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August 17, 2010
Political Meddling Harms Public Authorities, Albany Panel Finds
The New York Times
by Danny Hakim
Governors and mayors should stop meddling in the affairs of public authorities, according to a new report from a state task force reviewing the state’s sprawling authority system.
...The report proposes that the law be amended to make explicit that politicians who appoint board members have a fiduciary duty that precludes them from improperly influencing their appointees. And it proposes giving state regulators enforcement powers over politicians who appoint board members, including referring violations to the attorney general or a local district attorney.
...“The law has always required board members to do what’s right for the public, not what’s right for the elected officials,” said Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat who championed the 2009 authorities law.
“Think if it was a judge,” he added. “Should the governor be able to call a judge on the Court of Appeals and tell them how to decide a case? The same should be true of the M.T.A. These are independent agencies with an independent mission.”
NoLandGrab: It's going to take a lot more reform than that, folks. As Atlantic Yards court cases have demonstrated, an allegedly "independent" judiciary can make plenty of bad decisions all on its own.
Posted by eric at August 17, 2010 11:18 AM