Hayseeds

Jeremy Creelan, an attorney who spearheaded the now-infamous Brennan Center report that dubbed New York’s state Legislature the most dysfunctional in the nation, has written a letter calling Assemblyman Joseph Morelle “a special breed of public servant” and urging his selection as the next state comptroller.
Creelan said Morelle ”demonstrated a commitment to reform and showed the courage to take independent stands to achieve it,” noting that the Rochester Democrat was one of just six prime and co-prime sponsors of legislation that called for sweeping rules changes in the Assembly following the release of the Brennan report.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer, whose preferance for someone from “outside” the Assembly chamber has been made clear, said today that he wasn’t ruling out legislators for comptroller, necessarily.
“We need to look at the qualifications, begin with the question that I think we would all begin with, which is what are the qualifications you would look for, determine whether those who are interested have those qualifications and then move forward from there,” Spitzer said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Interesting. Other Assemblymember's interested in the race include: Tom DiNapoli, Richard Brodsky, “Pete” Grannis and Felix Ortiz. P'Link

Spitzer's Open Door Policy. It looks like Guv Spitz thinks that reporters should be able to come in and talk to him anytime they want on the second floor of the the Capitol.

I just happened to be down there yesterday, and while a few of the executive's offices were closed off to the general public, it still seemed to have a much more welcoming feel then years ago under the 'taki administration. P'Link

They're Watching You. The TU has an interesting article about those new license plate readers that some cops cars are now getting. P'Link

Andy Cuomo's Pork Test. AG Cuomo says that his office will now review all member items to decide if they pass a public interest test, and will hold funds for all projects that do not as part of the Spitzer reform package. P'Link

People Still Very Angry About Camp Cass. As you might guess, people who live up near Camp Cass in Rensselaerville are less then happy about with camp's response to community concerns about escapees and other troublesome things coming out of there. P'Link

The Man Who Makes the Plaza Nice. The TU has a nice little article about Chris Gill who oversees maintenance of the plaza, with the limited funds that he has. P'Link

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Thursday, January 11, 2007

Quick Rundown of Stories. Below are some stories that you should read today. Discussion to follow tonight on NYC.

Cowboy may be posting another series of links later in the day, depending on how things go. He would have had things up earlier, had his internet connection been working this morning—but that's how those $5/month dial-up connections go. P'Link

Gillibrand to Move Farther North in District. The papers are having a field day noting thatCongresswomen Gillibrand sold her house in Hudson and is moving farther north in her district.

The offical reason stated in the paper was so her children could live closer to her grandparents who live in the Capital Region. As you might guess that's being downplayed by the cynics who are just arguing that she's abandoning her district for Washington DC or New York City.

But that's farther from the truth.

She has a really nice house of Hudson, for those of us lucky enough to have visited. However, it's in a Hudson and that's a problem for a busy Congresswomen. The nearest airports are in Newburgh (Stewart International) and Albany (Albany International), which are over an hour away.

When your commuting back and forth from DC on a plane for your duties as a Congresswomen, then back home again to see your family and do you consituent duties in your community, it can be a difficult thing to balance, particularly when it's over an hour each way to the airport.

To be fair, Kirsten commuted from Hudson to Downtown Albany for a couple years each day when she worked for Flexer, Boise and Shillner. That was an hour commute each way, but she also wasn't a prominent Congresswomen at the time.

So she's moving farther north to be near the airport. She's also upsizing her house somewhat—looking for a gentleman's farm a kin to what Joe Bruno lives on right now. She has a nice house now, but it's probably not suitable for horses particularly the way a Congresswomen would want to keep them.

At any rate, these is no real scandal here. Gillibrand is staying in the district, though probably moving into Joe Bruno's backyard in Renselear or Saratoga County—and in her district. She ruled out suburban Clifton Park. Politically though that might be a disadvantage, insofar as Columbia and Dutchess Counties are her stronghold.

I'm sure if she didn't have to commute to DC for five days weeks as the Democratic Congress is requiring of members, nor didn't want a bigger piece of land, she'd still be living in beautiful Hudson—the place where she needs to keep solid Gillibrand Country. P'Link

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