Special Interest a Conflict of Interest? Hoblock says "no," lobbies for Catskill OTB

May 26, 2009 at 11:36 am by Jordan Carleo-Evangelist, Staff writer
From Jim Odato’s column yesterday, this item about Michael Hoblock’s lobbying activities since he left the state Racing and Wagering Board in August:

Michael Hoblock’s career as a commissioner with the state Racing and Wagering Board ended in August 2008, so he’s under a two-year ban from lobbying the board. But he’s also permanently prohibited from lobbying on issues he personally participated in, ethics officials say. He is registered as a lobbyist for Catskill OTB Corp. The $25,000 contract started in November 2008 and expires this coming November.

Hoblock said his reading of the law allows him to lobby the Legislature about OTB matters. But he did not seek guidance from the Commission on Public Integrity, which offers an Ethics Commission opinion the lifetime ban applies to agencies and the Legislature.

“It’s quite a roll of the dice,” said Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

Hoblock, the former county executive and state senator in Albany County, is running for Colonie supervisor this year.

Posted in Albany County, Colonie |

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5 Comments »
Can you say… CREDIBILITY PROBLEM and LACK of JUDGEMENT PROBLEM? Where to begin… Seems like Hoblock is ethically-challenged. Must have been too many years working for the Pataki folks over at racing and wagering. Forgot this thing called ETHICS. Whose running his campaign? Let me guess… probably another Pataki-era lackey looking for work as his/her appointment to some board is ending shortly.

Comment by Dewey Oxburger — May 26th, 2009 @ 3:01 pm

Hoblock should follow the advice of (former Colonie Town
Supervisor) “if something has even the appearance of
impropriety it should be avoided”.

Comment by leftmyheartincolonie — May 26th, 2009 @ 3:02 pm

Oops — meant to include “former Colonie Town
Supervisor Fred Field” as making that statement
on impropriety

Comment by leftmyheartincolonie — May 26th, 2009 @ 3:04 pm

A LOBBYIST that violates STATE ETHICS LAWS. A lobbyist is bad enough…a criminal one is just icing on the cake. COLONIE DESERVES BETTER!!!!

Comment by stroswift — May 26th, 2009 @ 7:09 pm

Ok this is just to funny, I am sorry to say. Hoblock reads the law to say two months after overseeing the racing and WAGERING Board grabbing a $25,000 retainer seems like a smart way to go. Hmm lets quiz up some 5th grader and see if he can read the law better then the Supervisor wanna be.
This not good, maybe Harry should have read the law to him or better yet maybe it was Harry who got him the contract. Hey maybe not but we all know how this dance goes.
Nothing changes no matter how old the Rep Politician in Colonie is…

Comment by Govt by the people — May 26th, 2009 @ 11:03 pm

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