State report clears APA Director Barb Rice

All complaints found to be unsubstantiated

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A just-released report from the state inspector general’s office clears Barbara Rice, executive director of the Adirondack Park Agency, of any wrongdoing in relation to anonymous complaints ostensibly filed by agency employees.

The investigation focused on “four areas of concern,” according to the report, with various allegations, all of which were found to be unsupported by the evidence.

Some were absurd.

The first complaint, for example, is that Rice improperly involved herself in the bidding process for the 2023 Adirondack Planning Forum which, somehow, according to the complaint, amounted to “self-dealing.”

But the bidding took place during the pandemic and, although many hotels in the area were qualified to bid, only one — the Hotel Saranac — sought to host the event.

All the evidence — documents, emails and more — showed no “viable option” other than the Hotel Saranac was available to host the forum, according to the report.

The investigation also found that Rice did not benefit from the forum being held at the Hotel Saranac.

Another complaint alleged Rice had changed an APA decision in an enforcement case to benefit a friend.

The decision, however, had not been changed.

“Accordingly, NYSIG did not find any evidence that Rice improperly changed an enforcement decision,” the report states.

Rice had asked an employee about the decision after receiving a call about it, according to the report. But the decision remained in place.

Disgruntled employees have argued (anonymously) that Rice had a conflict of interest in moving the agency headquarters to Saranac Lake, because she is a native of the village and her family has for many years run a furniture shop on Main Street.

Their theory is that moving the headquarters 4 miles from Ray Brook to Saranac Lake would lead APA employees to do more of their shopping in the village, including at Rice Furniture.

“On this issue, a DOB (Department of Budget) employee informed NYSIG that the potential economic impact on the surrounding community would likely be minimal. Specifically, the employee noted that while the headquarters may move, the distance between the current location and the new location is so minimal that employees’ spending habits would be unlikely to change,” the report states.

Other complaints involved the assigning of work responsibilities, which is part of Rice’s responsibility.

“These actions are within Executive Director Rice’s management discretion,” the report states.

The report is a vindication of Rice’s leadership, which has been under attack by a coterie of former and current employees who don’t like her approach to the job.

Rice has made outreach to and cooperation with communities in the Adirondack Park a priority.

Her critics should be cheering instead of carping.

Mistrust between the agency and local residents has been for 50 years an obstacle to realizing the agency’s mission “to protect the public and private resources of the Adirondack Park through the exercise of the powers and duties provided by law.”

The park is far too large for an agency with fewer than 60 employees to accomplish that mission without local cooperation.

Unfortunately, one media outlet based in Saranac Lake — the Adirondack Explorer — has inflamed the complaints against Rice by taking every opportunity over the past two years to publish them.

Last September, for example, the Explorer ran a story on the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the inspector general’s investigation.

Here is the lead of that story, written by Gwendolyn Craig:

“One year since the state inspector general received a complaint regarding corruption at the Adirondack Park Agency, the investigation remains ongoing. Little more has been made public.”

In 40 years of work at community newspapers, I’ve seen hundreds of stories that mark all sorts of anniversaries, happy and sad. But I’ve never seen a story on the anniversary of the start of an unresolved corruption investigation about which almost nothing is known.

At the end of the inspector general’s report is a form with boxes that can be checked next to various “recommendations and actions,” including “refer for prosecution,” “refer to ethics commission,” “refer for discipline” and “refer for administrative action.”

None of those boxes is checked, because at the top of the form is another box next to another word, “unsubstantiated,” and that box is checked.

That is the fact found by state investigators. Perhaps now everyone at the APA can get back to work.

Author’s Note: Barb Rice is my longtime personal friend. As I have said in previous columns, I believe that, along with reporting I’ve done on this story, my knowledge of her character gives me insight into the internal conflicts at the agency.

A copy of the full report can be found at https://apa.ny.gov/files/admin/CCAR-APA-3131-088-2023-FINAL.pdf

Barb Rice, executive director of the Adirondack Park Agency, participates in the recent Adirondack Planning Forum.