Jun 13
2012
Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney is interviewing Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz Wednesday for a segment that will air Sunday on WGRZ’s Daybreak. If you have a question you’d like Heaney to consider posing, e-mail him or post a comment below by 1:30 p.m. today.
May 17
2012
The New York Board of Elections has slapped a campaign committee controlled by Common Council Majority Leader Demone Smith with another fine for failing to file financial disclosure reports. The most recent fine of $1,121 is at least the seventh assessed against Smith campaign committees. The fines total $4,084 and the committees have yet to pay any of them, including one that dates to March 2008. Smith, in an interview Tuesday, said he is working with the Board of Elections in an effort to reduce the fines. “We’re trying to get them lowered,” he said. However, John Conklin, a spokesman[...]
Apr 11
2012
Common Council Majority Leader Demone A. Smith, whose wife pleaded guilty to fraud charges last week, has legal problems of his own. Smith’s campaign committee has not paid $1,842 in judgments filed by the state Board of Elections for its failure to file disclosure reports in a timely fashion. In addition, another campaign committee that lists Smith as its treasurer hasn’t paid $1,121 in judgments involving late and missing disclosure reports. Smith’s campaign committee has had problems meeting disclosure requirements since he first ran for public office in 2005. Investigative Post has determined that while the Committee to Elect Demone[...]
Mar 21
2012
By Luke Hammill The UB Foundation and other foundations and non-profits associated with SUNY schools operate in some ways similar to authorities in state government. In UB’s case, its foundation manages university real estate, grants scholarships and supplements the pay of hundreds of employees. But unlike state authorities, SUNY-related foundations operate behind closed doors. Their meetings are not open to the public and their records are not subject to disclosure under the state Freedom of Information Law. The opaqueness has come under criticism in the face of press reports that raised possible conflicts of interest by UB Foundation board members[...]
Feb 23
2012
The governor wants all the development in the city. Or not. He’s focused on just a couple of big projects. Or maybe more. The answers vary regarding Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans for $1 billion in state incentives to rally the local economy, depending on who is doing the talking. And a lot of people are talking. Mayor Byron Brown. State Sen. George Maziarz. Assemblyman Sean Ryan. Among others. Investigative Post interviewed the two local officials who have spoken directly with Cuomo about his intentions and who are among those charged with translating into action his $1 billion pledge of economic[...]
Feb 22
2012
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to invest $1 billion of state incentives in an effort to revitalize the region’s economy is even bolder than the “B as in billion” suggests. Bold, but potentially flawed. Cuomo is alone among the nation’s 50 governors in targeting that kind of money at a regional economy. “To have a governor willing to spend $1 billion in one metropolitan area is truly exceptional these days, given states’ fiscal conditions,” said Greg LeRoy, a national expert on economic development subsidy programs and executive director of Good Jobs First. Moreover, Cuomo wants to break from current economic development[...]
Feb 22
2012
Investigative Post is going to be a work in progress for the foreseeable future. This a primer on our website and how else you can follow our work. investigativepost.org will be updated daily during the work week with at least a couple of new items every morning. Our most substantial, in-depth content will be investigations, analyses and follow-up stories, which will be featured at the top of our home page. The frequency of these pieces will vary; starting out, we hope to post a major piece at least every couple of weeks. The frequency will increase as we add staff.[...]
Feb 21
2012