Tagged: ethics

There is nothing more powerful than the truth.  That’s the faith that has sustained Tom Devine’s three-decade campaign to promote and protect whistleblowers in the corporate and governmental realms.

Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders announced their appointments to the new Joint Commission on Public Ethics, or JCOPE early last week. It was the last possible day before the commission was, under law, required to begin its work.

The first meeting was held late Thursday. It was a private teleconference, and no public notice was given.  The Associated Press first reported the existence of the meeting.

 It’s all perfectly legal, since the commission is not subject to the state’s open meeting laws.  But government reform advocates say it could set a negative tone, before the ethics panel has even gotten off the ground.  Dick Dadey, with Citizens Union, says he’s not overly concerned yet.

Governor Cuomo named Janet DiFiore, the District Attorney of Westchester County, to chair the commission. He also appointed Seymour Knox the IV, who is VP of Corporate Relations for the Buffalo Sabres, as well as the chair of a private equity firm, and Mitra Hormozi, who worked for Cuomo when he was Attorney General.   

Senate Leader Dean Skelos picks include former Western New York State Senator Mary Lou Rath. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver chose former state budget director Patrick Bulgaro.

Since the new ethics law was signed last August, there has been a kind of limbo period, with no active investigations of lawmakers for any alleged ethics violations.  Governor Cuomo, speaking on Long island earlier in the day says that now changes.