GOV. PATERSON’S likely nominee to head the newly re constituted Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate, a senior official has told The Post.
Former MTA Executive Director Marc Shaw’s “nomination is considered ‘laughable’ by the [Democratic] conference. That’s the kind of distrust they have for this guy,” the Senate official said.
Shaw, a top Paterson transit adviser and a one-time deputy mayor under Mayor Bloomberg, is the odds-on favorite to be nominated by the governor to succeed Executive Director Elliot “Lee” Sander, fired by the governor Thursday in the wake of the Legislature’s approval of a major MTA bailout package that also merged the agency’s chairman and executive-director posts.
Shaw served five years as executive director during the administration of Gov. George Pataki, a Republican.
Senate Democrats claim Shaw repeatedly sought to undermine efforts by Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) to mandate more disclosure from the often secretive MTA, including a requirement that an outside “forensic” audit of the authority’s finances be conducted.
“We had an agreement with the governor that an audit would be required. It was in the final language of the legislation, but when it got to Bill Drafting [the Legislative Bill Drafting Commission], the word ‘shall’ for the audit was changed to ‘may,’ and we responded, ‘That’s not going to happen,’ ” the official said. “Shaw tried to play hardball with us, secretly changing the language, and Malcolm was very smart about it, said it wasn’t going to happen.”
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US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wasn’t surprised to learn last week that Suffolk County US Rep. Steve Israel was planning to announce as soon as today that he’ll challenge her in next year’s Democratic primary.
Firstly, the two haven’t spoken since late January, when Paterson picked the former Albany-area congresswoman to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate. And secondly, there was the matter of a runaway e-mail.
Israel, a source said, sent an e-mail to several political allies in the wake of her selection, saying, “Gillibrand says she wants to be able to work with me? Ha, ha, ha.”
But Israel also sent a copy, apparently by accident, to Gillibrand.”
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While President Obama is equivocating on whether he’ll support Democratic city Comptroller Bill Thompson against Mayor Bloomberg, Paterson is not.
A Paterson spokesman, Peter Kauffmann, told The Post that the governor would be firmly behind Thompson if, as expected, he’s the Democratic nominee.
The early endorsement came despite the widespread view in political circles that the poll-challenged Paterson, highly critical of Bloomberg in private, wants to avoid a public battle with the mayor that could further lessen his chances of winning election as governor next year.
Thompson, meanwhile, may not be all that thrilled with Paterson’s support, either.
Thompson and Paterson are African-American, and the comptroller has told friends he’s being hurt because some white voters are taking their dislike of the governor out on him, two Democratic Party activists told The Post.