JCOPE Members Announced

Late this afternoon, Governor Cuomo and the four legislative leaders issued a press release announcing the 14 members of the new Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE).

The JCOPE has jurisdiction over executive branch employees and lobbyists, and the authority to investigate potential violations of the law by legislators and legislative employees.  It was created through Chapter 399 of 2011, replacing the Commission on Public Integrity (CPI)

The Governor has six appointments (including the chair), the legislative majority leaders each have three appointments, and the legislative minority leaders each have one.

Read the full press release here (and release from Senator Skelos and Speaker Silver).

The JCOPE members are:

– Janet DiFiore, Chair – Cuomo appointee; Westchester County District Attorney
– Vincent DeIorio – Cuomo; currently NYSERDA chair, but will resign to serve on JCOPE; also is an attorney in private practice
– Mitra Hormozi. – Cuomo; served as CPI Chair in 2011; partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP
– Daniel Horwitz – Cuomo; partner at Lanker & Carragher, LLP
– Gary Lavine – Cuomo; counsel to Green & Seifter, Attorneys, PLLC
– Seymour Knox IV – Cuomo; CEO of Knox International, LLC, a private equity firm
– Mary Lou Rath – Skelos; former New York State Senator
– Judge Joseph Covello – Skelos; former Appellate Division Judge; partner at Lynn, Gartner, Dunne & Covello, LLP.
– George Weissman – Skelos; Of Counsel at Marsh, Wasserman and Associates, LLP
– Pat Bulgaro – Silver; former Budget Director; served on the former Temporary Commission on Lobbying
– Marvin Jacob – Silver; retired from Weil, Gotshal & Manges;
– Ellen Yaroshefsky — Silver; law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; formerly an attorney
– Ravi Batra – Sampson; attorney with a private practice
– David Renzi – Kolb; partner at Brown, Dierdorf and Renzi

Just preparing this list reminds me of what a challenge this group of 14 people faces as they hire an Executive Director and do everything else that needs to be done in order to get the JCOPE up and running.