Both candidates say they want transparency, but so did Spitzer and Paterson.
Republican candidate Carl Paladino (left) shakes hands with Democratic candidate Andrew Cuomo at end of the 2010 New York State Gubernatorial debate held at Hoftstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. on Monday, Oct. 18, 2010. Albany, NY — In New York, a multibillion dollar health care bill full of taxes, the 2003 repeal of mandatory sentencing of drug dealers, $100-plus billion state budgets every year and even ethics reform are the product of closed-door negotiations.
The notorious “three men in a room” practice between the governor and the top leaders of the Senate and Assembly is the bedrock of getting anything substantial done. It also is the basis of Albany’s dysfunction, secrecy and concentrated power.
“If they want three men in a room, fine, but it will be three men in a room and the entire press corps,” said Republican candidate for governor Carl Paladino.
That’s the strongest pledge to crack Albany’s power structure in decades.
“I’m going to shine a light on these rodents, and when you shine a light on rodents, they tend to run away,” Paladino told the Plattsburgh Press-Republican editorial board in June.
Democratic candidate Andrew Cuomo promises to use technology to show more meetings over the Internet, make more documents accessible and show how much the state is spending and if it’s effective.
Cuomo has taken action as attorney general to back up his plan: He ordered the widely respected “Project Sunlight” website that provides the public and media with quick access to data on lobbying, government contracts and campaign contributions.
“People just don’t have faith in state government anymore,” Cuomo said at the governor’s debate a week ago. “If people don’t have trust in government, then they have nothing.”
His proposal doesn’t address the absolute power lock held by the three men in a room.
“The problem is when the deals are struck completely behind closed doors,” said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “The public rarely gets a chance to review the agreement before it’s enacted. It’s slam, bam, out the door. It’s a symptom of the deeper disease in Albany of operating in near secrecy.”
So far, neither candidate is running a campaign that instills much confidence in their commitment to transparency.
Both spent months treating their daily schedules — put out by most candidates far in advance — like state secrets. That limits the ability of the opponent to send disrupting operatives. But it also limits public attendance primarily to those invited and eliminates coverage from Albany beat reporters with the background to ask probing questions.
Always the lawyer and politician, Cuomo also is well known for parsing words. In one case, a reporter asked Cuomo for a yes-or-no answer to a question. An aide wouldn’t provide a yes-or-no answer but instead, 24 hours later, said there was “no factual basis.”
Cuomo also hasn’t yet disclosed his income tax, a tradition for statewide office holders in Albany on April 15. He issued a summary and promised to release more details after he filed under a federal extension on Oct. 15.
In a matter directly related to the public, Cuomo for weeks refused to say if he would debate Paladino and then took more time trying to duck the question of a second debate, using his style of reposing the reporter’s query.
“So, the question would be, ’Do you want to have more debates like last night?’ (That) is really the only valid question,” Cuomo said.
Days later, he finally rejected a second debate. In his policy book “Clean Up Albany,” Cuomo’s proposal for voluntary public funding of campaigns includes a provision: “Candidates should also be required to agree to participate in debates.”
Paladino’s proposal to end private negotiations is similar to his other policy positions: Skimpy on details, but uncommonly simple in concept.
But while Democrats have noted he can’t cut taxes and spending without the Legislature, he could end three-men-in-a-room by simply refusing to show up.
Paladino offers no further detail about how he would make government more transparent. Cuomo’s proposals include no major legislative proposals.
Every governor says he will create a more transparent government, and some progress has been made in the last five years. But even Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who promised to change everything on Day One, found himself unable to avoid the secretive meetings. In fact, they flourished.
His successor, David Paterson, who was one of Albany’s greatest advocates of transparency as a senator, has tried to explain that negotiations must often be done in private. Even good-government advocates such as Horner understand private discussions can be useful.
In practice, however, the result is weeks of private talks shaping the state budget and major issues.