Ex-State Fair boss Cappuccilli paid more than most to caterer of daughter's wedding | News from The Post-Standard -.
Former New York State Fair Director Peter Cappuccilli paid a higher fee to use a fair restaurant for one of his daughters’ wedding receptions than nearly every other customer who used the venue during that period, according to state records. 101005columbusday1sdc.JPGStephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardFormer State Fair director Peter Cappuccilli photographed in 2005. The state Inspector General, as part of a broader investigation into the state fair, is investigating whether Cappuccilli received any special deals when two of his daughters booked wedding receptions at the fairgrounds. Records show Cappuccilli paid the fair’s exclusive caterer $11,000 for his daughter Marnie’s wedding reception at the Art & Home Center in 2002. Of the more than 670 other customers who rented the Art & Home Center between July 2002 and May 2004 for weddings, reunions, dinners and other events, only one paid a higher fee to Catering With a Flair, the fair’s records show. New York received 13 percent of fees that customers paid to the caterer for events in that building. State fair records show the fair bought supplies — including nearly $4,400 for chandeliers and sconces — to spruce up the Art & Home Center’s Martha Eddy Room in the weeks before Marnie Cappuccilli’s reception. The lighting purchase was approved by Kathleen Hoffman, Cappuccilli’s deputy director at the time. Records show the fair also spent hundreds of dollars on supplies to paint and repair the dance floor shortly before the Cappuccilli wedding. “While there’s an ongoing investigation, it would not be appropriate for me to make comment,” said Cappuccilli, who resigned in 2005 after 10 years as the fair director. “I will respond at the appropriate time.” Michael Sommers, a former deputy fair director, told The Post-Standard earlier this year that the new lighting and floor repairs were needed because the building is heavily used through the year. Inspector General Joseph Fisch — whose staff has been investigating fair contracts for months — declined to comment on the probe. The state fair could not locate records of any payments by Cappuccilli for a June 2004 reception at The Park at the fairgrounds for the wedding reception of his daughter Molly, said Jessica Ziehm, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture & Markets, which oversees the fair. Employees could not locate records of payments for any catered events held there that month.
