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DAVID MCKAY WILSON

Questions surround Libby Pataki, 2 tourism agencies

Tax Watch columnist David McKay Wilson explores Libby Pataki's two tourism nonprofit organizations, including one that provided her with an extra $50,000 in 2014.

David McKay Wilson
dwilson3@lohud.com
Putnam County Tourism Director Libby Pataki, center, speaks at the 2012 renaming of Route 301 to the Hudson River Turnpike from Carmel to Cold Spring. On the right is County Executive MaryEllen Odell.
  • Neither of Libby Pataki's two tourism nonprofits in Putnam County have functioning boards
  • The taxpayer-fundied Visitors' Bureau receives about $250,000 in public funding
  • County officials were unaware Pataki drew a $50,000 salary from the Putnam Tourism Corp.
  • Neither the chairman nor treasurer of the Tourism Corp. knew they served in those positions

In November 2011, after former New York Gov. George Pataki swore in MaryEllen Odell as Putnam County’s first female county executive, his wife sidled up to the county’s top elected official.

“We talked about how I could be of help in the tourism agency,” Libby Pataki recalled. “I came on right away, unpaid, and, by the next  State of the County speech in March, it had become official.”

The quasi-public job as county tourism director, funded with tax dollars through the nonprofit Putnam County Visitors’ Bureau, was a high-profile opportunity for the state's former first lady in the county her family moved to from Peekskill in the early 1990s.

Related: Tourism website in shambles

Related: The Patakis' inner circle

Editorial: Libby Pataki's Putnam patronage

Seven weeks after Odell’s appointment, Pataki developed a plan with the assistance of longtime Pataki insider, attorney Wilson Kimball, which augmented her taypayer-funded salary at the Visitors' Bureau.

Kimball, who was Libby Pataki's chief of staff as first lady, joined with Pataki and then-Philipstown Councilwoman Barbara Scuccimarra in 2012 to seek tax-exempt status for a nonprofit organization.

Putnam Tourism Director Libby Pataki, center, talks with guests attending an exhibition of county services and offerings from local businesses March 14,  2013.

The new organization, Putnam Tourism Corp., was closely linked to Pataki's taxpayer-funded job as the county's tourism director. Pataki called the new organization her "foundation," which handed out grants to local groups and helped promote tourism events. What was not known, among other things, was that she was also paid a separate salary from the mirror organization.

The Tourism Corp. paid Pataki $110,000 from 2012 to 2014. That came in addition to the $194,000 she received those years from the Visitors’ Bureau, which receives about $250,000 a year in public funding.

A Journal News/lohud.com investigation has found that both nonprofits violate state law for failing to have functioning boards of directors, which provide oversight and control of funds donated to the tax-exempt entities. Key people listed as board members of the Tourism Corp. said they didn't know they were officers, and one Visitors' Bureau board member admitted he hadn't been invited to a board meeting in years.

Nobody contacted was aware of Pataki's arrangement for a second salary.

"At this point, we are going to have to reconstitute the board," said Pataki, referring to the Visitors'  Bureau nonprofit that receives public funds. "The foundation is on freeze. That hasn't been reconstituted. I need to get all that re-established."

In fact, Tax Watch learned that Pataki controlled the checkbooks for both nonprofits. While it is not uncommon for a nonprofit executive to write checks, it remains uncertain what internal controls were in place to make sure the financial transactions were appropriate.

Putnam County Legislator Dini LoBue said she was troubled to learn that county Tourism Director Libby Pataki had a second nonprofit for tourism that paid her $50,000 in 2014.

Pataki did not respond to written questions regarding what controls existed within her nonprofit corporations.

“We weren’t aware of the second corporation,” said county Legislator Dini LoBue, R-Mahopac. “I find it troubling that Libby was drawing an additional salary."

The investigation also found:

  • Treasurers in both groups say they never signed a check because Pataki had that responsibility. 
  • Scuccimarra, the Visitors' Bureau treasurer and now a Putnam County legislator, did not disclose her post as required on annual county financial disclosure statements
  • Scuccimarra denied she had involvement with the Tourism Corp., then said she could not recall signing the legal papers to set it up.
  • The Putnam County tourism website is rife with problems, with outdated guides, broken search engines and links that don't work. 

The irregularities concern Ken Harper, of Patterson, who has served as treasurer of the non-profit Newtown (Conn.) Rotary Club Foundation and helps administer the club's $800,000 Sandy Hook School Fund.  He had called on New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the Internal Revenue Service to investigate.

Putnam Democratic Chairman Ken Harper

"It appears that Libby has neglected the one thing she has needed; a board of directors for the non-profits," said Harper, who also chairs the Putnam County Democratic Committee. "You can't just set up a 501-c-3 tax-exempt organization and run a personal check-writing service from it."

No functioning boards

Under state state law, a nonprofit corporation is required to have a board of directors, which oversee the work of the organization, said James Fishman, professor emeritus at Pace Law School in White Plains. A board hires and fires its executive director, sets salaries and evaluates whether the organization is fulfilling its tax-exempt purpose.

"It's fundamental," Fishman said.

Pataki told Tax Watch on Jan. 9  that neither board was functioning. Three weeks later, she still had not found volunteers to serve. Pataki said Kimball, now the city of Yonkers commissioner of planning and development, who chaired the Visitors’ Bureau from 2012 to 2014, is no longer on the panel.

Visitors Bureau Secretary Katie DeMarco has also left both boards.

Kimball, though, thought she might still be involved.

“I think I’m the secretary now,” she said.

Tourism Corp. Treasurer Rose Sanca on Feb. 1 said she hadn't heard from Pataki since the former first lady had returned from the presidential campaign trail with her husband.

"I don't know if she is coming back," said Sanca, almost a month after Pataki's return.

Southeast Councilman Robert Cullen has served as a Visitor’s Bureau director since 2012. Cullen, a retired Eastchester police sergeant who provides private security for George Pataki, said Libby Pataki asked him to serve on the board.

His duties, he said, were to alert the tourism office if he heard of events in his town that could be publicized. He said has never attended a board meeting.

“That’s been my only real involvement,” he said.

Fishman said the law prohibits non-profits from operating without a functioning board.

"These two organizations pass neither a number of statutory requirements nor the smell test," Fishman said.

He was troubled that the Tourism Corp.'s chairman and treasurer didn't know they held those positions.

"That shows the board doesn't exist, and it's a sham," he said. "That's against state law, and I'm sure the federal government wouldn't be happy either. "

Director of Putnam County Tourism Libby Pataki and Putnam County Transportation Manager Vincent Tamagna laugh before the official unveiling of a sign in Cold Spring on June 18, 2012 for the newly named Hudson River Turnpike, also known as Route 301.

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman oversees nonprofit agencies through his Charities Bureau. Fishman said if Schneiderman investigates, he could order that a board be formed, or close down the organization.

Spokesmen for Schneiderman and the federal IRS declined comment.

Back from the campaign

The problems have arisen as Pataki returns to work after five months away on the presidential campaign trail with her husband, and flying to Chicago to be with her daughter, Allison, who just had a baby.

The 65-year-old blonde is fit, and can work a room. The tourism job builds on her works as spokeswoman for New York's "I Love New York" campaign while first lady. It lets her meld privatized public service in Putnam with politics in the trenches of the metropolitan region’s most Republican of counties, where nary a Democrat sits on the county legislature.

While county tourism agencies in Westchester and Rockland are part of county government, Putnam contracts with the private nonprofit Visitors Bureau to provide that service. Pataki has an office just down the hall from Odell’s in the county office building.

In 2014, the Visitors Bureau took in $384,000, including $197,000 from Putnam County and $108,000 from New York state, according to county documents. Among its expenses that year were $94,000 for advertising and $55,000 for event expenses.

The reports from the IRS document Pataki's double-stream of tourism pay checks.

The Tourism Corp.’s IRS report from 2014 shows that Pataki received $50,000 while working an average of 15 hours a week — at a rate of $64 an hour. That same year, she earned $70,000 from her 40-hour-a-week taxpayer-funded tourism director post — at a rate of $34 an hour.

County legislators were stunned to learn Pataki was paid by the Tourism Corp., whose existence they were unaware of.

"That's news to me," said Legislator Kevin Wright, R-Mahopac.

Odell, who said the county had “no connection to the foundation,” was surprised to hear that Pataki had received income from the Tourism Corp. But she wasn’t bothered that the Tourism Corp. listed the county's phone number and website address as its own on its 2014 IRS filing.

“Addresses and phone numbers — that’s irrelevant to me,” said Odell. “I think we have to focus on the greater good, on what the foundation has done with its initiatives to help the non-profits, and helping sustain them. That’s what we focus on — what’s good for people.”

The 'Foundation'

Pataki acknowledged that she hadn’t told Putnam leaders that she was paid by the Tourism Corp. But she said someone had to administer an organization that received $97,000 in donations in 2014, spent about $41,000 on promotional events, made contributions of $41,000 to other groups, and had $54,000 in payroll.

It's biggest 2014 contributions came from the Lauder Foundation, $50,000; and $20,000 each from Trian Partners, controlled by Bedford activist investor Nelson Peltz; and Christopher Buck of Garrison, vice-chairman of the Hudson Highlands Land Trust.

While serving as first lady, Pataki for several years was on the payroll of cosmetics heir Ron Lauder, whose family funds the Lauder Foundation. In 2003, she earned $80,000 from Lauder, part of her $339,000 in pay that year from several part-time jobs.

“When people have a foundation, somebody is doing the administrative work, and getting paid for it,” she said.

She said the Tourism Corp. has contributed to local groups such as the Constitution Island Association, Friends of the Great Swamp, the United Way of Westchester and Putnam and the Village of Brewster Film Festival. It also funded holiday decorations in Cold Spring, did the wiring for Christmas tree lighting along Route 52 in Carmel, and helped sponsor a 2015 reporting trip of travel writers in the Hudson Valley.

“I used my discretion to do it out of the foundation,” she said. “I like to have the foundation, so I can give to the organizations and not tax the Visitors’ Bureau.”

Pataki said the hours listed on the IRS reports were “guesstimates” of the time she spent working for each entity.

“Some weeks I’d work more, sometimes I’d work less,” she said. “If it was the Pumpkin Palooza on the east side of the county or a sidewalk sale in Cold Spring, this job is about being flexible. It’s tourism promotion. You go to a chamber dinner, or an election day Lions Club luncheon, you help whichever organization you can help.”

Pataki said she received no compensation from the Tourism Corp. in 2015, citing her time on the presidential campaign trail with her husband.

Who's on first? 

Broadway producer Carolyn Copeland, whose hit Broadway musical, Amazing Grace, is gearing up for a national tour, said she didn’t know she was listed as the Tourism Corp.'s board chairwoman from 2012-14. She has also been listed as a director on the Visitors’ Bureau board, which she said meets a couple of times a year.

“I know I serve on the tourism board, but I not aware of the titles,” said Copeland. “I’m a community-minded person. If someone asks me to serve, I do.”

Sanca, the Tourism Corp. officer who owns Homestyle Desserts in Peekskill and helped out on George Pataki's campaign for Peekskill mayor in the 1980s, also sits on the Visitors' Bureau board. She said she didn't know that she was the Tourism Corp.'s treasurer and has not signed a Tourism Corp. check.

"I'm not on her foundation," said Sanca, now retired, who splits her time between Garrision and Florida. "I'm with tourism."

When told she was listed as treasurer, Sanca said: "OK, well, I can get confused. I think Carolyn Copeland is part of that board."

Pataki returned to her taxpayer-financed Visitors’ Bureau post in early January.

During her absence, Deputy Director Frank Smith, part-time employee and law student, and DeMarco, the Visitors’ Bureau secretary, filled in. DeMarco also served as executive director of the Tourism Corp.

Six weeks before Pataki returned, DeMarco’s father, Joseph Giachinta, was crushed to death by a forklift at his Philipstown concrete products yard. DeMarco has since resigned from both posts. She declined comment.

“I’m really trying to get regrouped and up to speed on what’s going on,” Pataki said.

The big Yonkers check

Pataki's attempts to draw cyclists to Putnam County, meanwhile, have drawn fewer riders each year. One cycling event also saw a new Yonkers influence enter the picture.

She abandoned her predecessor's Tour de Putnam community bike event, which drew as many as 600 riders each August from 1996 to 2011, and replaced it in 2013 with a sanctioned bike race from Cold Spring, which drew 188 riders. In 2014, the Putnam Cycling Classic ran into weather problems, was postponed a week, and drew 67 riders while paying the event’s organizer about $20,000, according to county Legislature reports.

Wilson Kimball, director of development and planning for the city of Yonkers, chaired the Putnam County Visitors' Bureau from 2012 to 2014.

The Ridge Hill shopping center in Yonkers, opened in 2011, was the 2013 Putnam Cycling Classic's lead sponsor with a donation of $50,000. Kimball, then serving as the Visitors' Bureau chairman and waterfront development director in Yonkers, said she had "no involvement" in soliciting the donation.

Kimball now serves as Yonkers' commissioner of planning and development.

Ridge Hill spokesman David Helfenbein said the shopping center backed the bike race to raise its visibility among potential shoppers 30 miles north.

"Ridge Hill supported the Putnam Cycling Classic because, as you know, Putnam directly borders Westchester, where Ridge Hill is located," he said in a written statement. "Given the proximity, it seemed like a good fit as a community event that would help create greater awareness of the shops and other activities at Ridge Hill for Putnam residents."

The inner circle

The roots of the duel tourism agency arrangement can be traced back to longtime friendships and working relationships forged over time.

The Patakis hosted a fundraiser in October for Putnam County Legislator Barbara Scuccimarra, who serves as treasurer of the Putnam County Visitors' Bureau and was a founding member of the Putnam Tourism Corp. Scuccimarra posted photos on her Facebook page.

Since moving to Garrison in the early 1990s, the Patakis have become part of the Republican elite who have found a power base in the southeast corner of Philipstown.

Their inner circle includes Tom and Barbara Scuccimarra, who grew up with George Pataki in Peekskill, and Fox News CEO and Chairman Roger Ailes and his wife, Beth, publisher of two Putnam County weekly newspapers.

Garrison is a hamlet that cherishes its school district, with just 222 students in grade K-8, and plays host to nonprofit and cultural organizations such as the Garrison Institute retreat center; the Hastings Center, a bioethics think tank; and the Depot Theatre, down by the Garrison train station.

As governor, George Pataki appointed Tom Scuccimarra to a vacancy on the Putnam County Court in 2000. After Scuccimarra lost the seat in the November election, Pataki appointed him in 2001 to the state Court of Claims, where he still sits.

In early October, Barbara Scuccimarra reported on Facebook about the campaign fundraiser the Patakis hosted for her at their Garrison home.

“A great evening at the Pataki’s last night,” she wrote on Oct. 9. “The  energy and support was overwhelming. Thank you all!”

Added Libby Pataki: “We are the BARBARA team!! Go team, go!!!”

Putnam County Legislator Barbara Scuccimarra is treasurer of the Putnam  County Visitors Bureau, which receives an annual grant from Putnam County. She was also on the founding board of the Putnam Tourism Corp.

Barbara Scuccimarra, who was elected to her second term in November, has played a crucial role in both corporations. Her biography was attached to Pataki’s application for tax-exempt status for the Tourism Corp. It lists her as the corporation's treasurer/secretary.

When asked about her participation, Scuccimarra denied she was among the Tourism Corp.’s founders.

“I didn’t have anything to do with it,” she said. “I’m not familiar with it.”

When told her signature was on official documents, along with Pataki's and Kimball's, she said she would review her records.

“I’ll have to look at my notes on that,” she said.

She has also served as treasurer of the Visitors Bureau since 2012, including the three years she has served on the Putnam County Legislature, which each year designated the bureau as the county’s tourism promotion agency. She voted for the designation in 2013 and 2015, records show.

She has also voted on the county’s funding for the nonprofit of which she serves as treasurer.

Under the county Code of Ethics and Financial Disclosure Law, officials are required to disclose outside leadership positions, which include board membership in non-profit organizations. Scuccimarra did not do so for 2013 and 2014.

“That was my oversight,” she said. “That was my mistake. I’ve talked to the Ethics Board. They are in reception of my disclosure. I can still promote it. But I’m not going to vote on anything from now on.”

The Ethics Board has yet to meet on the issue. But board Chairman Robert Bickford said non-disclosure “was not a major problem” and that Scuccimarra was going to make the disclosure.

“Unless there was a monetary benefit to some person or entity close to the person reporting, there wouldn’t be a violation of the ethics code,” he said.

Scuccimarra, meanwhile, said she has continued to serve as the nonprofit organization’s treasurer, though she has yet to use the checkbook.

"She has signing authority, but she has never signed a check," said Diane Schonfeld, a Putnam County Legislature spokeswoman. "All the checks are signed by Libby Pataki."