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May 25, 2007
Spitzer unveils Authority plan
NY Newsday
By James T. Madore
Gov. Eliot Spitzer unveiled a proposal Thursday for greater oversight of public authorities, but sponsors of a similar bill already moving through the legislature said their plan would better combat abuses.
Spitzer wants to recast the Authority Budget Office as the Independent Office of Public Authority Accountability, with power to scrutinize hundreds of authorities statewide, including the Long Island Power and Metropolitan Transportation authorities.
Spitzer also called for more accountability from authority boards, and a restructuring of the Public Authorities Control Board by adding a representative of the state comptroller and eliminating the requirement that votes be unanimous before action can be taken. The five-member board has sparked controversy by approving the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn but nixing a West Side stadium in Manhattan.
The Governor's plan lacks teeth compared to legislation just adopted by the State Senate:
That bill would give subpoena power to the Authority Budget Office, require authorities to submit some contracts for review by the comptroller, limit borrowing and seek legislative approval before creating subsidiaries. None of those provisions are in Spitzer's legislation.
"There is less accountability than what we are offering," Flanagan said. "They [the governor] just aren't interested in real reform."
NoLandGrab: Amongst good-government advocates, Atlantic Yards is considered one of the best reasons for public authorities reform. The run up to the approval of the project included the MTA's granting of development rights for the railyards to the low bidder, Forest City Ratner, and the project's financing being approved by three men in a room. None of the above (except Forest City Ratner, presumably) ever saw a real business plan for the project.
It's hard to know if the Governor's suggested reforms would have changed anything in the past three years. The State Comptroller could have taken a hard look if he wanted; the MTA justified the bid by considering "track improvements" (the tracks wouldn't have to be "improved" if they didn't have to be moved to accomodate an arena); and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver declared he was satisfied with the numbers from KPMG's report, even though the report fell well short of being a real financial plan.
Posted by lumi at May 25, 2007 6:27 AM