The chair of the state Senate Ethics Committee says even though hearings to fix New York’s dysfunctional ethics panel have been delayed, she’s hopeful that solutions can be reached by the end of the summer.
Senator Alessandra Biaggi this week canceled a planned hearing that to feature testimony from the executive director of the troubled Joint Commission on Public Ethics, or JCOPE. Concerns about whether the hearing was adhering to the state’s open meetings laws led to the postponement.
The Democrat says once more senators can attend in person instead of over Zoom and a new date is set, she hopes to examine solutions to the state’s poor track record on ethics.
The reform advocacy group, the Center for Public Integrity, gives New York a grade of D- for ethics. Biaggi says JCOPE is dominated by appointees of Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and has complex rules that make it hard to carry out investigations or impose punishment.
“I actually don’t believe that the essence and the spirit of JCOPE in its creation was actually set up in a way to succeed, I think that JCOPE was set up in a way to fail,” Biaggi said.
Biaggi says the ethics commission seldom launches investigations when allegations of corruption are made, even in the case of former Cuomo top aide Joe Percoco, who was convicted of running bribery and kickback schemes. He is now serving time in federal prison.
Another issue came up last summer, when the ethics commission staff gave Cuomo permission to write a memoir about the COVID-19 pandemic that earned him $5 million. Commissioners who were appointed by members of the legislature weren’t told about the governor’s request. Cuomo is accused of inappropriately using staff to help him write and edit the book, something the governor denies. Republican commissioners and lawmakers have asked for a probe into the book deal, but have received no answer from JCOPE.
There’s also questions about the independence of the commissioners. Recently, a commissioner who is an appointee of the Assembly Speaker said that he was a witness to a leak regarding his confidential vote in the Percoco case.
When probes are conducted, they often take years to complete, or in some cases, never reach a conclusion.
Erica Vladimer was an aide to former Senate co-Leader Jeff Klein in 2015, when she says he forcibly kissed her outside an Albany tavern. Klein denied the charges, and in 2018 asked for JCOPE to look into them. Three years later, Klein is no longer in office after losing a reelection bid, and the case has not been resolved.
Vladimer is now part of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, which is made up of former legislative staffers who say they were sexually harassed by lawmakers. She plans to testify at the hearing when it’s rescheduled. She says JCOPE is ill equipped to handle sexual harassment complaints, and needs to hire experts who can better investigate allegations.
“Bring in an attorney who’s an expert in labor law,” Vladimer said. “Bring in somebody from a human rights division.”
Vladimer says there also must be “adequate funding” funding for the new hires and for the commission.
A bill sponsored by Senator Biaggi, would make several changes to JCOPE to make it easier to conduct investigations. A measure by her colleague, Democratic Senator Liz Krueger, would amend the state’s constitution to create a permanent ethics board dominated by appointments by the state’s judges.
Blair Horner is with the New York Public Interest Research Group, which supports a constitutional amendment. Horner is also a WAMC commentator.
“JCOPE must go,” said Horner who added the commission is “not structured to be an independent ethics watchdog.”
“This is clearly the reflection of the governor and the legislative leaders, not the public’s best interest,” Horner said.
So far, only the state Senate is holding the hearings and backing the proposed reforms. The state Assembly has not yet agreed to making any changes.
