‘So Completely Compromised’: New York Watchdog Agencies Have a Credibility Problem (Gotham Gazette)

Gotham Gazette, May 29, 2019

‘So Completely Compromised’: New York Watchdog Agencies Have a Credibility Problem

“Reinvent Albany was among several civic organizations that sent a letter to Governor Cuomo and state legislative leaders on May 16, calling for an overhaul of ethics enforcement by amending the state constitution. The coalition of groups — including NYPIRG, Citizens Union, New York City Bar Association, Common Cause NY, and others — surveyed ethics agencies in 50 states and found that New York’s agencies, including JCOPE, are “among the very weakest in the nation” on independence and public accountability. “Few, if any, other states have ethics watchdogs so completely compromised by lack of independence, partisanship, lack of transparency and the other failings described,” the survey noted.”

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