GOV. PATERSON’S top staff is a rudder less collection of indecisive bureaucrats whose day-to-day operations are wracked by internal chaos and fraught with divided loyalties, key insiders have told The Post.
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Things have gotten so bad that even some of the governor’s most loyal allies in the Legislature have begun clashing on a regular basis with Paterson’s staffers, whom they call incompetent and politically tone deaf.
Here’s how senior Paterson aides are viewed by the insiders:
* William Cunningham, chief of staff: A secretive Long Island lawyer and longtime political operative. Widely described as indecisive and unfamiliar with statewide issues, afraid to take stands during policy talks, and often seems to be checking with someone other than Paterson before giving directions to staff.
* Special adviser Jon Cohen: A politically ambitious, Long Island-connected physician with no clear portfolio. He has, according to an insider, “an incredibly inflated view of his own talent.”
* Deputy secretary Charlotte Hitchcock: A former lawyer for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) who handles key financial issues for the governor, she’s described as insecure, easily rattled, verbally abusive and still close to Silver’s staff. “She’s in totally over her head,” said an experienced policy expert.
* Deputy secretary Larry Schwartz: A longtime Democratic operative in Suffolk and Westchester Counties, Schwartz began work as Cunningham’s senior deputy last week.
While Schwartz is credited with administrative and political skills, he’s not a policy expert and has had no experience dealing with the massive problems facing the state.
* Chief counsel Peter Kiernan: A solid, experienced lawyer with little political juice. “He’s not in the room at all,” was how one source put it.
* Budget Director Laura Anglin: Seen as closer to Silver’s “competent” staff than what she sees as her own less-than-stellar Paterson administration colleagues.
* Director of state operations Dennis Whalen: Longtime bureaucrat and son of a former state health commissioner, he’s a competent administrator but lacks strong ties and access to Paterson.