Still open in Albany
 One thing hasn’t changed from the Spitzer to the Paterson administrations: the official marching orders for agency public-information officers are to be “helpful†and “transparent.’’
That was the message PR head Risa Heller delivered at a meeting of the agency flacks this week.
Such a stance may not seem extraordinary – and it was essentially what the doctrine was during the Spitzer administration as well – but is in stark contrast to the doctrine of the Pataki years (1995-2006) when the so-called public-information officers would routinely deflect questions, or not return calls or merely parrot a canned response.
Those were the orders from the top, one veteran spokesman recalled today.
“Now, there’s not much interest in trying to control the message,’’ he said. “They want us to be open.’‘
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Give to me a break. What they mean is, “control the message, but try to do it politely.” I was born at night, but it wasn’t LAST night.