Two Thorough Magazine Articles
Deconstruct Spitzer's First Year,
Governor Shakes Up His Team

By Henry J. Stern
December 7, 2007

December is the month when writers review the events of the year, pontificate over the past, and prognosticate for the future. The new kid in town this year is Governor Eliot Spitzer, and it would be exaggeration to say that he received mixed reviews.

There have been two full-scale magazine articles in Albany on the governor's first year.  We linked to one last week, David Margolick's piece in Vanity Fair.  In its December 10 issue, the New Yorker published a profile by Nick Paumgarten. Its title: "THE HUMBLING OF ELIOT SPITZER: The Governor's rocky rookie season."   It is a serious and thoughtful piece, and we recommend it to you for weekend reading.  The Paumgarten article contains 11,926 words, and spans 20 pages in the magazine.  We do not give its length to deter you from reading it, but to advise you to sit down before you begin.  We found it to be very well done, a tad sympathetic to the governor because the reporter was granted extraordinary access, but fair enough to give readers a pretty good idea of what is likely to be going on. 

The Vanity Fair piece by David Margolick was, in our view, particularly well done.  Its title is "THE YEAR OF GOVERNING DANGEROUSLY" and it ran for 8499 words.  Vanity Fair is a national magazine, and it is noteworthy that they gave so much attention to the political problems we endure in the State of New York.

This week the governor moved to strengthen his administration by appointing the competent Paul Francis as director of state operations, replacing Olivia Golden, Ph.D., who had been assistant secretary of Health and Human Services, serving under HHS Secretary Donna Shalala in President Clinton's second term.  Dr. Golden had not attracted much public attention since her appointment by Governor Spitzer on January 11.  In fact, we were unaware that she existed until we read that she had been replaced. 

We read in Nicholas Confessore's article in yesterday's Times that Mr. Francis will be in charge of the deputy secretaries to the governor.  Among the eccentricities in New York State government is the fact that the traditional No. 2 man in the Executive Chamber holds the title: Secretary to the Governor, and the men and women who oversee various agencies are called 'deputy secretaries to the governor'.  In New York City, they would be Deputy Mayors.  In the State of Illinois, Bradley (Ivory) Tusk, a Parks alumnus, held the position of Deputy Governor from 2003 to 2007 before returning to New York City.

The report that Mr. Francis "will supervise and coordinate the work of all the deputy secretaries who run state agencies" raises the issue of what role the Secretary to the Governor, Richard Baum, will have in 2008.  It would be normal for deputy secretaries to report to the Secretary.  If it is true that Mr. Francis will assume this responsibility, that may help solve the problem of what to do with Mr. Baum, who has been reported by the media to have been criticized in internal discussions within the administration.  Mr. Baum has been a faithful Spitzer deputy for many years, serving without incident.. 

However, when things go seriously wrong, the blame must be placed somewhere, and it usually ends up just below the top. Look at the subprime mortgage problems as an example in the private sector. In each bank, they seem to find some head to roll. Is that the person who is really responsible for the problem? The answer is probably: sometimes.

Another aspect of the Spitzer shakeup is that it is a reasonable solution to retain a truste and faithful while limiting his duties. That may be the case here, if Mr. Francis assumes more responsibility for what in Albany has been called "agencyland".  It is also quite unwise to dismiss a staffer who is in a position to give testimony adverse to his employer.  Remember Darren Dopp's difficulties, publicly expressed, in paying his mortgage and educating his children while he was suspended for 35 days without pay. Apart from common decency and reciprocal loyalty, there is an element of prudence in retaining the services of persons who happen to be in such awkward positions..

Mayor Bloomberg is in the fortunate position of being able to offer employment, in his corporation or his foundation, to anyone whose time in government has passed.  This was the case when Verna Eggleston, the first Human Resources Administrator under Mayor Bloomberg, resigned in the fall of 2006 to join his foundation. She was succeeded at HRA by Robert Doar, who is the son of John Doar, a significant figure in civil rights in the Justice Department under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and later president of the New York City Board of Education.

It is a good sign when succeeding generations in a family devote themselves to public service, as long as it is not the money or the power of the elder generation which secures the position for the younger, definitely not a factor in the Doar case. BTW, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, speaking at a Crain's breakfast Thursday, said that he proved that one did not have to be the son of a governor or a multimillionaire to hold public office in New York State. But could he have raised the money to win a contested primary? Fortunately, the question will not arise until 2010, but how can an honest man raise substantial money without relying on people who have a special interest in the Comptroller's decisions?

#429 12.07.07 928wds