When a public official loses his top people, votes/constituents must always see something amiss.

New York State is now being exposed as to the huge amount of corruption and fraud existing within its borders at all levels of government and in every department/office.

Everyone saw this coming.
Read an email sent to Politico about Paterson:

The PATTERSON MESS is Eliot Spitzer's fault.

The fact of the matter is that we should lay blame to Eliot Spitzer for putting David Paterson on his ticket. David Paterson has never had the leadership or managerial skills necessary to govern effectively.

“The Democratic Conference: Organizational and Operational Structure Report” is an eyewitness account of Paterson’s dysfunctional governing nature.

This report commissioned by Democrats in 2005, heavily criticized Paterson’s leadership as New York State Senator Minority leader. The report indicated that his office, headed by former Paterson chief of staff and childhood friend Michael Jones-Bey, was criticized for patronage, lack of leadership, indecisiveness and infighting, set against a backdrop of general chaos – in other words the office was a zoo. Those interviewed in the report indicated that Mr. Jones-Bey, had no management skills, should be fired, and would get drunk with staff, often coming in the office with a hangover.

Not surprisingly, for running such a dysfunctional chaotic office, Mr. Jones-Bey was hand picked by David Paterson to head the Division of Minority & Women Owned Business Development (DMWBD) at New York State’s Empire State Development Corporation. Now that’s the Paterson way - being rewarded for your incompetence.

Why in the world did Eliot Spitzer choose David Paterson to be on his ticket if this information was public.

Wayne Barrett
Barrett: Gillibrand and Paterson - The D'Amato Connection
By Wayne Barrett, Tuesday, Jan. 27 2009 @ 2:35PM

The pudgy papa awaiting his hug and kiss when 42-year-old Kirsten Gillibrand walked toward the podium at her senatorial debut last week was Alphonse D'Amato, still the most powerful Republican in New York, a full decade after he lost his senate seat to the bookend on the other side of the podium, Senator Chuck "Brady Bill" Schumer.

Gillibrand barely acknowledged Democratic Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver, who she passed before greeting D'Amato for several minutes. Even Schumer, who has taken to calling D'Amato on his wedding anniversary in recent years, planted himself in front of the high-priced lobbyist for an extended chat before moving on.

D'Amato wound up in the camera frame throughout the hour and a half press conference by design. Governor David Paterson's staff kept the dignitaries in a holding room and walked them onto the stage in a prearranged order, positioning D'Amato at center stage, where his presence was a not-so-subtle advertisement of his influence with both the governor and the state's new senator, a potential boon to Park Strategies, his multi-million dollar Washington and Albany lobbying business.

Gillibrand's first job was as an intern for two summers in D'Amato's senate office, and her father, Doug Rutnik, was so close to D'Amato that, while still married to Gillibrand's mother, he covertly double-dated with the then single senator, squiring a D'Amato press aide on a two-week Caribbean tryst to celebrate the senator's re-election in 1992.

D'Amato's reach is so long and wide that one of his partners at Park Strategies is Sean King, who was hired in 2006 a few months after his father, GOP Congressman Peter King, became chairman of the House Homeland Security committee. That puts D'Amato in a bit of a bind since Peter King, who is so close to D'Amato he sponsored the bill to name the federal courthouse in Long Island after him, has been saying for several weeks that he plans to run for the seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. If that's not enough irony for you, how about the fact that Clinton was the target of D'Amato's seemingly endless Whitewater investigation in the 1990s, a probe that so angered Clinton she was the only member of the senate to vote against the confirmation of D'Amato's counsel, Michael Chertoff, when he was nominated in 2003 for a federal judgeship.

Because Rutnik's ties to D'Amato, George Pataki, and the former GOP senate majority leader Joe Bruno are Albany legend, it was hardly a surprise that Gillibrand wanted D'Amato there. What no one could quite figure out is why Paterson did.

A Voice review, however, of two campaign finance committees--Paterson's and the New York State Democratic Committee, which Paterson controls--reveals that D'Amato may be Paterson's largest single fundraiser.

D'Amato hosted a $1,000-a-plate dinner for Paterson at the Coyote Grill in Island Park on November 2, and Paterson went to the Christmas party sponsored by D'Amato's firm on December 10, and most of the $581,400 in contributions connected to D'Amato that the Voice has identified were given to Paterson's committees near those two dates.

Remarkably, D'Amato also hosted a fundraiser for John McCain last March, and at least 15 of the donors who gave to McCain around the time of that Manhattan event gave to Paterson a few months later, a symmetry that knows no ideology, only D'Amato connections.

Most of these donors were contributors to D'Amato in his final, 1998, campaign, and have long histories as contributors, primarily to Republican candidates. D'Amato attracted assembly investigators and banner headlines in 2004, when it was revealed that he was paid $500,000 for a single phone call he made to the MTA to get a client a lease. The client, Tamir Sapir, is a partner in Bayrock/Sapir, which gave $5,000 to Paterson in late September.

The oddest of the D'Amato donors was Citizens for Tom Gulotta, a campaign committee for the former GOP county executive in Nassau who hasn't held public office since 2001 and, according to Newsday's Spin City blog, was listed on the invitation of the D'Amato fundraiser. Gulotta gave $15,000 to Paterson, and the campaign committee for Joel Giambra, the former Republican county executive of upstate Eric County who joined D'Amato's firm last year, gave another $10,000. Gulotta's contribution was recorded by the Paterson committee on November 3, the day many of D'Amato-tied contributions arrived, and one of Giambra's was listed in October, shortly before the party.

Eight subsidiaries of Engel Burman, a Long Island developer who has partnered with D'Amato and other members of his family on at least two deals, combined to donate $10,000 on that same November day. Al Benjamin, another island developer whose connections to D'Amato have been chronicled for decades, gave $62,000 through his corporations and employees, the lion's share of it in mid October. In the same time frame, two of D'Amato's senate aides, Rick Nasti and Ed Lewi, kicked in a thousand apiece. The High-Need Hospital PAC, whose treasurer and lobbyist is Barbara King, the daughter of D'Amato protégé Peter King and brother of D'Amato partner Sean King, gave $3,000, the first donation coming on November 3.

Anthony Bonomo, who co-hosted the McCain fundraiser with D'Amato, steered $47,500 into Paterson's coffers-- $10,000 from himself, $25,000 from one his companies, Physicians Reciprocal Insurers, and the rest from executives at his companies, much of it recorded by Paterson on November 3. Robert Catell, the National Grid executive who was also listed on D'Amato's invitation and maxed out to McCain at the time of the D'Amato fundraiser, gave Paterson $22,500 individually and through his PAC. Scott Rechler, a Long Island developer who has described D'Amato as an "adviser" and was listed on the invitation, contributed $10,000. Larry Elovich, a Long Beach attorney who has represented D'Amato, gave $1,000, as did the campaign committee for a Long Beach councilmember close to Elovich, Denise Ford.

Other donors whose contributions are recorded either on November 3 or immediately before it are Robert Wild and Burton Weston, lawyers in a Long Island firm that also includes the daughter of D'Amato partner Ron Gade (combined with Wild's wife's contribution, they gave $7,500). Robert Avallone and Frederick Johs, partners in another law firm who maxed out to McCain at D'Amato's fundraiser, gave $10,000 to Paterson on November 3. Anthony Barbiero, who also was listed as contributing the legal maximum to McCain shortly after the D'Amato event, gave $2,500 to Paterson that day. Jaspan Schlesinger, a firm that includes the counsel to all four of D'Amato's senate campaigns, donated $5,000 on November 3. Charles Modica, the Credit Union PAC, Public Affairs Ventures, the Bank of New York Mellon, and the Blackstone Companies, all of whom gave to Paterson on or just before November 3 (a combined $25,000), have a variety of D'Amato connections, with two of them giving to McCain at the D'Amato event as well.

The other big days for D'Amato donations were the lead-up to the Christmas party Paterson attended in December. Two partners in the law firm that D'Amato's brother Armand helped found and returned to after his federal conviction was reversed on appeal contributed $15,000, with $10,000 of that coming on December 9 from Jeff Forchelli, who is vice chair of the Nassau GOP. Armand D'Amato's conviction involved payments to the Forchelli firm (D'Amato is not currently listed on its website). One of the companies named in Joe Bruno's indictment last week, Wright Risk, also gave $1,000 that day. Michael Chasanoff, a Port Authority commissioner appointed by Pataki who was named in news stories when D'Amato reached out to him on behalf of a Florida client seeking a $21 million authority contract, gave $10,000 the same day. Michael Falcone and Robert Congel, two Syracuse mall developers who have been D'Amato clients, gave a combined $25,000 on December 8 and December 10, part of the $76,400 they and Scott Congel have contributed to the party or Paterson since September.

Anthony Nastasi, a longtime D'Amato associate who donated to McCain in March, gave $5,000 to Paterson on December 5. Chesapeake Enterprises, a Washington-based GOP lobbying firm headed by D'Amato friend Scott Reed, gave $20,000 to the state Democratic committee on the same day, and another $5,000 to Paterson two days earlier. Jobco, a Long Island developer long tied to D'Amato, gave $1,000 on December 8, and another thousand earlier. Aetna PAC, a D'Amato client, kicked in $5,000 on December 15. Judlau Company, whose principal donated to McCain at the time of D'Amato's fundraiser and is a D'Amato associate, gave $1,000 on December 10.

Leonard Litwin, a D'Amato client who has been a giant donor for decades on behalf of rent control and rent stabilization landlords, has given $183,000 to Paterson or the state committee through many different corporate vehicles, and it's unclear how much of that can be attributed to D'Amato. Now in his 90s, Litwin has been listed by D'Amato as a lobbyist client on and off for years (he also often provides "strategic advice" to clients and doesn't register as a lobbyist). The fact that $100,000 of that came on a single day, December 9, when several other D'Amato-tied donations came in, suggests a D'Amato hand. Another 90-year-old, Ruth Mack, whose developer sons have a long history with D'Amato, also gave $10,000. Dan Cremins, the co-executive of the development company that owns the Park Avenue building where D'Amato's office is located and another McCain March donor, gave $10,000.

While no one has acknowledged that D'Amato lobbied Paterson to select Gillibrand (and many of these contributions precede any indication that Paterson had a senate vacancy to fill), Paterson also had to deal with major donors unconnected to D'Amato that favored Gillibrand. David and Chris Boies, Gillibrand's former law partners and the biggest backers of her political career, gave $75,000 to Paterson, with $50,000 donated in the middle of the senate process. Businessman Bernard Schwartz and one of his employees have given $58,900 to Paterson, including $10,000 to the state committee as late as January 9. Schwartz hosted two fundraisers for Gillibrand at his house for her congressional races, one featuring Mario Cuomo as a guest speaker, and is said to have pushed Paterson to appoint her. His press office refused to answer Voice questions about any efforts he might have made on Gillibrand's behalf.

Research Credit to: Dene Chen, Jesus Ron, Jana Kasperkevic, Sudip P. Mukherjee

Another Paterson Aide Resigns
By VICTORIA CAVALIERE
Updated 3:30 PM EDT, Wed, Mar 17, 2010
LINK

Another top-level aide in Gov. David Paterson’s office, his press secretary Marissa Shorenstein, has resigned.

In a statement today, Shorenstein said "it has been a privilege to serve New York State for the past two years."

“Due to the circumstances that have led to my unwitting involvement in recent news stories, I can no longer do my job effectively," she said.

The move comes amid a string of departures from Paterson’s cabinet as the embattled Governor faces an ethics probe over allegations he accepted Yankees tickets and lied about it under oath.

He is also accused of inappropriately intervening into a domestic violence case involving former aide, David Johnson. Paterson and state police are accused of contacting the accuser, Sherr-una Booker, about the case.

Shoerenstein’s decision to leave the Paterson’s camp comes on the heels of two other high level resignations in his cabinet. His Director of Communications, Peter Kauffmann, turned in his walking papers, saying in a statement: "I cannot in good conscience continue in my current position."

New York State Police Harry Corbitt resigned early this month after admitting that state troopers had contacted Booker over the assault allegations.

Paterson Insists He'll Clear His Name

A week later, Corbitt’s deputy, Officer Pedro J. Perez also stepped down, but in a letter to Paterson he denied that it was because of the domestic violence probe. “I know my decisions were honest and rightly motivated,” he said.

Speaking on Don Imus' radio show this morning, Paterson said he never acted inappropriately in the domestic abuse case. He said he never urged Booker to do anything but "follow the law."

NBCNewYork learned two weeks ago that Shorenstein had sent an email to an intermediary, state worker Deneane Brown, asking Booker to sign a missive that would exonerate her former beau, David Johnson.

The missive contained a draft statement reading: "David Johnson and I dated from x date until October, 2009. Though our break-up was not friendly, there was nothing acrimonious about our relationship or its ending. Any allegations to the contrary are false."

Booker refused to sign off on it but she never appeared at a family court hearing to press charges against Johnson. The case was dismissed.

Paterson has denied his guilt and today he told Imus that he is certain to be exonerated in the ethics probe. He says emails will prove that he never acted inappropriately.

Only moments after Shorenstein officialy resigned, Paterson announced the appointment of Morgan Hook as Director of Communications. Hook had managed Governor Paterson's Albany press office since May of 2008 and most recently served as Upstate Press Secretary for Governor Paterson.

"Morgan Hook has been a key member of my staff for the last two years, contributing extensive media expertise with a strong commitment to public service," Paterson said. "I look forward to working with Morgan on behalf of the people of New York. I know he will continue to serve the State well in his new role."

ANOTHER Paterson aide deserts administration: Governor's press secretary, Marissa Shorenstein, quits
By Kenneth Lovett, Daily News Albany Bureau Chief, March 17, 2010
LINK

ALBANY - Another top aide for Gov. Paterson has bolted amid a firestorm engulfing the administration.

Paterson press secretary Marissa Shorenstein abruptly quit Wednesday.

She had been serving as acting communications director since Peter Kauffmann resigned in disgust on March 4.

Shorenstein, the fifth high-level administration official to bail in recent weeks, seemed to back up statements from those close to her that she was misled into making comments and taking other actions for the governor that weren't true.

"Due to the circumstances that have led to my unwitting involvement in recent news stories, I can no longer do my job effectively," Shorenstein said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

"Throughout my career, I have performed my duties professionally and with integrity, basing my actions on what I believe to be true at the time," she added. "I therefore tender my resignation as press secretary to the governor."

Sources say Shorenstein's decision to walk away from her $154,000-a-year gig came after testifying recently before the state Public Integrity Commission.

The ethics watchdog has accused Paterson of pocketing free World Series tickets and then lying about it.

Shorenstein has already spoken with investigators for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who are probing whether the governor and state police had improper contact with a woman who accused a top Paterson aide of domestic violence.

Shorenstein, according to friends, had said she was duped into thinking that the domestic incident involving the aide was non-violent.

She was asked by Paterson, sources said, to send a draft statement to the woman, Sherr-una Booker, that stated the incident was no more than a messy breakup.

When asked Wednesday morning whether Shorenstein would be leaving his administration, Paterson indicated change was imminent.

"There are some difficulties with some of our staff members who are trying to work with me and at the same time cooperate with investigations when we're not supposed to talk and we'll deal with that," Paterson said after a St. Patrick's Day event in Manhattan.

When asked directly whether Shorenstein was leaving, Paterson replied: "We'll discuss that later."

Hard working and well liked, Shorenstein, 30, has been around the political scene for years. She worked on Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign and H. Carl McCall's 2002 gubernatorial campaign. She also served as a mouthpiece for the Jets in the team's unsuccessful bid to build a stadium on the west side of Manhattan.

A former professional ballerina, Shorenstein's family has given tens of thousands of dollars to New York Democrats.

Her departure leaves Paterson without an experienced press operation at a time he is fighting for his political survival.

The scandal already forced him to announce that he already has announced he is not seeking election to a full four-year term this year.

The Daily News previously reported that Kauffmann, Shorenstein and others within the administration had told Paterson they would not longer issue statements on his behalf involving the investigations.

Besides Kauffmann, Shorenstein follows deputy public safety director Denise O'Donnell, state police superintendent Harry Corbitt, and his successor, Pedro Perez, out the door as a result of the scandal.

Paterson’s people pull plug on AEG
March 11, 2010 at 12:41 pm by James M. Odato
LINK

Gov. David Paterson’s press office just released the bad news for anyone supporting Aqueduct Entertainment Group’s plan for a racino at Aqueduct Race Track.

Saying the Division of Lottery can’t issue gaming licenses to AEG, Paterson’s office said “the state has officially withdrawn its support for AEG to develop and operate a video lottery terminal facility at Aqueduct.” It did not explain why AEG could not pass muster.

The news will likely touch off a lawsuit by AEG. Its representatives assured as much, noting that AEG invested millions of dollars and honored repeated requests for bid changes and license eligibility requirements.

AEG, led by a number of New York City builders, developers and contractors as well as former MGM chief executive officer Larry Woolf, had pared its investor list to meet Lottery’s requests and had provided substantial background information for review. It even had to reshape one group’s interest so that all employees and children of owners of Greenstar Services Corp., a heating and plumbing contractor, would not have to submit fingerprinting, tax forms and other information demanded. Cast out by AEG to comply with Lottery screeners were the Rev. Floyd Flake, Jay-Z and others.

Sen. John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, the majortity conference leader, said not completing the deal sends a bad message. He said he was ready to hand off the contract to AEG. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he had no plans to makes a final decision until after an Inspector General’s Office review of the bid process under way. Silver had requested the IG investigation.

“That’s the problem with government,” Sampson said. “It’s too bureaucratic. We can’t close the deal.”

He said the state needs to look at one of the other bidders that were not chosen by Silver, Paterson and himself “so we can get the money and get the jobs.”

AEG had been ready to provide $300 million by the end of the month, one of Silver’s conditions for his approval of AEG. Silver had said the bidding team also had to be clean of criminal histories and had to be able to get Lottery licensing.

Other bidders have been eagerly awaiting the deal to collapse, and some have said they are ready to replace AEG at once while others say a rebidding of the racino contract would be better.

A spokesman for Silver said he isn’t sure what the Assembly prefers at this point, while Paterson’s office said it wants to rebid the project and select a winner by Dec. 31, the governor’s last scheduled day in office.

Sampson said he is all for selecting one of the existing bidders since the state is losing $1 million every day the projected 4,500 VLTs at Aqueduct are out of operation.

Aque-slots firm was ranked as a bad bet

Paterson: AEG was my silver medal
Capitol Confidential, February 4, 2010 at 9:36 am by Jimmy Vielkind
LINK

Gov. David Paterson said on the radio today that Aqueduct Entertainment Group was not his first choice to run video slot machines at Aqueduct.

“I did try to play no favorites in the process. We had a few of the groups that applied that were very highly rated. This was one of those groups. This was not the original group which I thought originally would be best, but the leaders couldn’t agree,” Paterson told John Gambling this morning on WOR. “I broke the deadlock with one of the premier groups, a group that has a very strong relationship within the community and is going to abide by the workforce development that we asked. They’re going to pay the $300 million, they have agreed to the terms that Speaker Silver insisted we had at the time.”

Paterson’s selection of the group has raised some eyebrows after he met with the Rev. Floyd Flake, one of its partners, to discuss politics. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver had expressed concerns with the deal and issued several conditions on its acceptance.

“Why he would write me a letter on Wednesday about something that we agreed to the preceding Friday might be, you know, something that’s in his head but I honestly don’t know what his problem is.”

Gambling asked Paterson whether Silver supported AEG in the closed-door discussions about the franchise awards.

“Well the speaker can speak for himself, but all three parties agreed to it,” Paterson replied. “Can you tell me, what is he re-releasing the agreement on Wednesday for?”

Retirement Incentive Legislation Passed May 28, 2010