There's no question that New Yorkers are suffering from scandal fatigue.
First there was a story that dominated much of the summer and fall news out of Albany - the “Troopergate” scandal involving former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Then, of course, came the explosive revelation of Spitzer's involvement with a prostitution ring and his subsequent resignation.
The desire to move past scandal is one reason why so many people from both sides of the political aisle were quick to embrace Spitzer's replacement, David Paterson. But while the new governor has impressed so far with his no-nonsense tone and solid policy moves, pieces of potentially damaging information about his past seem to be coming out with rather regularity.
Paterson had admitted to illegal drug use in his younger days, as well as marital infidelity more recently. One can argue, however, that those past indiscretions have no impact on his work on behalf of the people as governor.
But reports this week raise some more troubling questions. A review of Paterson's expenses as lieutenant governor revealed that 13 times in the past 15 months, his state credit card paid for downtown Albany hotel rooms, despite having a residence a short drive away in suburban Guilderland.
Paterson's camp attempted to explain the hotel stays by saying he often had to be at the Capitol for early-morning meetings. “He stayed within a stone's throw of the Capitol so that he could quickly respond to the urgent needs of the state,” an aide told a newspaper.
That's a difficult excuse to swallow. Instead of making the public foot the bill for a hotel room, Paterson should have set his alarm clock at his house a little earlier. The drive from Guilderland to the Capitol is hardly a long commute.
At this point, there's just a lot of questions and a lot of digging into Paterson's past. For his own good and the good of the state, the state Public Integrity Commission should move quickly to conduct a thorough review of how Paterson has used his expense accounts and make a clear finding as soon as possible.
Scandal fatigue is no reason to remove accountability.
The desire to move past scandal is one reason why so many people from both sides of the political aisle were quick to embrace Spitzer's replacement, David Paterson. But while the new governor has impressed so far with his no-nonsense tone and solid policy moves, pieces of potentially damaging information about his past seem to be coming out with rather regularity.
Paterson had admitted to illegal drug use in his younger days, as well as marital infidelity more recently. One can argue, however, that those past indiscretions have no impact on his work on behalf of the people as governor.
But reports this week raise some more troubling questions. A review of Paterson's expenses as lieutenant governor revealed that 13 times in the past 15 months, his state credit card paid for downtown Albany hotel rooms, despite having a residence a short drive away in suburban Guilderland.
Paterson's camp attempted to explain the hotel stays by saying he often had to be at the Capitol for early-morning meetings. “He stayed within a stone's throw of the Capitol so that he could quickly respond to the urgent needs of the state,” an aide told a newspaper.
That's a difficult excuse to swallow. Instead of making the public foot the bill for a hotel room, Paterson should have set his alarm clock at his house a little earlier. The drive from Guilderland to the Capitol is hardly a long commute.
At this point, there's just a lot of questions and a lot of digging into Paterson's past. For his own good and the good of the state, the state Public Integrity Commission should move quickly to conduct a thorough review of how Paterson has used his expense accounts and make a clear finding as soon as possible.
Scandal fatigue is no reason to remove accountability.
The Citizens' Say
There are 3 comment(s)
Farmer's Gal wrote on Mar 27, 2008 11:58 AM:
Farmer's Gal wrote on Mar 27, 2008 11:57 AM:
We should be asking "Why Spitzer?" and "Why at this time?"
To be sure, he set himself up as the big crusader against such things as prostitution and unethical behavior in office. So, his hypocrisy opened him up to being nailed.
But a closer look reveals that among his many commendable campaigns for reform, (campaigns which in themselves remain commendable despite Spitzer's own foibles and fall), was a leading role in the campaign to protect consumers from predatory lenders. When the OCC, a federal agency which is supposed to regulate banks, not only refused to protect consumers but shot down laws passed by the individual states to do so, Spitzer wrote an editorial to the Washington Post calling them to task for de facto protection of predatory lenders instead of protecting the people!
Three weeks later, bingo! Surprise, Spitzer is making headlines which strip him of his credibility and which are so loud they drown out his reform efforts, and bury his important editorial, driving it right out of the thoughts of the people who need to hear it -- all of us consumers and voters.
The news media needs to cover this angle -- it's not as much purient fun as chasing down the sordid details of a politicians weakness for paid sex, but it is a lot more important for every homeowner, credit card customer and voting citizen of this state and this country. "
Dave R Ithaca, NY wrote on Mar 26, 2008 3:31 PM: