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David Paterson
Zimpher ‘Optimistic’ On SUNY Empowerment
Aug 2nd - 5:46 pm
Here’s SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher providing a rather sunny view on the ongoing negotiations on the SUNY empowerment plan, which so far have failed to produce a deal between the Legislature and Gov. David Paterson.
Zimpher met last week in the Red Room with members of the state Black, Puerto Rican and Asian legislative caucus, who have been among the most outspoken critics of the plan that would, among other things, allow SUNY and CUNY schools to raise their own tuitions without legislative approval.
The meeting failed to result in any major breakthroughs and rank-and-file lawmakers departed the Capitol without voting on any bills. Their leaders stayed behind and managed to hammer out the foundation of a SUNY deal, only to see it torpedoed by the governor.
Now it’s looking increasingly likely that there will be no SUNY agreement this week, but Senate sources insist that won’t cotinue to block passage of a revenue bill. They believe Sen. Bill Stachowski and other hold-outs can be convinced to pass a one-house bill to provide cover going into a difficult election season.
We shall see.
(Watch this whole thing through, the inadvertent sound effect at the end is – sorry, SUNY – the best part).
‘We’ll Have 32 Tomorrow’
Aug 2nd - 4:01 pm
…Those words were just spoken to me by Deputy Senate Majority Leader Jeff Klein, who assured me that a repeat of last week’s extraordinary session, during which the Democrats didn’t have enough members on hand to pass any deals – had there been any, which there weren’t – is not in the cards.
“Everyone is in the vacinity,” the Bronx lawmaker told me, confidently. He was coming from the DSCC’s annual golf fundraiser, which I assume was well-attended, and so he was in a position to know.
“We’re scheduled to go into session at 10 o’clock and we’ll be ready to have 32 Democrats on hand.”
When I asked what said Democrats might be passed, Klein responded: “I can’t tell you that.” But he did say: “Everyone wants to close down the budget and move on.”
(Except, perhaps, Gov. David Paterson. But he doesn’t have a vote on the revenue bill, which is the final piece of the 2010-2011 spending plan. He can, of course, veto it, which would basically kill it dead as the Senate doesn’t have enough votes to override).
Powell Makes The Obama Argument
Aug 2nd - 10:08 am
During an interview with me on “Capital Tonight” last Friday, Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV floated an argument in favor of his candidacy to replace embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel in the 15th CD that I hadn’t heard him make before, insiting he’ll work better with President Obama than the congressman has.
“This race is in many ways about the incumbent, as it is many times when you challenge an incumbent,” Powell said. “And if voters are ready to turn the page, and I do believe that they were…then I would hope that they would consider me as an alternative.”
“I am ready, willing and certainly able to go to the United States Congress, to work with president, Barack Obama, and not insult him as Congressman Rangel did very recently, comparing President Obama to Dick Cheney. That is an insult and that’s not the type of politics that I will engage in.”
GOP Senator Lashes Out At ‘Bitter’ Paterson
Aug 2nd - 9:28 am
Sen. Joe Griffo, a Utica Republican, made some unusually critical comments about Gov. David Paterson last Friday, accusing the Democratic governor of dragging his feet on issues surrounding the almost-historically late state budget because he’s “bitter” and more interested in remaining relevant than making deals.
The Watertown Times had the following report today:
“I think there are two issues with the governor right now,” Griffo said.
“One of them is relevancy. The other, I think, is that he’s bitter. He says he wishes he didn’t get out of the race. I think he burned a lot of bridges, so there’s nothing waiting for him after this – an ambassadorship or something – because he pissed off the White House.”
“The bottom line is, I think he’s a bitter guy and he’s trying to remain relevant.”
Paterson: Let Rangel Have His Day In Court
Aug 2nd - 9:15 am
Here’s a recording of Gov. David Paterson’s interview with 98.7 KISS FM yesterday morning, during which he defended Rep. Charlie Rangel from fellow Democrats – including President Obama – who have suggested the time has come for the embattled congressman to stop fighting the ethics charges he faces and go away quietly.
Paterson shied away from commenting specifically on Obama’s comments last Friday that Rangel is “somebody who’s at the end of his career” and wants to be able to end it “with dignity”, but did speak in general terms about the need to let Rangel, who has been a staunch Paterson defender in the past, defend himself if he so chooses.
“Well, um, I, I um, heard a little bit about this yesterday, and I haven’t read too much about it,” Paterson said when asked about the president’s remarks.
“But I would say just generally I would think it would be more advisable in these situations that we let the accused have their day in a hearing or court or wherever it is and try to avoid an atmospheric condition that works against them.”
…”Everybody wants to get in the news be the media star of the day by getting into somebody else’s business,” the governor continued. “I don’t think henerally no matter, that it is a fair and ethical way for Americans to conduct themselves.”
Paterson Rejects Senate SUNY Bill (Updated)
Jul 30th - 1:52 pm
Gov. David Paterson’s spokesman Morgan Hook released a statement this afternoon rejecting the SUNY empowerment compromise bill floated by the Senate this past Tuesday, saying it is “not acceptable”.
“More work needs to be done and more details need to be provided,” Hook said. “The governor’s concerns have been communicated to the Senate. (Senate Democratic Conference Leader John) Sampson says he wants a three-way agreement. Right now, he does not have one.”
Legislative leaders reportedly reached a two-way compromise deal on SUNY empowerment yesterday after rank-and-file lawmakers left Albany following two substance-free extraordinary sessions.
If He Knew Then What He Knows Now
Jul 29th - 6:39 pm
With the clock ticking on Gov. David Paterson’s time in office, he’s starting to sound increasingly introspective about his short, yet jam-packed, term.
During an interview earlier today on WSYR’s The Jim Reith Show, Paterson admitted some of the mistakes he made after unexpectedly assuming office in March 2008 following ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution scandal.
“Where I blame myself is as a legislator,” the governor said. “I was here for 21 years, 20 of them had late budgets, and I think I got caught up in the idea that the budget has to be on time.”
“…What I (was) trying to do (was) to show people that there’s leadership – that this person can come in and pass a budget in two, three weeks.”
In retrospect, Paterson said, this approach turned out to be more of a show of weakness than strength.
Grandeau: PIC Should Pick Up Where Kaye Left Off (Updated)
Jul 29th - 1:24 pm
Former Lobbying Commission Executive Director David Grandeau weighed in on the Kaye report during an interview with me that will air on “Capital Tonight” this evening, saying the former chief judge overlooked a violation by the governor of the Public Officers Law.
Grandeau, who is a frequent critic of the Public Integrity Commission, said he believes the body should pick up where Kaye left off (he also notes an interesting, but irrelevant in this instance, personal connection between the ex-chief judge and the ex-PIC executive director, Herb Teitelbaum)
“It’s pretty obvious – you don’t have to be a brain surgeon, rocket scientist or someone experienced in this area – the law is clear,” Grandeau told me. “He used his press secretary to help a private citizen, that’s a violation of the Public Officers Law. It’s not complicated.”
I reached PIC Executive Director Barry Ginsburg, who declined to comment. It should be noted that the PIC generally takes a back seat when there is a criminal investigation underway and then might take up a civil probe, although it doesn’t comment on ongoing efforts.
UPDATE: A reader notes that Kaye didn’t overlook the Public Officers Law issue entirely. She mentions in Footnote #30 that it is not in her jurisdiction to consider and is actually under the auspices of the PIC.
Krueger: Ravitch-Led Budget Talks Would Have Been Better
Jul 29th - 12:33 pm
In the wake of the initial stories about the David Johnson domestic violence mess and Gov. David Paterson’s involvement in it, Senate Finance Vice Chair Liz Krueger called on the governor to cede budget negotiating responsibilities to his hand-picked LG Richard Ravitch.
Not only did that not happen, but the governor ended up going in the complete opposite direction, essentially sidelining the man he had fought all the way to the state’s highest court to appoint and publicly trashing his budget borrowing proposal.
Krueger joined me on “Capital Tonight” after yesterday’s gavel-in, gavel-out session and said she couldn’t comment on the Kaye report because she hadn’t yet had a chance to read it.
But she also said she still believes the budget negotiations would have gone smoother had Ravitch been at the table.
“Now, nobody has a crystal ball, so I’m not telling you that we would have been done now or even that I would have liked the budget better because I always knew I was not going to like the budget this year,” Krueger said.
“…But I don’t think three and a half months later, we are going to come out with a better set of options than we would have in April, and I still believe that Dick Ravitch being at the table negotiating could and would have helped the process.”
The End Is Near, So Cortes-Vazquez Resigns (Updated)
Jul 29th - 12:08 pm
State Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, the highest-ranking Hispanic official in the Paterson administration, told el Diaro/La Prensa she is leaving her post to return to the private sector, taking a cjob as the executive vice president for the AARP in Washington, D.C.
Cortes-Vazquez, a Spitzer administration holdover who has close ties to former Assemblyman/lobbyist Roberto Ramirez, told the paper she was accutely aware of the fact that the governor doesn’t have many days on the job remaining, which motivated her to give up her state post before her own time runs out.
“For me this has been a phenomenal experience, I made history as the first Latino (in serving as Secretary of State) and we have reaped many successes because I’ve had a phenomenal employees but things change, the governor decided not to stand for election and me that was very important,” said Cortes-Vazquez, who also noted that his new job is but a continuation of their work to community service.
(You gotta love Google translate).
DN Capitol Bureau Chief Ken Lovett noted Cortes-Vazquez is the latest in a long time of departures from the Paterson administration – a trend that will likely not only continue, but also speed up, as Jan. 1, 2010 nears.
A formal announcement is expected later today.
UPDATE: It is now official. The governor released a statement saying he has accepted Cortes-Vazquez’s resignation. His statement appears after the jump.
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