By MICHAEL VIRTANEN
Associated Press

ALBANY - A high-ranking state official who was listed as an employee of two New York agencies at once was improperly awarded state retirement benefits in one of the jobs and may have shortchanged his hours in the other, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Dec. 22.

Continuing a crackdown on abuses in New York's multibillion-dollar pension fund, DiNapoli said John Cansdale was paid $24,000 a year as general counsel for the Olympic Regional Development Authority while also getting $146,699 as executive director of the state Racing and Wagering Board. Before that, the Buffalo lawyer worked for the state's economic-development agency during the administration of Gov. George Pataki.

Auditors said ORDA should treat Cansdale as an independent contractor, saving about $4,000 a year in retirement, Social Security and Medicare payments.

"Independent contractors who provide services to state entities are no different than independent contractors who provide services to school districts," said DiNapoli, whose auditors have identified dozens of school-district lawyers wrongly included in the New York State and Local Retirement System. "In both cases they are not entitled to state pensions."

ORDA operates the former Olympic venues in Lake Placid and Gore Mountain in the Adirondacks. The agency maintained in August that Cansdale was correctly listed as an employee under IRS guidelines.

"John Cansdale has served as counsel for ORDA under the extra service dual employment provisions of New York State Law as advised by the NYS Ethics Commission," ORDA President Ted Blazer said last week. "With this new report, we will work with the Comptroller's Office, and others as appropriate, to resolve the situation."

Calls to Cansdale were not immediately returned.

At the Racing and Wagering Board, which regulates horse racing and pari-mutuel betting in New York, Chairman John Sabini last week named Ronald Ochrym, a lobbyist and former legislative employee, as its new executive director, giving Cansdale a reduced role and cutting his salary of $109,856.

Sabini, a former state senator appointed this year by Gov. David Paterson, said the reassignment was in the works before DiNapoli's findings and "totally unrelated" to the audit. Ochrym has been working for Capitol Hill Management Services in Albany and previously for the state Senate minority and the Assembly majority leader.

"I've asked people in our organization to review the documents I've gotten from the comptroller's office and see what has been done and what can be done," Sabini said.

Auditors said Cansdale did most of his ORDA work out of his Racing and Wagering Board office.

His work there is being reviewed, DiNapoli spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said. "We're looking to see if his time and attendance records are accurate, if the time he says he worked on racing and wagering stuff, if he worked on racing and wagering stuff," she said.

Cansdale's ORDA work included negotiating contracts for sponsorships, concessions and sports events, as well as advising the agency's president and board.