3 years ago
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's been on the job for a little more than six weeks now, and he took some time out his schedule on Tuesday to meet with 2 On Your Side at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albany, as well as newspaper editors from members of our Gannett Newspaper group.
We got to grill the Governor for one hour. No topic was off limits.
Mr. Spitzer started the session talking about the bitter battle between his office and the New York State Legislature over the selection of State Comptroller.
The Assembly leadership and Governor Spitzer agreed that a panel of former Comptroller's would interview candidates, make a recommendation, and that individual would be approved by the full Assembly.
But the Assembly overwhelmingly ignored that agreement, and instead, voted to appoint a fellow Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller.
The Governor called DiNapoli ?unqualified? for the job, and publicly blasted a Syracuse area assemblyman for casting his vote for him.
Governor Spitzer: "The public needs to understand that at some point, there needs to be accountability for votes. And what I want the public to do is hold legislators accountable."
2 On Your Side's Stefan Mychajliw: "You just mentioned that people should hold legislative leaders accountable for this vote. Who then specifically in the Western New York delegation do you feel should be held accountable in this vote for New York State Comptroller?"
Governor Spitzer: "I'm not going to sit here and start listing names as though it's some list that I carry around. People know how legislators voted, and I think they should say to them, and ask them a simple question: 'do you really believe that vote truly reflected your determination who was best for the job, or was it something else?'"
New York State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt was one of 104 who voted to appoint DiNapoli New York State Comptroller.
"I was, as you know Stefan, an early, strong supporter of Eliot Spitzer's, and I will continue to be a supporter of his. We're going to have differences. But we can't get bogged down in those differences. We have to move forward," said Hoyt during an interview in the Legislative Office Building in Albany.
There were a number of topics 2 On Your Side asked Governor Spitzer, including questions that came straight from you through this website. Here is the rest of the ?Q & A? between New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and 2 On Your Side's Stefan Mychajliw:
Mychajliw: "We posted to our website, WGRZ.com, to viewers that we're going to be talking to you today. And one of the themes that kept popping up is taxes. And a lot of people wanted to know: why are you going to be different? We've heard the same song and dance from so many Governors we're going to cut taxes that's really killing the Western New York economy. Why are you going to be different?"
Governor Spitzer: "I don't want to speak ill will of my predecessors. The campaign is over. There's no utility to that. I'm going to do it. And there is a no-tax pledge that I made last year, the budget is true to it. We don't raise taxes. We cut property taxes $6 billion over three years.?
Mychajliw: "What about the reform of State pork? We found one Western New York Legislator who spent $35,000 on a pheasant farm in a prison. What are you going to do to stop this member item spending, or pork?"
Governor Spitzer: "We've made genuine progress in the budget and the ethics bills. Member items as they used to be understood are gone. In other words, the notion that there's going to be a pool of money that legislators can allocate freely, without anybody knowing where it's going, and you end up with crazy uses for that money? It's not going to happen on my watch. That's simply done, over with, finished. I've said any allocation of money needs to be specified and voted on. That's going to be the only way we let these dollars flow. Then people know where it's going. They can say yes or nor to it. And I'm going to veto anything that doesn't satisfy that parameter."
Mychajliw: "Governor, as far as Western New York is concerned, a big part of the waterfront redevelopment project is Bass Pro. Every time I talk to Bass Pro, they tell me they're 'excited about the opportunity to come to Buffalo.' But there's been nothing firm. Do you think Bass Pro is genuine in wanting to come to Buffalo, or is this project dead in the water?"
Governor Spitzer: "I think they are genuine. I think that there will be progress very shortly on that. I think that they are going to be a good, wonderful participant in the redevelopment of the waterfront. Like so many projects, there had to be some recalculations, some reexamination, but I think we're getting very close to getting things done."
Mychajliw: "Governor, a lot of us paid a toll to get here today. And I know people in Buffalo are happy to see the tolls in Buffalo gone. Now there's a big push to get rid of the Grand Island tolls. We also got an email from a gentleman by the name of Ned who wrote: "other states fund highways without tolls. Are they smarter than Albany, or less greedy?"
Governor Spitzer: "Maybe both. (Laughter) I don't believe in either choice, by and large. But I guess I'd say this: we made progress with some of the tolls. We got rid of some of the tolls. And that's a good first step. We will look at the other tolls, and see what the economic realities are. Implicit in the question is: you have to pay for the highways and the upkeep somehow. And so we should understand that as a predicate to the conversation. I was out front and center saying the tolls we did get rid of, we could get rid of, and we succeeded in that battle, and we'll take it one step at a time."
Mychajliw: "Do you feel New Yorkers would be better off with someone else leading the Assembly (Sheldon Silver) and leading the Senate (Joe Bruno)??
Governor Spitzer: "I have expressed my disappointment at the way the decision last week played out. I've been pretty clear about that. I'm not going to sit here and tell another branch of government, another chamber, how it must pick its leadership."
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