NY's ethics commission director resigns
Crains New York Business - May 18, 2009
LINK

(AP) - The executive director of New York's ethics commission is quitting after he was accused of leaking information to one of then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer's top aides during a probe of his administration. Herbert Teitelbaum says in his resignation letter that the inspector general's report that accused him last week of the leak was flawed and he did nothing wrong. Instead, Mr. Teitelbaum says he is resigning because he became a lightning rod for criticism and didn't want to be a distraction for the state Public Integrity Commission. Inspector General Joseph Fisch's report called for dismissing Mr. Teitelbaum for unlawful contact with a Spitzer aide during the so-called "Troopergate' investigation.

Report on the Investigation of Herbert Teitelbaum

Embattled ethics director steps down
Herbert Teitelbaum exits after scathing Inspector General report
The Albany Times Union, Capitol Bureau - May 18, 2009

ALBANY, NY — The embattled executive director of the Commission on Public Integrity is resigning less than a week after the release of a harsh report from the state Inspector General found that he unlawfully funneled information about the commission's investigation of the travel records scandal to members of the administration of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Teitelbaum's resignation arrives the same day Gov. David Paterson announced his plans to introduce legislation this week creating a new watchdog group. News of Teitelbaum's exit from the two-year-old panel came in a release that contained laudatory quotes from the commission's new chairman, Michael G. Cherkasky, who last Wednesday — the day the inspector's report was released — stood next to Paterson as the governor called on Teitelbaum and the rest of the current integrity panel to resign. "Mr. Teitelbaum has served the people of New York with honor and diligence during one of the most difficult periods ever faced by a new state agency," Cherkasky said in his statement. "With the utmost professionalism, he oversaw the Commission's investigation into Troopergate, working tirelessly to make sure all the facts became known to the public and resisting the efforts of many to stonewall his efforts. The skills he used in his many years as a successful litigator were invaluable in getting to the heart of this scandal."

" ... While we are saddened to lose Herb, we understand that by this action he has decided to put a stop to what has become a distraction to the Commission's critical work." In a three-page letter of resignation addressed to Cherkasky, Teitelbaum says he had originally contemplated stepping down after the departure in February of former CPI Chairman John Feerick, but had allowed other commissioners to convince him that the simultaneous loss of the panel's two top officers would be "destabilizing to the Commission and its staff." Last week, Paterson said that he had been waiting to name the new chair until the Inspector General's report was released. Also Monday, the governor announced that he would submit legislation later this week to create a new watchdog agency, the Government Ethics Commission, that would be independent and have jurisdiction over State government, lobbying and campaign finance. "The general perception is that the ethics process in Albany is broken and I believe it is," Paterson said in a news release.

Herbert Teitelbaum Resigns from Commission on Public Integrity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 18, 2009
CONTACT: Walter C. Ayres
518-474-4418

ALBANY — The State Commission on Public Integrity today announced that Herbert Teitelbaum is resigning as Executive Director of the Commission.

Michael G. Cherkasky, Chair of the Commission, said, “Mr. Teitelbaum has served the people of New York with honor and diligence during one of the most difficult periods ever faced by a new State agency. With the utmost professionalism, he oversaw the Commission's investigation into Troopergate, working tirelessly to make sure all the facts became known to the public and resisting the efforts of many to stonewall his efforts. The skills he used in his many years as a successful litigator were invaluable in getting to the heart of this scandal.”

“Herb has made a selfless decision in the wake of the Inspector General's report which the Commission commented on last week. He has a strong commitment to the Commission's mission and to its staff. While we are saddened to lose Herb, we understand that by this action he has decided to put a stop to what has become a distraction to the Commission's critical work.”

Mr. Cherkasky added, “Among his many accomplishments at the Commission, Herb managed the merger of the former lobbying and ethics commissions into the new Commission on Public Integrity, which involved countless hours meeting with staff, obtaining new office space and separating the Commission from the Department of State in order to make it even more independent. He was intricately involved in developing a new on-line training program, and issuing more than 150 advisory opinions to State employees. Under his leadership, the Commission has made an effort to increase the fines for illegal conduct on the part of public officials. Recently, the Commission reached the largest settlement ever with a State employee, a $25,000 settlement that was announced just last week. He deserves the thanks of all the residents of the State.”

Mr. Teitelbaum's letter of resignation.

Annual Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 18, 2009
STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR DAVID A. PATERSON ON THE FUTURE OF THE PUBLIC INTEGRITY COMMISSION

“The Report of the Inspector General released last week indicates that there were serious leaks of confidential information from the Public Integrity Commission that the Commission tolerated by inaction. I was careful not to accuse any one Commissioner of wrongful conduct; I have no information to indicate that any single commissioner was at fault. However, the Commission was notified of unauthorized leaks and in my judgment, and that of the Inspector General, collectively failed to act but should have. As a result, the Commission has been compromised and its public standing is in question. “The sad reality is that this issue is much larger than the Public Integrity Commission. The general perception is that the ethics process in Albany is broken and I believe it is. This is the urgent challenge that we in government must address. I intend to submit legislation later this week to create a new Government Ethics Commission that would be independent and have jurisdiction over State government, lobbying and campaign finance. “Government depends on the trust of the public and must be accountable to its citizens. The public’s trust is a function of its confidence that government affairs are conducted honestly, ethically and without conflict of interest. It is my intention to put in place an independent commission structure that will restore the public’s confidence in our government.”

Ethics Commission Homepage before Mr. Teitelbaum's resignation

Welcome to the New York State Commission on Public Integrity. Here, you will find information about our mission and how we do our work. This information includes the text of many of our publications, access to our on-line applications, and information about the members of the Commission. There also are links to the relevant laws and regulations, as well as to our advisory opinions.

Our primary objective is to prevent violations before they occur. One of our most important duties is to advise State officers and employees, as well as lobbyists and their clients, about how the law affects them. We urge you to utilize our services and seek the Commission's guidance, whether by phone or letter or formal opinion. Agency managers or trainers as well as lobbyists and their clients, should contact us to arrange ethics or lobbying training.

The Commission also administers the Financial Disclosure Statement program and the Lobbyist On-Line Registration Application. Contact us with any of your questions.

Finally, the Commission is authorized to investigate possible violations of law. Call, write or e-mail us if you think you have evidence of a violation. You do not have to use your name, but if you tell us how to contact you, it will help us in our investigation.

We hope that this home page provides the information you need to understand the role of the Commission in maintaining the public's faith in State government. Thank you for visiting.

Herbert Teitelbaum
Executive Director

New York Ethics Commission Is Unethical
LINK

New York’s highly touted ethics commission repeatedly violated state law by regularly leaking confidential information about an investigation into former Governor Eliot Spitzer’s administration to one of his top aides.

Under state law details of inquiries conducted by the 13-member panel (Commission on Public Integrity) must be secret until they are completed. Not only did the commission’s director leak sensitive information about the probe to the disgraced former governor, who resigned after a prostitution scandal, the commission failed to investigate the leaks when presented with evidence of them.

This certainly seems to defeat the purpose of the heavily promoted commission, which ironically was created by Spitzer in 2007 to help restore much-needed ethics to a state capital infested with rampant corruption allegations, scandals and criminal indictments. The commission’s unethical practices were made public this week by the New York Inspector General.

In a scathing 200-page report, the inspector general reveals that the ethics commission director, Herbert Teitelbaum, exchanged more than 160 phone calls and had numerous dinner meetings with a member of Spitzer’s cabinet during a 2007 investigation into the administration’s misuse of state police to gather information about a political rival.

The inspector general’s report says that, during the dinners and phone conversations, Teitelbaum informed the Spitzer aide of his panel’s investigation—and its potentially politically damaging consequences—and offered extensive data of the probe which was initiated after the attorney general found wrongdoing by the Spitzer administration.

Barrett: Spitzer/Bruno Troopergate Still Toppling Officials
By Wayne Barrett in Albany, Politics, Wayne Barrett, Barrett: Spitzer/Bruno Troopergate Still Toppling Officials, Monday, May. 18 2009 @ 1:58PM
LINK

The seemingly endless Troopergate scandal left over from the previous governor is likely to claim a new head, or more, today in Albany, with the expected resignation of Herb Teitelbaum, the executive director of the New York State Commission on Public Integrity. Governor Paterson has also called for 12 members of the commission to resign as well, leaving only the new chair that he named last week, former Manhattan prosecutor Michael Cherkasky. But the members have so far refused to resign, and a lawyer for the commission members, Zachary Carter, did not return a Voice call to see if they're rethinking their position.

Sources tell the Voice that Cherkasky met with Teitelbaum last week, and that Teitelbaum has decided to call it quits. The state's inspector general, Joseph Fisch, a Paterson appointee, issued a 174-page report finding that Teitelbaum had "inappropriately disclosed confidential commission information related to its Troopergate investigation." Fisch noted that when the IG makes a finding against a state employee, it usually leaves "the issue of disciplinary action" to the head of an agency, but the evidence of Teitelbaum's "betrayal of the public trust" was so substantial that it compelled "the finding that his retention in state service is contrary to the public interest."

Ironically, Fisch found that Teitelbaum's conduct violated section 74(3)© of the public officers law, the same confidentiality provisions that good-government groups accuse Paterson of violating when secret information about Caroline Kennedy was fed to reporters at the end of Paterson's search for a U.S. Senator to replace Hillary Clinton. The New York Public Interest Research Group and other groups asked Teitelbaum and the commission to probe Paterson for possible violations of the same statute weeks ago, and the commission had yet to decide whether it would do so. Should the commission resign, as the governor has demanded, he would be able to name a new majority that would then be asked to decide if he should be investigated (Governor Spitzer named the current gubernatorial appointees).

Fisch didn't ask for the commission's resignation; indeed his report praised one member, Richard Emery, the appointee of Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, who tried last year to get the commission to probe Teitelbaum's reputed leaks. But Paterson's call made no exception for Emery, or Emery's law partner, Andrew Celli, a Spitzer appointee on the commission who recused himself entirely on Troopergate and constantly was wholly uninvolved in any cover-up it might have conducted.

Just as oddly, Paterson wants another commissioner, Loretta Lynch, to resign, and yet endorsed her to become the next U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of New York, covering Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. Senator Schumer nominated Lynch for that post, and made it clear that nothing in the IG's report, or Paterson's action, has caused him to think twice about that. Paterson said Lynch--the chair of the commission until last week--"would serve well in the Eastern District." Lynch has actually already been U.S. Attorney, as has another member of the commission, which includes several top prosecutors and a highly respected former judge.

Paterson's sweeping chop-off-their-heads declaration was just one more example of his knee-jerk reactions and posturing, attempting to look like an ethics crusader for a day. Walter Ayers, who's been the spokesman for the commission since its inception under various chairs and executive directors, told the Voice that the IG, which took itself out of the original Troopergate probe under Fisch's predecessor, is now "criticizing the only agency," of the several that probed the scandal, "that actually charged anyone with violations of the law." Now, says Ayers, "we're the only ones charged with covering it up." The commission did press charges against several top Spitzer aides, who were accused of abusing their powers to leak negative information about then State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno to a reporter.
The ultimate irony is that in a state government as scandalous as New York's, a leak about a probe of a leak has now become the hottest ethics brouhaha in recent memory. Even Bruno's subsequent indictment for selling his office--unrelated to Troopergate--has received a fraction of the media attention as this flimsy tale.