Spitzer Wrestles With Questions On Comptroller

By JACOB GERSHMAN, Staff Reporter of the Sun
November 9, 2006

Eliot Spitzer began his first day as New York's governor-elect facing questions about the political fate of the state's scandal-marred comptroller, Alan Hevesi, whose resounding re-election victory has complicated Mr. Spitzer's plans to remove him from office.

Fresh from his historic win, Mr. Spitzer, during a joint press conference with George Pataki at the outgoing governor's Midtown Manhattan office, said he was leaving it up to Mr. Pataki to decide on a disciplinary measure for Mr. Hevesi, who is accused of misusing state funds by having one of his employees serve as a driver and personal servant for his infirm wife.

After the state Ethics Commission last month concluded in a report that Mr. Hevesi had violated the State Public Officers Law, Mr. Pataki appointed an independent counsel, David Kelley, a former federal prosecutor, to review the case and advise him on whether to call on the state Senate to conduct a trial regarding his removal.

Mr. Kelley determined there was a "legal basis" for removal but recommended holding off on a trial to give him more time to interview witnesses and assess evidence collected by the ethics commission. Mr. Kelley also said he couldn't properly advise the governor until the Senate came up with procedures for conducting what would be an unprecedented trial involving a statewide officeholder.

Mr. Pataki has said he won't make a decision until Mr. Kelley completes his review and until the trial procedures are established. Those conditions could produce a delay that could last until Mr. Spitzer takes office. The Republican majority leader of the Senate, Joseph Bruno, has said he won't settle on rules for a removal proceeding until the governor directs him to go forward with a trial.

"The governor has spoken. There's a process that is in place right now," Mr. Spitzer said. "The governor is pursing that, as he should. He is the governor until December 31, and he will make the judgment call that he deems appropriate. It would be improper and wrong for me to begin to suggest alternative thinking, reasoning, steps that would merely cloud the process the governor has put in place."

Mr. Pataki seemed to be in no rush: "You have to go the extra mile and be extraordinarily prudent."

Mr. Spitzer faces a dilemma if Mr. Pataki recommends that disciplinary measures should be handled by the next administration.

If Mr. Spitzer directs the Senate to conduct a trial, he would be vulnerable to criticism that he's ignoring the will of the voters who overwhelmingly reelected Mr. Hevesi to a second term. In two months, public anger at Mr. Hevesi is likely to have subsided as the scandal fades from the news cycle.

A trial would also threaten to push his administration off course and distract attention from his big-ticket initiatives. It would force Mr. Spitzer to spend political capital on securing an agreement from Republican senators to go forward with removal. Republicans have indicated that they would rather that Mr. Hevesi resign than be bogged down by a trial.

On the other hand, Mr. Spitzer has said firmly that Mr. Hevesi has compromised his "ability to fulfill his responsibilities." By backtracking on that position, Mr. Spitzer could weaken his image as a reformer who has promised to impose higher ethical standards on state government. Ousting Mr. Hevesi also would give Mr. Spitzer the chance to appoint a political ally to the post.

Mr. Spitzer may be relieved of having to make a decision regarding Mr. Hevesi if the comptroller is indicted by the Albany County district attorney, David Soares, who is conducting a separate criminal inquiry.

Mr. Hevesi defeated J. Christopher Callaghan by 17 percentage points in Tuesday's election, with more than two million New Yorkers voting to re-elect Mr. Hevesi to a second term. Polls indicated that Mr. Hevesi's voter support was vanishing, but the comptroller was able to recover by spending millions in last-minute television advertisements that mocked the inexperience of his opponent.

On Election Night, an emboldened Mr. Hevesi vowed that he would serve a full second term, telling supporters: "Tonight, New Yorkers have said clearly that that mistake should not erase 35 years of public service."

Mr. Spitzer said his first priority was choosing a transition team that will help him craft his administration. Today, he is set to announce the leaders of the team at a press conference. In coming weeks, Mr. Spitzer is also expected to choose a new leader of the state Democratic Party, whose chairman, Assemblyman Herman "Denny" Farrell, announced yesterday that he is stepping down from the post after serving five years.

Some Democrats suspect that Mr. Spitzer could pick as a replacement Richard Schaffer, the Democratic chairman of Suffolk County who is known for helping to get Democrats elected to key county positions.

Mr. Farrell, who was re-elected chairman of the party in September, said he waited until yesterday to announce he was stepping down because "you don't want to be changing leadership … when the election is going on." Mr. Farrell said he would remain chairman of the Assembly's powerful Ways and Means Committee.

By the end of the year, it's expected that state Republicans will anoint a new chairman who will face the challenge of rebuilding a diminished party. Republicans are predicting that Mr. Bruno will replace Chairman Stephen Minarik, a Pataki appointee, with the senator's top deputy, Edward Lurie, the executive director of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr. Bruno brushed off questions about picking a new party leader, saying Mr. Minarik's term ends in September. Mr. Lurie, who has told The New York Sun that he's interested in the job, could face competition from the chairman of the Nassau County Republican committee, Joseph Mondello.

Asked about his future as a party leader, Mr. Faso told the Sun yesterday that he plans to take a short vacation and then go back to his day job as an attorney at the firm, Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips.

Spitzer Wrestles With Questions On Comptroller

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