Sidebar: Meanwhile Back in Albany (v35)

In Monday's Meanwhile Back in Albany post, we learned that New York's Cuomo administration is under FBI investigation for hiring practices, specifically the practice of putting Executive Chamber employees on the payrolls of other state departments or on the payrolls of the generally free-to-do-what-they-want 'authorities' that are all over our government.

I wanted to share some additional reporting by the Albany Times Union on this, including details on some of the specific hires that were handled this way.  Take Steven L Aiello, for example.

About a year ago, Steven L. Aiello, who was several years out of college, landed a prestigious new job as a policy adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But like many others who have worked on the Capitol's second floor, Aiello was not actually paid by the governor's office. 

Instead, records show he drew his salary as a "project assistant" in the Division of Military and Naval Affairs, which manages New York's military forces. 

His father, COR Development executive Steven F. Aiello, was sentenced to three years in jail and must pay a $500,000 fine after being convicted on federal conspiracy and fraud charges as part of the 'Buffalo Billions' investigation. One of the things that got him in trouble? Demanding his son get a $5,000 raise. According to emails uncovered during the investigation, Steven F. was unhappy - very unhappy.

"I just got a call from (my son), he got his paperwork for his raise. He went from 54 thousand a year to 56 thousand!," the senior Aiello wrote. He added that his son "bust(s) his ass, loyal as the day is long. I have been loyal as the day is long. They insult us like this. I'm finished!!!"

That worked, it seems - Steven L. Aiello did get his raise; he's since left the administration.

The dumping of Steven L.'s salary and benefits to a place outside the Executive Chamber payroll is not unusual. In fact, more than 40% of the people who currently work in Cuomo's office are paid not by the Executive Chamber but by separate agencies or public authorities, according to a Times Union analysis of records. An open records request from the paper garnered a list of 209 people who the governor's office says work for Executive Chamber's office, but payroll records from the Comptroller's office show the Executive Chamber itself is only paying 120 employees.

Some other examples are not as juicy as the Aiello situation. Among others uncovered by the TU were a couple of Cuomo speechwriters. One was placed on the payroll as a "special assistant" at the office of Children and Family Services. Another was paid by the Affordable Housing Corporation, one of our many authorities. The deputy director of Cuomo's Washington office, who's been paid by the Environmental Facilities Corp., and the assistant deputy secretary for Homeland Security, paid by the Housing Trust Fund, are a couple more high-level examples. And, of course, the authority positions are outside the state's civil service system.

Now, we're told that this has been going on for a long time, one of those 'everyone does it' things that happen in Albany, but I'm not sure how that excuses similar behavior from anyone who pretends to be ethical?

One of the Sonofa Gov's spokespeople said

The state payroll has been reduced by more than 10,000 staffers during this administration. To focus on 80 slots is absurd. 

Again, I'm not sure how cutting the payroll across the board would excuse the unethical payroll-dumping of Executive Chamber staff to other departments and agencies?

It's a mess - an unethical mess. If these people are needed in the Executive Chamber, then they should be paid by the Executive Chamber. And if the Sonofa Gov is trying to make himself look good, he's failing - miserably - again.