Politics on the Hudson

President-elect Barack Obama announced this morning he is appointing a committee headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to advise him how to get the nation’s economy back on track.

“This board is modeled on the president’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board created by President Eisenhower to provide rigorous analysis and vigorous oversight of our intelligence community by individuals outside of government – individuals who would be candid and unsparing in their assessment,’’ Obama said.  “This new board will perform a similar function for my administration as we formulate our economic policy. The board will be composed of distinguished individuals from diverse backgrounds outside of government – from business, labor, academia and other areas – who will bring to bear their wisdom and expertise on the formulation, implementation and evaluation of my administration’s economic recovery plan.  The board will report regularly to me, Vice President-Elect Biden and our economic team as we seek to jump-start economic growth, create jobs, raise wages, address our housing crisis and stabilize our financial markets.’‘

   This has been quite a week for the Spitzer family. Silda Wall Spitzer, the wife of New York’s infamous ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer, made the news yesterday for joining a New York hedge fund. Eliot Spitzer’s father, Bernard Spitzer, testified in court as a defendant in a discrimination lawsuit brought by African Americans who were fired from their jobs in a building owned by the real estate mogul.

   A Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, woman pleaded guilty today for her involvement in a high-class prostitution ring that was the downfall for Eliot Spitzer. She was a booker for Emperors Club VIP. Spitzer resigned as governor in March after it came to light that he was an active customer of Emperors Club VIP. The Dutchess County woman was the fourth and final employee charged in connection with the scandal. Prosecutors recently announced they were dropping all charges against Eliot Spitzer.

   The New York Times reported this afternoon that a congressional committee will investigate the circumstances surrounding Eliot Spitzer’s bank transactions being flagged, which led to revelations that he was a client of Emperors Club VIP. The panel will probe whether political retribution was involved. Before being elected governor in 2006, Spitzer was an aggressive state attorney general who became known as the Sheriff of Wall Street.

(Photo: Reuters)

Mamaroneck village officials said goodbye to longtime Village Justice Roger Sirlin on Monday night, Christine Pizzuti reports:

After 28 years on the bench, Mamaroneck Village Justice Roger Sirlin will be taking his place on the bleachers, with the rest of the family men.

Sirlin plans to spend his retirement with his grandchildren and attending their athletic functions, he said Monday night at village hall, where the courtroom was packed for a retirement/birthday party in his honor.

“What a pleasure it’s been to know you and work with you — always the gentleman, always meticulous,” Mayor Kathy Savolt told Sirlin from the podium. “I think these are traits that served you well.”

Four of Sirlin’s five grandchildren attended, and held the various proclamations from village and state officials.

Sirlin, who is also a lawyer, will continue with law. He described a sense of relief upon learning he had not won re-election against  Democrat Dan Gallagher, and recalled telling his wife Ellen that he will now be able to go where he wants, when he wants, without consulting the court calendar.

“I have a series of challenges ahead of me: My grandson on the tennis court and my son on the golf course,” Sirlin said.

His next move, he said, is to bring his granddaughter Kayla to see Swan Lake in Connecticut.

Lawmakers did not take action last week on a budget-cutting measure that would have made mid-year education reductions of $836 million this school year, as Gov. David Paterson had recommended. The education cuts are still on the table, but Paterson said today he is withdrawing his proposal because “it is unlikely the Legislature will consider them anytime soon.

“Therefore, we would be well into the final quarter of our fiscal year and even further into the school year before any action would likely occur,” the governor wrote in a letter to school board presidents and superintendents. “Unfortunately, this timing renders the proposal impractical for this fiscal year and I am withdrawing it.

But that means the state will need deeper reductions in education spending next year to close the budget deficit, which is $1.5 billion now and is expected to be $12.5 billion for 2009-10 and a combined $47 billion over four years. Paterson is scheduled to release his 2009-10 budget proposal Dec. 16, a month earlier than the tradition release date.

“I acknowledge that your costs are rising, but I believe all levels of government must reduce spending,” Paterson’s letter to school boards and superintendents said. “This year, I have reduced state agency spending by more than 10 percent. In this unprecedented fiscal crisis, school districts, like all levels of government, will have to take a similar approach and find ways to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of their operations on behalf of taxpayers.”

School leaders have said they expected to take a greater hit because the mid-year budget cuts were not approved, and districts have been planning their budgets conservatively.

Paterson’s letter said essentially that there are no sacred cows when it comes to cuts. (more…)

   AIG has agreed to eliminate bonuses and salary increases for its top executives, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced today. Cuomo said he is pleased with the development.

   “It is only fair that top executives, who benefit the most when firms do well, should also bear the burden of the difficult economic consequences their firms now face,” Cuomo said in a statement. “This gesture by AIG is appropriate and I encourage other firms to wake up to the new reality on Wall Street and follow AIG’s step quickly. The taxpayers of this country deserve nothing less.”

   AIG is grateful for the support it has received from American taxpayers and recognizes it needs to use that support to help the company recover and contribute to the economy, Edward Liddy, AIG chairman and CEO wrote in a letter to Cuomo. AIG’s top seven executives will not receive annual bonuses this year. Those executives and fewer than 55 senior partners will forego any salary increase through 2009 and their 2008 and 2009 bonuses will be restricted, Liddy said.

   AIG is developing a funding structure to ensure that no taxpayer dollars are used for annual bonus or future cash performance awards for the top 60 members of management. “We believe that these actions demonstrate AIG’s understanding of the depth of its obligation to the taxpayer and confirm its commtment to transparency of its disclosures,” he wrote.

Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office didn’t miss the irony in this one. Here’s the lead of today’s press release, which also uses the term “odd couple” in its headline:

In a rare pairing, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and Governor Sarah Palin earned honors as “Heroes of the Year” in the Field and Stream Magazine 2008 Heroes & Villains List, while tough guy Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was listed as a “Villain.” Schumer garnered the nation’s leading outdoor magazine’s award for pushing a plan with Senator Kent Conrad to provide millions in outdoor recreation grants to landowners who allow hunting and fishing on their land. Hunters in New York and elsewhere have been greatly restricted by poor access to available hunting land. Governor Sarah Palin was lauded for being the first true hunter to run for executive office since Teddy Roosevelt, according to the magazine.

The Huffington Post has speculation today that Howard Wolfson, who grew up in the Crestwood section of Yonkers, could be headed to State Department as official spokesman if Hillary Clinton takes the top job. Wolfson has handled communications duties for the senator’s presidential campaign; the HuffPo piece focuses on the fact he recently got over his fear of flying, which could otherwise have been a hindrance to the DC job.

Via Jorge Fitz-Gibbon:

WHITE PLAINS – Westchester legislators began a heated debate today over the county executive’s plan to dole out pay hikes to top commissioners and other supervisors — and that was just over setting a public hearing on the measure.

The Board of Legislators eventually set the hearing for 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 8, when the public will have a chance to chime in on County Executive Andrew Spano’s $890,000 pay increase package. Board Republicans, who oppose the raises, tried to kill the measure, but were outvoted by the majority Democrats.

The hearing will address $890,000 in pay increases that would give 3.25 percent raises to 23 of Spano’s commissioners and department heads retroactive to the beginning of this year.

The measure would also increase “step” pay for non-union managerial employees, as well as compensation pay for county prosecutors and supervisory level employees at Westchester Community College.

More here.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Charles Schumer says he is giving up his job running the Senate Democrats’ national campaign efforts after two successful elections.

Schumer has been chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee since the 2006 cycle, when he helped engineer a 6-seat gain that gave his party a slim 1-vote majority margin.

This year, the party won seven more seats, with two additional races in Minnesota and Georgia still undecided.

Schumer’s decision was expected. He says he’s had “a great run,” but it’s time to devote more of his time and energy to legislation in what he hopes will be a historic Congress.

The two-term senator is up for re-election in two years

   Sen. Ruben Diaz of the Bronx, one of the “Gang of Three” Democrats who have refrained from endorsing a majority leader in their party, may be warming to the idea, the Associated Press is reporting. Diaz has invited Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, to his house for Thanksgiving dinner.

   But Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, also has been invited to the festivities, according to the AP. If the conservative Democrats backed Skelos, he could continue to be in charge of the Senate, even though there are more Democrats than Republicans.

   Smith has been the heir apparent to the majority leader post after Democrats won control of the Senate for the first time in more than 40 years, but several conservative Democratic senators have been holding back. Diaz has said he would not back Smith for majority leader unless he pledged not to bring a vote on gay marriage to the floor.

   Diaz and the two other senators, Carl Kruger of Brooklyn and Sen.-elect Pedro Espada of the Bronx, recently recommended that the state hold a referendum on gay marriage.

   Sen.-elect Hiram Monserrate of Queens originally was part of the group but pulled out a few weeks ago to back Smith.