Churchill: Kaloyeros is poised for a comeback

Justices from across the ideological spectrum seemed dubious of Bharara’s methods, which suggests the prosecutor used an overly broad definition of federal wire-fraud statute to put away Kaloyeros and several developers involved in Buffalo Billion projects. In decisions expected in June, the high court also seems likely to overturn Bharara’s conviction of Andrew Cuomo pal Joe Percoco, released from prison last year after serving his sentence for bribery.

If those decisions come down as expected, they should lead to a reexamination of the accolades heaped upon Bharara. The much-celebrated crusader against corruption on Wall Street and in Albany should be viewed more as an overzealous, attention-hungry prosecutor who used flimsy legal theories to accomplish his overreach.

But what about Kaloyeros? If his conviction is overturned, how should we view his time as head of the University at Albany’s so-called NanoCollege and founding president of the SUNY Polytechnic Institute?

Already, there are occasional whispers for his reinstatement — including those made by University at Albany vice president emeritus Sorrell Chesin, a former Kaloyeros colleague who credits him, perhaps too generously, for bringing tens of thousands of jobs to the region.

All those big-rigging shenanigans had little to do with how Kaloyeros managed the school, Chesin argues, so why shouldn’t the region again benefit from his secret sauce? Why not make him SUNY Poly’s president or grant him some other special role at the school?

“Who hasn’t made a mistake?” Chesin asked in a phone conversation from his home in North Carolina. “Everybody in life has made a mistake.”

That’s true, of course. And in a way, I get Chesin’s argument. There was always an appeal to Kaloyeros’ ambition, a quality not often associated with Albany and other centers of government. With a salesman’s swagger, he came to town with a seemingly ludicrous vision; he thought this little region of ours could become a nanotechnology hotbed.

What’s nanotechnology? Doesn’t matter! Kaloyeros put us on the high-tech map. He gave us an impressive campus of gleaming buildings. Aided by piles of public money and, perhaps, by the burning of smoke and the strategic deployment of mirrors, he gave the regional economy a sizzle that didn’t exist prior to his emergence and disappeared with his downfall.

SUNY Poly, in particular, has struggled to recreate the old razzle dazzle, and it’s interesting that the school has filled Kaloyeros’ shoes only with a series of interim presidents in the six years since his departure. Intentionally or not, that creates the impression that nobody else is fully up to the job. It suggests the throne is there for Kaloyeros to reclaim.

As it so happens, the big chair will soon be empty, given the impending departure of Tod Laursen after a two-year tenure. Is it time for Kaloyeros to reclaim the empire with a triumphant return? Long live the king!?

Um, no. Let’s remember that the overturning of his conviction, if it were to happen, wouldn’t mean Kaloyeros did nothing wrong. Prosecutors alleged, and a jury agreed, that he crafted state requests so they could be won by developers who happened to be big Cuomo donors. That isn’t behavior we should forget about, no matter what the Supreme Court decides.

Kaloyeros was more than an economic wizard. He was the head of a school, with all the special obligations the role is supposed to entail. Such as, you know, setting an appropriate example for the students and treating taxpayers dollars with care and concern. He was supposed to be working for New Yorkers, not the former governor.

Alas, the end of Kaloyeros’ reign was marked by an imperious arrogance and unchecked power — making him an apt symbol of Andrew Cuomo’s Albany and the top-down, politicians-get-the-credit method of economic development the Democrat preferred. We shouldn’t pine for a return of that. Bharara may have been overzealous but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a nose for genuine corruption.

None of which is to say that Kaloyeros isn’t worthy of a second chance or a good, old-fashioned American comeback. We all deserve opportunities to pick ourselves up from the floor and atone for mistakes. And, let’s be honest, if Kaloyeros wants to return to the working world, it isn’t as though he’ll hurt for jobs.

He just shouldn’t return to his old one.

cchurchill@timesunion.com ■ 518-454-5442 ■ @chris_churchill