
Now in his second big power-authority job, Nassau’s Richard Kessel, right, finds himself drawing political static.
Last month the New York Power Authority, which Kessel chairs, agreed to cede hundreds of millions of dollars to help fill the state’s massive operating gap. Assemb. James Hayes (R-Amherst), called it “outrageous” that “they’re using surplus NYPA funds from selling our hydropower on the open market to fund pork-barrel spending in Albany,” as reported by Tom Precious in the Buffalo News.
Kessel, tapped by Gov. David Paterson for the post, denies the transfer would affect NYPA operations, saying: “We certainly work with the governor’s office. These are extraordinary times. Had we not contributed the money it would have come from education or health care. . .”
Stemming from Kessel’s previous role heading the Long Island Power Authority, his most vocal public critic continues to be Conservative Party activist George Marlin, whose “Street Corner Conservative” blog features a “Richie Kessel NYPA Watch.”
A recent sample: Marlin, of New Hyde Park, filed a freedom-of-information request for schedules and phone documents with the assertion that while heading an authority based to the north, Kessel “is solely focused on spending time in his native habitat, Nassau County.”
“That’s incorrect,” Kessel replies. “Most of the time I’m upstate. I’m on Long Island sometimes because of energy projects that impact Long Island . . . But a preponderance of my time and effort are aimed at upstate.”
When Marlin faulted Kessel for LIPA’s current woes in a recent Long Island Business News piece, lawyer Arthur J. Kremer, the former Assembly Ways and Means Committee chairman, responded in print by defending Kessel, alleging errors, and slamming Marlin’s record directing the bi-state Port Authority in the 1990’s. Marlin — who famously fell out with Gov. George Pataki — responded in part by noting Kremer lobbied for LIPA during Kessel’s tenure.
Kessel’s allies note that Patrick Foye, who was Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s economic development director, is a Marlin friend. By all accounts Kessel and Foye were not friends when the latter was LIPA vice-chair.
Today, the bigger buzz in the electro-political world seems to involve Larry Schwartz recently replacing Bill Cunningham as Paterson’s top aide. Cunningham was perceived as a Kessel ally. Schwartz, on the other hand, goes back with current LIPA boss Kevin Law, with whom he worked under Suffolk County Executive Pat Halpin.
Recently, sources said, deputy state energy secretary Paul DeCotis emphatically told a LIPA advisory board the utility will not be merged into the Kessel-run NYPA.
(Newsday Photo, 2007 / J. Conrad Williams Jr)