Former Director Peter Cappuccilli kept North Carolina friend on state payroll. Potential crimes include grand larceny, tampering with public records.
By Michelle Breidenbach and Mike McAndrew
Staff writers
State investigators descended on the New York State Fair to see if the staff was giving away too many free tickets.
But the 150 people they interviewed unloaded a much bigger story of fraud and corruption at the 12-day end-of-summer extravaganza near Syracuse.
People said former state fair Director Peter Cappuccilli put his friend on the state payroll, even though he lived and worked in North Carolina. They said the caterers gave Cappuccilli a big discount to host his daughters’ weddings at the fair and he used state workers to spruce up the grounds in advance of the big day.
Over 10 years, there was a no-bid contract, an exchange of public money for personal favors and missing documents.
Even the state fair Christmas cards were a scandal.
And, investigators alleged, there were thousands of free concert tickets.
On Tuesday, Inspector General Joseph Fisch issued a 147-page report that said Cappuccilli personally benefited from more than $78,000 and misspent more than $860,000 in taxpayer money.
Fisch referred the allegations to the attorney general’s office for possible criminal charges or civil action. Potential crimes include grand larceny and tampering with public records, the report said.
The inspector general also criticized top Department of Agriculture & Markets officials and current fair Director Dan O’Hara for failing to seek bids on a $700,000 contract to produce the fair’s 2008 concerts and a $127,500 contract for a boxing event at the 2009 fair.
But the stories told by staff, vendors and others lay bare a state government operation under Cappuccilli that blurred business and friendships at taxpayer expense.
Typical of the report’s tough language, one section is called “Cappuccilli’s $40,000 showcase wedding reception.”
In June 2004, the State Park at the Fair played host to a wedding reception for Cappuccilli’s daughter, Molly.
State workers drained a man-made pond and erected a large white tent, where 450 guests celebrated in the biggest event the fair caterers had ever put on: a six-hour open bar, chocolate fondue, a raw bar and stations for meat carving and pasta, according to the invoice.
The bill came to $43,101. But the caterers said they never expected Cappuccilli to pay that amount. They gave him a $20,000 discount.
The fair — which receives 13 percent of the caterer’s bill — lost money as a result.
Since 1990, that caterer, Catering with a Flair, has held an exclusive contract for year-round events at the Empire Room and other rooms in the fair’s Art & Home Center. One partner, Ronald Rescignano, owner of Twin Trees Too!, told investigators that Cappuccilli was doing them a favor by allowing them to throw a showcase wedding.
His partner, William Jackson, a well-connected former Syracuse Water Department worker, told a different story.
Jackson said the discount was to thank Cappuccilli for a personal favor. When Jackson’s wife was suffering from a terminal illness, Cappuccilli offered vacations at his Florida home and other gifts. The Cappuccillis, the Jacksons and the Rescignanos have been friends since childhood.
Fair accountants never received the invoice for the reception. Instead, an accountant said, Cappuccilli hid the invoice in his office safe and said, “I don’t want everyone to know my business.”
Fisch also asked the state comptroller’s office to audit the contract Catering with a Flair has at the state fair and, if necessary, recover unpaid bills.
Cappuccilli refused to talk to investigators and would not comment Tuesday. Many others criticized in the report also did not comment.
At the fair, Cappuccilli built a reputation as a customer-friendly manager. The fair set a record, topping 1 million in attendance in 2001. Cappuccilli stressed that his job was to make sure every fairgoer was treated like a VIP.
But there was another class of fairgoer that Cappuccilli and other fair directors treated best, the report charged.
The fair gave away thousands of free tickets as perks to employees, friends and state police.
They put aside tickets they called “directors holds” for friends of the fair director to buy, even when concerts appeared sold out to the general public. Staff said these tickets were for sale to “someone special,” “people who knew people” or “friends coming in with money.”
The state fairgrounds has historically been seen as a public playground for political favors.
In the 1980s, when former Syracuse Mayor Tom Young was state fair director, he hired four of his brothers to supervise the cash taken in at the fair’s main gates. He awarded contracts to partnerships that included his cousin and granted the grandstand concession contract to his partner in a private business.
Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, appointed Cappuccilli to the $125,000-a-year job in 1995. He had served as Pataki’s local campaign coordinator the year before.
Staff described him to investigators as the “mayor” of the fair.
Even the state fair’s Christmas cards illustrated “Cappuccilli’s inability to distinguish his personal interests from his official position,” investigators said.
On the cover is the fair logo wrapped in a red ribbon. Inside, is the inscription, “From our family to your family, best wishes for peace and joy.” The cards are signed by Cappuccilli and his wife and daughters and no state fair staff. Investigators said they found enough evidence to suggest they were paid for by taxpayers.
Nepotism and cronyism marked Cappuccilli’s tenure, the inspector general alleged.
The inspector general pointed to Tim Kuhl as Exhibit A. In 2002, Cappuccilli hired Kuhl, his friend from their days when each worked as vice presidents of the Syracuse Crunch AHL hockey team, as a sponsorship sales consultant, and later promoted him to sales manager.
Former State Fair Director Peter Cappuccilli hired Tim Kuhl (above), a personal friend, as sales manager even though the fair already had one, according to a report by the state inspector general. Kuhl kept the job here after going to work full time for a pro hockey team in North Carolina.In 2006, the fair paid Kuhl $35,000 during a nine-month stretch when Kuhl was living in North Carolina and working full-time for the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, the inspector general alleged.
Asked by investigators how he could do both jobs, Kuhl replied, “There’s probably not a great answer.”
Tuesday, Kuhl said that he continued to work for the fair four days out of every two weeks while in North Carolina, and received only commissions for sponsorship sales then, not salary. Kuhl said he helped increase the fair’s sponsorship revenue from $1.8 million to $3.2 million per year.
The investigation was performed by the inspector general for Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat. It was largely critical of the Pataki administration.
Fisch said the probe was not influenced by party politics.
His report sharply criticized O’Hara, the current fair director, and officials of the Department of Agriculture and Markets for the fair’s failure to seek bids on a $700,000 contract awarded to Live Nation Worldwide to book the fair’s 2008 concerts.
The inspector general said Ag & Markets officials misled the state comptroller’s office when they requested approval to hire Live Nation without seeking bids. The comptroller was not told O’Hara had received a bid from another concert promoter. The comptroller was not told O’Hara created the fair’s concert emergency by firing the fair worker who booked the concerts, the inspector general said.
Investigators found no evidence of bribes or kickbacks in the Live Nation deal. The fair netted a $57,000 profit from the Live Nation concerts, more than it received in 2007 or 2009, the inspector general determined.
State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said the inspector general’s report vindicates O’Hara for changing the culture of the fair. Under O’Hara, the fair no longer provides free concert tickets to employees or state police. O’Hara also has instituted a policy against hiring relatives of fair employees.
Inspector General. Report on Investigation of NYS Fair
--Contact Mike McAndrew at mmcandrew@syracuse.com or 470-3016.