The mystery has been solved: State Sen. Antoine M. Thompson traveled to Jamaica last week

instead of attending a Senate session in Albany.

Thompson left the country without explaining his absence to his colleagues in the Senate

and ordered his staff not to disclose his whereabouts.

Outrages & Insights blog: Who is the money behind Antoine Thompson?

Monday, however, Mark J. Boyd, his chief of staff, acknowledged that he and Thompson were

in Jamaica on something akin to a trade mission. They were in a travel party of about 15

people staying at an oceanfront resort whose price tag, including air fare, was $1,500 a

person for the week.

However, two members of the travel party said Thompson and Boyd put in full days meeting

with government, business and educational officials. Much of the discussion involved renewable

energy, an issue that the Democratic senator from Buffalo has championed as chairman of the

Environmental Conservation Committee.

"He worked hard while he was there," said Dr. Charles L. Anderson, chairman of the Jamaican

and American Association of Buffalo, which organized the trip in conjunction with a sister

cities program associated with City Hall.

Thompson's office declined to disclose his whereabouts to The Buffalo News on Wednesday and

Thursday, other than to say he was not in Albany, and did not return telephone calls Friday.

Fellow senators said they did not know where he was, although he was granted an excuse.

Thompson did not return telephone calls Monday seeking his comment, and Boyd initially

declined to specify where he and the senator were last week, except to say "out of town." When

told by a News reporter that sources had confirmed that he and Thompson had traveled to

Jamaica, Boyd asked for time to respond.

Later in the day, he called to confirm that he and his girlfriend spent last week in

Jamaica and that Thompson flew down Wednesday and returned with the group Saturday.

Why the secrecy about Thompson's whereabouts?

Boyd expressed a concern that their travel would be misconstrued and criticized.

"It's not about being secretive," Boyd said. "Very rarely have you guys ever reported

anything we've done positive in a positive light."

The Senate was scheduled to meet last week amid speculation over the fate of Gov. David A.

Paterson, who announced Friday that he was abandoning his campaign for election to a full

term.

Democrats in the Senate hold only a 31-30 margin after the expulsion of Hiram Monserrate, a

Queens Democrat who had been convicted of misdemeanor assault in a domestic-abuse case. With

Thompson not present, that majority disappeared altogether, although Boyd maintained that

"it's not like his absence prevented the Senate from doing business. There was little to be

accomplished with Monserrate being expelled."

As it turned out, Senate leaders canceled the Thursday session, concerned about a snowstorm

that never materialized and that did not preclude the Assembly from continuing to meet.

Boyd defended the timing of the trip, saying the Jamaican and American Association of

Buffalo set the schedule, not Thompson. The 15 or so people involved in the trip stayed at a

resort in Ocho Rios, which a posting on Yahoo! Travel described as "the first town in Jamaica

to be developed specifically as a resort."

Boyd, when pressed, acknowledged that his girlfriend accompanied him on the trip.

Nevertheless, Boyd insisted that he and Thompson put in long hours, a contention that several

members in his travel party substantiated.

"There was not a lot of play involved," said Garth Gibson, treasurer of the Jamaican-

American club. "We had very long days. This trip was 100 percent on the up and up."

Said Boyd: "The purpose of the trip was to solicit business and establish relationships, in

addition to also seeking individuals to relocate to Buffalo."

Among those with whom the group met were the island's secretary-general, lawmakers who are

the equivalent of state legislators, the mayor of Buffalo's sister city (St. Ann's Bay),

members of the Chamber of Commerce and educators.

"It was a very positive and productive trip," Boyd said.

Economic-development initiatives are generally spearheaded by the Empire State Development

Corp., but no one from the agency accompanied Thompson and Boyd on the trip. Boyd said the

agency did provide promotional brochures, however.

Boyd said travel for him and Thompson was paid for with the senator's campaign funds. He

said he used vacation time last week.

Why not put in for the time if he put in long hours?

"It's hard to justify and not worth the hassle," Boyd said. "Actually, it's pretty easy to

justify, but at the end of the day, is the public going to believe that?"