NYCivic

New York Civic's faithful amanuensis for over a year, Westie, is seeking to fledge his wings and fatten his purse. That means a position on our staff will be opening up. In the past, people who have worked with me in five different city agencies (Borough President of Manhattan, the office of the Mayor, Department of Consumer Affairs, The City Council, and Parks & Recreation, along with two nonprofits, Citizens Union and New York Civic, have gone on to major positions in government, law practice and good government.. They were competent to start with, but their training here was helpful, along with the people they met.

We thought it reasonable to give first notice of this impending opportunity to our readers. Although the great majority of you are settled in your professional lives or in retirement, some of you may know a college graduate or temporary dropout who is interested in public service and the political life of the city. If so, pass this invitation along and let us know. The salary is modest and the hours exceed modern standards. But for urbanists who care about the City of New York and its people, and want to learn about it without paying graduate school tuition, this is a splendid opportunity.

There are requirements of literacy, numeracy, curiosity, congeniality and eagerness to learn about the metropolis.You will also improve your skills in working in a group situation. For the right person, this is a great opportunity

One may apply by sending a resume to New York Civic, 450 Park Avenue South, fifth floor, New York, NY 10016 or by email us at StarQuest@nycivic.org. If there any writing samples one wants to include, so much the better. One way or the other, we will respond to your inquiry. Please include your phone number and e-mail address. If you need more information, call Westie or Fennel at 212-564-4441.

Why We Write About TrooperChopperGate
Although It May Be Coming Out Your Ears;
It Is a Battle for Control of New York State
And a Test for Its Inexperienced Governor

We have, as you know, been chronicling the Senate War of 2007-08, of which TrooperChopperGate represents an attack by the brash young governor, parried smartly by the wily old senator. Some of you wonder why we pay so much attention to these events, which sometimes appear to be a personal squabble. The reason is that it is in fact a struggle for the political control of New York State.

For the last forty-two years, since 1966, the New York State Senate has had a Republican majority. The Democrats won the Senate in 1964 (the year Lyndon Johnson swept Goldwater). Prior to that, the Senate had been Republican.

On the other side of the Capitol, the State Assembly has been Democratic since 1975 (the year after Watergate). The Republicans had controlled the Assembly for the previous nine years, l966 through 1974, the Democrats winning the Assembly for only one year, 1964, the same year they won the Senate. Before that, the Assembly also was Republican.

What we have had for the last thirty-two years is a Republican Senate and a Democratic Assembly. According to political expert Jerry Skurnik, no other state in the United States at any time in its history has had a legislature divided between parties for that length of time, thirty-two years, which includes sixteen biennial elections..

The reason for this apparent electoral anomaly is that in New York, each house redistricts itself decennially, after the Federal census.. They do so with the primary intent of protecting incumbents and frustrating challengers of either party. The state is exquisitely carved into oddly-shaped districts which represent the interests of the majority party in each house. As an example of the effects of gerrymandering, for part of the 1990's there were eight Republican senate seats in New York City, and only one Republican seat in the assembly, which is has more than twice as many members as the senate. The major parties, now aided by computers, are equally adroit at the arcane art of insulating their faithful from the public will.

There has been a tacit understanding among the powers that be that this division of authority, which roughly mirrors the political strength of the parties, is not to be disturbed. Each party takes its share of appropriations for local construction and subsidies to specific community organizations, commonly known as pork. They overfeed their majorities at the expense of minority members and their districts. The victims are Senate Democrats, Assembly Republicans and the people they represent. The power of the leadership to allocate pork also insures obedience by legislators who might otherwise use their independent judgment on issues before them. To defy the leader on an issue could mean that the little league baseball teams in your district will not get a new ballfield. Try explaining that to the mommies and daddies to whom you promised a place to their kids to play.

When Governor Spitzer, propelled by an overwhelming majority (2.8 million votes to 1.2 million for Republican John Faso, an able man), took office in January 2007, he launched a campaign to end Republican hegemony in the Senate, thinking that if both houses were controlled by Democrats, he would have an easier time enacting his programs. He was somewhat naive in this judgment, because the wars in Albany are not between the parties, but between the interest groups which have substantial influence over both parties.

It is also true that, with divided leadership in the legislature, it is easier for the governor to align himself with one faction or another, switching when he feels it is in the public interest or his own to do so. As it is now, if the senate leader became a pawn of the assembly speaker, the governor could find both houses uniting against him and over-riding his vetoes. The self-described steamroller governor was not fully aware of the human factor in politics, a failing which has caused problems for his administration for its first nine months.

To gain control of the senate, Spitzer first tried to wean Republican Senators to switch sides. He had one success, Senator Michael Balboni of the north shore of Long Island accepted a position in the administration of Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security. He has barely been heard from since, which is fortunate since his deputy, William Howard, appears to have had some role in TrooperChopperGate that led to Howard's end, banishment from the Executive Chamber, at least for the nonce. The governor then raised money and did commercials for Craig Johnson, the Democratic candidate who won Balboni's seat. This was a violation of the tradition of non-interference with existing political majorities. It earned Bruno's enmity.

Balboni's defection and Johnson's election reduced Bruno's majority from 34-28 to 33-29. The election of two more Democratic senators would bring about a 31-31 tie, which would be broken by Lieutenant Governor David A. Paterson, a Democrat. The situation was comparable to what might have taken place in 2007 in the United States Senate, where a 50-50 tie would have resulted in continuing Republican rule, since Vice President Cheney would undoubtedly have sided with his fellow Republicans. It was necessary for the Democrats to win 51 seats, which is exactly what they did, counting the two independents who voted with them to organize the Senate, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

Either could upset the applecart (which includes committee chairs, staff positions and other goodies) at any time, which is why the 49 Democrats have been very kind to both free spirits, a different position than the one they took when they turned on their colleague of 18 years after he lost the Democratic primary in August 2006 to the anti-war Democrat, Ned Lamont. Going back just six years, a mid-term change in control of the Senate occurred in May 2001, when Vermont Senator James Jeffords switched from Republican to Independent, and said he would vote with the Democrats to re-organize the Senate, which he did.

Jeffords did not run for re-election in 2006, and the Independent (previously Socialist) Congressman Sanders was elected to take his place. The senior Senator from Vermont is Patrick J. Leahy, chair of the Judiciary Committee, who had an unusual verbal encounter with Vice President Cheney in the Senate chamber in June 2004. Profanity and obscenity in the chamber are forbidden under the Senate rules, but since the body was not in session at that moment, there was technically no violation. Rule 13-B - "No blood, no foul."

Today's column is essentially a lesson in civics and history. We have tried to explain why TrooperChopperGate is more important than just a food fight over airplane rides, an issue that evokes Rule 12-B "Boys like toys". We will break off here so as not to overwhelm anyone with historic detail, but we want you to know that the most recent Gate, although in some ways a diversion, is primarily a part of the main game, which in the 13 months to come will focus on the state senate.

We celebrate Simchat Torah on Saturday and Columbus Day on Monday. Enjoy the weekend and the good weather we expect.