Tag: campaign contributions

Sep 22

2016

Investigative Post’s Buffalo Billion reporting

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Gov. Cuomo’s signature Buffalo Billion initiative was mired in corruption and bid-rigging, according to a federal complaint unsealed Thursday. The complaint alleges what has long been suspected: the RFP for Buffalo developers to build the $750 million factory for SolarCity was designed with one company, LPCiminelli, in mind. SUNY Polytechnic president Alain Kaloyeros, lobbyist Todd Howe, and executives at Buffalo-based LPCiminelli worked together to “secretly tailor” the required qualifications for a developer in Buffalo so that LPCiminelli would be guaranteed to win the work, according to the complaint. A similar pattern of collaboration is alleged to have taken place between Kaloyeros, Howe and[...]

Posted 7 years ago

Feb 8

2013

Pegula of Sabres pushed for hydrofracking in New York

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Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, who made his fortune hydrofracking, has used his status as a sports mogul at least once to lobby state lawmakers to embrace drilling for natural gas. Jon Campbell of the Gannett News Service’s capital bureau in Albany is reporting that Pegula invited lawmakers to his hockey arena 15 months ago and pitched them on the merits of hydrofracking. In late November 2011, nine months after he took control of the National Hockey League club, Pegula gathered Buffalo-area officials and state lawmakers in a boardroom at then-HSBC Arena. There, he and members of his East Resources team[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Jan 16

2013

Cuomo’s big contributors

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Filings with Board of Elections show that 79 percent of Cuomo’s contributors since he won election have given $10,000 or more. Big donors from WNY include David Rich of Rich Products, political operative Steve Pigeon and Leslie Zemsky, Albright Knox chair and wife of Howard. A report from the New York Public Research Interest Group.

Posted 11 years ago

Mar 16

2012

The Maziarz money machine

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George Maziarz is probably Western New York’s most powerful state legislator. The Newfane Republican represents the 62nd District, which includes all of Niagara County outside the City of Niagara Falls, Orleans County and the western portion of Monroe County. He has served in the Senate since 1995  and is currently chairman of the Energy and Telecommunications Committee and Vice President Pro Tempore. Maziarz’s stature has position him to raise a lot of campaign funds. Here’s Joe Friday’s look at Maziarz’s campaign contributions since January 1999, when the state Board of Elections began tracking donations online. Total contributions since 1999: $3,767,175[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Mar 1

2012

Hormoz Mansouri’s political contributions

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Our second installment of Joe Friday involves the campaign contributions of Hormoz Mansouri, regarded as one of the largest financial backers of local and state politicians, including those in league with veteran political operative Steve Pigeon. Joe Friday tracked his contributions from 2005 to January of this year. Mansouri made a vast majority of contributions in his name; others were made by his wife and three companies he owns, EI Team, an engineer and architecture firm; HLM Holdings, a development company; and NPTS Inc., an engineering, design and consulting firm providing services to the nuclear power industry and the U.S.[...]

Posted 12 years ago

Feb 24

2012

Hydrofracking contributions to state pols

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Our first installment of Joe Friday involves contributions made to political candidates and parties by companies with a vested interest in New York State opening up the Marcellus Shale to drilling for natural gas through a controversial process called hydraulic fracturing. A Common Cause recently released a study that tracked contributions from 2007 to October 2011. While the Buffalo metropolitan area lies just northwest of the Marcellus Shale, the contributions have a Western New York flavor. Here are the facts: Natural gas interests made 2,340 contributions totaling $1.34 million to candidates and political parties in New York State. Four companies[...]

Posted 12 years ago
Investigative Post

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