ALBANY — The oversight of public authorities needs to be strengthened as taxpayer money continues to flow to the quasi-government agencies with little accountability, outgoing Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, Westchester County, warned in a report this week.
Brodsky released the report as he prepares to leave after a 28-year career in Albany.

“Authorities are the Santa Claus of government, except they’re giving away the public’s money,” he said Tuesday.
Authorities and local development corporations are entities created to manage a specific project or issue, such as economic development for the public benefit.
Critics charge that authorities have operated in the dark with little regard to public accountability and have often been the center of controversy and scandal. Many authorities are on the books but no longer function, while others dole out generous bonuses to employees.
Public authorities are not inherently corrupt and some do properly fulfill their functions.

State builder Robert Moses championed the public authorities system as a way to bypass normal laws for borrowing money in order to construct roads, parks and bridges.
It is unclear how many public authorities exist in the state, but some estimates peg the number at more than 700.

Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who takes office Saturday, said during the campaign that he wants to scale back public authorities and local development corporations, as well as restructure state agencies and departments.
Brodsky mounted a failed bid for the Democratic attorney general nomination this year instead of seeking another term in the Legislature.

In his report, Brodsky wrote that the Authorities Budget Office, created by state law as a way of reining in the entities, must be expanded [AH ONE MORE AUTHORITY TO THROW TAXPAYER MONEY AT!!!] so the state has a robust watchdog.
Brodsky this year took aim at a number of authorities, including at least one in Monroe County.

He wrote to Monroe County officials in August raising questions about the Monroe Security and Safety System Local Development Corp.’s bidding process.
The agency had awarded a lucrative contract to a company that submitted a significantly more expensive proposal than another firm [MORE CRONYIZM].

“I think we uncovered a real mess,” Brodsky said. “They assert they are not legally bound by the lobbying laws of the state, but say they abide by them anyway. It’s absurd.”
Noah Lebowitz, a spokesman for Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, said the agency is working in accordance with state laws.

“We have responded in full to Assemblyman Brodsky’s request for information and have gotten no further request for information,” he said. “We consider that issue to be closed.”
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20101229/NEWS01/12290339/Report-seeks-further-reform-of-authorities