GroWest report kept under lock and key at Utica City Hall
Story Created:
Sep 13, 2010 at 4:42 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Sep 13, 2010 at 5:16 PM EDT
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - The controversy over the GroWest investigation continues in the City of Utica.
Utica Mayor David Roefaro says that because of the sensitive nature of the findings by the attorney hired by the City of Utica to look into the GroWest issues, the full, 1,000-plus page report is being kept in a locked safe inside the City Clerk's Office.
The law firm Hage & Hage unveiled the 'Executive Summary' of their findings last Wednesday. Members of Utica's Common Council received a copy, as did members of the media.
The Executive Summary describes some of the problems within the City of Utica's Department of Urban and Economic Development, and also lists the lawsuits filed against GroWest, against contractors hired by GroWest, even the lawsuit filed against GroWest's accountants.
But the Executive Summary doesn't get into much detail. However, the full document does.
Utica Mayor David Roefaro says there's a simple reason why the full document is being kept in the Clerk's Office.
"It's viewable under lock and key by the council members because it has a lot of legal documentation in it that can't be released," Mayor Roefaro said. "That's why they released a summary version of the document."
Utica Common Council members Jim Zecca and Frank Vescera took a look at the full report Monday morning, but didn't have time to get through much of it.
Zecca and Vescera say they both have full-time jobs, besides their part time common council position. So, for them to view the entire document, they would have to take a very long time off from work to do so.
Zecca and Vescera say they would like the public to be able to view the document.
"I can understand why some of it is confidential at this point, but we still need answers," Zecca said. "But again, that's why we feel it's important this be turned over to the state agencies to do their investigation."
Zecca and Vescera held a press conference on Sunday urging residents to contact the State Attorney General's office and State Comptroller's office to come in and do their own investigation.
On Monday morning, they sent their own letter to those two offices.
"The Attorney General's Office may come in at a later date, but that is, after the Federal Government and the FBI have gone through with their process," Roefaro said.
The FBI is continuing to investigate any criminal wrongdoing when it comes to any of the federal funds granted to the City of Utica and then dispersed to the non-profit GroWest.
WKTV has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the City of Utica to get a full copy of the Hage report.
The city has 30 days to decide if it will release it.
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