For many high-paid executives, working late is the rule, not the exception. For RIOC President/CEO Seldom Seen Shelton J. Haynes, it’s the opposite. And when the lights glow late on the second floor of Blackwell House, it usually suggests trouble.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
“Well, when you only show up once a month you should be there late every now and then,” quipped one well-placed observer.
But then, the executive turned serious.
“My other guess is, he got bad news on something, and he is in a panic about how to respond to the latest issue he is facing.
“He only stays there late when he has a major issue he was dealing with and is in a panic because he’s in jeopardy.”
Why is Seldom Seen Shelton Working Late?
Reinforcing speculation, reliable sources told us last year that, under Haynes, RIOC was facing no less than 13 separate investigations. And that did not count the numerous lawsuits, most provoked by former employee claims accusing Haynes and others of racism and bigotry.
We don’t know if any were resolved because both RIOC and Governor Kathy Hochul operate behind dense barriers of anti-democratic secrecy. But according to RIOC’s public records, it spent in the neighborhood of a million dollars in the last year on outside legal fees.
Those pressures can keep anyone working late. Or up all night.
Missing Our Chance
After hours while the lights burned in Blackwell House, Haynes’s giant gas-guzzler set in the New York State Shelton J. Haynes Parking Area. There rested our chance for a yeti Seldom Seen Shelton sighting.
All we had to do was wait until he emerged and rushed to his car.
But dinner awaited, and eating dinner before RIOC’s chief, for a change, was just too tempting.
The last word goes to another RIOC insider: “For this $1/4M-earning executive it’s a true rarity.”
The Committee Man
Committees are supposed to be where outcomes are shaped. They are meant to be the place where questions slow decisions down, where competing interests surface, and where public responsibility is exercised before anything reaches a formal vote.
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