Categories for Featured

Aug 3

2012

Fired auditor was already on chopping block

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City Comptroller Mark Schroeder said Friday he decided a month ago to replace Darryl McPherson as chief city auditor over his conducted related to work issues, but decided to give him time to find another job and conclude several ongoing audits. “All that changed yesterday,” Schroeder said, when he was told by a supervisor in his office that he had witnessed McPherson using his cell phone to take inappropriate photos of a female staff member. Investigative Post and WGRZ, 2 On your Side, broke the story Thursday. McPherson was present  when the accusation was leveled, the comptroller said. “He didn’t[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Aug 3

2012

Sordid details on City Hall firing

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By Jim Heaney / Investigative Post City Hall’s top fiscal watchdog was fired by Comptroller Mark Schroeder Thursday  under sordid  circumstances. Darryl McPherson said his departure was based on professional disagreements with his boss. But Schroeder said he fired his chief auditor  shortly after he received a complaint about incidents involving inappropriate conduct by McPherson. While Schroeder was initially reluctant to discuss details, he did confirm information obtained independently by Investigative Post that the allegations involved McPherson using his cellphone to take inappropriate photos of a female staff member without her knowledge  in the workplace on several occasions. “I asked[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Aug 2

2012

City’s audit chief abruptly fired

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By Jim Heaney / Investigative Post Comptroller Mark Schroeder fired the city’s chief auditor this afternoon for undisclosed reasons and ordered him to leave City Hall immediately. Schroeder said he fired Darryl McPherson over an incident, rather than his work performance, but declined to go into details. McPherson, who served as chief auditor since 2007, has a history of drunk driving arrests, but Schroeder said the incident was not alcohol related. “This is a work-related issue,” Schroeder told Investigative Post, which broke the story along with WGRZ, 2 On Your Side. “There was an incident that took place. It wasn’t[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Jul 18

2012

City Hall forgoes millions in housing fines

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You can’t get away without paying your property taxes or garbage fee or even a parking ticket without City Hall coming after you. Letting your property go to seed is another matter. Judges in City Housing Court have imposed more than $22 million in fines since 2006 against some 1,470 property owners who ignored orders to repair building and health code violations. A vast majority have ignored the fines and gotten away with it, an Investigative Post inquiry has found. Less than $800,000 in fines have been paid during that period – less than a nickel on the dollar. It’s[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Jul 16

2012

Interview: Allison Duwe of Coalition for Economic Justice

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Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney interviewed Allison Duwe, Executive Director of the Coalition for Economic Justice, on the plight of the 99%, corporate subsidies, and the aversion of local politicians to progressive policies. Duwe, in the interview that aired on WGRZ’s Sunday Daybreak, said: Western New York’s economic problems stem in part to too many residents working low-wage jobs and a concentration of the poor in the City of Buffalo. Adults, rather than teenagers, hold five of six minimum wage jobs. Economic subsidies across the state total about $3 billion a year and produce meager results. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $1 billion initiative[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Jul 8

2012

Interview: Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster

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Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney interviewed Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster on the impact of the Wallenda Walk, the numerous challenges faced by Niagara Falls, and how the standoff between state and Seneca Nation officials is costing the city money that would otherwise be helping to promote economic development. Dyster, in the interview that aired on WGRZ’s Daybreak Sunday, said: The city is studying statistics on television and web viewership of the Wallenda walk to determine where to focus marketing efforts to attract tourists and investors to Niagara Falls. Significant headway has been made to clean up corruption that has[...]

Posted 13 years ago

Jul 4

2012

Feds find aiding city is risky business

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Federal housing officials are tightening the screws on City Hall over its chronic mismanagement of anti-poverty funds. A series of critical reports and audits have documented problems dating back to the Griffin-era, but meaningful sanctions to this point have been few and far between. But the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is now moving on three fronts to force compliance from City Hall in how it spends about $18 million a year – three-quarters of it block grant aid that is the primary pool of money used to combat poverty in one of the nation’s poorest cities. HUD,[...]

Posted 13 years ago
Investigative Post