Even New York Attorneys Are Fed-Up with the Widespread Corruption

As printed in last week's Smithtown News:

Lawrence N. Gray, Esq.
20 Fireplace Drive
Kings Park, New York 11754

The Smithtown News
One Brooksite Drive December 11, 2009
Smithtown, New York 11787

Dear Editor:

The Daily News reported the forewoman of the jury that convicted ex-Republican Senate Majority Leader Bruno saying she hoped “there should be someone watching, requiring disclosure or requiring approval for what job you can take on.” Bruno quit CMA Consulting the day after the verdict. CMA got state contracts totaling $27.1 million after Bruno joined the firm. A few months after being elected to the Senate, John Flanagan announced that he was Of Counsel to the law firm of Forchelli, Curto, Crowe, Deegan, Schwartz, Mineo & Cohn, LLP whose offices are not the 2d Senatorial District. The firm was founded by Armand D’Amato after Alfonse was elected to the U.S. Senate. Its website boasts clients such as Cablevision that owns Newsday that covers Flanagan -- and Burger King, Northrop Grumman, Home Depot, Citibank, Walgreen, Stop N’ Shop, Credit Lyonnais, Amerada Hess, Merrill Lynch (now BOFA), Washington Mutual Bank (now Wells Fargo), Sunrise Assisted Living, Dairy Barn Stores, Philips International, Eckerd Drugs, etc. These folks lobby the Legislature and appear before Albany regulatory agencies. I have requested Sen. Flanagan to disclose how much he is paid by this law firm, for exactly what services to what named clients? Running for re-election next year, he must lead by example. Voters must see the written agreement and verifiable proof of how much he is paid by it for exactly what legal services to what named clients? (A client’s name is never attorney-client privileged, nor the retainer, nor the fee.) These are fair questions. From Bruno’s own lips, as revealed at his trial, we know that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is getting $30,000 to $60,000 per month from Weitz & Luxenburg, LLP which is the negligence firm advertised on TV. Silver has blocked malpractice reform for decades. What is Sen. Flanagan’s deal? Actions speak louder than press releases. Where’s the Senator’s “follow through” against personal use of campaign funds as he postured in 2006? The Smithtown News witnessed the fact that in 2006, after ex -Smithtown Highway Superintendent Edmund (now felon) Lynch was caught looting his campaign account, Sen. Flanagan introduced Senate Bill S8258. He wrote about officials having “virtual carte blanche for expenditures that are, at best, tangentially related to their campaigns and official duties.” “Luxury vehicles, sky boxes, extravagant meals, international travel and home improvements” were examples. He observed “a growing and justifiable public perception that campaign funds are being used to enhance the post election life styles of candidates for public office. Such largesse turns the ideal of representatives serving the public on its head. Campaign donors have a reasonable expectation that their contributions will be used for the candidate’s election efforts and the execution of his or her public duties. They do not expect their contributions to subsidize personal spending.” Still waiting! If we can’t have ‘em honest, can we at least be governed well? The state is $3.2 billion short. Yet not one dollar can be cut from Medicaid or Education. SEIU Local 1199 and the Teachers Union won’t allow my (actually their) Senator to do so. But the perks and moola just roll in for our ever so privileged political class that thinks it was born to the purple. Your politics are broken. Your government is broken. Albany is called a cesspool, a sewer. Some like the water just fine.

Yours truly,

Lawrence N. Gray, Esq.