The return of the water scandal
You’ve probably already heard a bit about the Monroe County water scandal; if not, there are good primers here and here. The story should be familiar to anyone who’s been following the Bush administration since it’s the usual cronyism: friends of Republican politicians used a public utility to enrich themselves. Now there’s more via the D&C: the local engineering company Clark Patterson Associates hired former authority Executive Director John A. Stanwix after Stanwix’s supposed retirement without knowing that Stanwix still held a role with the Water Authority. The reassuring here is that, unlike Halliburton et al. at the national level, Clark Patterson was angry about this conflict of interest and fired Stanwix:
Phillip Clark, founder of the Rochester-based engineering company Clark Patterson Associates, said in an interview this week that he hired Stanwix as an “organizational coach” for Clark Patterson after Stanwix’s retirement. The two had known each other for years, and Clark was a key architect of the authority’s expansion into Genesee County during Stanwix’s tenure.
Clark said he ended his company’s contract with Stanwix in September, weeks after Hevesi’s report was released. Particularly troublesome, Clark said, were revelations that Stanwix stayed on the authority payroll after his retirement.
According to the audit, Stanwix initially had an agreement with the authority to provide work as a consultant after his retirement through December 31, 2003. Under the agreement, he would be paid on a per diem basis.
[...] We hope that we’re wrong about this, that COMIDA is funding a great company with massive potential to grow and help the community. But there is no reason to trust the county, as the water authority scandal and information like this (also from Water Buffalo Press) indicates. [...]