WNYresident
December 15th, 2003, 12:34 PM
Original story (http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/politics/ny-linyra14q3584005dec14,0,3888615.story?coll=ny-lipolitics-headlines)
Former mayor may monitor reform
By Robert E. Kessler
STAFF WRITER
December 14, 2003
Rudolph Giuliani says he is willing to monitor the reform of the New York Racing Association, possibly without pay, as a public service, according to several sources.
The position would give the former New York mayor and U.S. attorney a high-profile role in reforming a widely criticized state agency. Giuliani has been courted by Republicans to run for governor in 2006, if Gov. George Pataki challenges Hillary Rodham Clinton for U.S. Senate. Two potential Giuliani rivals, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, have been widely credited for exposing problems at NYRA.
Under the terms of a deal between the Justice Department and NYRA, the association agreed Thursday to reorganize and clean up its operations, open its records to the public, get new rigorous accounting standards and have a court-appointed monitor ensure the integrity of the process.
The association was indicted Thursday on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service of taxes on $19 million paid to parimutuel clerks. Thursday's agreement further added that the association would not be tried if it paid a fine of $3 million and dismissed many of its managers. The indictment would be dropped after 18 months if the association complies with the terms of the agreement.
Andrew Hruska, the acting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, declined to comment late Friday on possible candidates and said the process had just begun.
Representatives for Giuliani did not return repeated calls seeking comment. A spokesman for the association declined to comment.
One of the several sources who said Giuliani is interested in the position added that Giuliani had said he would serve without pay.
Hruska said the position would soon be advertised in a legal journal and a committee in his office would screen candidates with input from other officials, including Hevesi. The NYRA agreement calls for the monitor to report to Hevesi, a Democrat.
Hevesi's spokesman, David Neustadt, said "it would be inappropriate at this point to comment on any possible candidate because the comptroller will be involved in the selection process."
A monitor selection committee would name a list of choices that would be forwarded to U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Spatt in Central Islip, Hruska said. Spatt will decide who the monitor will be.
In choosing monitors, federal judges often select former Justice Department officials or former law clerks, said one source who has been involved in other monitor selections. This is not necessarily because of favoritism, the source said, but because the process is usually done rapidly, and because in searching for a person of legal ability and known integrity, judges are most familiar with law clerks or federal attorneys who have practiced before them.
Former mayor may monitor reform
By Robert E. Kessler
STAFF WRITER
December 14, 2003
Rudolph Giuliani says he is willing to monitor the reform of the New York Racing Association, possibly without pay, as a public service, according to several sources.
The position would give the former New York mayor and U.S. attorney a high-profile role in reforming a widely criticized state agency. Giuliani has been courted by Republicans to run for governor in 2006, if Gov. George Pataki challenges Hillary Rodham Clinton for U.S. Senate. Two potential Giuliani rivals, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and state Comptroller Alan Hevesi, have been widely credited for exposing problems at NYRA.
Under the terms of a deal between the Justice Department and NYRA, the association agreed Thursday to reorganize and clean up its operations, open its records to the public, get new rigorous accounting standards and have a court-appointed monitor ensure the integrity of the process.
The association was indicted Thursday on a charge of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service of taxes on $19 million paid to parimutuel clerks. Thursday's agreement further added that the association would not be tried if it paid a fine of $3 million and dismissed many of its managers. The indictment would be dropped after 18 months if the association complies with the terms of the agreement.
Andrew Hruska, the acting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, declined to comment late Friday on possible candidates and said the process had just begun.
Representatives for Giuliani did not return repeated calls seeking comment. A spokesman for the association declined to comment.
One of the several sources who said Giuliani is interested in the position added that Giuliani had said he would serve without pay.
Hruska said the position would soon be advertised in a legal journal and a committee in his office would screen candidates with input from other officials, including Hevesi. The NYRA agreement calls for the monitor to report to Hevesi, a Democrat.
Hevesi's spokesman, David Neustadt, said "it would be inappropriate at this point to comment on any possible candidate because the comptroller will be involved in the selection process."
A monitor selection committee would name a list of choices that would be forwarded to U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Spatt in Central Islip, Hruska said. Spatt will decide who the monitor will be.
In choosing monitors, federal judges often select former Justice Department officials or former law clerks, said one source who has been involved in other monitor selections. This is not necessarily because of favoritism, the source said, but because the process is usually done rapidly, and because in searching for a person of legal ability and known integrity, judges are most familiar with law clerks or federal attorneys who have practiced before them.