Take The City And Run

Daily Gotham makes a good point:

One thing I’d like to note, lest it get lost in the ruckus surrounding Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno’s Comptroller stupidity: new Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith stood up on the right side here. As described in the Albany Times-Union editorial:

But then there was the Democratic minority leader of the Senate, Malcolm Smith of Queens. He attempted, albeit in vain, to have Martha Stark, the New York City finance commissioner, chosen as comptroller. The Assembly minority leader, James Tedisco of Schenectady, also supported Ms. Stark, who was one of the three entirely qualified candidates shunned by the Legislature.

“We want the people of the state to know that we are not only prepared to govern the way they want us to, but when we make agreements, we are prepared to keep those agreements,” said Mr. Smith.

Let his words serve as a battle cry in the war to change the legislative culture.
I’ve mentioned before that Senator Smith, as Majority Leader-in-Waiting, will be under great scrutiny from progressives.

So credit where credit is due: in the Comptroller battle, at least, Senator Smith sided with reform and with the voters of New York State. Kudos.

Absolutely. Let’s not throw the baby out with the wash here. The minorities in both the State Assembly and Senate actually made an attempt to keep their word. Of course, knowing full well that they would be voted down by their colleagues, perhaps it was done more out of political calculation than true integrity to the agreed upon process.

Also, it is, of course, possible that Di Napoli could turn out to be a fine comptroller. The real pity is the way in which he was chosen, which is more a reflection of the body that did the choosing than the man who was chosen. That Di Napli was, a mere twenty fours ago, among their number is a taint which he must quickly work to cleanse himself of.

Hopefully, yesterday’s events will prove to be the desperate last grasp for continued power — or, more accurately, stranglehold — of a group of miscreants on the decline.