Who has a mandate here, Mr. Speaker?
The legislature is engaging in brinkmanship over the choice of the new Comptroller.
Let's review: Eliot Spitzer was elected in November with 69% of the vote. The freshly elected governor and the legislature agreed on a procedure to select a new Comptroller to replace Alan Hevesi. Now, Speaker Silver is threatening to ignore that procedure and install his own choice.
This because, presumably, elections don't matter in the Albany Sewer.
Or because, presumably, what the voters demanded in November wasn't change or anything so upsetting as that. No, we voted to prolong the process games and feudal legislative fiefdoms that got us in trouble in the first place. We voted, I guess, to extend further the system of three men in a room. We voted for cronyism, because overall, it seems, we're happy with the way things are done.
The Daily News, linked above, has more:
Spitzer wants a seasoned money manager with few ties to the Albany power structure - but the Legislature has the constitutional power to pick a successor to former Controller Alan Hevesi. Hevesi resigned after he was caught using state drivers to chauffeur his ailing wife.
"Breaking the agreement [to honor the panel's choices] and ignoring the people's call for reform will have consequences," warned Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp.
The appointment should come down to "experience, not cronyism," Dopp said.
Spitzer did succeed in enlisting Senate Democratic leader Malcolm Smith and Assembly Republican leader Jim Tedisco to back him in tapping one of the three picks of the screening panel: City Finance Commissioner Martha Stark, Nassau County Controller Howard Weitzman and financier William Mulrow.
Let's be really clear here: this is not about preserving the constitutional prerogatives of the legislature. It is about preserving the status quo. Thing is, we voted against that. We'll see just how much respect for our will our elected representatives have.
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2007 Special Elections | Comptroller | New York State Assembly | New York State Senate | Politics | New York | Eliot Spitzer | Sheldon Silver
Speaking personally, I voted for Alan Hevesi
Submitted by Daniel Millstone on 31 January 2007 - 3:44pm.
so claims of a Spitzer mandate don't really appeal to me very much. It seems to me that if, as widely reported, Mr. Spitzer sees his role as the steamroller, I'd like to take my vote for him back, thank you. Is Mr. Spitzer determined to fail "works and plays well with others." If so, he may need a time out.
Give Silver a "time out"
Ever see a classroom of kids with a new teacher or principal? They're going to test the limits of their ability to put one over. Shelly Silver is just doing the same thing -- he's the schoolyard bully, and he's not about to the let new principal tell him what to do.
The question becomes, what will Governor Spitzer do about it? Technically, his options are limited.
Silver has enough Assembly votes to pick the new Comptroller.
Spitzer has an extraordinary amount of power over the budget, but so does Silver -- and if it comes to a showdown, where do you think Silver's BFF Joe Bruno will stand?
Laws can't get passed unless Silver & Bruno sign off on them.
Legislative rules are up to the individual houses of the legislature; Spitzer has no power there at all.
Spitzer could work to unseat Silver, but that'll be tough -- over the past four years Silver has, by himself, sponsored member items totalling in excess of $30 million. Don't think the recipients of that largesse will want a change. They'll protect their sugar daddy.
Basically, the only thing Spitzer can do is keep the public pressure on. Eventually he'll get a senate leadership that's more amenable to reform, and then Silver will have to deal.