Complaint to the NYS Joint Commission on Public Ethics
Re: The Pataki-Cahill Group
New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics 540 Broadway Plaza Albany, New York 12207 www.jcope.ny.gov 518-408-3976
SWORN COMPLAINT The J oint Commission on Public Ethics has jurisdiction to investigate potential violations of Public Officers Law 73, 73-a, 74, Civil Service Law 107 and Legislative Law article 1-A as they apply to state legislators, candidates for the Legislature and legislative employees, as well as the four statewide elected officials, candidates for those offices, executive branch state employees, certain political party chairs, and lobbyists and their clients.
COMPLAINANT NAME: Aubrey M. Clark
ADDRESS:
CITY, STATE, ZIP: Vestal, NY 13850
TELEPHONE:
EMAIL:
COMPLAINT OVERVIEW:
In an apparent violation of the New York State Lobbying Act, the consulting firm founded by former Gov. George Pataki and former Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner J ohn Cahill failed to disclose its participation in a number of meetings with government agencies on behalf of corporate clients.
The firm, the Pataki-Cahill Group, touts its ability to help clients navigate government agencies and gain access to new markets and opportunities and meetings in which it participated over the past two years with the New York Power Authority, Department of Public Service and Office of Information Technology Services pertained to contract procurement and regulatory matters.
But neither the Pataki-Cahill Group nor its leadership which includes other former top- ranking government officials such as Peter Smith, who previously headed the state Energy and Development Authority has registered to lobby in New York.
We are particularly concerned about the Pataki-Cahill Groups representation of Veolia Energy a corporation that engages in the dangerous drilling practice known as hydrofracking, which inherently poses a risk to our water, air, climate and health of New Yorkers and its view of hydrofracking as a promising new market. 1
The J oint Commission on Public Ethics (J COPE) should investigate whether the Pataki- Cahill Groups failure to report these activities violates the New York State Lobbying Act.
PATAKI-CAHILL GROUP HELPS COMPANIES SEEKING ACCESS TO NEW MARKETS AND OPPORTUNITIES, NAVIGATES GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
The Pataki-Cahill Group founded in April 2007 by former Gov. George Pataki and former state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner J ohn P. Cahill 2
is a business development firm providing high-level strategic and tactical advice to companies in the energy, infrastructure, clean-tech, environmental and hard asset fields. 3
The firms clients include entities ranging from small start-up energy companies to global Fortune 50 companies seeking insight and access to new markets and opportunities. 4
Many of the core services the Pataki-Cahill Group advertises on its website include helping firms navigate government agencies. These services include:
Develop[ing] high-level relationships for clients looking to engage with large corporations, educational institutions, government agencies or medical facilities [emphasis added]
Work[ing] with government agencies and NGOs to help achieve recognition of a companys environmental commitment [emphasis added]
Facilitat[ing] communication with government agencies to develop successful strategies for asset privatization [emphasis added]
Provid[ing] insight into government incentives to utilize federal or state funding sources and regulations effectively 5 [emphasis added]
PATAKI-CAHILL GROUP REPRESENTED CLIENTS IN GOVERNMENT MEETINGS RELATED TO CONTRACT PROCUREMENT AND REGULATORY MATTERS
A review of public records databases provided by the State of New York show the Pataki- Cahill Group has, on a number of occasions, represented clients in meetings with
1 http://veolia-environnement.publispeak.com/2012-annual-sustainability-report/52.html#/pageNumber=52 2 NYS Department of State, accessed 3/12/14 3 http://www.patakicahillgroup.com, accessed 3/11/14 4 Id. 5 http://patakicahillgroup.com/coreServices.aspx, Core Services, accessed 3/11/14 government agencies pertaining to contract procurement and regulatory matters. These meetings include:
1.) On February 14, 2013, J ohn Cahill and Peter Smith from the Pataki-Cahill Group met with New York Power Authority President Gil C. Quiniones and Director of Resource Planning & Project Analysis Gerard Vincitoreon on behalf of Ohio-based energy company American Electric Power. The purpose of the meeting was listed as Procuring a State Contract for real property, goods or services. Six officials from American Electric Power attended the meeting, which was held at Pataki-Cahill Groups office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York. 6
2.) On J une 27, 2013, Peter Smith from the Pataki-Cahill Group met with four officials from the Office of Information Technology Services including Chief Operating Officer Kim McKinney and Project Director for Data Center Consolidation Gary Kuchark on behalf of MetTel. The purpose of the meeting is listed as Procuring a State Contract for real property, goods or services. Two officials from MetTel attended the meeting, which was held on Swan Street in Albany, New York. 7
3.) On August 13, 2013, Peter Smith from the Pataki-Cahill Group met with New York State Department of Public Service Commissioner Garry Brown on behalf of Veolia Energy. The purpose of the meeting is listed as a Regulatory matter. The meeting took place at Empire State Plaza in Albany and two officials from Veolia Energy attended. 8
4.) On February 19, 2014, Peter Smith from the Pataki-Cahill Group met with three New York Power Authority officials Director Guy Sliker and engineers Sylvia Louie and J ohn Markowtiz on behalf of Global Investment Group. The purpose of the meeting is listed as Procuring a State Contract for real property, goods or services. Three officials from Global Investment Group attended the meeting, which was held at 123 Main Street in White Plains, New York. 9
PATAKI-CAHILL GROUP IS NOT REGISTERED TO LOBBY IN NEW YORK
Neither the Pataki-Cahill Group nor any of the employees listed on its website including Co-Founder/CEO J ohn Cahill and Managing Director Peter Smith has registered with the J oint Commission on Public Ethics to lobby in New York State. 10
STATE LOBBYING ACT REQUIREMENTS
6 http://www.projectsunlight.ny.gov, accessed 3/11/14 7 Id. 8 Id. 9 Id. 10 NYS J COPE Lobbying Data, accessed 3/11/14 The New York State Lobbying Act requires individuals and companies who engage in lobbying activities to register with the J oint Commission on Public Ethics.
The law defines lobbying as any activity intended to support, oppose, modify, delay, expedite or otherwise affect legislation, executive orders, agency rules or regulations, government procurement, etc. The term lobbyist refers to any person or organization retained, employed or designated by any client to engage in lobbying. 11
J COPE further clarifies:
The Lobbying Act requires every lobbyist that reasonably anticipates incurring, expending, or receiving more than $5,000 in combined reportable compensation and expenses for lobbying activity on a state and/or local level, in any year during the biennial period, file a biennial Statement of Registration within fifteen (15) days of such date, regardless of when the threshold is actually reached during the biennial period. 12
While it is unclear if the Pataki-Cahill Group reached this $5,000 threshold, it is clear that its meetings with government agency leaders on behalf of clients pertained to procurement and regulatory matters categories for which the Lobbying Act requires disclosure.
CONCLUSION
The Pataki-Cahill Groups meetings with New York State government agencies related to contract procurement and regulatory matters on behalf of its corporate clients strongly suggests it has engaged in lobbying activities. In light of this, the J oint Commission on Public Ethics should investigate the Pataki-Cahill Group, Co-Founder/CEO J ohn P. Cahill, and Managing Director Peter Smith to determine whether their failure to report the aforementioned activities is in violation of the New York State Lobbying Act.
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11 NYS J COPE, Guidelines to the New York State Lobbying Act, accessed 3/11/14 12 NYS J COPE, Statements of Registration/Amendments, accessed 3/11/14