Albany

The proceedings of a new state commission designed to examine public corruption and campaign finance practices will not necessarily take place in public, its director said after the 25-member panel met Wednesday behind closed doors and without public notice.

The panel is advisory in nature, its executive director Regina Calcaterra said, and is exempt from requirements under the state Open Meetings Law. While government bodies can enter executive session to discuss sensitive matters, including investigations, the law requires public notice whenever a quorum of a public body gathers to conduct public business.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said last week that New Yorkers should "sleep better" knowing the panel, called the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, was formed in response to the arrest earlier this year of three sitting lawmakers. It can hold hearings, call witnesses, and refer possible wrongdoing to the appropriate prosecutor.

Cuomo has been criticized for an often secretive governing style, and the silent kick-off of the Moreland Commission fueled his critics.

"The governor who once proclaimed that 'sunlight is the best disinfectant' has once again left the people of New York in the dark," said David Laska, spokesman for the Republican State Committee. "The Moreland Commission has an important job to do: It's a shame that Governor Cuomo allowed them to start off on the wrong foot."

Susan Lerner, executive director of the good-government group Common Cause New York, said the commission had "a disappointing start" given its mission to restore public confidence.

"It behooves them to meet at some point in public to kind of outline how they intend to proceed, (and) what parts of their deliberations they feel would not be subject to the open meetings law and need to be conducted confidentially, and to start off on a good public footing," she said.

"Anyone who thinks an investigation can or should be conducted in public view doesn't understand the law," Calcaterra said. "There is no attorney general's office or district attorney's office in the country that operates in full public view.

"To expose the commission's correspondence would make it impossible to conduct an effective investigation," she said. "The commission will have public hearings across the state and have a full and robust dialogue, but it will not reveal confidential information or trample the rights and privacy of the innocent."

The panel is chaired by two district attorneys, Kathleen Rice of Nassau County and William Fitzpatrick of Onondaga County, as well as Milton Williams, a New York City lawyer. Rice and Fitzpatrick did not return requests for comment, nor did several other commission members. Others declined to comment, citing an agreed-upon policy.

Calcaterra said Wednesday's confab was "introductory and organizational" and was hosted at the Manhattan offices of the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where former Manhattan district attorney Bob Morgenthau, a special adviser to the commission, is of counsel.

She would not say how long the meeting lasted or if any votes were taken.

Last week, Schneiderman noted that much of the commission's work will be deliberations about investigations, which by law must be shielded from the public.

Commissioners were designated as deputy attorneys general to expand the jurisdiction of their work.

"There's a clear set of rules," Schneiderman said then. "But the commissioners have full discretion to have open meetings, hearings from time to time — whatever they deem appropriate to accomplish their mission."