ALBANY - New York Gov. David Paterson, facing low polls, said he's considering rehiring former chief of staff Charles O'Byrne, who resigned over a tax scandal in October.

Paterson is telling reporters that O'Byrne paid his debt and took his lumps in the press when he disclosed that he failed to pay $300,000 in taxes over a five-year period.

Although all but a fraction of the debt, interest and penalty was repaid last year, the scandal prompted his resignation.

Since then, Paterson has seen his own popularity decline without the discipline and focus O'Byrne provided for years, back to when Paterson was a senator and lieutenant governor.

O'Byrne isn't commenting.

“It's certainly a conversation that I would have,” Paterson said outside Manhattan's Harvard Club. “I think people make mistakes and, you know, they deserve a second chance after they've paid for what they've done.”

O'Byrne had said he suffered clinical depression that kept him from paying taxes from 2001 to 2005, before he took the $178,500-a-year job of secretary to the governor.

Paterson made no promises of offering a job to O'Byrne, let alone the top aide's position that Paterson has had to split between two people. But in Albany, where scandals usually end careers, Paterson's comments were a shock - especially after he allowed O'Byrne to resign just days after the scandal first hit.

Paterson said he hadn't talked to O'Byrne about any return. Earlier this week, Paterson said he planned some personnel changes that he hoped would help reshape his staff.