Politics on the Hudson

Sen. Kevin Parker, D-Brooklyn, had some tough words for Gov. David Paterson today, calling him a “coke-snorting, staff-banging governor.”

Parker, who was recently charged with attacking a New York Post photographer, said Paterson has shown a lack of leadership. He brought up Paterson’s prior admission of past drug use and marital infidelity.

“He’s talked about how absurd this is,” Parker said. “But how absurd is it to have a, you know, coke-snorting, staff-banging governor lecture us about behavior in government. The reality if he wants to be somebody who brings us together, let him do that.”

Parker said Paterson should be bringing the sides together, but is instead throwing out “insults and accusations.”

Paterson has been drawing the ire of senators in his own party, who claim Paterson is illegally calling the sessions and demanding that they stay in Albany.

Paterson later told reporters that said senators are focusing on him instead of getting back to work.

“The issue is about the people of the state of New York,” he said. “The distractions, the whatever it is, is really just designed to get the people of New York not to look at the real situation.”

Updated: Senate Democrats just put out this statement.

“Obviously this is an extraordinary situation and tempers are flaring, but we must maintain a level of civility and decorum befitting a senator and representative of the people of New York,” said Senate President and Majority Leader Malcolm  Smith and Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson.

   Gov. David Paterson announced today that he has signed legislation that would make it easier for citizens and local officials to consolidate or dissolve local governments. Residents and local governing bodies could petition for abolishing or combining special taxing districts, towns, villages or other government entities.

   New York has more than 10,500 taxing districts statewide, 6,900 of which are town special districts for water, fire and other services.

  “Our system of local government is outdated and overly complicated, and today we are making it easier to consolidate or dissolve local government entities,” Paterson said in a statement. “The legislation represents real reform and will result in bottom-line savings for taxpayers.”

   The legislation does not mandate that consolidation take place. Under a government-initiated process, consolidation or dissolution of local government entities other than towns or villages could take effect without approval from voters. A majority of voters would need to approve consolidation of towns and villages.

   Supporters of the bill said it will improve government efficiency and save money, which will help communities keep property taxes down. It was proposed by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

    “With this new law, taxpayers are now empowered to cut the nation’s highest local tax burden by reining in the bloated and antiquated system that has left the state with layer upon layer of government entities,” Cuomo said in a statement.

   The governor said more changes are needed, such as capping state-government spending and local property taxes, reforming the pension system and providing other mandate relief.

   Gov. David Paterson said this afternoon that he is asking the state treasurer to withhold the per diem compensation and travel expenses for the Senate as long as they cannot resolve their leadership dispute and act on legislative business. 

   The governor said he has asked state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli for an opinion on whether senators’ salaries can be withheld. Since Democrats and Republicans disagree over who controls the chamber, there is no official presiding officer of the Senate. That means no one has the authority to OK payments, he said. Senators’ base pay is $79,500 a year, but many get stipends on top of that for leadership positions.

   If any senators do not show up for work, the governor’s office will file a lawsuit to compel them to do so, Paterson said.

   The Senate has been in a stalemate since June 8, when two Democrats broke from the other 30 Democratic senators and voted to put Republicans back in power. One of the Democrats has since re-allied himself with the other 30 Democratic senators, creating a 31-31 deadlock.

   Paterson said senators told him they are close to an agreement and want to go back into session next week. The governor said he is wary, based on the lack of success and progress they have shown so far. He said senators did not provide him with any details of their negotiations, he said.

   “I demand the Senate stay in session until an agreement is reached,” he said.

   The governor responded to criticism he has been receiving from senators—Democrats and Republicans. They have accused him of not providing the leadership needed to resolve the issue.

   “This is a crisis that needs to be redressed and it needs to be redressed now. This is a crisis of governance. This is governance versus chaos, not the governor versus the Legislature,” he said late this afternoon, calling the Senate “derelict” in its duties.

Rob Astorino, the Republican candidate for Westchester County executive, today called on leaders in the New York State Senate — Democrats and Republicans — to resign their leadership posts if they can’t resolve their differences by Friday.

Because the stakes are high for places like Westchester, Astorino said a resolution was needed. He said the paralysis has real consequences for working people and called on leaders to actually lead. By failing to pass the income tax surcharge and mortgage recording tax extensions, routine renewals in Albany every two years, the City of Yonkers alone would lose $15 million, Astorino said.

“The Senate leadership fight is adversely affecting counties throughout New York State and it needs to be resolved now,” Astorino said in a statement. “Whatever the reason, the current leaders of the Republican and Democratic conferences cannot come to an agreement, so it is time to let others try. It’s time for new leaders in Albany to put the state’s interests ahead of partisan interests. This hyper-partisanship has gone on long enough.”

   As the leadership stalemate in the Senate continued today, the Democrats were the first to heed Gov. David Paterson’s call to session this afternoon. They gaveled into session, said the Pledge of Allegiance, and not having any business they could conduct, they ended a few minutes later. After that, Republicans opened their own session, said a Pledge of Allegiance, and ended it a few minutes later for the same reason.

   Senate leaders said they are working in earnest to reach an agreement that would allow the chamber and legislative business to move forward. They have been at a virtual standstill since June 8, when two Democrats allied themselves with Republicans and voted to throw out the Democratic leadership. The vote is in dispute, and Democrats said they would not accept Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, as Senate president in a coalition with Republicans. The other Democrat who helped the GOP regain power has since returned to the Democratic conference, and there is now a 31-31 deadlock in votes.

   Lawmakers maintain that Paterson cannot call the Senate into session unless he also calls the Assembly. The Assembly completed its business shortly after midnight Tuesday morning. There are legal questions about how bills passed in regular session and in a senate special session could be valid and become law.

Longtime Putnam Valley resident Patty Villanova tells us that she is also running for a Town Board seat in this Putnam town and has received “enthusiastic support.”

“I am a life-long Republican who served on the town committee for many years,” she wrote in an e-mail this week saying that the GOP committee wouldn’t endorse her because she doesn’t support Town Supervisor Robert Tendy for a second term.  “Keep in mind that I am a 50+ year resident and have been politically active for over 20 years.”

She said she will be collecting signatures for her petitions and hopes to primary candidates Esther McHenry and Jacqueline Annabi for the line. She describes these women as having “virtually no experience in town politics or anything else for that matter.”  There are two open seats on the Town Board.

On the Democratic front, Dawn Powell, former aide to previous supervisor Sam Davis, is running for town supervisor against Tendy.  For Town Board, the Democratic committee endorsed Chris Lieberman for one of two seats.

Incumbent Councilwoman Wendy Whetsel did not get the Democratic committee’s nod. She said she will be out and about getting signatures for her second term as well. She might meet up with former supervisor Sam Davis on the trail, since he is reportedly running for a Town Board seat but decided after the Democratic committee met and had no chance for its support.

Indeed, politics is interesting in Putnam Valley. And, if all the petitioner gatherers are successful there might well be primaries for the Democratic and Republican lines for two open board seats.

Committees in both parties have Web sites set up  to get their messages out — Democrat Party and the Republican Party

And let the season begin….

The anger over Gov. David Paterson’s handling of the special session is growing among Senate Democrats.

Three of them, Sens. Hiram Monserrate, Carl Kruger and Eric Adams, hand delivered bills the Senate Democrats passed Tuesday and urged Paterson to sign them. They argued that if Paterson thinks Tuesday’s session was legal, he should sign the bills.

“We are calling on him to put his pen where his mouth is,” said Monserrate, who led the June 8 coup and now is back with the Democrats, creating the 31-31 stalemate. He has also been indicted for slashing his girlfriend in the face.

The senators ripped Paterson for calling just the Senate into session and not the Assembly, saying not doing so is illegal and none of the bills that they pass would be legal.

That seems to be the position of the entire Senate, which is planning to go into session at 3 p.m. Senators said they don’t expect much to happen in session because they contend that they can’t pass bills unless the Assembly is also called into special session.

Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, who is the Senate president of the new majority, said there won’t be dueling sessions like there was Tuesday. He said the sides are working on a resolution.

“You will not have that to report on anymore,” Espada said of Tuesday’s chaotic session. “Those dueling (sessions), that horrific sight will not reoccur.”

Rick Lazio is considering a run for governor. The Associated Press is reporting that he has created a campaign committee, but made no announcement.

Lazio lost to Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2000 Senate race.

Read more here.

   A bill to permit electronic court appearances in Putnam County Court passed the Assembly before the end of session earlier this week but is stuck in the gridlocked Senate. The legislation, sponsored by Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining and Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson, would allow defendants to appear electronically in connection with a criminal action, except for hearings and trials. The county executive, Legislature and sheriff requested the bill because it would save money and improve government efficiency, Galef said.

   “With the passage of this bill, Putnam County will join twenty-six other counties, including Westchester, in New York State that have the authority to conduct electronic court appearances,” she said in a statement.

   The Senate has been gridlocked following a June 8 leadership coup in which the Republicans and two Democrats voted to give control of the chamber to Republicans. Democrats dispute the vote, and they haven’t been able to agree with the GOP on who should lead the chamber, or whether there should be a power-sharing agreement. Legislative work has been delayed or on hold.

   Besides saving money for the county, the legislation would improve public safety and protect the rights of people accused of crimes becasue they would still be able to make court appearances at critical junctures, Galef said. Defendants would appear via a closed-circuit audio-visual system in the Putnam County Correctional Facility. Correction officers transport about 200 detainees and prisoners to different courts across the county every year, so the legislation would reduce the costs of labor and transportation.

   “This is a good example of how government at all levels can work together to accomplish the goal of making government more economic and efficient,” Putnam County Executive Robert Bondi said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard work of everyone involved and are hopeful that all approvals will occur in time to realize savings during our next fiscal year.”

Gov. David Paterson has created a task force to “examine the issues and implications arising from police-on-police shootings and confrontations, especially between on-duty and off-duty officers and between officers of different races, nationalities and ethnicities, and how to prevent such incidents in the future.”

Presumably the cases the task force will review will include that of Christopher Ridley, 23, an off-duty Mount Vernon officer who was shot as he struggled with a mugger in downtown White Plains on Jan. 25, 2008. The Journal News gave this account in a recent story of what happened: “Authorities say Ridley’s gun went off and four county police officers fired on him after he failed to respond to orders to put the gun down. A Westchester grand jury cleared the officers of any criminal wrongdoing.” More recently, the list has included the death of New York City Police Detective Omar Edwards.

From the governor’s news release: “The Task Force will examine police-on-police shootings across the State of New York specifically examining how training, tactics, policies and procedures, technology and equipment, and sociological and psychological factors may contribute to such shootings and confrontations. Members of the Task Force will solicit the input of a broad and diverse range of contributors including law enforcement officials, community representatives, scholars and other relevant experts.

Its final report is due six months from when it begins work. Read the executive order here.