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Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s longtime fiscal ad viser, Dean Fuleihan, who earlier this month “retired” after 33 years working for the Assembly to take what many expected would be a private-sector job, wound up landing a cushy government job that pays about $30,000 more, records show.
On the same day that Fuleihan left his $157,580-a-year job, he was hired — without public announcement — as a $185,000-a-year “executive vice president” at the State University of New York’s cutting-edge College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany.
The college has received about $1 billion in direct state funding because of Silver’s strong backing.
While some in state government see Fuleihan’s new job as a thank-you payment for Silver’s support, college head Alain Kaloyeros said he, and not Silver, recruited Fuleihan to serve as “executive vice president for strategic partnerships.”
The recruitment came as Fuleihan was weighing several better-paying job offers from Mayor Bloomberg, one source said.
“Dean is a very talented guy, and unfortunately, the payroll structure of the Assembly does not allow it to compete for talented people,” Silver said.
Fuleihan is not yet collecting his pension.
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Controversial New York Power Authority CEO Richard Kessel is believed to be just “weeks away” from resigning, following a hush-hush meeting this month with Gov. Cuomo’s state operations director, Howard Glaser.
The relatively short meeting in Glaser’s office at the Capitol left several administration insiders convinced that Kessel was close to departing.
Kessel is a one-time loyal Democratic operative for Cuomo and successfully ingratiated himself with former US Sen. Alfonse D’Amato and Nassau County GOP boss Joseph Mondello after Republican George Pataki beat Mario Cuomo in 1994.
Kessel’s role at the powerful upstate-focused Power Authority is under intense scrutiny from state Inspector General Ellen Biben in the wake of revelations that Kessel — a former head of the Long Island Power Authority who is believed to be eyeing a race for Nassau County executive — “donated” hundreds of thousands of dollars of NYPA funds to Long Island-based not-for-profit organizations.
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What’s the rush?
That’s the attitude of self-satisfied state lawmakers, who may wait until October to return to Albany to pass a range of important measures dealing with President Obama’s health-care plan, Mayor Bloomberg’s controversial outer-borough taxi deal and a new state labor contract.
Legislative sources told The Post that what was expected to be a midsummer session won’t take place and that a fall session appears almost certain.
“We think we can wait until late September or October. It’s not as if the public is clamoring to have the Legislature return to Albany,” a senior legislative aide said.
Lawmakers wrapped up their regular legislative session last month almost giddy with their achievements: an on-time and frugal state budget, a local property-tax cap, renewed rent regulations and legalized gay marriage — all passed at the behest of the freshman governor.
“They don’t want to come back and risk ruining a good thing,” the legislative aide quipped.