LIPA municipalization drive fizzles out, for now

Daily Point

No power yet for a public LIPA

Critics said last year that the ambitious timeline state lawmakers chose to implement a plan to transform LIPA into a fully public utility was too short to navigate the complex political, legal and labor issues involved.

They were right.

The legislative commission created in 2022 is now conceding it has run out of time to pass a law turning LIPA into a fully municipal entity before the current session of the State Legislature ends June 8. The LIPA commission will meet Tuesday at 9 a.m. in Albany to discuss a new schedule, likely moving the goalposts to the first quarter of 2024.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we lay out a timeline that doesn’t conclude before the session end,” said Rory Lancman, the commission’s executive director. “We want the people to have confidence that this is a thoughtful, deliberative and transparent process.”

Lancman blames the delayed state budget for eating up the clock and not giving the commission enough time to have the required hearings, issue a final report, draft a bill, and whip up votes for it in the remaining four weeks.

However, the commission took a long time to get up and running and then the independent report it authorized punted on the key issues of labor and governance, while also failing to do an independent financial analysis. Making it worse was the bizarre incident in April when the chief consultant on the report exposed himself during a Zoom session of the commission, which discredited the report in the eyes of some key lawmakers.

And for elected officials who would take the brunt of criticism if a municipal utility failed after a major weather event, there was no public messaging, no effort to bring Long Islanders on board with the plan. “This was a non-starter, you just don’t hear anyone embracing it, anyone wanting this to happen,” said one official.

The final cut came Thursday with State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s mandated review, which among other criticisms, took sharp aim at the report’s failures to address whether the current workforce would be fully protected as a private union if it was housed in a public utility. IBEW Local 1049, which represents about 2,500 workers who run the transmission and distribution system, didn’t feel it had enough guarantees to protect its benefits and pension plans.

As it stood, no state senator from Long Island was willing to introduce or back any legislation supporting the municipalization at this time. “As NYS Comptroller’s analysis of the draft report made clear, there are too many unanswered questions and I cannot at this time, support this report as written,” State Sen. Monica Martinez said in a text to The Point. Martinez, who is a new member of the commission, wants a fresh, independent financial analysis of all options — privatization, fully public, or the current hybrid model — before making a decision, she said.

More optimistically, Lancman said the commission would look at having a draft bill ready early in the 2024 legislative session, probably the outside window before LIPA has to start renegotiations with PSEG to operate the system or seek bids from a new utility.

— Rita Ciolli @ritaciolli

Talking Point

Suffolk GOP chair’s nemesis back on the ballot

The race to succeed Suffolk Legis. Al Krupski has taken a dramatic turn with an insurgent Republican candidate, Greg Williams, ruled onto the June 27 primary ballot in the North Fork scrum. Williams’ intra-GOP candidacy against the designated party contender, Catherine Stark, poses a potential problem on the general-election ballot for Suffolk Republican chairman Jesse Garcia.

When Stark’s campaign got state Supreme Court Justice Jerry Garguilo in Central Islip last week to order Williams off the ballot based on an allegedly flawed designating petition, Garcia went so far as to compare Williams with the since-indicted fabulist Rep. George Santos. The chairman even called for a probe by Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office.

But an appellate court panel on Wednesday set aside Garguilo’s order. And its 4-0 decision concluded: “Stark failed to meet her burden of demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence that the designating petition was permeated with fraud or that Williams participated in or was chargeable with knowledge of any fraud.”

That ruling is due to be appealed on Tuesday at the Court of Appeals in Albany. If it is upheld, and Williams goes on to win the primary, Stark would still be on the November ballot as the Conservative Party nominee. That party’s Suffolk chairman, Michael Torres, told the Point on Friday that even if there were a way to withdraw her name before the general election, “she’s staying on the ballot no matter what happens.” He says his party has worked with her for a long time.

The resulting possibility of a three-way election could create a split on the right that favors the Democratic nominee — Catherine Kent, a retired teacher in Riverhead schools and a former councilwoman on the Riverhead Town board. On Long Island, occasional friction between Republicans and Conservatives has long posed a strategic problem.

For now Williams hails his court win, saying “there is no place in our district for lies, wrongful accusations, dirty tricks and fake news.” One irony in the partisan fight: Stark, long a Republican, has served collaboratively for years as a top staffer to Krupski, a Democrat, who’s running in the fall for Southold Town supervisor. Maybe that’s to be considered just one of those unusual Suffolk alliances.

— Dan Janison @Danjanison

Pencil Point

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