Published: September 25, 2008 07:47 pm      

NIAGARA FALLS: Maziarz tries to bridge a secretive gap

Maziarz asks Paterson to investigate use of public money

State Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, and members of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission are locked in a battle over the right to information regarding the commission’s finances and personnel dealings.

While commission members insist as a bi-national private corporation they are not obligated to share financial information publicly, Maziarz has asked Gov. David Paterson for his help in convincing them to change their minds.

“Let them refuse to give (the information) to the governor and the state of New York,” said Maziarz during a press conference Thursday near the Rainbow Bridge.

In August, Maziarz sent a formal request to Norma Higgs, Bridge Commission vice chairman, asking her for a copy of the contract for former Executive Director Thomas Garlock who left his job with the commission in July. Maziarz also asked Higgs to supply him with copies of any commission resolutions related to Garlock’s departure and any severance package he may have received.

In response, Maziarz received a letter from Commission Chairperson Janice Thomson who denied his request, saying, in part, “those who pay bridge tolls receive safe, efficient passage in exchange for their payment — there is no further entitlement to information concerning the commission’s activities.”

Maziarz took exception to what he called the Bridge Commission’s “holier-than-thou attitude.”

“I think that for any commission that depends on public dollars that is not a satisfactory answer,” Maziarz said. “I think Gov. Paterson will find that response unsatisfactory.”

He said he wants to know, and the public deserves to know, how the commission uses tolls generated at the international crossings it oversees. He expressed concern about the possibility that commission revenues were used to provide “golden parachutes” and severance packages to Garlock and perhaps other former employees. Maziarz has sent a letter to Paterson, encouraging the governor to investigate the matter.

“There is a vital public interest to be served by releasing this information and the commission’s efforts to maintain secrecy are an affront to American and Canadian rate payers and bridge users,” Maziarz said.

The bridge commission is a bi-national authority that is responsible for operations at the Rainbow, Whirlpool-Rapids and Lewiston-Queenston bridges. It includes representatives from both the U.S. and Canada, with four commission members appointed by New York’s governor and the other four appointed by the government of Ontario.

Thomson, Higgs and fellow Commissioner Thomas Pryce, who all attended Maziarz’s press conference, stood by their response to the senator’s request. They insisted that the commission, which was established as a public benefit corporation by an act of Congress, is not subject to traditional freedom of information laws and is not under any legal obligation to release financial information of any kind, including personnel contracts, to Maziarz or anyone else.

“With corporations, you don’t release the terms of someone’s private contract,” Thomson said.

Pryce said Maziarz should have a clear understanding of how the commission operates as one of his chief aides, Jim Ward, served as a commissioner member several years ago, including the time period when Garlock’s contract was negotiated.

Pryce described Maziarz’s stance as pure, election-season theater.

“The senator, frankly, is playing dumb,” Pryce said.

When asked how the public is supposed to know how the commission handles toll revenues derived from motorists, the three commissioners attending the press conference said information about the organization’s finances are released annually as part of the commission’s public report. In addition, they said, the organization is audited by the state comptroller’s office, most recently three years ago.

“The people who are out there are honest, good stewards and they are there to serve both countries,” Thomson said.