It's Never Sunny In Albany

Governor Paterson might be/should be feeling rather gloomy today with the news that his popularity ratings have dropped to Cheney-like numbers. When four out of five New Yorkers disapprove of how you are governing the state, there is a serious problem especially when Paterson had over 60% of the people behind him less than a year ago. Poor leadership is definitely a part of the problem but the way in which Albany operates (the Governor being responsible for a part of that) is detrimental as well. The irony surrounding "Sunshine week" highlights the darkness that envelops our state capitol.

From The NY Times:

ALBANY — Sunshine Week in the capital this year offered little reason to break out the sunscreen.

The seven-day period — a nationwide initiative promoting openness in government — was marked by Gov. David A. Paterson’s closed-door lunch for legislative leaders at the executive mansion on Thursday, where they discussed the $120 billion-plus budget, but declined to share details with reporters afterward.

The top Republicans in the Senate and the Assembly walked out of the luncheon early, griping on their way back to the Capitol that Democrats — who control both houses and the governor’s mansion — were intent on conducting the entire budget process in secret.

Meanwhile, the Senate planned to commemorate the week by passing a resolution calling on the governor to issue an official state proclamation recognizing Sunshine Week.

Ah, a proclamation! Now that will make everything better! Meanwhile the Senate...and the Assembly (or at least the leadership within each body) will work with the governor in secret away from the prying eyes of the people that elected them. This type of dysfunction can only breed mistrust by the voters and leads to exactly what Paterson doesn't want, his dismissal approval rating.

Blair Horner Sounds Off On Paterson's Lack Of Reform Talk

As stated before, Governor Paterson did not mention anything near and dear to the hearts of good government groups. Here is what Blair Horner of NYPIRG had to say in response to the State of the State:

Albany, Show Us All Of The Money!

Yesterday we found out, or had the choice to find out the salaries of everyone that works for the New York State Government. Well, almost everyone. See the politicians have their state salaries listed, but those are technically part time jobs and the citizens that elected them are not allowed to see where they have other incomes, especially if it creates a conflict of interest. That is exactly what we are still seeking.

From The Poughkeepsie Journal:

"This should be the top ethics issue going into next year's session," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. "Right now we have the combination of a lousy disclosure law and nonindependent oversight."

State law requires lawmakers, who are part time even though their government salaries are $79,500 a year (plus stipends), to report any sources of outside income of more than $1,000 to the Legislative Ethics Commission, which is made up of a majority of lawmakers and has never publicly criticized a lawmaker.

Lawmakers also report to the commission ranges of their income, in six categories ranging from less than $5,000 to more than $250,000. The public can see the sources of the income, but not the categories of the amounts.

Keeping such information secret "confirms the worst suspicions of cynics who say that the elected representatives don't work for the people - they have outside interests that have primacy," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.

And that is exactly how the system works, for the politicians and their outside entities that no one else is allowed to see. Seminerio is only one example of a massive problem we have up in Albany. Lawmakers say that changing the rules will scare good candidates away from running, but does anyone really buy that excuse? Good candidates shouldn't have to be afraid of where they work. What they have done, want to do and their overall record should prove to the people what kind of politician they are. Helping to hide those outside sources only adds to the general taint of what goes on in our state's capitol.

With Espada In Power, Reform Won't Even Be On The Backburner, It'll Be Thrown From The Stove

Malcolm Smith promised a new day in Albany under his control, but with the selection of Pedro Espada as Majority Leader, "reform" is now officially a doublespeak word. The change in the chamber has been waiting for more than forty years, hopefully we'll only have to wait another two while Espada has his session in the sun, or should I say, complete darkness.

From The Times-Union:

Mr. Espada owes more than $60,000 in fines to New York City's Campaign Finance Board, dating back to a campaign for Bronx borough president in 2001. He had been fined by state election officials for infractions involving a Senate campaign a year before that. This year, as Mr. Espada ran in another district to rejoin a body he was voted out of in 2002, he didn't even register his campaign committee with the state Board of Elections. That could mean more than $6,000 in additional fines.

This is the man Mr. Smith has to placate in order to hold onto to his party's two-seat majority?

No wonder people already are grumbling, if only anonymously, about a Senate leader who has seemingly sold the store.

There's little reason to wonder, meantime, what Mr. Espada might think about one of the great perks of legislative power, namely the political slush funds known as member items. A fiscal crisis involving record-high deficits wouldn't seem to deter him. The overriding issue when Mr. Espada lost his seat in 2002 was how the Senate had to take the extraordinary, if not unprecedented, step of recalling $745,000 in funding for a Bronx-based group that runs health care clinics for the poor. The group, Comprehensive Community Development Corporation, was operated by Mr. Espada himself — at a salary of $235,000, on top of the $90,000 he was making in the Senate.

Oh and there is so much more about the man. That article referenced above is just a primer on the history of Pedro Espada. With all the facts and figures, this was my favorite part:

"We're defined not by our blemishes, but by 30 years of work," he told The New York Times last week. Such thinking leads to this assessment of his critics, of whom he says, "They hate me because I'm not perfect."

"I'm going to get better," he says. "I'm a work in progress."

LMAO! If what went on over the last month to wrest power away from the Senators that actually deserved it was progress, I really, really hate to see what's next. Whatever takes place, it'll definitely be hidden far away from the prying eyes of good government groups and what makes up the media. Of course, this behavior can only mean one thing. That is, for the Bronx to make some progress and kick this sucker out (again) in 2010.