Diagram of Robert Gioia's Brain
When Buck Quigley (Associate Editor of a fiscally shaky local weekly) and I attended the Jim Kaskie firing press conference in January, we were stunned to learn that Bobby Gioia actually thinks it's OK for someone to simultaneously be CEO of public and private entities which compete with each other. Can you say conflict of interest boys and girls? As soon as we made it back to our home base (Founding Fathers Pub), I dialed up the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) and filed a complaint......
You see, as CEO of Erie County Medical Center, a public benefit corporation, Jody Lomeo needed permission to get an outside job raking leaves or bartending at Binky's Saloon on the weekends. Only in the alternate universe of Buffalo Club World could it pass muster for Jody to be CEO of Kaleida as an extra gig. So now Lomeo has resigned at ECMC and moved on to the fiscally and physically nonviable train wreck left by Kaskie at Kaleida Health. Kaleida is a not-for-profit, but Kaskie took home $2.3 million in a good year, so it was extremely profitable for him. This leaves the CEO job open at ECMC and I am clearly the leading contender to fill the post, due to the fact that everyone likes a sweet little old white haired man. The only sticking point is that the $700,000 annual salary will need to be elevated to attract world class talent like me.
Yesterday, Quigley took a much deserved victory lap, and I'm having one too. But I'm also rubbing it in. Yesterday, I filed a number of documents with the Erie County Legislature pointing out that the status of ECMC/Kaleida "collaboration" is murky at best and possibly illegal. Although this has been ignored by local media, the grand deal struck by Judge Curran back in 2008 to merge ECMC and Kaleida into Great Lakes Health has been completely disregarded. The two entities continue as separate organizations, with Great Lakes as some sort of bizarre and nebulous pulpit for Gioia to pontificate from. This violates the Berger Commission mandate which is now New York State law:
" Recommended Action
It is recommended that the facilities controlled by the Erie County Medical Center Corporation and Kaleida Health be joined under a single unified governance structure under the control of an entity other than Erie County Medical Center Corporation, Kaleida Health, or any other public benefit corporation. It is further recommended that this entity consist of a reconstituted single board including representation of Kaleida Health, the Erie County Medical Center Corporation, the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and community leaders." (emphasis added)
Why should anyone care about this arcane nonsense? Well, under a Judge Joe Makowski court decision, the taxpayers of Erie County are liable for the operating losses of ECMC until the end of time and three days more. As an official Erie County taxpayer, I might sleep better if I knew what all this means to my pocketbook.
Yesterday, Quigley took a much deserved victory lap, and I'm having one too. But I'm also rubbing it in. Yesterday, I filed a number of documents with the Erie County Legislature pointing out that the status of ECMC/Kaleida "collaboration" is murky at best and possibly illegal. Although this has been ignored by local media, the grand deal struck by Judge Curran back in 2008 to merge ECMC and Kaleida into Great Lakes Health has been completely disregarded. The two entities continue as separate organizations, with Great Lakes as some sort of bizarre and nebulous pulpit for Gioia to pontificate from. This violates the Berger Commission mandate which is now New York State law:
" Recommended Action
It is recommended that the facilities controlled by the Erie County Medical Center Corporation and Kaleida Health be joined under a single unified governance structure under the control of an entity other than Erie County Medical Center Corporation, Kaleida Health, or any other public benefit corporation. It is further recommended that this entity consist of a reconstituted single board including representation of Kaleida Health, the Erie County Medical Center Corporation, the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and community leaders." (emphasis added)
Why should anyone care about this arcane nonsense? Well, under a Judge Joe Makowski court decision, the taxpayers of Erie County are liable for the operating losses of ECMC until the end of time and three days more. As an official Erie County taxpayer, I might sleep better if I knew what all this means to my pocketbook.
