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An
Inspector Calls
In
all the recent excitement of the FBI, IRS, and investigators
from the office of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo raiding the
Bronx offices of New York state Sen. Pedro Espada’s nonprofit,
it would have been easy to overlook the problems of the New
York State Theatre Institute.
In a devastating report issued on April 20 by the New York
state office of Inspector General Joseph Fisch, there are
serious allegations of financial malfeasance and mismanagement
in the Troy-based, state-funded NYSTI, a public authority.
In fact, the IG asserts that NYSTI “acted to mislead and thwart
the investigation” by deliberately withholding, or denying
the existence of, some requested documents.
The culmination of a nearly two-year investigation, the report
is brutally direct: The IG determined that NYSTI producing
director Patricia Snyder’s family were the beneficiaries of
a “pattern of nepotism” that “resulted in direct payments,
reimbursements and other benefits, amounting to hundreds of
thousands of dollars, to Snyder’s sons, daughters-in-law,
and husband.”
The report paints a portrait of an organization that, whatever
its artistic or educational merit, served as a personal fiefdom
for director Snyder and her family—particularly Snyder, her
husband William F. Snyder, son William S. Snyder, and daughter-in-law
Mary Jane Hansen, who has performed in 80 percent of NYSTI’s
recent productions (42 of 53), including Twelve Angry Jurors,
the gender-altered version of Twelve Angry Men.
According to the IG’s report, the financial benefits to the
Snyder family ranged from the grand to the modest. There are
serious questions about the royalty agreements related to
the popular and often-staged NYSTI production of Miracle on
34th Street. The IG claims that, by state law, the royalties
should have been assigned to NYSTI, not Snyder. Snyder and
NYSTI dispute this, as they do the charges of nepotism in
a response issued to the press late April 20: “the reality
is that the Chair and the [NYSTI] board were unaware of any
‘nepotism’ laws that would prevent the artistic director’s
three family members from continuing to perform and/or serve
NYSTI.”
In addition, the IG report found that NYSTI and Snyder engaged
in improper spending (on meals and transportation, for starters);
and that NYSTI’s internal fiscal controls failed. Patricia
Snyder, the report concludes, “failed to ensure that NYSTI
operate as a public entity subject to the state’s ethics rules
and consistent with the fiscal responsibility expected of
such a body.”
There are some particularly strange aspects of the NYSTI way
of doing things detailed in the IG’s report. First, there
is the matter of NYSTI’s audio books line. The report singles
out the production of Hollowville, a ghost story written by
Mary Jane Hansen, as a “case study” in nepotism. The audio
book was executive produced by Snyder’s husband, with music
and production by her son: “In all, William S. Snyder, his
wife, Mary Jane Hansen, and the company he co-owns, 100% sound,
were paid $7,372 for their work on Hollowville.” Bruce Dern
was hired to read the story. In total, the production cost
of the Hollowville audio book was $14,838. According to the
report, a grand total of 30 copies of the audio book have
been sold for a total of $271.
According to IG spokeswoman Kate Gurnett, the 112-page report
has been forwarded to the state Commission on Public Integrity,
the state comptroller, the New York State Authorities Budget
Office, and the office of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. According
to the IG’s legal office, the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s
office also has jurisdiction, if they wish to pursue a criminal
investigation.
The effects these allegations have on NYSTI’s eventual survival
are unclear. But they are not likely to have a positive effect.
—Shawn
Stone
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