Monday, February 09, 2009

Paterson Having Trouble Keeping A Handle On His Own Office

New York is counting on having a responsible budget being passed for the next fiscal year. We need an effective and assertive Governor that looks out for the people (and not just the wealthy people) by making smart decisions and keeping things in order so that the budget goes through. Unfortunately, if you judge Paterson's potential to do this on the way he runs his own office, we are in a whole lot of trouble.

From The NY Daily News:

Last week, Paterson's new first deputy secretary, Lawrence Schwartz, got into a heated tiff over office space with the governor's chief of staff, Charlotte Hitchcock.

"It was brought to [Paterson] and he didn't want to get involved, so they're fighting amongst themselves," said a Democrat familiar with the incident.

"He refuses to lead, and nobody is empowered enough to set things straight."

Another Democrat described the executive chamber as engaged in a "Cold War."

Schwartz, the former Westchester deputy county executive, started his new job with Paterson last Monday and was widely expected to bring a measure of discipline to the governor's office.

The administration has been largely rudderless since Paterson's top aide, Charles O'Byrne, resigned in October in the wake of a tax scandal.

Since O'Byrne left nothing we've seen has been good for the reputation of Gov. Paterson. O'Byrne's tax problems were embarrassing, but nowhere near as bad as the loss of control over a possible early budget, the selection of Kristen Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate and now apparently the control of his staff. This isn't a problem caused by one man like Schwartz though, it is Paterson's problem with hte concept of leadership, he needs to start showing it.