Paterson's, ex-lover's trips coincide Hotel stays, including those to work on Clinton's presidential bid, were billed to state credit cards
By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau First published: Tuesday, March 25, 2008
ALBANY -- Gov. David Paterson and an aide identified as his former lover traveled together to South Carolina last October, apparently to work on the campaign of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, and billed the state for the trip, state comptroller records show. Errol A. Cockfield Jr., Paterson's spokesman, could not explain why both Paterson and the woman, an employee of the governor's office who makes almost $151,000 annually, were both at an inn identified on bills as InterContinental Hotel SA in South Carolina, last October.
A person familiar with their schedules said Paterson worked on Clinton's presidential campaign in South Carolina last October and the woman served as Paterson's staff on the trip. Her state job title does not seem to cover such assignments, but she was said to be on her personal time. Yet the costs for both state officials, including the hotel stays and commercial airfare on JetBlue Airways, were billed on state credit cards. The Clinton campaign should have covered all the costs in advance, so the bills may be incorrect, the person familiar with the situation said. Paterson stayed at downtown Albany hotels 13 times in the past 15 months, even though he has a home 20 minutes from the Capitol, according to state records. The woman with whom Paterson reportedly conducted an affair used a state credit card for Albany hotel rooms 17 times during the period, sometimes for apparent multinight stays at about the same times Paterson lodged downtown, according to state billing records. Both stayed at the same hotel, 74 State, on one night, June 19, 2007. The Clarion Collection property has been a favorite of Paterson and was frequently used by the woman, a 19-year state employee identified by people close to Paterson as a former lover from several years ago when his marriage seemed to be collapsing. Aides say the affair broke off long before Paterson became lieutenant governor and began charging hotel rooms near the Capitol on his state credit card. At a news conference last week, Paterson said he engaged in extramarital affairs that ended around 2002 when he and his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, reconciled. Paterson said Monday that as lieutenant governor, he was often required to be at early morning meetings, so he stayed overnight in Albany instead of at his Guilderland home. "That required him to be near the Capitol for sensitive negotiations, meetings with legislative leaders, and government-related conferences," he said. "He stayed within a stone's throw of the Capitol so that he could quickly respond to the urgent needs of the state." Cockfield could not provide any examples of meetings requiring Paterson's close proximity. He also noted that the bills for Paterson only reflect the date his state credit card was charged and may not reflect the actual night of the stay. James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.
http://www.timesunion.com As a participant in the "Day One" run on that very cold and rainy morning of Jan. 1, 2007, I, along with about 200 others, anticipated greatness from the Spitzer administration.
Finally, after agonizing days, weeks and months, I finally experienced a real "runner's high" with the inauguration of Gov. David Paterson and the realization that his wife, Michelle Paige, is right on target for the future of health care. Good luck, Patersons. We are all behind you and will be there if you need us.
Talk about Sheeple? What has Patterson DONE or ACCOMPLISHED to deserve this pre-emptive praise from everyone? I don't care which side of the aisle you sit on or what your beliefs are - where's the substance behind Patterson? What can we point our finger to and say "Patterson did this" (good or bad)?
So far, all I see are a bunch of sheeple blindly following someone - because they don't have anyone else to lead them to slaughter fast enough.
All we've seen/heard so far is that he's unfaithful to his wife, is blind, is black, paid staff workers who never remember working for him with state money, paid others with the State credit cards to travel on "personal time", may have patronized prostitutes and has used cocaine and or other illegal drugs.
Quoted Text
Paterson said Monday that as lieutenant governor, he was often required to be at early morning meetings, so he stayed overnight in Albany instead of at his Guilderland home.
That is the BIGGEST bunch of horsecrap I've heard in a LONG time. A difference of 10-15 minutes drive time (he obviously had a chauffeur)?
Anyone find something positive that I'm not seeing?
Listen, all I can say is that first and foremost....I did not vote for Spitzer. Never liked him. So I am clearly NOT defending him here. BUT, perhaps there was a vendetta out for him. Since surely Paterson has used State taxpayers money to support he and his 'girlfriend's' trips, hotels and dinners. Perhaps if the word PROSTITUTE was used, it would have sounded a bit harsher. It appears that since the media is using the word 'girlfriend', Paterson gets a pass.
Not to mention he has blatantly lied about his who, what, where's and when's regarding this entire matter. Dates and times just don't add up! And then lets add cocaine and drug use into the mix and yet he STILL GETS A PASS!
Yes, perhaps Spitzer had it coming. Perhaps he burnt way too many bridges and pi**ed off the wrong people. Cause he clearly got hammered for his sins. Paterson's sins on the other hand got absolved. AMEN!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
It looks like Paterson is rapidly getting used to the power he has and how to abuse it. From what he has said that he'd like to do there will be a tax increase in the near future.
CAPITOL Report of Paterson’s travel contradicted Records give no indication of trip to S.C. with former girlfriend The Associated Press
State travel records contradict a published report that Gov. David Paterson used state funds for a trip to South Carolina to work on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign with a state employee with whom officials previously said he had an extramarital affair. Paterson’s state credit card and travel records, reviewed by The Associated Press, give no indication that Paterson took an October trip to South Carolina. Paterson spokesman Errol Cockfield on Tuesday denied a report in the Times Union of Albany that Paterson and the woman made the trip and that it was paid for by the state. Cockfield acknowledged Paterson and the female state employee worked on the Clinton campaign at the same time: In November in Iowa and in January in South Carolina. The Clinton campaign paid for those expenses that included separate hotel rooms, Cockfield said. Paterson’s state credit card records show the governor charged a stay on Nov. 11, 2007, at the “Inter-Continental Hotels” in “Carolina.” But that appears to refer to the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino in the city of Carolina in Puerto Rico. His travel records show he took a Delta airlines flight Nov. 10 from New York City to San Juan. That was the weekend of the annual Somos El Futuro Legislative Conference for Hispanic and minority legislators in San Juan, an event routinely attended by state lawmakers. There is no claim that the Democrat and the woman had a romantic rendezvous. Paterson has said the relationship ended in 2002, when he and his wife reconciled after counseling. Travel vouchers show Paterson was reimbursed $839 for the trip. Paterson succeeded Democrat Eliot Spitzer as governor after Spitzer was implicated in a prostitution investigation. Last week, Paterson acknowledged affairs with “a number of women” while his marriage was failing. He says the affairs ended several years ago and his marriage is solid. Paterson served as a surrogate for the Clinton campaign Nov. 21-22 in Iowa and Jan. 24-27 in South Carolina, confirmed Blake Zeff of the Clinton campaign. The campaign paid Paterson and his staff, which included the woman state executive, $16,000 for travel and lodging, Zeff said. Paterson worked for the campaign on other dates as well, including a day in Ohio. Paterson also acknowledged that he stayed at state expense in a downtown Albany hotel 13 times in the last 15 months despite having a suburban home 20 minutes away. He denies that he spent time with a woman during those stays. The hotels were two or three blocks from the Capitol. “I was too far away for the trip to Guilderland,” Paterson said. “Ten or 15 times I stayed in Albany to accommodate the governor … I became basically like staff and you had to be real close.” There is no accusation that he was staying with a woman those nights. The charges, as with all expenses, were approved by the comptroller’s office. Albany staffers are known for working long nights during budget and legislative negotiations, followed by early starts in the morning if there are breakthroughs. But lieutenant governors before Paterson haven’t traditionally been part of that work. Spitzer included Paterson in public leaders meetings over the budget, but how much Paterson was involved in the closed-door meetings — where most negotiation is done — isn’t clear. As lieutenant governor last year, he was called on more by Spitzer to help mend fences in the state Senate, where Paterson served for 20 years, most recently as minority leader. Paterson also ran Spitzer’s multibillion dollar stem cell research project and supervised an overhaul of the state’s program to help businesses owned by minorities and women qualify for and land state contracts. It’s been a rocky start for Paterson, now in his second week on the job. He was widely respected by fellow Democrats and Republicans as a senator and lieutenant governor despite the partisan atmosphere of Albany that intensifi ed during the 14 months of the Spitzer administration. On Monday night, Paterson told NY-1 TV that he used cocaine a couple of times when he was about 22 or 23 and used marijuana when he was around 20. He said he acknowledged to a television journalist after a 2006 gubernatorial Democratic primary debate that he had used illegal drugs. A Siena College poll released Monday found Paterson was viewed favorably by 58 percent of New Yorkers polled, and unfavorably by 10 percent.
With the discrepancies in Patersons story of the way the events took place with the women maybe someone should check a little further into this to see how much money we[the taxpayer] may have paid for these services. Where there's smoke there has got to be fire.
SCHENECTADY Paterson growing weary of personal questions BY MICHAEL GORMLEY The Associated Press
Gov. David Paterson on Wednesday started to bristle when he was asked more questions about his private life following his disclosure that he had extramarital affairs years ago. “I think that more than any elected official on this planet, and probably in outer space, I have discussed my personal situation over the last week,” he told reporters at a news conference with local officials. The day he was sworn in following Eliot Spitzer’s resignation amid a prostitution scandal, Paterson told a New York City tabloid he had an affair several years ago when his marriage was in trouble. If Day One of the administration started with a jolt, Day Two provided the aftershock when Paterson, in a remarkable press conference, told dozens of reporters he had had several affairs, ending in 2002. Then came the revelation that he had briefl y experimented with marijuana and cocaine 30 years ago. He said he opened up so he could start his administration with honesty and not be coerced into policy decisions. On Wednesday, Paterson abandoned his usual bantering style and turned serious with reporters. “The reason I did it is I felt that since I was not vetted as a governor — I didn’t get here actually by desire, I ran for lieutenant governor — a number of those things that I discussed then were not publicized,” Paterson said. “I gave what I thought was the media and citizens of New York an idea of what I wanted to do as governor and I also gave them an idea about some issues I thought I needed to present to the public. “But I think I’ve answered all those questions,” said Paterson, who then abruptly ended the news conference. But the disclosures over the last eight days only led to more questions — and more scrutiny — about his state and campaign spending over the years and hurt his administration as soon as it started. The questions included why he spent state funds on hotels in downtown Albany when he had a house 20 minutes away in Guilderland. He was asked to explain out-of-state trips, including two for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaigns with a staffer in the governor’s office who officials have confirmed had an affair with Paterson. Paterson says the affairs ended in 2002, when he reconciled with his wife. Paterson’s spending on hotels and travel hasn’t been shown to be for any romantic rendezvous and he said he sometimes stayed in Albany rather than Guilderland so he could get to the Capitol immediately if needed. On Wednesday, at a news conference with Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton to discuss municipal aid, he was asked about more spending. Paterson responded that about $500 his campaign spent at Bloomingdale’s and Tiffany & Co. over the last three years were not for gifts for girlfriends, but for Christmas presents for campaign workers. Campaign records show $374.50 was spent at Bloomingdale’s on Dec. 23, 2006.
Paterson planning to use mansion BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter
Gov. David Paterson is planning to stay in the Executive Mansion on Albany’s Eagle Street when he is in the area, spokesmen for the governor said Thursday. “He’s going to be a resident of the mansion,” said Paterson Press Secretary Errol Cockfield, but the governor and his wife, Michelle, are not planning at this time to sell their house in Guilderland. Paterson’s primary residence will remain in New York City, where his 14-year-old son Alex goes to school and his wife works. Stepdaughter Ashley Dennis attends Ithaca College. Paterson used to be a state senator representing Harlem and the Upper West Side. Paterson spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said the effort started by Silda Spitzer, wife of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, to make the mansion a “green” building would continue. That project sought to reduce energy use and make other environmental improvements. Givner said the Spitzer initiative to use organic and locally grown food at the mansion would continue under the direction of chef Noah Sheetz. Questions have been raised in recent days about Paterson using state funds to stay in Albany hotel rooms on 13 occasions since he became lieutenant governor in January 2007. Cockfield said Paterson would not be staying in Albany hotels as governor because of the mansion’s proximity to his Capitol office. Neither Spitzer nor his predecessor, George Pataki, used the Executive Mansion as their primary residence. The last governor to do so was Mario Cuomo. Pataki and Spitzer were rarely seen in Albany during the second half of the year, when the Legislature is not normally in session. Even when it was in session, they spent only a couple of days a week there. The first governor to use the mansion, Samuel Tilden, moved there in 1875. The three-story building was built for a banker in 1837. It is located south of Empire State Plaza, near the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Assemblyman Jack McEneny, D-Albany, a historian of the city, said former Govs. Cuomo and Al Smith went to Sunday Mass at that cathedral, and were very much part of the life of the neighborhood and the city. Cuomo also used to go to early morning Mass at St. Mary’s on Lodge Street, McEneny said, and you would see his light on in the mansion in the early hours of the morning as he worked on his diary. Cuomo’s son Chris dated a girl from the neighborhood, the assemblyman said. The Spitzers held a get-to-knowyou picnic for their neighbors last year, with 82-year-old Albany bluesman Ernie Williams providing the entertainment. McEneny said his mother, who lived in the neighborhood, attended picnics put on by Gov. Smith, who also kept a zoo on the grounds. A bear cub escaped from it and had to be rounded up by police, he said. McEneny said he hopes Paterson will bring back some of the life to the mansion that it has lacked in recent years. Govs. Smith, Franklin Roosevelt and Thomas Dewey sent their children to local schools, he said. The wife of Gov. Herbert Lehman was head of the local Red Cross. Longtime Albany Mayor Erastus Corning joked that the only Republican governor he was sorry to see defeated was Nathan Miller, McEneny said. That was because Miller had three attractive teenage daughters who lived at the mansion, McEneny said. Smith, a Democrat, defeated Miller in 1922, after losing to him in 1920.
The questions included why he spent state funds on hotels in downtown Albany when he had a house 20 minutes away in Guilderland.
So this Gov. Paterson is the guy that would rather spend thousands of taxpayers dollars on a hotel room instead of driving a WHOLE 20 MINUTES to his home. I think the cost of gas, as high as it is, to drive a WHOLE 20 MINUTES, would have clearly made better sense.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
So this Gov. Paterson is the guy that would rather spend thousands of taxpayers dollars on a hotel room instead of driving a WHOLE 20 MINUTES to his home. I think the cost of gas, as high as it is, to drive a WHOLE 20 MINUTES, would have clearly made better sense.
He didn't want to pay the toll......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Of pork and politics First published: Tuesday, April 8, 2008
So much for the thunderous applause and loud promises of bipartisan support that greeted David Paterson when he became New York's governor last month. Now it is early April, the state budget deadline has passed and it's politics as usual in the Capitol. Gone are the promises of open budget debates, replaced by a return to "three men in a room" negotiations. Gone are prospects for significantly curtailing spending at a time when the state faces a $4.7 billion deficit and tax revenues are dropping like a rock, largely because of falling fortunes on Wall Street.
One thing that hasn't gone, though, is the lawmakers' taste for pork. Despite all the bad economic signs that point to the need for fiscal restraint, the legislative leaders were still running up the tab, to $45 million, in new member item spending. True, there is talk that the money will come from unused funds from prior years, or taken from other sources, so member items won't represent an actual increase in spending. Even if that is so, the money could be used to keep costs down elsewhere. As we have long argued, member items -- some of which serve very admirable purposes -- should be part of the regular budget process, not parceled out to lawmakers to make them look good with voters. Mr. Paterson deplores the pork barrel politics, but, unlike other New Yorkers, he can do something about it. As governor, he has the power -- and obligation -- to assert leadership on the issue. If he fails, then the cynics will claim they were right when they said the lawmakers welcomed Mr. Paterson's elevation to governor because they believed they could push him around. Mr. Paterson deserves the benefit of the doubt, of course. He is still new to the job. But if he falters now, he will set a precedent as an easy mark. Mr. Paterson's predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, took a much tougher position with the Legislature, of course. But his steamroller approach didn't get him very far, either. Instead, he created enemies all around, even among his Democratic colleagues. Mr. Paterson is all too aware of this, and last month he was holding out hope that for a more cordial, productive relationship with legislative leaders. Now he is learning that the test of leadership often means stepping on toes and pushing back hard in the face of unreasonable budget requests. It's time for a show of strength. First, Mr. Paterson should insist that the budget negotiations go public, to let all New Yorkers see just who is asking for what, and how those requests will be paid for. Then he should let his negotiating partners, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, know who is boss. He needn't be a steamroller, but he can't be a pushover, either. THE ISSUE: Gov. Paterson deplores lawmakers' adding to member item spending. THE STAKES: He must show them where he draws the line.
Paterson zeroed in on four spending programs for major overhauls:
* The STAR property-tax rebates. "Sending back rebates to individuals who are hoodwinked and controlled into thinking that 5 percent of the money they send to the state got sent back to them and somehow they're supposed to be happy about it, it's patently ridiculous," he said.
* The 640 public authorities. "Only 11 are regulated, "so maybe we should find out what the other 629 do because they consume billions of your and my dollars every year," he said.
* Enterprise zones "that haven't solve the problems" of unemployment for which they were designed.
* Industrial-development agencies that aren't increasing business.
...
Some in government are awakening to the realities of the wasteful spending of public revenues.
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