3 months ago
Members of the New York State Parole Board have very serious responsibilities: determining whether, or when, criminals, including killers, rapists and pedophiles should be released from prison.
They also decide whether those who are out on parole should have their paroles revoked.
The 19 board members are appointed by the governor and are required to have five years background in either law enforcement, social work, law or medicine.
A 2 On Your Side investigation has revealed that often times there is often another "requirement" - that you have strong political ties as well.
That's the case for three of the four board members from Western New York:
1. Gerry Greenan:
- He comes from a prominent Republican family in West Seneca.
- Greenan was appointed by fellow Republican Governor George Pataki.
- Board of Elections records show that Greenan and his wife have given over $10,000 to various Republican candidates over the past ten years, including $1,000 to Pataki.
- Greenan is a lawyer.
2. Pat Gallivan, the former Erie County Sheriff, a Republican:
- Gallivan was also appointed by fellow Republican Pataki.
- Gallivan made a $250 donation to Pataki back in 2001.
- Gallivan was also a state trooper.
3. Joseph Crangle:
- He's the son of former Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Joe Crangle.
- Crangle was appointed by Democratic Governor David Paterson last year, and he gave Paterson a $1,000 donation this year.
- Crangle is a former probation officer.
The only one of the four local members without discernible political ties is:
4. Walter Smith of Clarence:
- Smith was appointed to two terms by fellow Republican Pataki.
- The most recent records show Smith has not made any political donations.
- Smith was a senior investigator for the state's Crime Victims Board.
Parole Board members have six year terms and are paid $102,000 a year.
They also receive four weeks vacation, and use of a state car.
Scott Brown: "What the board members make, is this kind of symbolic of Albany's spending habits?"
Blair Horner of the N.Y. Public Interest Research Group: "Certainly the idea of having gold plated commissioners is typical of what you see in Albany. So this is consistent with what you find in the state in terms of salaries and political affiliation."
The most recent comparison with other states shows that New York's Parole Board members are the third highest paid in the nation.
Georgia pays the most at $113,000 a year, followed by New Jersey at $105,000.
Ten states pay per day, ranging from $75 to $150 a day.
So, what do the New York Parole Board members do to earn their salaries?
2 On Your Side reviewed the schedules for each of the Western New York board members for the first nine months of this year.
This is the September schedule of Republican Gerry Greenan:
It shows he spent six days interviewing inmates or meeting with crime victims, many of them either in the Buffalo area or Rochester, although Greenan did have one trip to a downstate prison that took him about six hours outside of Buffalo.
Here's the same September schedule for Crangle, a Democrat:
It shows he spent seven days interviewing inmates or meeting with crime victims, four of those were done in Buffalo, three were done on two different trips to prisons about six hours outside of Buffalo.
So, what do members do when not holding interviews?
The head of the Board declined an interview with 2 On Your Side.
A spokeswoman for the Board, Heather Groll, tells us that members are "expected to be at their (board) office conducting board administrative business," when not conducting interviews.
And that means going over files, mainly setting conditions for inmates who have been released on parole.
Although the jobs of Parole Board members are supposed to be full time, Groll, the spokeswoman, says it can only verify that "Greenan worked 13 of 19 days" in September.
The board says it can only verify that Crangle worked for 16 of the 19 days.
"I think it's reasonable to review every expenditure in state government to see if the public is getting its money's worth, and whether the state's spending problems are out of line. This would certainly fall into the category of a thorough review," says Blair Horner of NYPIRG.
And our review of financial disclosure records reveals that two of the four Western New York members have other jobs as well.
Gerry Greenan is an attorney at the prominent political law firm of Harris, Beach.
Greenan did not return our calls for comment.
When we asked a spokeswoman for the Board about Greenan's outside employment she said "Mr. Greenan was authorized by the state Commission on Public Integrity and a prior chairman to engage in outside employment."
Pat Gallivan, the former sheriff, has his own private investigation firm.
Gallivan declined to comment to us about his firm, but in an interview last year with the Buffalo News, Gallivan said "I'll be arranging my schedule around my state job, rather than the other way around."
During Gallivan's first four years on the board he received a waiver in order to collect his full $42,000 a year state pension from his time in law enforcement.
Without the waiver, any state employee already collecting a state pension would be limited to earning a maximum of $30,000 a year.
When 2 On Your Side recently inquired about Gallivan's pension, the state Comptroller's office looked into it, and a spokeswoman for the office told us "we have now suspended Patrick Gallivan's pension because his waiver expired..."
Sometimes, Parole Board members find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Last year, Chris Ortloff, a former state Assemblyman who was appointed to the board by Governor Pataki, pled guilty to trying to have sex with what he believed were 11 and 12 year old sisters.
He's currently serving ten years to life in prison.
Also last year, the head of the Parole Board, George Alexander resigned after a state investigation found that he took a government computer and didn't return it until anti-theft software traced it to his home.
Alexander was appointed by former governor Eliot Spitzer.
