2006: The Ending, the Beginning, and the Continuing

It is interesting to take note of where things stand now compared to where it was one year ago, when my 2005 year-end post was written. Some things were predictable and went on as planned. Other things have since come and delievered us surprises that not one person could have dreamed were possible.

The end of this year and the beginning of the next may well be more monumental than the previous one due to the changing of many guards, not just in New York, but across the country and on Capitol Hill. With these changes, we must forge onwards and take things in stride as we deal with this new reality.

As I said the previous year:
So here we are, ready to turn the counter once more for the year column. Some things may be coming to an end, still others are about to begin, and because life is never that simple, yet more things will transfer from this year to the next.

What is ending:


Governor George Pataki during an interview on the December 24, 2006 edition of NBC's News Forum
The era of Governor George E. Pataki. Of course, this was fosrseen one year ago when he decided against seeking a fourth term (with Eliot Spitzer in the rearview mirror already picking out the drapes for the Governor's Mansion; Sorry, Tom Suozzi...I did work on your campaign, but the Spitzer camp was in coronation mode from "Day One"). As I said last year, Pataki had already become a lame-duck Governor well before the election. With that future clear cut, Pataki spent the past year visitng areas vital to New York State such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and Iraq. He's been in presidential exploratory mode for the year, what ends at midnight tonight is his official title.

Okay, even if the past year was quiet on the Pataki front as far as New York is concerned, it is still the end of twelve years as Governor, which was the longest tenure for a Governor in the United States. It began with his overthrow of Democratic juggernaut Mario Cuomo, who himself occupied the Governor's mansion for twelve years, and continued through the events that have shaped New York's recent past and much of its near-term future. He was Governor while Wall Street took a beating from the stock markets, other markets, business scandals, et cetera. He was also the Governor when a hole was torn in New York's skyline on September 11, 2001. He oversaw a drive for New York to be more environmentally conscious. Whatever one thinks of Governor Pataki's performance as Governor, there is no question that his tenure will be one of the most historically significant in New York State history.

The New York Times also contemplates Pataki's legacy in office:

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The George Pataki Era
Published: December 31, 2006

Most politicians are fortunate if they’re remembered for one good thing. In the case of Gov. George Pataki, that will almost surely be his work for the environment. Mr. Pataki has earned his badge as an environmental governor by protecting wilderness, adding riverside parks, creating coalitions for cleaner air and alternative fuels and, most recently, announcing the fulfillment of his pledge to add one million acres of land to the public estate.

That is no small legacy. But beyond the environment, Mr. Pataki’s dozen years in office have produced mixed results. In many critical areas, his best efforts bump up against disappointing failures. What follows is an attempt to catalog the Pataki record at the end of his three terms. It is an early assessment, one that is bound to change over time.

Reform

There is a reason so many candidates ran for office this year promising reform in Albany: under Mr. Pataki, reform was a talking point, not a doing point. He had co-conspirators in the State Legislature. But failure began at the top. When Mr. Pataki assumed command in January 1995, he promised a full-throated revolution in state government. Instead, Albany suffered little more than a hiccup.

The year 2002 provided a disheartening example. Every decade, New York’s governor has one golden opportunity to effect change in a major way. That is when he is called upon to give his approval to redistricting and decide whether state legislators should be forced to compete for their jobs or be allowed to create weirdly shaped districts whose only purpose is to protect incumbents. Mr. Pataki could have demanded a fairer system. Instead, he signed another incumbent-protection plan, guaranteeing 10 more years of governmental dysfunction.

Mr. Pataki’s preference for confining his reform impulses to the realm of oratory was perhaps most pronounced when it came to campaign finance reform. Every year, he demanded restrictions on the power of big-money special interests to buy favors at election time; every year, the effort fizzled. By 2005, public and media pressure had inspired a few, first step reforms. But even then, Mr. Pataki wound up lagging behind the outcry, not leading it.

It’s not easy to remember, but this was a governor who came into office promising a new day and an open door. He left a system so hard to penetrate that his quarters in the State Capitol were known as Fort Pataki.

Health Care

Here the record is better. Mr. Pataki expanded Child Health Plus and created Family Health Plus, important entitlement programs offering care for many who could not otherwise afford it. He also pushed for the deregulation of hospitals.

While the governor did not have the power to reduce the size of an unwieldy health care system himself, he and others in Albany came up with a good end run, creating a commission whose recommendations would automatically become law unless the Legislature actively rejected the whole package. The result was a plan to close, merge and downsize hospitals and nursing homes.

Crime

Mr. Pataki puts crime-fighting at the top of his own bragging list. He pushed over 100 bills that toughened laws and lengthened prison sentences. New Yorkers will be arguing for years about whether these laws actually led to lower crime rates. New York’s crime rate has dropped and New York City is now ranked as the safest big city in the country. At a minimum, Mr. Pataki will have to share the credit with others — mainly New York City’s mayors and police.

Budget

Mr. Pataki came into office vowing to cut taxes, and on this he delivered. But as we have seen in Washington, it is fairly easy to persuade legislative bodies to cut taxes as long as they are not forced to restrain spending, too. Mr. Pataki may have wished for such restraint but he had neither the skill nor political muscle to achieve it. New York State’s budget has almost doubled on his watch, from about $62 billion in 1995 to over $114 billion this year. Long-term debt has almost doubled as well, soaring to $50 billion, and budget gaps of $3 billion to $4 billion a year could confront the next governor.

Mr. Pataki has also allowed the state to commit a fiscal conservative’s top mortal sin: borrowing to pay for continuing operating costs. These are the kinds of numbers that opponents will have a field day with if he moves into the presidential scrum.

Consolidating Power

Much of Mr. Pataki’s tenure was spent in budget fights with state legislators of both parties who, despite partisan differences, were united in a common desire to lavish money on their own favorite causes. In the end, a frustrated Mr. Pataki used a court ruling to seize control over the budget — and thus most of the state’s business — from the Legislature. Mr. Pataki and his staff have so whittled away the Legislature’s budgetary powers that even those who approve of a strong governor have begun to recognize a case of overkill.

Lower Manhattan

The prime example of the strengths and weaknesses of Mr. Pataki’s executive style is the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after Sept. 11.

The governor chose excellent leaders for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. But he did not feel compelled to follow their advice. When the decision came down to one of two first-rate master plans being considered for ground zero and the area around it, Mr. Pataki demanded Daniel Libeskind’s and won the day.

A second veto was less admirable. He melted in the face of criticism from a few vocal members of the victims’ families and their supporters and killed off plans for an International Freedom Center, bowing to concerns that the center’s mandate to encourage discussion might lead to debate about controversial ideas. Most troubling of all was the way Mr. Pataki’s focus on the city’s emotional rebuilding seemed to ebb and flow. He was not always there when he was needed. As criticism mounted, he would eventually appear and often do the right thing. But the lag times hurt.

Towards the end, Mr. Pataki pushed for tangible evidence that he had made his mark on ground zero. On Dec. 19, 12 days before leaving office, he celebrated the first column of the Freedom Tower with an emotional declaration that the steel “rises from the ashes of September 11.” If there was a sigh of relief in the Pataki household that something was finally happening at the World Trade Center site, there must also have been a sigh outside as well.

At moments when leadership was needed, this was a governor whose performance was always adequate. It is hardly the kind of summation that makes for a political legend, but New Yorkers are well aware that it is possible to do worse.

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Also ending is the political career of former State Comptroller, Alan Hevesi. Hevesi pled guilty to a felony and admitted that he did not plan to reimburse the state for the time and duties of a state employee to be a caretaker and chauffeur for his ill wife. Although this kept him from prison, the deal forced Hevesi to give up any dreams that he would be able to retain his post as Comptroller. It does not seem likely that Hevesi would be able to find work as a lobbyist as other politicians would not want to touch him with a hundred-foot pole. What he does from here on out is his own business and his time stiffing the state's taxpayers is finally over.


Hevesi's mug shot.

The GOP's control of Congress is also finished, at least for now. The scare surrounding South Dakota's Senator Tim Johnson subsided along with chances that the Republicans would be able to control the Senate in the 110th Congress through a Republican replacement appointment and Vice President Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote.


This brings to end the corruption, the spending, the earmarks, and the scandals surrounding the Republican Congress and its leadership. Whether the corruption, spending, earmarks, or scandals disappear when the 110th Congress is open for business remains to be seen.

Finally, the mess between the MTA and TWU Local 100 that was very much up in the air one year ago has finally ended with a contract. The rest from the transit labor wars is much appreciated.

What is beginning:



"Day One" begins. Already on Eliot Spitzer's plate as the incoming Governor will be to work with the Legislature to fill the vacant Comptroller's seat. There will definitely be changes as soon as the Spitzer Administration takes hold. Hopefully, for all of us, those changes are not merely different faces doing the same things.



Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno's influence over Albany. With the investigation over his target="_blank">ties to horse racing advocates/lobbyists and the decline in GOP power statewide, many in the party are looking to clean house. Bruno, now the top Republican in the state, could find that he is a target by those who want to change the way the Republican leadership does business and also present a fresh face that may set the party back on track to win power.


The Democrats go to Washington and take Capitol Hill. Bipartisanship will likely not be on the menu by mutual agreement from both parties. Will the Democrats manage to stay true to the promises made during the camapign? We will see how quickly the honeymoon lasts. I expect the battle to begin very shortly after the Democrats begin the 110th Congress.

Also, the jockeying begins. Now that elected officials are not on the campaign trail stumping for their favored candidates, they can devote their attention towards exploring runs for other offices and fundraising. It has already begun very visibly for President and for various electeds citywide looking to 2008 and 2009. Expect even more people to join the fray. As the vast majority of the New York City government is term-limited out of office, the scramble to look for opportunities in the State Legislature, Congress, the Borough President offices, Public Advocate, City Comptroller, and Mayor. The coming year will only hold special elections for offices vacated, but there will be plenty of action behind the scenes in preparation for the couple of years after.

What is continuing:

Although I thought the City Council would make a move to try to extend or eliminate term limits, that did not happen in 2006. However, it can never be out of the question. The local media will be scrambling for stories in the coming year now that a lot of the election talk will not be on the air in this off-ear. It may well provide a perfect opportunity for the Council to make its case, if it were to go that route. We shall see.

The World Trade Center area is still in work. There is finally work underway towards building the Freedom Tower. There have also been searches for remains as some have been found recently by the western edge of the area. Hopefully there will be good progress here.

The city government is going to run as it has for the past year. Worrying about things like banning trans-fats aside, there has been remarkably little conflict between the Council and Mayor Bloomberg. Dare I say things are quite peaceful at City Hall. There is always work to be done. Hopefully the peace will continue.

The federal government remains a mess for now and it will now fall to the Democrats to look after it. Deficits, earmarks, and lobbying are still unfortunately par for the course.

The state government also remains in its shape until things actually change.

The war in Iraq continues. Some things have changed, including the end of Saddam Hussein's life, but the war is less popular now than it was a year ago. It will be a huge issue nationally in the coming year, just like it was in 2006.


But thinking of the new and old problems can wait until tomorrow, as I said one year ago. Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of a brand new year with brand new hopes. Wish us all good luck in this coming year, in our endeavors, in our lives, and with each other. For anyone reading this, do think about the new opportunities arriving with the new year.

Now is the time to celebrate! Have a very Happy New Year!