Agency blasts OBPA policy

OGDENSBURG — The agency that oversees public authorities said that an Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority policy allowing past and present board members and their spouses to cross the bridge to Canada for free is inappropriate.

"Our general perspective is, you're not really performing the benefit for the public," said Michael Farrar, a spokesman for the state Authorities Budget Office. "We would take the position that it's not a good policy to have."

The mayor of Ogdensburg also may cross the bridge for free during his or her tenure in that position. Spouses of management employees also receive the $2.75 free pass.

The policy last was revised in 1989. At the governance committee's August meeting, the language of the policy was changed because it originally read that present and past board members "and their wives" may cross the bridge for free. The word "wives" was changed to "spouses."

The governance committee referred the policy to the authority's full board meeting Tuesday, but due to a clerical error, it was never actually approved, so the 1989 version, and language, remains.

OBPA Executive Director Wade A. Davis said the Authorities Budget Office's concerns about these types of policies were unknown to him or other members of the board.

"If that is the case, perhaps we need to take another look at it," Mr. Davis said. "If they haveguidance on that, we're more than willing to listen to that guidance. Quite frankly, we weren't aware of that."

Mr. Davis said the issue came up during a governance committee review of the policy.

"We are doing the right thing by going through and updating and revising old policies," Mr. Davis said. "That's a function that has not occurred previously."

Other authorities in the state have erased such perks from the policy books in the past two years, facing increased scrutiny from Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.

In spring 2008, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority rescinded a policy that allowed board members to cross certain bridges and tunnels, and ride on subways, buses and commuter railroads, free for life.

MTA policy now says that only current board members on official business don't have to pay, according to authority spokesman Aaron A. Donovan.

Several publications, including the New York Times and the Buffalo News, reported that the Thruway Authority offered free toll passage to former and current board members. Mr. Cuomo persuaded the Thruway Authority to cancel its passes that allowed current and former board members to pass tolls for free, according to the New York Times.

The Authorities Budget Office, which oversees state authorities amid recent efforts to rein in what has been dubbed New York's "shadow government," has no direct power to overturn the policy, Mr. Farrar said. Because the dollar amount that's lost to free crossings is low, anything outside of a report criticizing the policy is unlikely.

From Sept. 1, 2009, to Aug. 31, current and former OBPA board members and their spouses took 247 round-trips across the bridge, according to the authority, representing a loss of $679.25. Spouses of management employees took 36 round-trips in the same period. Mayor William D. Nelson did not cross the bridge for free as part of his duties as mayor.

"It's not a major fiscal impact," Mr. Farrar said. "But it does have some impact, and it's not something that's part of your mission and purpose."