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September 12 2011 13:39

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State wants to know why airport ignored recommendations

Andreatta, David. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, N.Y] 02 June 2011.

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Abstract
In a letter to Brooks dated June 1 that the state released to the media, the director of the Authorities Budget Office asked the county executive to inform the office of the steps she is taking to implement the recommendation or to explain why she will not accept it.

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Full Text
A state watchdog agency that recently recommended the board of the Monroe County Airport Authority be removed and replaced called on Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks on Wednesday to explain why she has refused to comply. The county two weeks ago responded dismissively to a scathing report on Airport Authority operations issued by the Authorities Budget Office, which found that the board could not act independent from county government and had a long history of lax oversight. The report concluded, among other things, that the seven-member board should be replaced. The board is by law appointed by the county executive. In a letter to Brooks dated June 1 that the state released to the media, the director of the Authorities Budget Office asked the county executive to inform the office of the steps she is taking to implement the recommendation or to explain why she will not accept it. The Authorities Budget Office is a monitoring agency and has no authority to enforce its recommendations. "We are troubled by the board's near complete dismissal of the report's findings, and its lack of response to specific examples of inappropriate or questionable travel and operating expenses that were routinely approved," wrote the director, David Kidera. "As the appointing authority for Monroe County Airport Authority board members," the letter later continued, "it is the county executive's responsibility to hold directors to the standards of accountability that is expected of public board members." Kidera asked that Brooks respond by June 30. County spokesman Noah Lebowitz said the county has already informed the state of its intentions in no uncertain terms.

"Monroe County's response to the ABO report was clearly communicated to both the public and the ABO in writing several weeks ago," Lebowitz said. "Monroe County considers the matter closed, and will reiterate this position to Mr. Kidera in response to his letter sent to the media today." When the state issued its report, the county refuted its findings and released a statement that none of the 14 recommendations "would strengthen airport operations or financial practices" beyond the reforms that the Airport Authority adopted months earlier at the urging of Brooks. Those reforms included restrictions on business travel expenses and credit card use and prohibited the purchase of alcohol and tobacco. In its report, the state concluded that the reforms were insufficient and criticized the board for only moving to correct lapses after it was under pressure from the county executive to do so. ID_Code: A2201110110601049

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Indexing (details)
Subjects Title Authors Publication title Publication year Publication Date Year Section Publisher Place of Publication Country of publication Source type Language of Publication Document type Subfile ProQuest Document ID Document URL County executives, Budgets, Airports State wants to know why airport ignored recommendations Andreatta, David Rochester Democrat and Chronicle 2011 Jun 2, 2011 2011 NEWS Gannett Co., Inc. Rochester, N.Y. United States Newspapers English News County executives, Budgets, Airports 869600084 http://ezproxy.drake.brockport.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proqu est.com/docview/869600084?accountid=26985

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Copyright 2011 - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle NY - All Rights Reserved 2011-06-02 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle << Link to document in ProQuest

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