Albany

Eighteen months after being swept into office by members' anger over contract givebacks, the leaders of one of New York's major state workers' unions are under attack for their handling of a public relations campaign.

At issue is $250,000 in contracts between the Public Employees Federation and a marketing company, Inspired Marketing Solutions of Cohoes, whose operator, Walter Porter, had worked on the union election campaigns of PEF President Susan Kent and Secretary-Treasurer Carlos Garcia.

The contracts were for work designed to help improve PEF's image with the public.

Some members of PEF's approximately 130-member executive board say they didn't know Porter had helped get Kent and Garcia elected when they approved the contracts earlier this year.

Former PEF Vice President Tom Comanzo, who was among those ousted by Kent's slate in the 2012 elections, has filed an internal ethics complaint about the deal.

The complaint was initially rejected, but union leaders this week were poised to consider an appeal. A decision could come Friday.

Comanzo confirmed that he had filed the complaint but declined further comment.

It's unclear what the consequences of a sustained complaint would be.

There have been additional complaints concerning the hiring of Garcia's brother, Omar Garcia, as a PEF representative in New York City, and a job for Kent's, son Richard Kent, at a union-linked affiliate.

PEF spokeswoman Jane Briggs said the union would withhold comment on the ethics complaint until after union officials consider it. Porter didn't return a call or an email seeking comment.

As for Garcia's brother, Briggs said in a statement that he was "by far the best candidate who applied for the position," and that he had previously worked as an organizer for SEIU, another labor union.

She said PEF has a hiring process in place and Omar Garcia, like other employees, is represented by the United Steel Workers, as are all the unionized PEF employees.

Kent's son, Briggs said, worked "for a brief time" as one of several seasonal employees at the PEF Membership Benefits Program.

After the contract with Inspired Marketing Solutions was approved, PEF General Counsel Lisa King sent a memo in March to board members saying, "We had operated under the belief that the Board was fully aware that Mr. Porter had done work on Susan and Carlos' campaign." A copy of the document was obtained by the Times Union.

"No one asked those questions, and so we moved on to the next item. After the Board adjourned, we realized the oversight and that is why we are promptly sending this memo," it said.

A solicitation for the work had gone through a local public relations society; two companies, Inspired Marketing and Pierce Communications, responded.

The ethics complaint is the latest sign that the union remains divided by the 2012 election.

At the time, Kent, Garcia and their allies criticized incumbent President Ken Brynien for his decision to agree to contract givebacks to avoid what Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration said would have been almost 3,500 layoffs from a voting membership of more than 51,000.

The 2011 contract included three years without raises and higher health care costs. Workers get a 2 percent raise in the fourth and final year.

In the election six months later, Kent polled 8,739 votes to Brynien's 7,562. Garcia ousted former Secretary-Treasurer Joe Fox by a narrow 8,111-to-8,063-vote margin.

Brynien had been in office since 2006.

PEF, which represents white-collar workers, has undergone several leadership battles since the late 1970s, when it broke away from the Civil Service Employees Association.

Kent and Garcia have traveled widely to PEF worksites across the state and frequently meet with union members. They've also been working to prevent closures such as those planned for disability centers and a hospital complex in New York City.

rkarlin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5758 • @RickKarlinTU