Comptroller: NYRA on "very shaky financial ground"

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by gales0678

andy where is all the $$ going , how could you guys be broke?

Honest to god Marty, you must wake up daily having retained no prior accumulated information. You're like a human Etch-a-Sketch.

[Duvalier]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Honest to god Marty, you must wake up daily having retained no prior accumulated information. You're like a human Etch-a-Sketch.

Classic

[Gaelic Storm]

Can we please get the unelected Comptroller to audit the NYC OTB's books.

[parsixfarms]

We didn't need DiNapoli to spend who knows how much money to say that, if the state continues to botch the OTB and VLT situations, NYRA will be faced with financial difficulty. That being said, could some one please explain Heffernan's response on the Getnick & Getnick issue? Exactly what value does New York racing derive from their presence to justify over a $1 million per year in legal fees? Aside from Neil Getnick showing up for various fundraisers in Saratoga, why is July/August considered "peak season" for integrity issues?

[randallscott35]

Gales is the guy from Memento

[pointman]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

We didn't need DiNapoli to spend who knows how much money to say that, if the state continues to botch the OTB and VLT situations, NYRA will be faced with financial difficulty. That being said, could some one please explain Heffernan's response on the Getnick & Getnick issue? Exactly what value does New York racing derive from their presence to justify over a $1 million per year in legal fees? Aside from Neil Getnick showing up for various fundraisers in Saratoga, why is July/August considered "peak season" for integrity issues?

NYRA is mandated by the bancruptcy court to have Getnick & Getnick oversee their operations, this is not a discretionary fee they are paying. Heffernan is really trying to say that they are getting a good deal considering that Getnick is working at 2001 rates and have voluntarily given them free work through credits and discounts during NYRA's toughest financial times, therefore justifying the fee schedule as a necessary and fair deal for NYRA. This really demonstrates the shoddy work by DiNapoli's office by questioning an expense without doing the work to understand why it is necessary.

DiNapoli is a political hack only looking for some positive headlines in advance of this election. I hope he gets trounced in November. That being said, his opponents are not that appealing either, particularly the completely unqualified Kathleen Rice who in reality can't even run the Nassau County District Attorney's Office competently (not that I am really complaining as I take advantage of it) but continually gets positive press due to media's failure to examine if she is actually producing the results she claims to (particularly the liberal rag called Newsday).

The state of New York politics is sad, but unfortunately BS is passed on by the media and believed by the voters. I am certain we will see a lot of NYRA bashing between now and November.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by pointman

NYRA is mandated by the bancruptcy court to have Getnick & Getnick oversee their operations, this is not a discretionary fee they are paying. Heffernan is really trying to say that they are getting a good deal considering that Getnick is working at 2001 rates and have voluntarily given them free work through credits and discounts during NYRA's toughest financial times, therefore justifying the fee schedule as a necessary and fair deal for NYRA. This really demonstrates the shoddy work by DiNapoli's office by questioning an expense without doing the work to understand why it is necessary.

Maybe I phrased my question wrong. I understand why Getnick & Getnick is there. That firm's hiring was a political sop to Spitzer as part of getting the franchise. My question is the following: now that their responsibilities as a court-appointed monitor are over, what exactly is it that they do to justify the high fees they are generating?

[pointman]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

Maybe I phrased my question wrong. I understand why Getnick & Getnick is there. That firm's hiring was a political sop to Spitzer as part of getting the franchise. My question is the following: now that their responsibilities as a court-appointed monitor are over, what exactly is it that they do to justify the high fees they are generating?

Getnicks role is to serve as integrity counsel to help guide NYRA's management decisions which is both mandated by the State Racing and Wagering Law and the bancruptcy court. I agree that it seems like a waste at this point, but NYRA has no choice in the matter. Considering that NYRA is a different organization run by different people than when it went into bancruptcy, it is hard to see whay NYRA needs to pay $1.5 million in legal fees to ensure that they are spending their money properly. Note that DiNapoli's criticism is not that Getnick is getting paid for unnecessary services, but that he concludes that by NYRA paying a minimum monthly fee they are paying for hours where services are not actually rendered which is not true since NYRA is credited by Getnick for those hours in future months where the services rendered are above the minimum. Additionally, Heffernan points out that Getnick has given NYRA reduced rates and credits which would offset any hours which did not meet the monthly minimum which they would incur if they paid on as go basis.

What DiNapoli fails to recognize is that NYRA cannot choose the hours needed for this oversight which is why there is a minimum monthly fee as Getnick is required to be independent. Further, the period analyzed by DiNapoli was unfair since it excluded the Saratoga season which is when NYRA incurs the most billable hours. DiNapoli further misrepresented the figures as he failed to take into account that $450K of the $1.25 million figure DiNapoli used (of which $625K was actually paid during the 10 month period) was for services rendered prior to the analyzed period which NYRA owed to Getnick and Getnick allowed NYRA the additional time to pay them. Heffernan points out that during the 10 month period analyzed NYRA actually accrued $762K in billable hours, or $137K less than what they paid which completely defeats DiNapoli's ludicrous assertion that NYRA should pay on an actual billing hours incurred basis.

The most laughable portion of the report to me is that in paragraph 4 of the recommendations DiNapoli suggests that NYRA should cut the free transportation of horses between the NYRA tracks, a service which actually allows NYRA to get enough horses to put on the product that derives income. This statement in itself screams how clueless DiNapoli is with regard to the product he is criticising. In the very next paragraph, #5, DiNapoli suggests that NYRA needs to examine where their expenses deviate from industry practices. Ironically, the transportation of horses between related tracks owned by the same company is clearly an industry practice. What a joke.

[ARyan]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Honest to god Marty, you must wake up daily having retained no prior accumulated information. You're like a human Etch-a-Sketch.

[Linny]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Honest to god Marty, you must wake up daily having retained no prior accumulated information. You're like a human Etch-a-Sketch.

May I use this as my signature?

[pointman]

DiNapoli is an absolute political hack that got this position through patronage after he was unable to win a primary against Tom Suozzi despite having the Democratic party's support. He has no experience or background for the comptroller position and his report shows an absolute lack of knowledge as to the business that NYRA runs. He is likely using this for political gain as he runs for another position he is unqualified to serve, attorney general.

This report is garbage and should be treated as such by the media, yet for some reason the mainstream New York media eats it up and only reports the negative towards NYRA.

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Honest to god Marty, you must wake up daily having retained no prior accumulated information. You're like a human Etch-a-Sketch.

LOL