Fire, water and government know nothing of mercy. –Albanian proverb

Jeffrey S. Wynans, new City of Newburgh Water Department Superintendent signs his oath of office. City Clerk Laurene Vitek (at right) administered the oath.

Washington’s Headquarters is having a “Kites Over The Hudson” event on Saturday, August 28th from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.:

For the first 150 children, ages 15 and under, there are free kites and prizes in various kite flying categories.  For those over 15, there’s beautiful scenery, and welcoming  breezes blowing off the majestic and picturesque Hudson River. For all, though, there are free refreshments! Everyone is encouraged to bring a blanket or folding chair to view the day’s activities. Find a nice spot and relax.

Admission to Washington’ Headquarters, first historic site in the nation, will be underwritten by Central Hudson Gas and Electric Company. Guided tours, conducted by costumed historic interpreters, will address not only the history of the house and the role it played during the Revolutionary War, but also touch upon its importance in light of historic preservation. From its inception as a designated state historic site, it set the example for over 7,000 similar locations to follow. As for the kites, refreshments, prizes and entertainment for the day, all are being provided by the gracious patronage of the Friends of the State Historic Sites of the Hudson Highlands.

Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site is a registered national historic landmark. It is located at the corner of Liberty and Washington Streets within the city of Newburgh’s East End Historic District. The site is one of 35 historic sites within the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and is one of 24 facilities administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in New York and New Jersey.  For further information contact: (845) 562-1195.  For more information about New York State Parks, please visit our website at www.nysparks.com.

But then again aren’t all the Orange County Choppers’ bikes fetish bikes?  Senator Bill Larkin gives the FBI bike a try during the unveiling Monday, August 9th at the Newburgh Waterfront.  The Choppers produced the bike (and another one to be raffled) for an episode that will air September 16 on TLC.

The two Bills: Larkin and Kaplan arrive at the waterfront.

Kids, sailors and cops: the three main demographic groups attending the ceremony, in reverse order of predominance.

Paul Teutul Sr. arrives on the FBI bike.

A sign for the augurs: a flock of pigeons soared overhead just before the police procession with Teutel Sr. began.

Inlaid gold detailing above the rear tire.

Seal on the front.

Teutel gives a speech and points out the features on the bike.

An example of the cops to other people ratio.

The black bike in the foreground will be raffled, with the money to support anti-gang/stop the violence programs and initiatives in Newburgh.

What’s a Newburgh event without Mayor Nick Valentine?

Where’s County Executive Eddie Diana?  Maybe he was too shy to show the love for faithful campaign contributors OC Choppers.  He sent Jim O’Donnell, who lurked under the canopy of the River Grill for the proceedings.  Thanks, everyone!

Relative to other municipalities across the country, Newburgh has seen disproportionally high rates of assaults and murders in the last several years, making the city among the most violent in the nation per capita.  The violence in this small city of 29,000 residents is so pronounced that it has drawn the attention of the Obama administration. HIDTA-designated counties comprise approximately 14 percent of U.S. counties, and exist in 45 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia

Law enforcement organizations within HIDTAs assess drug trafficking problems and design specific initiatives to reduce or eliminate the production, manufacture, transportation, distribution and chronic use of illegal drugs and money laundering. Through a combination of joint initiatives and resource and information sharing, the HIDTA program helps improve the effectiveness of drug control efforts.

Full text of the letter:

August 4, 2010

R. Gil Kerlikowske
Director
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Executive Office of the President

Washington DC 20503

Dear Director Kerlikowske:

We are writing to urge you to quickly approve the petition recently submitted by Chauncey Parker, Director of the New York /New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), seeking a HIDTA designation for Orange County, New York.

The petition submitted to the Office of National Drug Control Policy accurately describes the serious crime problem within Newburgh, New York and the impact of drug flow to the surrounding area. Relative to other municipalities across the country, Newburgh, has seen disproportionally high rates of assault and murder in the last several years — making Newburgh among the most violent cities per capita in the nation.  This year, Newburgh received national attention for its exceptionally high rates of gang and drug-related crime. In May, the Department of Justice collaborated with local law enforcement in an unprecedented show of force in the city of Newburgh that resulted in the arrest of 76 gang members. We commend the timely and decisive action of all the local and federal law enforcement officers involved. Unfortunately, this issue is far from resolved.  There must be an ongoing effort to ensure that gang and drug violence is dealt with effectively in the future.

A HIDTA designation for this area would allow for increased collaboration between the local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that will improve communication and information sharing and allows for more effective policing. This designation would also enable the federal government to invest more resources in Newburgh such as equipment and technology. Given the clear and persistent drug and gang-related violence in Newburgh, we urge you to approve this new HIDTA designation without delay.

Sincerely,

________________________________                        ____________________________________

Maurice D. Hinchey                                                        John Hall

________________________________                        ____________________________________

Charles Schumer                                                              Kirsten Gillibrand

The Mayor and Council will discuss the qualifications of the potential candidates via conference call with Jim Mercer, President of the executive search firm, the Mercer Group, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will convene in the Council Chambers and will likely move the Mayor’s office as the discussion will take place in executive session.

Work sessions usually begin at 6:00 p.m., although the press release did not list a time.

The interview excerpt above may also be downloaded here.

The Orange County Partnership is a 501(c)6 business league class of nonprofit.  Headquartered in Goshen, NY, OCP provides marketing services for Orange County’s economic development initiatives, including the efforts of the Orange County Industrial Development Agency.

On Wednesday, July 13, I interviewed Maureen Halahan, who is president and CEO of the OCP.  (Video of the full interview is at the end of this post.)

Ms. Halahan briefly described the history of the OCP, and why its creator, former county executive Louis Heimbach, wanted the OCP to be separate from the government in an effort to insulate it from political influence.  She emphasized that it was important to the OCP to not be political.

Which came as a surprise to me, as the OCP had made several campaign contributions over the years, including to a member of its very own board, County Executive Edward Diana.  While the amounts may be modest, arguably a contribution of any amount is a symbolic endorsement of one candidate over any others, especially when the state records disclose no contributions in kind for Diana’s opponents.

According to the New York State Board of Elections, the Orange County Partnership contributed to County Executive Edward Diana’s campaign fund in 2006 and 2008, as well as Citizens for Mills in 2004:

Date                         Campaign fund                      Amount         Campaign contributor name*
August 28, 2008      Citizens for Edward Diana       $100.           Orange County Econ Develop
June 18, 2006          Citizens for Edward Diana        $50.            Orange County Economic Development
December 9, 2004   Citzens for Mills                       $200.           Orange County Economic Development Fund

*The Orange County Economic Development Corporation does business as the Orange County Partnership.

Ms. Halahan had not provided any additional information on these expenditures other than what she states in the video (excerpted above, or in full below) as of Wednesday evening, July 14.

UPDATE BELOW: Ms. Halahan’s July 16 response at end of post

Not illegal, but is it appropriate?

While campaign contributions are taboo for 501(c)3 nonprofits, 501(c)6 nonprofits such as the OCP have more flexible rules regarding campaign contributions and political activities.

However, several considerations raise questions as to whether this particular political expression was appropriate.  The OCP is substantially funded by Orange County, with their 2008 annual report listing $200,000 from Orange County and $225,000 from the Orange County Industrial Development Agency.  So a substantial contribution from Orange County taxpayers supports this “lean and mean” marketing firm (to borrow Ms. Halahan’s self description.)  But the OCP is not any contractor — it was specifically created to serve as “external marketing agency for the economic and employment development of Orange County, New York” (quoting from the 2008EZ 990 form on page 2, part III, line 28.)

Should the “designated marketer” for Orange County advocate for particular candidates?

And then there’s the question of Mr. Diana serving as a board member when the contributions were made.   The March 2, 2008 internet archive stored version of the OCP home page indicates Hon. Edward Diana was a member of the OCP board at that time; the current page lists Diana as well.  He is also listed as a board member on June 14, 2006, just four days before the $50 contribution to his fund by OCP.

Charities Bureau and IRS forms raise questions on grants

The OCP also has some inconsistencies in the way in which it has been filing their required forms with the Charities Bureau of the New York State Office of the Attorney General, specifically form CHAR500.

On the CHAR500 form for 2008, question 4, Article 7-A Schedules, OCP checks the “No” box to question b., “Did the organization receive government contributions (grants)?”

On the 2007 and 2006 CHAR500 forms, this box is checked neither yes nor no.  For 2007 and 2006, however, no Schedule 4b is included, so one must presume the desired implied answer is “No.”

However, the 2008EZ 990 form indicates on page 2, part III, line 28, that OCP received Grants of $425,000, as “external marketing agency for the economic and employment development of Orange County, New York.”

On page 1, Part I, line 2, $425,000 is listed as “Program service revenue including government fees and contracts,” while line 1, “Contributions, gifts, grants, and similar amounts received,” lists only $84,300.

The 2007 990 lists $400,000 as “program service revenue,” not grants, as does the 2006 990.

The OCP Financial Statements (downloaded from the Charities bureau site) dated December 31, 2008, indicate that for 2008, $200,000 was contributed by Orange County and $225,000 was contributed by the Orange County IDA.  See page 5.  This total of $425,000 is described as “Unrestricted Net Assets–Governmental Support.”

When I asked Ms. Halahan yesterday about whether the county funds were grants or contracts, she explained that OCP has contracts with both the county and the county IDA for specific services.

The Attorney General’s Charities Bureau was unable to provide clarification on this issue.

Full video of the interview is below, or may be downloaded here.

UPDATE 7.16.10: Maureen Halahan Responds

In a voicemail left Friday evening, Orange County Partnership President and CEO Maureen Halahan left the following message:

I am calling with some information.  My bookkeeper’s on vacation, but she signed on electronically.  And the $200 check that was written to Howard Mills back in 2004 was a reimbursement to him for tickets that he purchased for our annual dinner, to attend our annual dinner.  And we then, apparently in our notes he was then offered two seats from a business colleague, or something, and we reimbursed him that money.

So the $200 was money that we reimbursed him, not a campaign contribution.

The other $50 and $100 were for tickets to have a meal at one of, one was a $50 meal ticket for Ed Diana’s event for a staff member, and the other one was, I believe, and we don’t have it in the notes, but I imagine another staff or another team member of my partnership, my partnership team.

So that’s what the other two were for.

The City of Newburgh issued a press release this morning announcing the appointment of Edward Lynch as the new Director of Planning and Development.  He will be taking over the post from Courtney Kain, who had served as Acting Director.

According to the press release (download here from the City of Newburgh site), Mr. Lynch comes to Newburgh after spending sixteen years with the Department of Development in New Rochelle, NY.

In New Rochelle, Lynch served under the Development Commissioner Craig King.  When the Development Commissioner position opened up following Mr. King’s leaving due to health reasons, and Mr. Lynch was not selected for the position, he tendered his resignation earlier this year.

Newburgh’s press release attributes New Rochelle’s development successes to Mr. Lynch:

The City has radically changed since then with mixed use transit oriented development downtown, including a 40 story Trump Condominium and a 1000 unit Avalon Bay residential development, a mixed use family entertainment center and significantly more commercial development. As Planning Director and Clerk to the Planning Board, Mr. Lynch obviously had a role in making a positive change.

But New Rochelle’s developments, attributed to Lynch or not, may not all be so rosy.

Trump Tower project lacks lessees; OSC audit critical

Talk of the Sound, a New Rochelle blog, reported on June 21 about a New York State Comptroller audit of the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency due to be published this month.  The OSC audit portrays a lack of oversight.  Additionally, Talk of the Sound reports that in the case of the Trump Tower, developer Louis Capelli has failed to rent retail space:

The report goes on to state that NRIDA did not monitor the status of ongoing projects to ensure reasonable progress toward the projected benefits described in the original applications so the board cannot be sure the projects will meet their intended goals, or know when they should invoke “recapture” agreements to recover some or all of the benefits provided when projects fall short of their promised goals.

The Capelli organization is on the NRIDA agenda tomorrow, in part to seek extensions on its recapture agreement for Trump Tower which expired in December. A recapture agreement is a clause which allows the City to claim money if a project fails to meet some promise, in this case to lease the retail space at Trump Tower.

The Comptroller warns that when NRIDA officials do not properly monitor ongoing projects and invoke recapture agreements, as appropriate, there is an increased risk that other taxpayers are subsidizing the projects’ financial incentives without receiving the expected benefits to the community. This is precisely what has been occurring since 2009 with Trump Tower.

Read the full post here.

Trump Tower didn’t do much for jobs

Talk of the Sound also reports that the Trump Tower project, according to the Office of the State Comptroller, failed to create the jobs it promised:

The report notes that NRIDA projects have, overall, failed to provide promised job gains for New Rochelle. In particular, Parcel 1A (Trump Tower) was supposed to deliver 358 jobs but has, as of December 31, 2008, delivered just 98 for a net deficit of 260.

Newburgh: New Rochelle North?

Mr. Lynch is not the first New Rochelle expatriate to join the City of Newburgh.  Current Corporation Counsel Bernis Nelson served as New Rochelle Corporation Counsel for twelve years (then under the name Bernis Shapiro.)

We sang songs…

We let the candles burn to the ground…

Or, at least, until the flames started to burn the icing as fuel, at which point the candles were blown out and cake was had.

Rest in peace, Newburgh Community Development Agency, ? – 2010.

The New York State Authorities Budget Office issued their 2010 Annual Report on Public Authorities today.  The full report is available from the ABO website.

Newburgh is trebly delinquent

All three of Newburgh’s public authorities made it onto the ABO’s “Public Authority Delinquent Lists” section beginning on page 24.

The offenders are the Newburgh Community Development Agency, the Newburgh Industrial Development Agency, and the City of Newburgh Local Development Corporation.

All three failed to submit “a 2010 Budget Report in PARIS as of June 15, 2010.”  PARIS is the Public Authorities Reporting Information System, a computer system for authorities to file reports online.

Additionally, all three failed to submit “a 2009 Annual Report in PARIS as of June 15, 2010.”

NCDA•NIDA•NLDC: What’s going on?

The NCDA (Newburgh Community Development Agency) was recently voted by the council/NCDA board to be dissolved, with their assets and liabilities  transferred to the City.  Such an action would require final approval by the state legislature.  As of yet, though, there has been no bill referring to the NCDA (the successor of the Newburgh Urban Renewal Agency) appearing in either the Assembly or the Senate.  Other municipalities, Corning and Rome, have similar requests pending legislative approval, but not Newburgh.

This makes corporation counsel Bernis Nelson’s rush to transfer the agency assets a bit enigmatic.  With no bill on the horizon, why the need for speed?

Nevertheless, with a semi-dissolved agency, with governance of its assets and liabilities transferred to the city planning department, it is understandable why the NCDA would have failed to file.

The NIDA (Newburgh Industrial Development Agency) – in contrast to the other two authorities – has been actively working to get its books in order, with a board that meets regularly and auditors hired to prepare their needed annual reports.  But, as of the July 1 ABO report, they had not met their filing requirements.

The NLDC (Newburgh Local Development Corporation) is the mystery authority.  Comprised of members of the council, NCDA, and NIDA, it has not met in recent years yet continues to do business vis a vis the planning department.  (That is, business other than filing annual reports required by the ABO.)

Will the NLDC be meeting the new requirements?

In addition to the budgets and annual reports that must be filed, the ABO’s report describes changes brought about by the Public Authorities Reform Act.  New requirements for public authorities include (from page 2):

• Effective March 1, 2010 the directors of state and local public authorities, and their official designees, are required to sign an Acknowledgment of Fiduciary Duty. The purpose of this requirement is to focus board members on their legal obligations, including understanding that these duties are the means by which the board carries out the mission of the authority (See Policy Guidance 10-01 available on the ABO’s website: www.abo.state.ny.us).

• By March 31, 2010 state authority boards of directors, in cooperation with the management of the authority, were to review and consider the intended purpose for which the authority was created and to file with the Authorities Budget Office a statement defining that mission and the measures the authority would use to evaluate annually its performance against that mission. Local authorities are required to file a mission statement and performance measures by March 31, 2011 (see Policy Guidance 10-02 on the ABO web site for additional information).

• Each board is now required to perform an annual self-evaluation of its performance, measured against the authority’s mission statement, the authority’s goals and values, and the expectations of those served by the authority and the state as a whole.

• The boards of public authorities that issue debt are now required to establish a finance committee to review the authority’s proposed debt issuances; to make recommendations to the full board concerning the nature and appropriate level of the authority’s debt; and to make recommendations to the board concerning the appointment and compensation of bond counsels, investment advisors and underwriting firms.

Since the NLDC has not even met as a board, despite efforts by the NIDA to initiate such a meeting, makes it doubtful that the NLDC is compliant at this time.