Politics Cut Both Ways in Battle For Comptroller;
Clash Over DiNapoli Saw Legislators Trump Spitzer

By RICHARD STEIER

For three local legislators, their votes Feb. 7 for or against Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli as State Comptroller pivoted on whether they believed Governor Spitzer or the leaders of the State Senate and Assembly overstepped their bounds.

THOMAS DiNAPOLI: In over Governor's protest.

For one Democratic State Senator, the pledge by legislative leaders to choose from among the candidates recommended by a committee of three former Comptrollers should have been honored rather than substituting Mr. DiNapoli. One of her Republican counterparts in that body, on the other hand, implied that Governor Spitzer tried to rig the contest to ensure that no legislator was selected, and the legislative leaders merely responded with muscle of their own to win the battle.

Say He's Up to It

Even amid the disagreements, however, the three State Senators who were interviewed said they believed that Mr. DiNapoli had the skills to make the transition from legislator to successful Comptroller.

And one of those who opposed him, Sen. Diane Savino of State Island, acknowledged that it was "a bit hypocritical" for the three ex-Comptrollers to have excluded from their recommendations any of the legislators who had sought the $151,500-a-year post.

DIANE SAVINO: Commitment was broken.

As her Queens colleague, Republican Frank D. Padavan, noted, two of the panelists, H. Carl McCall and Harrison J. Goldin, had been State Senators before becoming State and City Comptroller, respectively, and former State Comptroller Ned Regan was elected based on his service as Eric County Executive.

Ms. Savino was among the legislators who voted for one of the panel's choices, city Finance Commissioner Martha Stark, saying she was "a person who could walk in and run that agency without having to take any crash courses." She called Mr. DiNapoli "a really nice guy. I don't think it's fair to say he's unqualified because he's never worked in financial services. But is it going to be harder for him than for one of the [panel's] candidates? Absolutely."

'Class Will Show'

Democratic Sen. John Sabini of Queens remarked, "I think Tom DiNapoli's class will show through, and he'll be able to do the job." He agreed with Ms. Savino, however, that the process by which the selection was made further harmed the Legislature's image.

JOHN SABINI: Panel was disrespected.

Governor Spitzer had denounced the 150-56 vote for Mr. DiNapoli over Ms. Stark (the only other nominee for the post) that was orchestrated by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno as showing a "stunning lack of integrity. We have just witnessed an insider's game of self-dealing that unfortunately confirms every New Yorker's worst fears and image of all that goes on in the Legislature of this state," he said during an Albany news conference following Mr. DiNapoli's election.

Bypassed 'Process'

"There was a process that was put in place," Mr. Sabini said, referring to the agreement to vote from among the panel's recommendations, which in addition to Ms. Stark included William Mulrow, a Wall Street executive, and Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman.

Speaker Silver had criticized the panel for offering only three candidates after an agreement had been reached with the Governor that it would put forward "up to five."

Senator Padavan said he believed that Mr. Spitzer may have privately communicated to the former Comptrollers that he didn't want any legislators on the list out of concern that they would be preferred by their colleagues over others with stronger financial backgrounds.

FRANK PADAVAN: Right man got job.

"It seemed their decision was a foregone conclusion," he said of the panel during a Feb. 9 phone interview.

Ms. Savino noted that such suspicions were not uncommon among her colleagues. She nonetheless believed the honorable thing to do would have been to choose one of the candidates put forward by the panel.

'Honor Even Bad Deals'

"My position," said the former vice president for political action of Local 371 of District Council 37, "was that the legislative leaders should never have entered into an agreement with the Governor about the selection process. This was our responsibility, and there were a lot of legislators who were unhappy" that Mr. Spitzer was given a role in choosing the Comptroller.

"But," Ms. Savino continued, "Once you make a deal, you've got to live up to the terms of it."

Mr. Sabini, referring to some legislators' anger that they were given only three candidates by the panel, remarked, "If one of the three was an Assemblyman, they wouldn't have had a problem with it, would they?"

Mr. Padavan, however, said there was no reason to honor the wishes of a panel that was acting based on a false premise: that only those with financial services training could do the job capably.

'He's Very Capable'

He said that he had gotten to know the new Comptroller well during the days from the mid-1980s through 1992 when Mr. Padavan's senatorial district stretched to include Great Neck, which was part of Mr. DiNapoli's Assembly district.

Mr. Padavan said, "I think he's very capable, impeccable integrity, knows the budgetary process and is knowledgeable about the agencies he'll be overseeing" as the sole trustee of the state's pension funds, which have more than $145 billion in assets.