Adirondack Park Agency director addresses allegations of ‘toxic workplace’

Board, local government leaders rally around Barbara Rice, despite some employees’ concerns

By Gwendolyn Craig

The Adirondack Park Agency’s executive director addressed publicly for the first time on Thursday allegations of a toxic work environment made anonymously by half of of the agency’s union employees in a letter sent by their union a month ago. APA board members and local government officials also rallied around Barbara Rice, who has led the agency for three years.

During the agency’s monthly meeting in Ray Brook, Rice acknowledged that she is working with the state Office of Employee Relations (OER) to address complaints from agency staffers; she said she would keep the APA board apprised. 

OER received four complaints from APA staff in recent years. Bryan Viggiani, spokesperson for OER, said the office is investigating two of them, though the other two fell outside of the office’s jurisdiction. OER declined to provide more information, citing the need “to protect the integrity of the investigation to prevent any instances of retaliation.”

The state Inspector General’s office has been examining the Adirondack Park Agency for more than a year.

“I want to make it very clear that we do not tolerate any type of bullying, intimidation or any other toxic behavior, and I’m committed to ensuring that everyone has a safe, respectful, harassment-free environment where they can do their best work,” Rice said. “I am also committed to moving this agency forward by building a strong team that’s prepared to address the real-world challenges this agency faces, and by recognizing staff who are doing great work, and who are positive, passionate, collaborative and respectful, and by hiring the best and most competent people we can find.”

Rice added that there are staff who are “happy and proud to be here. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. … I will never stop my efforts to bring positive recognition and resources to this agency.”

Rice’s speech came shortly after Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board Executive Director Jerry Delaney shared resolutions of support endorsing Rice’s and the board’s leadership from Essex County’s Board of Supervisors, the town of Indian Lake and the Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages.

“Under the leadership of Barb and this board, local government is starting to take a very different approach to the APA, and it pretty much has started with communication, honesty, and listening,” Delaney said. 

Rice said she appreciated “the significance of this historic show of support.”

Later in the meeting APA Board Member Zoe Smith thanked the three organizations for their resolutions of support, and Chairman John Ernst seconded it.

The letter, and its accusations

The letter sent to the APA board on Feb. 12 came from the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF). In the letter, Field Representative Martin Blair told the board that there has been “a massive increase in reports to PEF of a toxic workplace.” 

Twenty of the agency’s 38 union members endorsed the letter, but did so anonymously out of fear of retaliation. The agency has a total of 54 employees.

Rob Merrill, communications director for the union, has for the past month declined the Explorer’s requests for further information on employees’ concerns, including how many complaints PEF had received from its members. Merrill did not respond to the Explorer on Thursday about Rice’s comments.

Adirondack Explorer spoke with six of the letter endorsers, all longtime staff members who described examples of some of the letter’s allegations. The employees spoke on the condition of anonymity.

They described a growing divide at the agency stemming from Rice’s announcement to move the APA’s headquarters to the village of Saranac Lake. Some of the six described openly expressing their concerns about the move. Those employees said Rice hasn’t spoken to them in over a year.

Rice has also left their work emails and phone calls unanswered, declined their requests for meetings and refused to acknowledge their presence in the halls, some of the six said. 

Some said this culture is impacting the work of this unique state agency, whose mission is to protect the public and private resources of the largest park in the lower 48 states. Neither Rice nor the APA’s spokespeople responded to the Explorer’s request for comment on these specifics Thursday.

The issue of the headquarters

When the state budget passed in April 2022 and included $29 million for the agency’s headquarters, staff said the initial plan was to build at the state complex in Ray Brook. 

Those workers said they were stunned when Rice announced in January 2023 that the “preferred site” for the new headquarters was in the village of Saranac Lake. 

Because the state cannot own property or buildings outside of state administrative zones or forest preserve, the agency would subsidize the renovation and construction at the former Paul Smith’s Power and Light Building on Main Street and then pay rent to the village to use the new building. 

Those who spoke to the Explorer said it could put some of their colleagues in the precarious position of permitting their landlord. Some also said the agency would have to grant itself a variance to build into the chosen hillside property.

Rice has previously dismissed any conflict-of-interest concerns, noting that moving to Saranac Lake would not impact the agency’s review.

The Explorer has filed multiple records requests for feasibility studies the agency conducted, but the APA has denied them, citing a Freedom of Information Law exemption for intra-agency materials. 

Photo at top: Barbara Rice, executive director of the Adirondack Park Agency and APA Chairman John Ernst, listen at a meeting on Sept. 15, 2022 in Ray Brook. Explorer file photo by Gwendolyn Craig