TROUBLED

That sure was the theme of the commission’s meeting today.

It started with commissioner Peters (the Celli protégé) who was troubled that lobbyists could buy a table at a black tie charity event at the Waldorf Astoria and invite legislators to attend as their guests. No doubt he looked troubled. The thought of a lobbyist buying a table at a charity event seemed to stick in his craw. I wonder if he was as troubled when Spitzer used the state plane to Go to Washington D.C. and bump uglies with the whore? The PIC never bothered to investigate that misuse of state resources even though they published an opinion directly on point regarding usage of the state plane.

When a commission employee explained to Peters that the exception for charitable events was found in statute and further discussed in commission opinion 08-01 he was troubled that the opinion may have “unwittingly” applied the statutory exception to the Public Officer’s Law where it is not found (I’ll save you the 15 minutes of boring dialogue that ensued as all these lawyers tried to interpret the statute on the fly). To Barry’s credit he stood up for Teitelbaum and Feerick and the rest of the commissioners that had unanimously approved opinion 08-01 and said that the opinion was not written unwittingly they intended to be that foolish (my translation).

Anyway the commission then troubled all of us in the audience as for at least the tenth time they had an argument over the gift ban, what it means and what they wished the statute said. The troubling part with that?

THE COMMISSION IS FINING PEOPLE FOR GIFTS AND THE MAJORITY OF THE COMMISSIONER’S DON’T KNOW WHAT THE LAW IS.

You know what else is troubling?

THEY WILL NOT PROVIDE ADVISORY OPINIONS ABOUT GIFTS BUT THEY WILL ISSUE FINES.

You know what else is troubling?

I BET THEY DON’T EVEN REALIZE IT IS A VIOLATION FOR THEM TO ACCEPT A FREE LUNCH FROM A LOBBYING FIRM OR THEIR CLIENTS

You know what else is troubling?

THE WAY THE OLD MEN TRIED TO RUN THE MEETING EVEN THOUGH THEY AREN’T THE CHAIR. FROM WHAT I CAN TELL THE NEW CHAIR HAS A BETTER GRASP ON THE SUBJECT THAN MOST OF THE COMMISSIONERS YOU WOULD BE WISE TO LET HER LEAD BECAUSE THIS COMMISSION HAS BEEN TRAVELING IN CIRCLES FOR SO LONG ITS – TROUBLING

And for what its worth would Peters be troubled by allowing lobbyists to invite legislators to a charity event that he thought was worthwhile something like the “Bring Spitzer Back to Albany fundraiser” Limousine liberals do as we say not as we do.

I couldn’t stay for the whole meeting as I am troubled that every meeting is the same, same discussions, same lack of clarity and resolution and the same cast of cockroaches that just keep on surviving and at the end of the day that’s two hours you can never get back its a troubling waste of time.

If I was Gov. Cuomo I’d be troubled that I now am responsible for this cluster f*** passing itself off as the conscience of Albany.

There is enough trouble to start a good blues band.