Former Cicero Assemblyman Michael Bragman sure looks good in retrospect.
Bragman’s nemesis, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was arrested on federal corruption charges Jan. 22.
Government investigators focused on payments that Silver received for years from a small law firm that specializes in seeking reductions of New York City real estate taxes. The feds said Silver failed to properly report the payments from the firm Goldberg & Iryami on his annual state financial disclosure filings. Similar charges involved asbestos-related referral fees that he received from the law firm Weitz & Luxenberg.
Silver faced immediate pressure to resign his position as the state legislature’s most powerful Democrat.
Flash back to 2000
Fifteen years ago, when Mike Bragman served in the assembly, he led an unsuccessful coup against Silver, the Manhattan politician who became speaker in 1994. After the coup imploded, Mike and his supporters were stripped of their leadership positions and lulus. Many were removed via redistricting in 2001 and defeated in primaries by candidates backed by you-know-who.
Those were the days when the entire state bureaucracy was held hostage by three men, Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and whoever happened to be governor at the time. Remember all those super-late state budgets? Silver was at least 33 percent responsible for that malfunctioning state government.
In an editorial that ran May 25, 2000, The Buffalo News put it bluntly: “The assembly speaker has too much power. He controls everything, from the legislation that can be voted on to how his normally docile members vote on it. He decides what the assembly will accept in a state budget. He negotiates secretly with the other two leaders to hammer out important, expensive and far-reaching laws. And he ignores the wishes of less-exalted lawmakers.”
Ineffective ethics laws
Although the writing had been on the wall for years, New York state’s wishy-washy ethics statutes have allowed corruption to thrive in Albany. As a result, Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed the Moreland Commission to Investigate Political Corruption co-chaired by Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick. After Cuomo suddenly slammed the door shut on the commission last March, its clerks turned over evidence that had been gathered against Silver to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
Silver had long listed New York personal injury firm Weitz & Luxenberg as a source of income. But Bharara found that a small law firm called Goldberg & Iryami paid Silver money for about 10 years but that Silver did not officially disclose the payments, according to sources cited by The New York Times.
“Speaker Silver never did any legal work,” Bharara said. “He simply sat back and collected millions of dollars by cashing in on his public office and political influence.”
‘A watershed moment’
Mike Bragman must feel somewhat vindicated now that the feds have thrown the book at that grafter, the man he’d tried to push out of office a decade and a half ago. Any feelings of satisfaction, however, are tempered by Mike’s intimate knowledge of political realities.
“If he’s acquitted, there’s a good chance nothing will change,” Bragman told a reporter last week. “If he’s found guilty, he’ll be removed [from office]. But if you put in the wrong person, it’s business as usual.”
On the other hand, Bragman admitted, Silver’s arrest could represent “a watershed moment, a true moment of reform.”
Let’s hope so, because it’s long overdue. At least 15 years overdue.
Officer Unger honored
Liverpool Police Officer Jerry Unger, who inspired last week’s column about the rash of heroin overdoses in the village late last year, recently received an award from the Onondaga County Traffic Safety Advisory Council.
The entire Liverpool Police Department received the Triple-A Platinum Award Jan. 14, at the council’s 27th annual recognition luncheon at Justin’s Tuscan Grill in East Syracuse. Unger was recognized individually for overall performance for a small agency.
Signs of the times
I’ve noticed several new signs springing up here and there:
- Lakeview Bowling Center has erected a spiffy new electronic signboard in the center of its parking lot at 715 Old Liverpool Road.
- The deteriorating marker outside the historic Gleason Mansion at 314 Second St. was recently replaced by a sparkling green-and-gold sign identifying the landmark building, which houses the local Chamber of Commerce and the village historian’s office.
- Several big Citgo signs now shine at 500 Old Liverpool Road at the convenience store-gas station previously known as the Sunshine Mart and, more recently, Sabastino’s Pizza. The shop at the corner of Beechwood Avenue is now known as Tino’s Mart (451-2111), but Tino’s counting on those Citgo signs to catch the eye of potential customers.
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