An article in today's Albany Times Union discusses some of the accusations
made about former Union College, RPI, and Cornell hockey coach Ned Harkness'
conduct as the head of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA):
 
 
"State accuses Harkness of misconduct
        Report says ex-coach operated Olymic authority as his 'personal
        fiefdom' "
 
 
Some of the charges:
 
*Harkness improperly collected more than $100,000 while vacationing in Florida
 on workdays
        **spent 461 business days from 1987 to 1993 in his Florida home on
          non-ORDA business
        **took more than the 5 weeks of vacation he was entitled to
 
*Spent thousands more on lucrative contracts for his friends and relatives
 
*Harkness and the ORDA "entered into a number of questionable business
 relationships with private individuals and firms, which at a minimum,
 represent the appearance of conflicts of interest."
        **Harkness influenced and secured lucrative sponsorship agreements in
          excess of $130,000 for Moonraker Enterprises, Inc., which was
          owned by Harkness and his son, from sponsors doing business with
          the ORDA.
 
*Other problems with accruing vacation leave, personal phone calls, personal
 chartered flights
 
 
Harkness responds:
 
*Denies any wrong doing
 
*Spending and business dealings were approved by superiors at the state
 Department of Environmental Conservation and the state Ethics Commission.
 
*Any personal spending charged to the state was reimbursed
 
*"Everything I did was for the best interest of the Olympic authority and the
 state of New York"
 
Inspector General says, "The evidence shows that Ned Harkness treated the ORDA
as his personal fiefdom, not the public benefit entity that it was intended
to be. Equally troubling is the fact that no effective system of accountability
was in place within ORDA or its governing board to prevent or detect this
flagrant abuse of public trust."
 
Harkness quit the job and gave up the $126,270 salary in September 1993, shortly
after the state began its investigation.  In general, if violations of state
Ethics Laws are found after a hearing, public officials are subject to a $10,000
fine for each offense, or the charges could be referred to a criminal
prosecutor. A district attorney could seek convictions on Class A misdemeanors
for each offense, which would each carry a sentence of up to a year in jail.
 
 
Gary
 
(I've got too much time on my hands)