Here & There 2-27-07

Gov. Spitzer Is Doing Things His Way

An interesting topic at our recent Sullivan County coffee clatch centered around New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer and the apparent fact that there are no sacred cows in Albany and he intends to do things a lot differently than past governors.
We all agreed that the governor put intense pressure on former State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi and as a result Hevesi quit his post and plead guilty to a felony charge. The governor had prior to Hevesi's resignation made it very clear that he intended to seek the comptroller's removal.
Gov. Spitzer, we all feel has some guts in what he wants to do but it is just a little too early to see if he will have the success in shaking up the power structure in Albany.
Our coffee and donuts group, made up of 3 Democrats, 3 Republicans and one independent were not surprised to hear about Spitzer's action in apparently breaking an age old unwritten rule for filling vacant local positions.
The old political machine in Albany in years past would have taken the advise of their local political party and name whoever it recommended. We are of course talking about the case of the open Sullivan County clerk seat vacated by former Clerk George Cooke and the Sullivan County Democratic Committee selecting Fallsburg Town Councilman Neil Gilberg for the job.
The governor took a new position and is running public notice classified ads in area publications seeing resumes for Sullivan County residents interested in being appointed to the post. This new twist to filling vacancies even caught County Democratic Party Chairman Timothy Hill off guard.
Governor Spitzer noted in his inaugural address on January 1 "that we come together to make a pivotal moment in our state's history, a day that in the rhythm of democracy marks a transition and a new beginning." He made it very clear that he "chose pragmatism and ethics over partisan politics and disfunction, and we demanded an end to gridlock."
The coffee clatch likes what he said and true there has been similar verbiage from Albany politicians in the past, we for the time being feel this governor is being honest in his apparent fight against partisan politics and disfunction.
Governor Spitzer has clearly stated that we can't afford burdensome property taxes and the high cost of the present health care.
A cup of our delicious home made coffee and donuts tasted so much better during this coffee clatch and we all wish Governor Spitzer success in his attempts to change the ethics of Albany and end the politics of cynicism and division in our state.
A new brand of politics and a brand of politics that binds up together is a big, big dream.
Good luck governor.