STATEWIDE

LEGISLATURE MAY CHANGE STATE RETIREMENT FUND’S INVESTING RULES

The state legislature could soon change the rules that govern the way the state’s $120 billion retirement fund can be invested. A bill that would allow the state’s Common Retirement Fund to expand the types of investments it can make was referred to the state Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee last month and could be referred to the full Assembly for a vote.

According to a Manhattan Institute report that was posted yesterday on New York’s Fiscal Watch Web site, the change would give state comptroller Alan Hevesi, the administrative head and sole trustee of the fund, far more say in what the fund, the second biggest public pension fund in the country, invests in. “Under the new framework, the comptroller could invest in most anything he deemed fit to achieve the stated goal – including new investments in commodities and foreign bonds, as well as more cash in lightly regulated investments, such as private-equity funds and hedge funds” the report said.

If passed into law, the new monetary risks would be shouldered by taxpayers, the Manhattan Institute report said. The measure was approved by the Senate on May 2. Mr. Hevesi has argued that diversifying investments is the best and safest way to invest. Yesterday a spokesman for the comptroller, David Neustadt, said: “If these changes had been instituted in the year 2000 the pension fund would currently have several billion more in assets and local government could be contributing less.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CITYWIDE

OFFICIALS TAKE AIM AT MSG PROPERTY-TAX EXEMPTION

Several elected officials who supported the construction of a stadium on Manhattan’s West Side are now ramping up their efforts to take away the $11.7 million property-tax exemption Madison Square Garden receives.

With the Manhattan stadium deal dead, Council Member Lewis Fidler, who introduced a resolution on the issue, and Assembly Member Steven Cymbrowitz, who introduced a bill that would repeal the exemption, took aim again yesterday at MSG and their parent company Cablevision, which led the fight to block the proposed rival stadium from being built. The men urged Mayor Bloomberg, who has said in the past that MSG should voluntarily give up its exemption, to start collecting the taxes from the company.

They argued that MSG had defaulted on its exemption agreement with the city, which requires the Knicks and Rangers to play their home games in the arena. The Rangers have not played in the facility this season because of the National Hockey League lockout. “It’s time that Cablevision, Madison Square Garden, the Dolans stepped up as citizens of this city,” Mr. Fidler said. “It’s not sour grapes. This has nothing to do with the stadium.” A spokeswoman for MSG, Cara Taback, declined to comment.

Mr. Bloomberg said the issue would have to be decided by the state. “That’s up to the state Legislature … I don’t know that we would have the legal authority to go and do anything,” the mayor said.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

FIRE UNION BOSS RE-ELECTED

Fire union boss Stephen Cassidy was re-elected as President of the Uniformed Firefighters Association yesterday, receiving 55% of the vote and defeating challenger Thomas DaParma. More than three-quarters of the union’s 8,800 members submitted ballots.

“I am thrilled with the support of the membership,” Mr. Cassidy said in a statement. “We continue to have critical issues that we have been working on that need to be resolved.”

The city’s firefighters, police, and teachers unions are currently without contracts and are expected to make a big push against the mayor in his re-election bid. Over the last three years, the UFA and the Bloomberg administration have clashed publicly over contract negotiations, response times, staffing, and safety equipment.

On the same ballot, Vice President James Slevin was re-elected over the former Manhattan trustee, Rudy Sanfilippo, and in an upset for the Sergeant of Arms seat, firefighter William Romaka defeated incumbent Philip McArdle by a margin of 62 votes.

Mr. Cassidy’s second three-year presidential term begins August 1.

– Special to the Sun

FORMER BEARD FOUNDATION PRESIDENT SENTENCED TO 1-3 YEARS

The former president of the James Beard Foundation, a charity devoted to the cooking arts, was sentenced yesterday to one to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1.1 million from the organization.

Leonard Pickell Jr., 50, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree grand larceny, admitting he stole the money by writing checks to pay personal credit card debts, stealing petty cash, and fraudulently claiming reimbursements.

The assistant attorney general, Johanna Sullivan, told the court Pickell stole $1.106 million, spending it on renovating his home in Howell Township, N.J., on a “sweet 16” party for his daughter, on limousines, on a BMW, and on other personal luxuries.

The defendant apologized and said he took responsibility for his illegal acts.

“I’m sorry for what happened,” Pickell told the court. “I apologize for overstepping my bounds. I never intended to hurt the Beard Foundation. For 17 years it was my life. Unfortunately, I think I was trying to be somebody I was not.”

Pickell’s lawyer, Stacey Richman, said her client, who worked as a volunteer, believed that a lot of what he did was necessary to attract attention and donors to the foundation, which is named after the famous chef and author James Beard.

“He went from being a New Jersey house-husband to taking the foundation to the pinnacle of the culinary world,” Ms. Richman told the court.

– Associated Press