EVEN his handpicked lieutenant is butting heads with Gov. Paterson.
Newly legitimized Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch and Paterson are clashing behind the scenes over the governor’s refusal to propose cuts in the deficit-plagued state budget, The Post has learned.
Ravitch, allied with state Budget Director Robert Megna, wants the governor to lay out specific plans for slashing the projected $3 billion deficit, but Paterson is resisting for fear that the sure-to-be-unpopular cuts would drive down his in-the-basement popularity even further, administration insiders said.
The insiders described Ravitch, whose controversial appointment by Paterson was challenged by lawmakers before being sanctioned in a 4-3 vote by the Court of Appeals last month, as increasingly frustrated over his inability to get the governor to focus on the state’s worsening fiscal situation.
“Ravitch wants more time to get to the governor, to talk to him about what should be done, and he’s not been able to get it. He’s being blocked,” said an administration source.
“The governor is avoiding Ravitch, doing a lot of other things, like going to California to hang out with the governor there,” the source continued, referring to Paterson’s trip late last week for an event with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and for what is believed to have been at least one political fund-raiser.
Paterson’s refusal to take a tough stand on slashing the budget is being blamed on his secretary and chief of staff, Lawrence Schwartz, a longtime political operative and former top aide to Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano.
A source close to Paterson described Schwartz’s decision-making style as, “politics first, government second.”
“The problem is that Schwartz is telling the governor to put all the tough decisions on the [legislative] leaders, to get them to make all the budget decisions and let them take all of the political heat,” said a second administration source.
Ravitch was described by the insiders as being on a “collision course” with Schwartz.
“Schwartz is the political operative giving Paterson political advice, while Ravitch is the government technician trying to do what’s right for the state,” noted a senior state official.
“There’s quite a bit of tension between the two of them,” the official continued.
Several officials were shocked last month when Paterson, at a public meeting with the leaders of the Legislature, admitted that he wouldn’t propose deficit cuts for fear of being attacked by special-interest groups.
Other administration insiders, meanwhile, described Ravitch as an overbearing “bull in a china shop” and as an “egomaniac” whose intensity is making Paterson, who is known for a short attention span, increasingly uncomfortable.
“The tensions are definitely there,” said a source who has seen both men together.
“I think Paterson thinks that Ravitch can’t wait for him to go so he can take over and become governor,” the insider continued.