The late Rep. Richard Brodsky, who once described New York State’s hundreds of agencies as “quasi-Soviet-type public bureaucracies” that formed a “shadow government,” helped create the five-member Public Authorities Control Board (PACB), which helps oversee the state’s hundreds of agencies and must obtain an approving resolution before receiving project-related funding.
One has to wonder what Brodsky would have made of a story that was told by the Albany Times Unions Brendan Lyons, that has almost Shakespearean overtones.
For the past two years, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy has reportedly had his eye on another job that pays better than his current one: CEO of the Albany County Airport Authority, a job that pays $227,000 a year.
The problem is that the position is already filled by McCoy’s former deputy, Phil Calderone.
By most accounts, Calderone did a good job: securing federal grants, overseeing a $100 million renovation and expansion project, and attracting new airlines to Albany. But his contract was not renewed by the airport board.
There is also speculation that McCoy, who appointed three of the seven board members, may have staged some kind of coup.
The abrupt change in leadership at the airport has alarmed three local MPs, MPs Pat Fahy, John McDonald and Phil Steck, who wrote a letter to the airport authority expressing their concerns about the future of the facility.
“The airport is probably the biggest economic engine in the capital region,” said McDonald Capital tonight“When (the $100 million renovation project) is completed, and that should be sometime next year, they will see that we are really serious about business and growth.”
The money for the renovation project comes from federal and state funds, so politicians say they are very interested in what is happening there.
“The reality is there are some options here. And I think the board needs to take those options seriously,” McDonald said. “Maybe there’s an opportunity to continue with Phil (Calderone) until the end of the project. Maybe it needs an interim person with experience.”
When asked if there was a systemic problem at the airport authority, Fahy said it was something she wanted to investigate.
“I remember the auditor years ago putting out a report on all the state agencies. And there are always a lot of questions. We just went through a million of those questions with the creation of the Saint Rose-Pine Hills Authority – state-created, county-run,” Fahy explained. “The model was the airport authority, so that was the model legislation, which is almost a little ironic here. There are hundreds of them. The auditor raised a lot of questions about that years ago. That raises questions.”
Airports in the northern part of the state, including Buffalo, Syracuse and Monroe, are all operated by authorities, but the boards of each airport vary. For example, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority in Buffalo has a 12-member board appointed by the governor; one member is appointed on the recommendation of the county legislature and another member is recommended by the county executive. The Albany Airport Authority board has seven members.
According to Reinvent Albany, there are currently 302 state agencies and 876 local agencies in New York.
