Sex Scandal Topples a Governor
After Spitzer Falls, Paterson Ascends

By RICHARD STEIER

David A. Paterson was sworn in as New York's 55th Governor March 17, five days after Eliot Spitzer resigned in disgrace following revelations that he had patronized high-priced prostitutes on numerous occasions while conducting state business out of town.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang A MILESTONE ACHIEVED AMID CRISIS: David A. Paterson, who upon stepping up to fill the final 33-1/2 months of Eliot Spitzer's term became New York's first black Governor, faces an early test with a deadline for adopting a state budget less than two weeks away and a $4.4-billion deficit to be resolved.

Mr. Paterson, who is New York's first black Governor, was immediately confronted with a formidable challenge: the need to agree with state legislators on a new budget by April 1 at a time when there is a projected deficit of roughly $4.4 billion.

Expect Change in Tone

He began talking with staff and legislative leaders even before he took the oath of office, and may benefit from having a friendly relationship with the top Republican official involved in those talks, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno. Mr. Bruno and Governor Spitzer had a bitter relationship that was made worse when it was revealed last summer that top Spitzer staffers had enlisted the help of the State Police to produce travel records meant to embarrass the Majority Leader by raising questions about his use of state aircraft.

Mr. Spitzer's carefully honed image as a crusading - some said sanctimonious - reformer who had vowed to radically alter the culture of Albany from "Day One" of his administration was so at odds with the revelations about his clandestine meetings with call girls and the financial manipulations he engineered to try to keep his wife from finding out that it became obvious early on that he could not weather the storm. Once seriously regarded as a future contender to be President, he was forced to depart the Governor's Mansion after just 14-1/2 months in office.

FACES TELL THE STORY: Governor Spitzer and his wife, Silda, endured two agonizing press conferences before he resigned office after Federal officials found evidence that he had patronized a call-girl ring while traveling outside the state on more than one occasion.

An Unexpected Final

In contrast to Mr. Spitzer's brusque style that many viewed as arrogant, Mr. Paterson is known for a self-deprecating sense of humor, which he showed off during a radio interview March 13 when he said of the budget challenge he faces, "I kind of feel like the student who's getting ready for the final exam but they didn't attend any classes."

He displayed that quality again that afternoon when he entered a news conference in Albany and was greeted by warm applause from staff members. "If most of you weren't being paid, I'd be flattered by that," Mr. Paterson quipped.

And when he was asked whether he had "ever patronized a prostitute," Mr. Paterson replied, "Only the lobbyists," prompting laughter from the assembled reporters.

Several labor leaders expressed confidence that he would be up to the task and praised him as someone who understood union issues and the needs of working people.

'Knows the Landscape'

State AFL-CIO President Denis M. Hughes said in a statement, "David Paterson's background, experience and understanding of the legislative and political landscape will serve him well as Governor of the State of New York."

Mr. Paterson's father, Basil, a former Deputy Mayor under Ed Koch who also served as New York's Secretary of State, is a highly regarded labor lawyer who serves as bargaining counsel for several unions which have legislative and collective-bargaining business before the state, including the United Federation of Teachers and Transport Workers Union Local 100.

The new Governor, who is legally blind, is a former State Senator representing Harlem who became Senate Minority Leader until Mr. Spitzer persuaded him to run on his ticket for Lieutenant Governor in 2006. His willingness to do so surprised his father, who had already expressed support for a female candidate for the job.

David Paterson has an independent nature and has looked to build a career outside Basil's shadow. But in trying to cobble together a new administration, he reached out to two officials with close ties to old-line Harlem political leaders like his father and Congressman Charles B. Rangel. He tapped Bill Lynch, who was Mayor Dinkins's closest political adviser, to head his transition team, and also enlisted former State Comptroller H. Carl McCall to help guide the new administration.

The new Governor told reporters at his press conference last Thursday that "I have about the same general point of view" as Mr. Spitzer in terms of political philosophy, and, for the short-term at least, echoed his predecessor in ruling out raising state income taxes as one solution to the budget problem. Among his priorities, he said, would be dealing with "an economy upstate that caused 191,000 adults to lose their jobs since the turn of the century" and "an educational system downstate that has failed many children in New York City."

Sympathy for Judges

The state's economic condition, he said, made it "very difficult" to contemplate raising salaries for legislators, which has until now been the sticking point for giving the state's judges an increase that virtually everyone believes is well-warranted. Mr. Paterson noted that judicial salaries "sometimes aren't even up to that of first-year associates at major law firms." He said he hoped to uncouple pay raises for lawmakers and judges, but noted that such efforts have "not worked to this point."

His swearing-in capped a turbulent eight-day period that began with the revelation by the New York Times March 10 that Mr. Spitzer had been caught on a Federal wiretap arranging a liaison with a prostitute on Feb. 13 in a hotel in Washington, D.C., where he was scheduled to address a congressional subcommittee the following morning. Even more shocking, the wiretap was originally authorized not because of the activities of the international call-girl ring - whose operators were arrested March 5 - but because past bank transactions of sizable sums by Mr. Spitzer had raised the suspicions of North Fork Bank, which then notified the IRS, leading to a probe of the Governor that stumbled upon the prostitution operation.

'Violated Obligations'

About an hour after the Times story appeared on its Web site, Mr. Spitzer made a brief statement to reporters in his midtown Manhattan office - with his clearly shaken wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, looking on. Without being specific, he said, "I have acted in a way that violated the obligations to my family and that violates my - or any - sense of right and wrong ... I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard that I expect of myself."

His staff said there would be a subsequent announcement later that evening, but it never came. Sources said that Mr. Spitzer decided against immediately resigning, for reasons that ranged from his wife urging him to try to continue in office to the belief among at least some in his inner circle that he would have more leverage to bargain with Federal prosecutors and avoid a trial and possible jail sentence if he remained as Governor.

He faces potential indictment on charges of violating the Mann Act - which prohibits bringing women across state lines for purposes of prostitution but has rarely been applied to their customers - and for violating a statute governing the "structuring" of money transfers to avoid detection.

Under Siege By Media

There was already intense public pressure on him to resign, with editorials the following day in all three New York tabloids calling on him to step down, and the clamor grew when it was revealed that he had spent as much as $80,000 on prostitutes supplied by the ring, with assignations taking place in other cities from London to Dallas where Mr. Spitzer was appearing. Roughly six-dozen reporters plus camera crews staked out his upper Fifth Ave. apartment where he and his wife remained throughout Tuesday and into Wednesday, when he ventured downtown, with media helicopters trailing him, to announce his resignation, once again taking no questions.

In a three-minute statement, he said, "In the past few days, I've begun to atone for my previous failings. The remorse I feel will always be with me. I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me."

'Must Take Responsibility'

Mr. Spitzer continued, "I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work. Over the course of my public life, I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of Governor."

He said it was at Mr. Paterson's request that the effective date of his departure was postponed until March 17, allowing his successor to begin planning and assembling his team before officially taking the reins of government.

Mr. Spitzer is the first New York Governor to be forced from office since 1913, when William Sulzer was impeached and then removed because of campaign contribution fraud. Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco - who was warned last year by Mr. Spitzer that he would discover he was "a f------ steamroller" if he challenged him, had threatened to schedule impeachment hearings if the Governor did not step down by the end of last Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Michael J. Garcia, whose office brought the indictments against the operators of the prostitution ring, took the unusual step following Mr. Spitzer's announcement of releasing a statement that emphasized that there was "no agreement ... relating to his resignation," implying that he still might be criminally charged.

The Times subsequently reported that the U.S. Attorney was investigating whether Mr. Spitzer used campaign funds to pay for his trysts.