USA TODAY - Spitzer successor promises stability

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ALBANY
By Joseph Spector, Gannett News Service

Lt. Gov. David Paterson on Thursday vowed to retain continuity in New York state government as he prepared to succeed disgraced Gov. Eliot Spitzer, indicating he will promote much of Spitzer's policy agenda.

Paterson, like Spitzer, said he does not support an income-tax increase on people making more than $1 million a year, as proposed by Democrats in the state Assembly. He said he would also consider a property-tax cap being explored by a commission established by Spitzer.

Paterson reiterated support for the redevelopment of Midtown Plaza in downtown Rochester and said he was committed to a $1 billion upstate economic development fund.

Paterson, 53, stressed that even though he won't officially take the oath of office until Monday, he's already starting the transition process by meeting with leaders and receiving updates on the state budget process.

"It is time to get back to the business of the state," he told a packed room of reporters at the state Capitol. "I promised the governor yesterday that I would commit myself to the people of this great state, that we would have stability and continuity in those challenges that lie ahead."

"Now we have to get New York back on track."

Paterson will officially be sworn in at 1 p.m. Monday and is expected to give an address to a joint session of the state Legislature.

"I am prepared," he said.

Paterson said he wanted the five-day transition in order to get up to speed on state business.

"There may be a five-day transition period, but we are hard at work at this moment putting together a budget that will help New York to thrive," he said.

Paterson, a Democrat, will become New York's first African-American governor and the nation's first legally blind state chief executive. He plans to retain some of Spitzer's aides, but other top advisors to Spitzer are expected to follow the departing governor out the door.

Paterson, of Harlem, said his ascension is "not the way most people would want" and expressed sympathy for Spitzer and his family. Spitzer resigned Wednesday after he was linked to soliciting a high-priced prostitute on a trip to Washington D.C. last month.

With his wit and sense of humor, Paterson lightened the mood of the critical time in state history.

He joked, "On Monday at 1 p.m., I will have the oath of office administrated to me in the assembly chamber. Most of you are invited."

Then he was asked whether he has ever patronized a prostitute, Paterson responded, "Only the lobbyists."

Aides said Paterson has had regular conversations with Spitzer about the transition, and Spitzer is still conducting unfinished state business, such as signing some bills and orders.

Spitzer's demise is remarkable for a politician who projected a squeaky-clean, family-man image as governor since January 2007 and for eight years as attorney general. Spitzer allegedly hired a prostitute to travel from New York to Washington D.C., where he had a hotel room reserved as part of a trip on state business.

Paterson received a national-security briefing Thursday morning, allowing him to receive confidential national security details in the case of an emergency, officials said.

The state's leadership, however, was still unclear. Aides said that Spitzer remains at the helm until Monday, but legislative leaders said Paterson is the "de facto" governor until he officially succeeds Spitzer.

Paterson said he plans to meet with state leaders in the next few days as he prepares to take over.

Earlier in the day, Paterson said he has a feeling of "guilt" over becoming the state's first African-American governor. Yet he said maybe he can serve as an inspiration for other people of color and those with disabilities.

"There were many African Americans, men and women, who throughout the past couple of centuries had the ability, worked hard enough, had the acumen to run the state but because of the most petty and most banal aspects of human existence weren't afforded the opportunity," he said on an Albany radio show.

He continued, "While it's a personal achievement for me, it says that we are moving in the right direction, but who knows what we could have accomplished if we had gotten there sooner."

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are showing support for the former minority leader of the state Senate, whom many have worked with closely for years.

And unlike Spitzer's aggressive style, lawmakers said Paterson brings a more cordial tone.

Former Republican Gov. George Pataki said in an interview that he has confidence in Paterson; they worked together when Paterson was a legislator.

"He knows state government, and he knows it not just from the executive branch as lieutenant governor, but the legislative branch from his years of service in the Senate," Pataki told Gannett News Service.

"As governor you have executive power and there are things you can do with that executive power, but if want to change anything legislative you need to have both houses. I think Gov. Paterson understands that."

But some leaders expressed concern about Paterson's liberal voting record, which was to the left of Spitzer's positions.

State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long said he hopes Paterson will be at least be fiscally conservative, yet questioned Paterson's first decision to wait until Monday to assume office.

"That's a mistake and I think that's cheating the taxpayers, leaving Eliot Spitzer on the payroll," Long said. "Why would you want to leave a person like that in office?"

Spitzer's ties to the prostitution scandal, according to IRS officials, was sparked by an investigation into Spitzer's movement of large amounts of cash from bank accounts to one operated by the company, QAT, which is linked to a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP.

The Associated Press reported that Spitzer may have spent up to $80,000 with the prostitution service over an extended period of time.

The wiretap, according to federal complaint, identified a man known as Client 9, and believed to be Spitzer, on a telephone call Feb. 13 discussing plans to have a prostitute, called "Kristen," travel from New York to Washington. The call girl has since been identified as Ashley Alexandra Dupre, a 22-year-old aspiring Manhattan musician with a troubled past.

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