New York State Government In Crisis Mode : "The Wheels Are Coming Off State Government"
The political blogger Gary Tilzer continues to relentlessly post updates about the impact that the investigation into the settlement payments to claimants of sexual harassment against Assemblyman Vito Lopez has now spread and engulfed many politicians in Albany.
Just one recent example was the resignation of a critical member of the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE). The member resigned last Friday after having issued a scathing critique about the political machinations that interferes with the commission's due process and with its general operational independence.
"Without personal integrity, there can be no real public ethics ; only the farce of appearing ethical," wrote former JCOPE commission member Ravi Batra.
According to Mr. Tilzer, The New York Times minimised reporting about Mr. Batra's resignation from the JCOPE, which has now become widely viewed as politically-manipulated by the politicians, who make appointments to the ethics panel. If JCOPE is so compromised as to be rendered ineffective, then the state's governor, Andrew Cuomo, may exercise powers given him under the Moreland Act to investigate or appoint officials to a "Moreland Commission" to investigate corruption.
"NYT Also Buried the Batra Resignation With Only 38 Words . . . The NYT Did Not Report Any of the Charges Batra Made Is His Letter of Resignation," wrote Mr. Tilzer.
