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NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. "The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt |
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GOVERNMENT REFORM |
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October 21, 2010
New York State Inspector General Joseph Fisch today released a report that criticizes the Governor’s Office and state Legislative leaders for failing to fulfill their public duty in the January 2010 selection of Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG) to operate Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. "This process was doomed from the start, and at each turn, our state leaders abdicated their public duty, failed to impose ethical restraints and focused on political gain at a cost of millions to New Yorkers," Inspector General Joseph Fisch said. "Unfortunately, and shamefully, consideration of what was in the public’s best interest, rather than the political interest of the decision makers, was a matter of militant indifference to them." The Inspector General’s office found that Governor David A. Paterson, Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, Senate President Pro Tempore Malcolm Smith and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver each contributed to the multi-million dollar debacle. The report strongly recommends that the "three men in a room" process used to select AEG never be repeated and that New York State impose stringent procurement restrictions on all major contracts to ensure that they are competitive, transparent and fair. The finding were forwarded to Federal and state prosecutors as well as the legislative ethics commission. October 18, 2010 Follow the Money! See how money influences the political process, it's effect on elections and U.S. Public Policy. The information is comprehensive and transparent. Go to Opensecrets.org.
February 11, 2010 The NCCA calls for passage of reform legislation The Nassau County Legislature will consider legislation today that will address the issue of public disclosure relating to pending legislation. The current notice requirement is inadequate and is in need to reform. This ongoing deficiency was clearly apparent when the legislature moved to hike the salaries of the legislative leadership and failed to provide any public notice. Click here to read our press release. December 21, 2009 Town of Huntington to Hold Vote tomorrow on whether to set up a "Ward system" This referendum will decide whether the town moves from the current at large system where town board members are elected by all of the residents of the town to a ward system (town council) which would break up the town into four separate wards each representing a particular geographic area. One issue in particular concerns us, the date that this ballot measure was scheduled. As this is an extremely important issue, the town should have placed this matter on the ballot this past November instead of Tuesday, December 22nd which is a few days before Christmas. Is the town trying to short circuit democracy with the timing of the vote? Sure looks like it. We urge all town of Huntington residents to come out on Tuesday, December 22nd and vote. The polls will be open at your regular polling place 6am-9pm. **The referendum was rejected by voters on Tuesday, December 22, 2009. August 19, 2009 Updated Public Authority Payrolls Posted Online Payroll files for 384 Public Authorities have been posted on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency web site for taxpayers. The new data includes names, titles, base pay rates and total pay received for most of the 44,320 public authority employees added today. Ninety-nine out of the 100 highest paid public authority employees in 2008 worked for either Roswell Park, the Nassau Health Care Corp., or the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. Newly posted data also include the 2008 salaries of 23,333 employees of municipal authorities across the state, such as: ·Water Authority of Great Neck North superintendent Robert Graziano, who earned $184,735; ·Long Island Power Authority CFO Elizabeth McCarthy, who earned $340,168, including $65,168 in extra pay; and For the full text of this press release, click here Updated Public Authority Payrolls Posted Online July 7, 2009 NY AG Andrew Cuomo Roles Out Consolidation website In an effort to educate voters on the recently enacted consolidation law, the Attorney General's office has created a new website, Reforming Government, a New N.Y. The website offers a roadmap on how to begin the process of consolidating local government including sample petitions and a instructional video. While the consolidation process has been simplified, it is still fairly difficult and will require significant support by those affected. In general, if local government delivers value for the taxpayer, any consolidation would be unlikely. If not, consolidation is now an option. March 6, 2009 New Web Sites provide Fiscal Information on State Government November 8, 2008 A great Government Reform website June 17, 2008 Open Government website debuts NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli launched a new website today which will provide public information as to how tax dollars are spent by 113 state agencies and information on thousands of state contracts. It is anticipated that additional public financial information will be added to the site in the future. The Nassau County Civic Association commends the Comptroller for his commitment to open government. Open Book New YorkWe would like to thank our guest speaker, NYS Comptroller Tom P. DiNapoli for speaking at our June 18th meeting and for having a question and answer session. It was an extremely informative meeting. We also wish to express our thanks to all of our members, supporters and the general public for the great turn out. For more details, go to meetings.
February 11, 2005
The Call For Open Government Has Been Answered July 15, 2004 Nassau County Civic Association, Inc. proposes new legislation for school district financial reforms. These reforms will encourage open and honest government that is responsive to the taxpaying residents of each school district through out New York State. Look at our proposals: School District Financial Reforms
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