9.8.17 – Felder’s office declines to provide updated staff list

Sen. Simcha Felder’s office has declined to provide an updated list of staffers working for Mr. Felder. No explanation for the denial, which was received on 9.8, was provided.

The staff list was requested by John V. Santore, an SD 17 constituent. Santore also requested the job titles, issue areas of responsibility, and email addresses of the staffers. In response, Avi Fertig, Mr. Felder’s communications director, wrote the following:

As we are not in a position to address requests concerning specific personnel, I recommend you reach out to the office of Secretary of the Senate Frank Patience. Mr. Patience’s office is in charge of Personnel and best placed to discuss your request.

The direct number of the Secretary of the Senate’s office is (518) 455-2051.

Sincerely,
Avi

Fertig did not respond to a request for further clarification.

A staffer with the Secretary of the Senate’s office pointed Santore to a public expenditure report on the Senate’s website which lists expenses by Senate office from Oct. 1 2016 through March 31, 2017. The relevant pages for Mr. Felder (pp. 44-46) list 14 staffers who worked for Mr. Felder during that period. However, the document does not list contact information for the staffers, and does not specify which issue areas, if any, were assigned to which staffers. Additionally, it is only current through March, 2017. (Mr. Felder’s staff has changed in at least one respect since then. For example, on the document, the communications director is listed as Clifford Meth, not Fertig.)

Background:

Santore first requested a staff list on 5.26. The information is not available on Mr. Felder’s website, which as of 9.8.17 only lists Fertig’s name and contact information.

A staffer told Santore on 5.26 that staffing information would be shared via email, but it was never provided.

During a subsequent conversation on 5.30, Santore was given the names of several of Felder’s staffers, including Judah A. Wohlgelernter (wohlgele@nysenate.gov), Ellyn Walansky (walansky@nysenate.gov), Bryan Best (best@nysenate.gov), Cirel Neumann and Darlene Leder. It was not made clear, however, if this was a complete list of Mr. Felder’s staffers.

On 9.6, 9.7 and 9.8, Santore again requested this information, along with the staffers’ titles, areas of responsibility, and email addresses. He also followed up with several phone calls, during which Cirel Neumann and another staffer said they were looking into his request. He subsequently received Fertig’s email on 9.8.

Santore’s response to Fertig (fertig@nysenate.gov), which was not returned by the close of business on 9.8, is below:

Mr. Fertig,

Thank you very much for getting in touch, and for this information.

I’m hoping you can further explain your response. Is there a reason why your office is “not in a position to address requests concerning specific personnel”? Am I wrong to assume this is public information, since Mr. Felder’s staffers are publicly funded employees?

Again, I’m requesting this information so that I can learn which of Mr. Felder’s staffers hold which responsibilities, and which staffers are responsible for advising him on specific issue areas. This information would help me to engage Mr. Felder and his office on issues I believe to be important to SD 17 and to New York State more broadly.

Thank you again for your time and consideration,
John

– Posted by John V. Santore