Not a comforting thought when Grandeau says things are getting worse and who is the first to go? The threat, that’s who. The threat to the status quo.
We need more watchdogs, not less. We need more people that are not afraid of standing up to the politically corrupt. Figures, this is Albany politics setting the example as how to not run a state.
Ethics ‘worse’ in Albany, says watchdog David Grandeau
ALBANY – As New York’s chief lobbying watchdog for 13 years, David Grandeau tangled with governors, legislative leaders, influence peddlers and Donald Trump.
He even tackled Joe Namath when the Jets legend bestowed on Joe Bruno, the state Senate majority leader, an autographed football that Grandeau reasoned violated a ban on gifts worth more than $75.
Now the state Temporary Commission on Lobbying is going out of business Sept. 21, with its remnants merged into a new Public Integrity Commission. Though good government advocates have often called him the only cop on the beat in Albany, Grandeau won’t be at the helm. He didn’t even make the team.
A beefy man who enjoys playing on a local curling team, Grandeau, 48, says he leaves state government keenly aware he has no friends in high places.
“I did my job, and I did it for 13 years without fear or favor, and I did it without pity or consideration to the political parties or the connections of the people we investigated,” Grandeau said.
Assessing the current ethical climate in Albany – where news this summer was dominated by a scheme by Spitzer aides to damage Bruno and the senator’s use of state aircraft – Grandeau said: “It’s getting worse.”
(Excerpt) Read more at NYDailynews….