ALBANY — A “mass exodus” is expected from the Cuomo administration after November’s election, according to several sources.
“They all want out,” one source said of top Cuomo staffers. A former staffer said the rush has been spurred by the work environment.
“You’re micromanaged to the point you can’t make a decision,” the ex-staffer said. “It’s not the work, it’s the model. It is secretive and clandestine.”
At least four high-level staff members are talking about bailing if Cuomo wins a second term, sources said.
The governor’s top aide, director of state operations Howard Glaser, will be packing up at the end of the legislative session in June to take a job in the real-estate industry, Crain’s New York reported on Monday.
Getting out of the administration’s grasp is tough, ex-staffers say. Those who express a desire to move on are “wooed” to stay — and threats of reprisal are not uncommon, said a source.
“It is professional purgatory,” the source said.
Former staffers recalled when a junior staffer quit early in Cuomo’s term by walking out of her office — without alerting anyone she wasn’t coming back. After several days, senior staffers were so concerned that they sent someone to her home.
One senior staffer who has already cut ties is former Chief of Staff Josh Vlasto. He is said to have wanted out last year, but had to work in Cuomo’s re-election campaign first so it didn’t look like as if he was bailing. Now, Vlasto has left for a bank job.
“I couldn’t keep doing the trek to Albany,” said Vlasto, who added that he and his wife are expecting a baby.
Monday night, the Cuomo administration released figures saying 160 staffers have left since 2011, compared with 333 in former Gov. David Paterson’s three years and the 313 who quit in Gov. George Pataki’s final term.