YOU PAID THIS MAN 62G FOR 4 HRS. A WEEK
By KENNETH LOVETT, NY POST, November 23, 2004

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November 23, 2004 -- ALBANY - In a shocking patronage scam, a politically connected state employee was raking in $62,000 a year for just four hours of work per week, it was revealed yesterday.
An audit by state Comptroller Alan Hevesi disclosed that the salary for hardly any work, plus full benefits, was doled out to a former Albany County Republican boss by a little-known state authority controlled by Gov. Pataki.

For serving as secretary-treasurer of what Hevesi called the "out of control" Hudson River-Black River Regulating District, George Scaringe averaged an outrageous $300 an hour on the taxpayers' dime.

Scaringe also received full pension credit for his part-time job, as well as a generous benefits package that included health, vision and dental coverage, according Hevesi's audit.

The auditors also found that the authority, which monitors the flow of the Hudson and Black rivers to prevent flooding, also paid its legal counsel, Utica lawyer Timothy Foley, $75,000 a year - even though he worked an average of just 18 hours a week.

"On the surface, it seems disgraceful," Hevesi told The Post.

"It's a perfect example of another out-of-control authority that has not been monitored or supervised and is extraordinarily poorly managed."

Scaringe, who could not be reached for comment, was Albany County's GOP chairman from 1976 to 1993, and from 1996 to 1997, when he gave up the political post after the tiny regulating district hired him for the plum, four-hour-a-week job.

Both Scaringe and Foley resigned from the authority in June, just weeks after Hevesi's auditors wrapped up their work.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), who chairs the Assembly committee that oversees state authorities, said Hevesi's audit reveals a system of "runaway" public authorities that have been left unchecked for years.

"The authorities are run by the executive branch as patronage mills and cash cows for the political class," Brodsky said.

The authority's new executive director, Richard Lefebvre, said he began cleaning up the mess he found as soon as he took over in January.

"I came in and I saw what was going on," Lefebvre said. "I just needed full-time workers. Changes have been made."

Pataki spokesman Andrew Rush said: "We're aware the new management team put together by the trustees in January have addressed these issues, and we're confident the new leadership will manage the authority effectively and efficiently as they go forward."

Hevesi noted other questionable - and possibly illegal - practices by the regulating district, including providing medical, dental and vision benefits to the five "volunteer" board members appointed to oversee the operation by Pataki.

Hevesi said his agency's findings will be referred to prosecutors if he and his aides feel any laws were broken.

He also said the state pension fund that he controls will investigate if Scaringe and Foley are eligible for full pension credits with their work at the regulating district.

The authority's $6.8 million annual budget is funded through access fees and charges to use the river water.