With Albany in chaos, Board of Elections staff party in Finger Lakes

A state Board of Elections conference may sound dull - but not in New York.
Up to 180 elections commissioners and staffers wined, dined and danced under the stars last week at an annual conference in the scenic Finger Lakes.
Commissioners and employees spent four workdays at a conference at the Ramada Geneva Lake Front, which included plenty of eating, boozing, golf and touring.
All this while Gov. Paterson is urging state agencies to limit "nonessential" travel to help close the budget gap.
City and state rules let workers attend "professional development" confabs. Taxpayers usually cover hotels, travel and food.
At this conference, vendors seeking business with election boards across the state picked up the tab for food and open bars.
State regulations advise employees it may be improper to accept gifts and that "prior approval and written disclosure" may be required.
New York State Election Commissioners Association President William Scriber acknowledged vendors paid to hawk their wares at the conference - and the money was used to pay for open bars and other expenses.
Still, he defended the conference as necessary.
"We're probably going to go through one of the most difficult election years in the state," he said, explaining that most counties would be using new voting optical scan technology. Companies that make the technology were at the conference.
State rules also recommend only two employees attend such events at a time so as not to deplete the staff.
State Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin said six people with his board attended the conference, which was "extremely helpful."
The New York City Board of Elections also blew off the rule, sending eight staffers, including three of the top four employees.
All together, between 150 and 180 people attended, each paying about $117 a night for room and board - about $351 a person for the entire event.
The city's bill to the taxpayers for three nights, two dinners and two lunches came to $2,808, not counting travel and other meals, a city spokeswoman said.
Last year, the Daily News found city commissioners and board employees were reimbursed in 2007 and 2008 nearly $58,000 for multiple expenses, including hotels, meals and travel to upstate conferences.
A News reporter and photographer observed this year's Geneva jaunt unnoticed.
After check-in Tuesday, attendees went to a 45-minute meeting, then a two-hour welcome reception including an open bar.
At nightfall, many gathered under a white, lakeside tent where they drank beer, wine and liquor and smoked cigars. Liquor flowed freely each night in the Seneca Room that opened up to the giant white tent.
"You girls want to party?" an upstate election board staffer named Scott asked a News reporter and photographer about 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Scott brought the two drinks and introduced the women to an upstate commissioner named Anthony, who was smoking a cigar and drinking a Michelob Ultra.
The Republican commissioner said the annual getaway was one of the perks of the part-time political appointment that pays $30,000 annually.
Inside the private club room, a makeshift bar was laden with bottles of vodka, rum, gin and tequila - some of it top shelf. New York City board employees were seen drinking from plastic cups.
On Wednesday, commissioners and staffers attended work sessions about paper ballets, vendor contracts and other election issues. At one point, Sequoia and ES&S - two companies vying to supply electronic voting machines to election boards across New York - pitched their wares.
Meetings were scheduled through 4 p.m., but by 2:30, about a dozen participants were teeing off at the nearby Seneca Country Club. Others took a vineyard tour of the region known best for its white Rieslings.
Boating was available on Seneca Lake, and one commissioner said he planned to go fishing.
At the hotel, vendors hawking graphics and ballot and voting machines filled a crowded corridor. One of them, a ballot vendor, even threw a party Wednesday night, complete with disk jockey, roast beef, shrimp and open bar.
Several women donned poodle skirts and ponytails for the '50s theme party. A commissioner dressed like Elvis, and other men wore faded jeans and T-shirts.
As the party ended, some revelers re-created a scene from "Animal House" by jumping up and down, yelling "Shout!" to the Isley Brothers' hit.
Scriber said he didn't know which vendor paid for the private party room and liquor and had "no recollection" of who threw the costume party. A hotel sales rep did not return calls.
On Thursday, the city Board of Elections staff gathered for lunch, chatting on cell phones around an outdoor table. Board lawyer Steven Richman drank a rum-filled piña colada, an employee said, while someone else at the table drank a Bloody Mary.
They were joined by Deputy Executive Director George Gonzalez, who drove his black GMC Yukon Denali XL truck 300 miles from the city. Gonzalez was seen at the party the night before drinking a can of beer.
Administrator Pamela Perkins, who approved previous conference expenses, lunched with the group on the sunny afternoon.
City board spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez said eight employees went to the conference to get ready for next year's elections.