US News

EX-DMV BOSS RIPS SPITZ LICENSE PLAN

ALBANY – A former state motor vehicles commissioner yesterday labeled Gov. Spitzer‘s plan to allow illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses a “complete surrender” of security measures enacted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Raymond Martinez, who served as former Gov. George Pataki’s DMV commissioner from 2000 to 2005, told The Post that Spitzer is being disingenuous when he says the plan will actually improve security and roadway safety. “People say this is a retreat from those security measures we enacted,” Martinez said. “I would disagree. It’s a complete surrender that I believe makes New York and the United States less secure.”

Martinez is set to testify today at a state Senate public hearing on Spitzer’s plan to no longer require applicants for driver’s licenses to provide Social Security numbers or letters showing that they are not eligible for such numbers.

He charged that Spitzer was more interested in providing a “gift” to pro-immigrant groups and lawmakers.

“It’s political pandering in the extreme,” said Martinez, who now serves as deputy chief of protocol for the United States at the U.S. State Department.

“Anyone who says this is based on sound security, public safety or road safety, it’s a canard. It’s simply not true,” Martinez said.

“If it were true, there would be a large segment of the law-enforcement community coming forward supporting it,” he added.

Spitzer spokeswoman Jennifer Givner called Martinez’s comments “laughable,” saying eight states have similar practices.

“Security experts from around the country support New York’s policy change because it is being implemented with state-of-the-art anti-fraud and security measures to make it one of the most secure licenses in the nation,” Givner said.

Also appearing at today’s Senate hearing will be Spitzer’s current DMV Commissioner, David Swarts, who is charged with enacting the controversial new plan, as well as several county clerks who run local DMV offices and say they will not comply with the state order. Martinez said he will focus on the policies the Pataki administration put in place.

One such policy was to enact a temporary visiting program in which those legally in the country for a set period would have the word “temporary” stamped on their license with the date their stay is set to end.

The Spitzer administration recently ended that policy, a move criticized yesterday by Martinez and Assembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco.

Tedisco called Spitzer’s elimination of the policy a “critical mistake that will make New York’s roadways less safe.”

Spitzer aides said the “temporary” label was “meaningless” since the licenses themselves were valid for eight years regardless of how long someone was allowed to be in the country, and also because of the governor’s position that driver’s licenses are not intended as documents to prove legal status.

kenneth.lovett@nypost.com