A reader passes along the following article from the Queens Tribune in which Comptroller Tom DiNapoli says that in the case of a vacancy for the Comptroller’s office, ” I recommend we have a special election,” in order to free the holder of the office from appearing like he is in political debt to anyone.
DiNapoli, you will recall, became Comptroller after Alan Hevesi resigned, and as a compromise between then Governor Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver, a review panel was created to vet applicants. DiNapoli was not among the finalists, but was chosen anyway by Silver, which set off Spitzer, who went gallivanting around the state denouncing DiNapoli.
The piece raises the charge of “Albany Tom” that DiNapoli’s GOP opponent, Harry Wilson has made. DiNapoli dismisses it:
Still, DiNapoli said his previous experience should not be frowned upon. Since he knows how government officials should be spending their money, he said, it is easier for him to do his job. Legislators like Peralta, who served alongside him in the Assembly, value his opinion.
“I think when I make a comment it has even more validity because I come from the Legislature,” DiNapoli said, adding that he is able to act independently, citing his decision to hold up legislators’ checks when the most recent budget was more than four months overdue.
