Reinvent Albany's "Open ESD" report points to authority's convoluted structure, lack of independence, dubious math, & denial of public comment (+ cites me)
Two days ago, I wrote about the top-line recommendations from Reinvent Albany to reform Empire State Development (ESD, formerly ESDC), the gubernatorially-controlled state authority that oversee/shepherds Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park.
But the full "Open ESD" report, written by Elizabeth Marcello and available at Reinvent Albany and at bottom, is worth a read.
Let me point to a few key areas, where the report outlines ESD's convoluted structure, gubernatorial control, board as rubber stamp, lack of independence, dubious math in counting jobs, and failure to take public comment seriously.
In the latter four areas, the report cites my reporting, but also offers other examples.
Governance
From the report:Empire State Development is an agglomeration of a state agency and two public authorities (one of which, bizarrely, does business under the name of its own subsidiary). ESD’s component units also have dozens of subsidiaries with their own governance structures, and ESD components and subsidiaries have in turn created hundreds of Limited Liability Companies as legal owners of specific ESD projects. One person serves as the chief executive of all three component entities. The big boss, who is appointed by the Governor, is simultaneously a state commissioner and CEO of two component public authorities.The chart below shows ESD's convoluted and confusing structure, one that should not be surprising to Atlantic Yards watchers, especially when arena construction was financed.
The ESD Board of Directors largely acts as a rubber stamp on ESD projects. ESD directors rarely engage in substantive discussion, ask questions, or reject any projects under consideration at their meetings. Instead, projects and programs are initiated by the Governor’s office and presented to the board for a perfunctory and performative vote.In the case of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project in Brooklyn, an ESD project initially announced in 2003, the ESD Board did zero due diligence when approving the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Final SEIS). [That cites my coverage.] Specifically, the Board did not ask questions of staff or of any commentators presenting evidence, nor did they raise concerns as to whether the Final SEIS was complete with respect to scope, content, and adequacy. Instead, the Board simply rubber-stamped the Final SEIS.
The mission of Empire State Development is to p romote a vigorous and growing state economy, encourage business investment and job creation, and support diverse, prosperous local economies across New York State through the efficient use of loans, grants, tax credits, real estate development, marketing and other forms of assistance.
As dictated by the Governor, ESD serves businesses before it serves the public. This has been documented by Arana Hankin, who served as Project Director for the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project for ESD.Once Hankin left ESD, she spoke truthfully about ESD’s practices. [This cites my coverage here and here.] Hankin stated in a public lecture that project agreements at ESD were “purposely drafted to be as complicated and obtuse as possible, to allow for multiple interpretations and maximum flexibility.” This flexibility allows ESD to escape public scrutiny and even public understanding of projects and activities.
In a lecture, Arana Hankin, cited above, asserted that the results of REMI models are “sold” to community members during the public approval process to “convince the community why [a project] is good for them.” 30 But, she notes, the methodology is complicated and difficult to understand, and they “inflate expectations.” Once construction starts, she notes, “reality sets in.” She said:"We make projections for jobs created and revenue raised, but no one actually counts the number of jobs created. No one actually tracks the amount of revenue that was raised. There is no accountability, and the methodology is super complicated."She goes on to say that the jobs projected by REMI analyses are actually job-years, which is just one job for one year.
At @EmpireStateDev monthly board meeting, Chair says no public comments received.
— Norman Oder (@AYReport) March 24, 2023
But I *did* send a (meta)comment, noting the very limited window (<2.5 hrs!) for public comment. https://t.co/mnoGlsVcGU
This wasn't the the first time ESD has ignored public comments @rauldougou pic.twitter.com/i7DDjSIf97
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