Hmm. Fascinating that the NYT is hot and heavy on the trail of NY Gov. David Paterson for violating ethics rules by accepting free tickets to sporting events, in this case World Series tix. Details:
In addition to violating the state’s ban on gifts to public officials, the commission found that Mr. Paterson falsely testified under oath that he had intended to pay for the tickets for his son and his son’s friend. The commission determined that Mr. Paterson had never intended to pay for the tickets and only did so after inquiries from the media, after which he submitted a backdated check as payment. …. The tickets, with a face value of $425 each, seated them a few rows behind home plate.
State law forbids officials in the executive branch from soliciting or accepting gifts of more than nominal value from any lobbyist if the gift appears intended to sway the official. The Yankees organization is registered to lobby the Paterson administration, as well as the State Legislature, in connection with financing for the stadium.
The commission charged Mr. Paterson with violating two provisions of the Public Officers Law, each of which carries a maximum penalty of $40,000. The commission also charged Mr. Paterson with violated three sections of the State Code of Ethics, including one that prohibits the Governor from using his official position to secure unwarranted privileges, which carries a civil penalty of $10,000.
Now recall that no one around here — save Bill James — seems much interested that CIAA tourney skybox tickets worth thousands of dollars are doled out to city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County elected officials — officials who directly fund the CIAA tourney with grants of $400K plus ancillary public services for the event.
On the other hand, if we’ve blown past Albany on the hidden-in-plain-sight public corruption scale, maybe Charlotte is now well and truly world class.
