Letters to the Editor
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‘Cuomo Cites Phantom Policy’
Your front-page headline and story of August 14, 2007, “Cuomo Cites Phantom Policy: Bruno Case ‘Opinion’ Didn’t Exist,” is inaccurate and misleading as it suggests that the Attorney General’s Office relied on a fictitious policy [New York, “Cuomo Cites Phantom Policy,” August 14, 2007].
The State Ethics Commission’s position on state airplane usage has been clear and in place for more than a decade.
This policy has been widely reported for years and has been relied upon to regulate millions of dollars of state aircraft usage. There is no dispute that, in 1995, the Executive Director of the Commission rendered advice on the mixed use, both political and governmental, of state aircraft. Furthermore, it is equally clear that the Commission reaffirmed its 1995 position in a written statement on May 21, 2001, that provided:
“In 1995, shortly after Governor Pataki took office, he requested advice from the State Ethics Commission, through its Executive Director, regarding the rules for reimbursing the State for multi-purposetravel.
Specifically, the inquiry requested guidance concerning situations where in one trip the Governor conducted State business and also participated in political functions.
The Executive Director responded that as long as the trip included a bona fide public purpose, the ethics law did not require reimbursement for those portions of the trip that were political in nature. At the time of the request, that was a long-standing policy. It continues to be the Commission’s position on the subject.”
The Attorney General’s July 23, 2007, Report directly recounts this as the Commission’s position. In sum, to say that the Attorney General’s Report cited a “phantom policy” is plainly wrong.
Jeffrey Lerner
Director of Communications
Office of the New York State Attorney General
Albany, N.Y.
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