Now we all know that Maureen Harris, a high level commissioner at the NY PSC, is the wife of John S. Harris the lawyer representing BP with their Cape Vincent Wind Farm. Now is that a problem? Is it all innocent? Well here is some more information to help you decide. Of course BP and the NY PSC think this is just fine and dandy and marched out their public information officer to do damage control.
First let’s keep in mind that Mrs. Harris worked in Cuomo’s NY AG office when he was AG. The AG’s office regularly renders opinions to municipal officials when requested on such things as an officer having a conflict of interest. Our town Supervisor Mr. Hirschey asked for such an opinion from the AG’s office on our previous town officers and their potential conflicts of interest not long after he took office in 2010.
Below is a letter of opinion from the AG’s office from 1995 about a potential conflict in a different town. I don’t believe Cuomo was NY AG at this time, but that doesn’t matter. I am sure his office when he was AG would render essentially the same opinion. This theme in fact is in other opinions and is agreed to by scholars who I have read who look at NYS ethics laws.
The PSC is down playing the Harris relationship, and so is BP. No surprise there!!! I should have gone to Vegas and seen if I could have bet on that response. I’d be a rich man! But note what this opinion says above (underlined in red) that…
“Even the appearance of impropriety should be avoided in order to maintain public confidence in government!!!”
With what you know now how much confidence does this comment from BP and the PSC instill in you? Which by the way is basically the same mantra from both! That alone should make you wonder! Did they get together to consult???
Now let’s see. Let me ask you a question. Mr. Harris works as a lawyer for BP. One would assume he is legitimately paid by BP. I doubt he is working for them pro bono. So one would think that BP money that was legitimately earned by Mr. Harris one way or the other legitimately comes into the Harris household for Mrs. Harris to legitimately spend or access. Seems that is a rather normal set up in a marriage. So does it matter that she is not directly overseeing BP through her position at the PSC? Will other commissioners and employees at the PSC who are going to be involved in the Art X process be somehow impacted? In other words does this come up to the level set by the very AG’s office she once worked for as a potential appearance of a conflict?
Now… is there any test we can apply to see if there is an appearance of a conflict in the public’s eyes? Well actually there is. And that would be that the Watertown Daily Times (WDT) is reporting on it as news. They are not accusing anyone of anything, which is responsible reporting. But if there wasn’t at least some lingering question here or potential of a conflict or of the appearance of a conflict why would they, or the rest of us care. There would be nothing to report. I can’t read the minds of the editors at the WDT, but it seems logical they are reporting this because they know their readership will see a potential conflict and see this as an important issue to bring before the public. I applaud them and Jae Lee for this report. And there my friends is a pretty good test as to whether this is the appearance of a conflict that even the AG’s office says should be avoided. And remember that is the same NY AG office Cuomo headed and Mrs. Harris worked for. If it doesn’t appear that way there is NO story.
But what else do we have here that should raise some eyebrows. Well we know that Cuomo picked former NY Sen. Aubertine as his Agricultural Commissioner knowing full well he and his family have BP leases, and even if they don’t now, that Aubertine was clearly embroiled in the wind ethics mess in CV. Both Renzi and Richie who ran against Aubertine made an issue of it. A mess where even Cuomo agreed to investigate our former town govt.. Well except for Aubertine himself. And Cuomo re-appoint Mrs. Harris to the PSC and I can’t imagine he didn’t know of the BP connection with her husband. He simply isn’t that stupid. I have been face to face with one of his top lawyers and investigators when he was NY AG and I can tell you these guys are not dumb.
So let’s look strictly at the facts.
Cuomo re-appointed a PSC Commissioner, whose husband is John S. Harris the lawyer for BP’s and has been for some time. Mr. Harris will be defending BP’s CV Wind Farm, against the town of CV in Cuomo’s Art X process in which the NY PSC is administering now and will play a big part in in the future, Cuomo’s Agricultural Commissioner Aubertine and his family have BP leases, with Cuomo knowing full well Aubertine is in the CV wind ethics mess. And Cuomo never even completed the investigation into our town officers he announced in Aug 2010. It’s gone. That investigation would have involved officers in our town with admitted BP leases and in the opinion of a lot of people in CV should have included Aubertine How do we know. Because Cuomo required BP to list them in his ethics code filings, and they made their own disclosures to the town 3 years after the fact of signing BP and Acciona leases, and I and others handed those disclosures right to Cuomo’s top staff. That investigation evaporated in a black hole somewhere and hasn’t been seen by the pubic since. If I am wrong somebody please show me where it concluded and what the result was. Cuomo probably hopes because we have a new unconflicted govt in CV, well except for Burns and Bourcy on the planning board, we will all get all giddy and distracted and have short memories, and go along with his Article X and begging of the PSC for mercy on our town instead.
And oh yes of course wasn’t Gov. Cuomo running around NY during his campaign screaming integrity and ethics in NY govt!!! OUCH!!! Gees Andy at least you could a be little more subtle!!!
So now let’s get back to that “appearance” of a conflict of interest that the AG’s office says in repeated opinions should be avoided! You know… to maintain the public’s confidence in govt. What do you think…are you confident???
Well it damn sure looks to me that all this definitely needs a little maintenance!!!
But Cuomo apparently can’t even maintain the investigation he started of our town.
Still want to charge down that Art X path that Cuomo and the PSC has so nicely laid out for us telling us to pave it with begging letters to the PSC????
NO THANK YOU!!!
Art, JLL has asked a rhetorical question-"How many Cape vincent citizens just fell off a turnip truck or fell with yesterday's rain", in reference to the credibility of both BP and the PSC's responses to this potential ethical quandry.
ReplyDeleteYou have presented some interesting points and I agree that even the "appearance" of a conflict should be avoided, even though this seems far more than just the appearance.My hope is that no Cape vincent citizen (even any drenched vegetarians)could possibly accept that this process is not tainted.
I think the most important aspect of this revelation is that it exposes the depth of collaboration between corporate interests and government at work behind the scenes,and the slim chance we have of impacting it.
I (and you) have been opposed to participation in the Art. X siting process since its inception. I can only hope that this glimpse into the twisted web of influence and power in Albany will heighten the awareness of New Yorkers as to just how rigged this process is,and how futile our participation is.
Andrew Cuomo has used all his political skills to craft an energy policy,and the means to enact it.His goal is to promote industrial wind generation in New York, and he intends to do just that.
As respectful as we all would like to be, we simply cannot and will not prevail in the game that Cuomo has created . As we can see, he made the rules, selected all the players,carefully chose his own referees, and he has all the cards,even a few up his sleeve, out of the public eye.
Perhaps this will spur our local officials to consider opposing this grosse insult to our capability to determine our own future, and challenge the States attempt to abrogate our rights enforce our own laws.
You've spent a lot of time and energy on this issue-thank you.
Dave LaMora