Daily News from New York, New York • 36

CO 1 1 ru(M QU DO Ikofa QDDDDCDDD By PAVE 5ALTOMSTAU. Da News Sun Wntor A top officer in Local 32B-32J the city's largest union is set to be sentenced this week for accepting bribes in exchange for a job, but union members say they are already enraged over an apparent plea bargain in the case. Business agent James there was an ongoing investi- ROBERT ROSAMKJO DAILY NEWS COKTROVERSY surrounds Jerry Blue's highly paid leadership of Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. gefts rase9 E5(0)ulft 0 Metis (Siti housing commissioner Oct 31, sent a blistering four-page memo last month to Pataki's deputy chief of staff, Lou Tomson, that ripped Blue's performance. Holland accused Blue of "irrational conduct" and called for his immediate removal.

He charged Blue with misusing funds and naming pals to top jobs. Holland backed off the memo, calling it "inaccurate" after top Pa By MICHAEL F1NNECAN and TOM ROBBINS Daily News Staff Writers The new head of the state-run Roosevelt Island corporation got a 21 pay hike at the same time aid to the development was slashed in half, records show. Jerry Blue, a former top aide to Sen. Al-fonse D'Amato named in June to head the state-run Roosevelt Island Operating is pulling down McGorman pleaded guilty last month to the bribe-taking a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison after he was secretly taped hitting up Louis Gonzalez, a newly hired building superintendent in Manhattan. But under a deal set by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's office, prosecutors will recommend that McGorman receive no prison time only community service and probation during sentencing scheduled for this Wednesday before State Supreme Court Judge Rena Uviller, sources said.

"A light sentence would send the wrong message," said Carlos Guzman, who has twice run for president of the Service Employees International a mii ate, which represents the city's 70,000 doormen and building service workers. "We want to tell the judge that that is not right." McGorman's attorney, Richard Hott, refused to discuss the case in detail, but a high-level official in the district attorney's office who asked to remain anonymous did confirm the plea bargain. The official added that Tfce he2Yes-fco for cheerleaders BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. Two high school cheerleaders who felt another squad member didn't measure up to their standards allegedly spiked the girl's drink to make her too sick to cheer. The Bainbridge High School girls slipped vomit-inducing ipecac syrup into the cheerleader's drink at a poster-painting party before the football team's home opener SepL 20, said Ann Noble, mother of the head cheerleader.

The girl told police she felt drugged and dizzy when she arrived at the game but went on to cheer anyway. The two cheerleaders accused of the act were suspended from the squad. WiiilIiIiH gation into job-selling within Local 32B-32J, but he conced ed that McGorman offered investigators no new information. He also suggested that Gonzalez was a less-than-per-fect witness, as he paid McGorman numerous bribes before deciding to turn to authorities. The case has caught the attention of union watchdogs in the city, who say they have long heard complaints about Local 32B-32J.

The local is led by Gus Bevona, the highest-paid labor leader in the nation, who gets an annual salary of $412,000. "What happened with McGorman is the first piece of hard evidence," said Carl Biers, executive director of the Association for Union Democracy in Brooklyn. "It is a major betrayal of the members' trust," Biers added. "Business agents are supposed to protect their workers. If union members know that they are selling their jobs to make a buck, then none of their rights are secure." Gonzalez said that McGorman began pressing him for money the moment he started work as a superintendent on Riverside Drive in Manhattan in January 1995.

"It got to the point where McGorman was stopping by my house at 2 a.m., asking for cash," said Gonzalez. He said he was told to pay $2,000 after he had already made several payments. Gonzalez refused to pay the full amount and turned to the Manhattan district attorney's office. Investigators outfitted him with a concealed recording device, and then watched as Gonzalez set up three more meetings. All three times, McGorman took the pay-offs first $250, then another $250, and finally $500, investigators said.

"When we spoke, he made it clear that this was common practice," Gonzalez said. Since McGorman's arrest in October 1995, Gonzalez' life has been turned upside down: He has lost his job at the building because "of all the controversy," and he's been "blackballed" by union leaders, he said. He also received threatening phone calls, leading him to move out of state, he said. "I put my neck on the line to nail this guy, and he could walk away in much better shape than I do," Gonzalez said. "I would think my qualifications do speak for themselves." JERRY BLUE taki aide Bradford Race reacted angrily.

"I thought it was inappropriate," Race said. Race and Tomson have rallied to Blue's defense. "Jerry has been battling like hell to straighten this place out," said Tomson. But the criticisms in Holland's memo jibe with those of some residents on the 144-acre island. $115,000 a year $24,000 more than the previous president's $91,000 salary.

The extra bucks were doled out at the same time that state operating funds for the residential community in the East River were cut from $1.1 million a year to $600,000. At the same time, capital dollars for island improve Ul "We've got a hell of a lot of problems with this guy," said Patrick Stewart a management consultant and head of the Roosevelt Island residents council. "The governor just hasn't gotten good advice, but citizens here are mad as hell." Among the problems needing attention are repair of the island's deteriorating sea wall, maintenance of the elevated tram and new housing construction. Stewart cited Blue's firing of more than half a dozen long-time staff aides at the operating corporation. He said their replacements were "just not capable." big worries are about ongoing repair projects, since the budget has been zeroed out" said resident Tim Johns, a member of a task force on island problems.

"The salary hike is complete hypocrisy." ments nosedived from $7 million to zero. Asked about the raise. Blue who holds a doctorate degree in psychology said: "I would think my qualifications do speak for themselves." Before landing the post, Blue served briefly as a $104,000 vice president at the state Housing Finance Agency under Gov. Pataki. In the early 1980s Blue was named with D'Amato's backing to a top post at the New York office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development That office was later criticized by a congressional committee for tailoring housing assistance to fit D'Amato's political concerns.

Blue was not accused of wrongdoing but left government in 1990, returning to join the Pataki administration in 1995. Joseph Holland, who resigned as state.