor provide a degree of oversight to this agency such that should the agency be acting illegally, improperly, or fail to police its own laws, you take corrective measures.

Two members of the NIDA have had excessive absences for the past two years, but the agency has looked the other way, preferring to do nothing and keep the status quo.  In the case of Spencer Gulliver, his absenteeism has been egregious and beyond acceptable.  He was absent for 83% of all meetings in 2011, as well as 83% of all meetings in 2010.  According to the Attendance Policy of the NIDA’s own bylaws, the accepted limit is less than 33% unexcused absences.  Jerry Maldonado was absent 33% in 2010 and 50% in 2011.

The NIDA board has declared all of Mr. Gulliver and Mr. Maldonado’s absences “excused.”

Who can excuse a board member who does not show up for 83% of all meetings?  How can this person still be considered a board member?

While I am not a Board Member or City Council member, I hereby request that you petition for these two board members to be terminated from the NIDA board and immediately appoint two replacements who will actually attend the board meetings and carry out their duties responsibly.

Attached are the relevant portions of the bylaws and the 2010 and 2011 attendance chart.

Sincerely yours,

A. Jane Johnston

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According to the Bylaws of the City of Newburgh Industrial Development Agency, Article II, Section 1,

Members [of the IDA Board] shall be appointed by the Common Council of the City of Newburgh, New York (the “City”) and shall serve at the pleasure of the Common Council.. A Member shall continue to hold office until his or her successor is appointed and qualified.

Additionally, the Bylaws include an Attendance Policy outlined on pages 7-8, Article III, Section 8, paragraph (b):

Attendance Policy: Each member shall be and is hereby required to faithfully and regularly attend the regular and special meetings thereof.  As used and defined herein every member shall comply with the following standard for attendance in order to maintain their membership on such body in good standing:

1. No member shall have accumulated (4) or more unexcused absences amounting to no less than thirty-three (33%) percent of the total number of regularly scheduled and properly-noticed meetings of such body within the preceding twelve (12) month period.  For the purposes of this section, the term “unexcused absence” shall mean the failure of such member to attend such a meeting without having received approval of such absence of the presiding officer of such body.  Such approval shall be granted upon reasonable grounds and shall not be unreasonably withheld.
2. Any member of the City Council, the City Manager and/or any member of the body may petition in writing that a member of such body be terminated as a member for failure to comply with this local law, including this attendance policy.  Such petition shall specifically state the grounds including facts and circumstances upon which the request for termination is based.  The petition shall be served by mail or in person upon the presiding officer of the body with a copy to the Corporation Counsel of the City of Newburgh.  The presiding officer shall ensure that a copy of the petition is sought.
3. Upon the filing of such a petition the member whose termination is sought may request a hearing.  At such hearing the petitioner and the subject member may testify, produce evidence and witnesses, and examine and cross-examine any witnesses and evidence.  The Mayor as presiding officer of the body which is the appointing IDA shall preside at such hearing and shall render a decision as to whether the subject member shall remain on or be terminated from such body.

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Attendance of City of Newburgh Industrial Development Agency
Board Members for 2010 and 2011
X indicates present

On Dec. 22, Mayor Nicholas Valentine along with Deputy Mayor Regina Angelo joined Rabbi Shmuel Serebryanski of Chabad of Eastern Orange County, for the annual City of Newburgh Menorah lighting.

One more city council meeting to go

Thursday, December 29, at 6 p.m., at City Hall, the Newburgh City Council will hold a special meeting regarding a proposed Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Newburgh CSEA.  The meeting will begin with what is anticipated to be a short executive session to discuss collective bargaining.

This will be your last chance to see the outgoing council in action, with Mayor Nick Valentine, Councilwoman Marge Bell and Councilwoman Christine Bello all finishing their terms at the end of December.

Holiday closings and sanitation pickup

Ann Kuzmik has provided the following information regarding closings and garbage pickup over the holidays:

Since the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays occur on Sunday, City Hall and all non-essential services departments will be closed on Monday, Dec. 26, 2011 and Monday, January 2, 2012. There will be no sanitation pickup on either Monday, Dec. 26 or Monday, Jan. 2.

Garbage will be picked up in the affected sectors on Tuesday, Dec. 27 and Tuesday, January 3.

Collections normally done on Tuesday of the holiday weeks will be done on Wednesday. There will be no brush, metal, or furniture pickup on Wednesday of those weeks.

Miscellaneous footnote

Happy Holidays!

Slide Fire Chief Mike Vatter used to highlight areas of most distressed properties

Rae from Community Voices Heard reads the brainstorms of one of the breakout groups

On Tuesday, December 13, Community Voices Heard held a meeting at the Ritz in conjunction with the Newburgh Land Bank.  The meeting’s purpose, as stated in the handout, was threefold:

1. To learn more about the land bank
2. To plan for land bank activities
3. To get involved!

A handout was circulated listing the city-owned properties within the land bank area; they are mostly on Lander and Chambers streets, with some additional properties on Dubois, Third, South Miller, South, Liberty, Liberty St. Rear, Johnston, Grand, and First Streets.

Additional information on the Newburgh Land Bank can be found on its website here.  The contact person at CVH on this issue is Rae, who can be reached at (845) 562-2020, rae@cvhaction.org, or by stopping into the CVH office at 18 Lander Street, Newburgh, NY 12550.

Below is the full video of the evening’s presentations.  There is a gap in the middle, when the attendees broke into groups, which was not videotaped.

On December 6, The Newburgh Advocate received several documents in response to a Freedom of Information Law Request made to the New York State Authorities Budget Office regarding the Orange County Industrial Development Agency’s $500,000 grant to the Newburgh Armory Unity Center.  Despite the fact that the transaction is illegal in multiple ways, all the players involved continue to look the other way and there has been no regulatory action apart from a limp report issued by the ABO.

It was back on June 24 that I first asked about the propriety of the proposed OC IDA grant in this post, “Can Orange County IDA give Armory $500,000?”  In that post, I wrote that there are two main barriers to such a grant, according to the ABO, in that there is no statutory authority for IDAs to do this and that there is a “civic facilities prohibition” that has been in effect since 2008 and specifically prohibits the provision of financial aid to nonprofit civic facilities such as the Armory.

On July 18, I posted this Open letter to the Orange County IDA, I reiterated these two issues, in addition to a statement from the State Comptroller’s Office that “IDAs cannot give gifts/grants of their own monies.”  I also asked the OC IDA to get an opinion from the State Comptroller on whether the grant is legal.

On July 25, 2011, the post Orange County IDA justifies grant covered the OC IDA meeting of July 20th at which the Chairman Jim Petro presented the board’s justification for the grant, quoting a section of N.Y. GMU. LAW § 852:

It is hereby further declared to be the policy of this state to protect and promote the health of the inhabitants of this state and to increase trade through promoting the development of facilities to provide recreation for the citizens of the state and to attract tourists from other states.  The use of all such rights and powers is a public purpose essential to the public interest and for which public funds may be expended.

However, when asked to respond, the ABO clarified that the passage above is modified by §854, which limits the types of financial assistance industrial development agencies can give.  (For the full explanation, see the post.)

At their August 17 meeting, the Orange County IDA made some technical changes to the grant, now calling it a “project expenditure” instead of a grant, and while the original plan for the grant had been to give the funds to the Armory to cover such expenses as personnel or other “soft costs” (since philanthropist Bill Kaplan’s foundation would be paying for the “hard costs” of construction, renovation, etc.) that aspect of the grant had changed, too.  Now the grant would only be covering “hard costs” such as “construction, reconstruction, and improvements of the Newburgh Armory Building, or to furnish, equip, and maintain the building.”

Additionally, the structuring of how the money is given to the Armory changed–instead of giving the money directly to the Armory nonprofit (as originally planned) the IDA would reimburse receipts from vendors up to the yearly allotted amount of $100,000 for five years.

It is not clear how these superficial alterations, though, except the IDA from the civic facilities prohibition, for example, or any of the other ways in which this grant is not legal (no statutory authority, can’t give grants of its own money, etc.)  Another lesser question I raised in the post on the August 17 meeting was whether there should have been a public hearing, since the law indicates that IDA projects of financial assistance in excess of $100,000 must have one.

What’s happened since then

On October 17, 2011, the ABO issued a Special Report on Industrial Development Agency Grant Awards to Private Entities.  In it, the ABO examines grant awards given by 29 IDAs, including the Orange County IDA.  While the report gives a good introduction to some of the relevant legal issues, it falls short in making definitive statements about whether or not these expenditures are legal, instead hedging statements with modifiers such as here: “Such awards would appear to be inconsistent with the ABO’s reading of General Municipal Law” (emphasis added.)

Also, at the conclusion of the report, the ABO closes with a milquetoast recommendation that the IDAs might possibly want to think about, if nothing else is going on:

The ABO does not question the intentions or motives of boards of directors in making these funding decisions. The purpose of this report is to raise, as an issue, how IDAs direct their money to community projects and private entities. As a result of this report, the ABO suggests that IDA boards undertake a thorough review of their organizations’ enabling legislation, missions, and financial assistance policies to make sure that all activities in which they are engaged are statutorily appropriate and mission-driven.

This is disappointing, to say the least.  The mission of the ABO is, among other things, “[i]nvestigating complaints made against public authorities for non-compliance or inappropriate conduct,” and their powers and duties, among other things, are

• Enforcing compliance with statutory requirements, including publicly warning and censuring authorities for non-compliance and recommending the dismissal of officers and directors.
• Investigating and acting on complaints concerning the failure of a public authority to comply with State law.
• Issuing reports of its activities, findings, analysis and recommendations.

Why would the ABO shy away from making a definitive legal statement, recommendation, or regulatory action of enforcing state law, which is one of its powers and duties?

 The Untouchable Sacred Cows

With the Armory Grant, there are multiple sacred cows involved that I believe prevent public criticism of this grant, no matter on how many levels it is illegal.  Instead, we must bow down and accept that these saints know best, even if it’s breaking the law, because to raise the slightest objection is to render oneself a persona non grata.

• Bill Kaplan, the millionaire philanthropist, who offered to match the $500,000 grant and even offered to double it to $1 Million if the OC IDA would do the same (Mr. Petro deferred.)  Mr. Kaplan is Newburgh’s most prolific benefactor, and while he is friendly and affable, who would want to provoke his wrath?  I asked Mr. Kaplan why the Armory/OC IDA wouldn’t contact the State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s Office for an opinion on this, but he said the IDA told him it was fine.
• Deirdre Glenn, the executive director of the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, formerly executive director of Newburgh’s Habitat for Humanity.  Ms. Glenn is another Newburgh legend.  However, her saintly acts have not meant that she is incapable of making mistakes.  For example, she pressured the city to give Leyland and Habitat a $300,000 loan at a time when banks refused to make such a loan.  The city went ahead, despite dissension by Coucilwoman Mary Ann Dickinson, and a few years later, when the loan was heading toward default, the city ended up writing off $150,000 of the original loan.  I do not believe Ms. Glenn or Mr. Kaplan have any particular interest in whether the OC IDA grant is legal or not, so long as they get the money.
• Jim Gagliano, and, by association, the FBI.  Mr. Gagliano was profiled in the New York Magazine love fest article, “Welcome to Newburgh, Murder Capital of New York,” from September 25, 2011.  He is the supervisory FBI agent for the region, and also coaches basketball at the Armory on Saturday mornings.  He showed up at a city council meeting when the contract with the Armory nonprofit was being considered, although he did not speak.  With the local FBI head a blind supporter, who is going to trample on toes and quibble about the intrinsic nature of industrial development agencies promoting economic development?
• The children.  When in doubt, invoke the children.  It happens all the time, and this case is no different.
  
• The gang members.  In the Orange County IDA attorney Philip Crotty’s letter to David Kidera, head of the ABO, in response to the ABO’s report mentioned above, Mr. Crotty writes that “[t]he Orange County IDA is doing its best to create jobs for our people young and old, whether they are gang members, community college graduates, four-year college graduates, or laid-off employees in need of a fresh start.”  This is quite extraordinary.
  
• The tourists.  In the OC IDA’s correspondence and in statements made at meetings, a repeated justification for the grant is that it will generate “tourism” which will, in turn, presumably generate “economic development.”  However, the numbers given at the July OC IDA meeting by Glenn and Kaplan seemed grandiose in terms of what the tourism/economic impact would be, and there was no justification for the numbers, and also no binding commitment to the IDA that these numbers would actually be met.  This runs counter to initiatives and tightening of regulations both by Governor Andrew Cuomo and State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to ensure that expenses and projects run by IDAs actually deliver the benefits and impacts they say they will–or else.

Who’s doing the grilling?

The ABO has been thorougly informed of this situation but, to date, has taken no further action other than the report mentioned above.  I have also been in touch with the State Comptroller’s office (with whom Mr. Petro, in conversation with me a month or two ago, would not give an answer as to why he would not just contact them directly.)

Perhaps there will be better luck with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, from whose office I recently received an acknowledgment dated December 2 regarding my complaint.

After another hiatus, the site is back up again.  However, almost all of the videos I had previously published on the site (hosted either through archive.org or youtube.com) have been deleted, and I do not have backups.  If you have ever downloaded a video from my site, and would be willing to copy it to a disk and mail it to me, I would be very grateful.  I am particularly looking for the videos concerning the Orange County Government Center (as I have received requests recently about those), the ARC meetings from 2006, and more personally the “N.C.D.A.: DOA” video.  But ideally I would like to restore as much as possible, so please send what you can.  Listed at the bottom of this post are some of the categories from which videos were deleted.

You may go ahead and mail it to me anonymously (or not) to: A. Jane Johnston, 16 Farrell St. Apt. 4, Newburgh, NY, 12550.  Or send an email to confirm, if you wish, to: jane@newburghadvocate.com.

Thank you.

The city council will be having a work session on Monday, November 21, 2011, at 6 p.m. in City Hall.

This session has been rescheduled due to the Thanksgiving Holiday, and according to the press release, “[i]t is expected that the bulk of the meeting will involve budget discussions.”

Apologies for the site being taken down for periods of time over the past few weeks.  The removals were intentional, and not due to vandalism.  I have bipolar disorder which causes occasional disruptions.

In lieu of overdue updates about the city council, Newburgh IDA, city elections, the state of the County IDA’s Armory grant — or lack thereof–, the propriety of city council members directing code enforcement officers to investigate our mayor elect’s housing, the murky side of the Burton Towers deal, why it is impossible to get on the Mid-Hudson Regional Development Council email list — even after a complaint to Governor Cuomo, and so much more, I submit to you a link to a project I completed in January of this year for a show at C. Bass International Fine Arts Company in Beacon, NY.

Newburgh Kitchen

The GNP is a nonprofit, with investors including Central Hudson, Cosimo’s Restaurant Group, Hudson Valley SPCA, Laborers International Union of North America, NY Security Systems, Inc, Mount Saint Mary College, Perreca Electric Co. Inc, Safe Harbors of the Hudson, St. Luke’s Corwnall Hospital, SUNY Orange, Unitex Textile Rental Services, and Visconti Limousine.

The planned expenditures of the GNP include a paid community watch program; enhanced lighting in collaboration with Central Hudson; and additional security cameras and monitoring.  An additional project is the “Greening of Broadway,” in which the lot on the corner of Broadway and Johnston Street (locally known as Carchietta’s lot, although it is now owned by the City) will be cleared and greened by the end of the month.

Allan Aztrott gave the initial presentation regarding the GNP, followed by Councilman Curlie Dillard who spoke briefly and introduced City Fire Chief Mike Vatter, who serves on the Newburgh Community Land Bank.  Unlike the Greater Newburgh Partnership, the NCLB is a creation of the City of Newburgh and has direct ties to the government of the city in terms of its functioning and board membership, although it is also a nonprofit.  It was created with the guidance and assistance of the Pace Land Use Law Center.

The audience was then given a few minutes to talk as tables and come up with questions.  Mr. Aztrott then concluded the presentation by answering the questions and fielding some to other members of the audience.

One question was whether the hospital and other nonprofits could give payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs, to the City of Newburgh.  The city is under extreme financial hardship with severe cuts anticipated.  Many of the GNP anchor institutions, such as the hospital and Mount Saint Mary College, are wealthy businesses but pay no taxes to help defray the cost of city services because they are tax-exempt.

In responding to the PILOTs question, Aztrott said the hospital pays $22 M for free medical care, and that this is part of their contribution to the city.  He also floated the idea of the hospital creating two tax rateable properties, and did not entirely rule out the possibility of a PILOT and some future point in time.

The presentation will be repeated on Thursday, November 3, at 5 p.m. at the Powelton Club.

Video of presentation below may be downloaded here.