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A Cabinet Stocked with Imports Instead of Political Curry
Spitzer expected to look to Washington, other states, in building administration
By Courtney McLeod

With gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer (D) so far ahead of Republican challenger John Faso in poll numbers, campaign money and name recognition, many are already focusing on what will happen after November.

There has been chatter for months about Spitzer’s potential cabinet. And one thing is clear from the speculation about the types of people he might appoint: expectations are high.

“His appointments will not be patronage,” said former mayor Ed Koch, voicing a common expectation that Spitzer’s huge lead will enable him to make choices without much concern about clearing debts or currying favor with particular interest groups or power brokers.

“When you win by this kind of majority, you’re free to make any appointments,” said Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at NYU’s Wagner school. Some clues as who he may choose for various posts lie in his past appontments.

“If you look at his record in terms of the kind of people who worked in the attorney general’s office, he had a very high standard. And I think we can expect that of him as governor,” said former state Comptroller Carl McCall (D).

As attorney general, Spitzer brought in top lawyers from private firms, many of whom had never been in public office before. The new hires were geographically and ethnically diverse. And in contrast to Dennis Vacco (R), his predecessor in the office whose term was marked by protests that he filled the office only with party loyalists, some of Spitzer’s hires were not even Democrats.

The litigation machine he created was able to take on Wall Street and often win.

Christine Anderson, Spitzer’s campaign spokeswoman, explained this had much to do with hiring without paying attention to political favors or hiring people with family connections. She said that political affiliation was never even a question in the interview process, and it has not been asked in the eight years since.

The Spitzer campaign is staying away from specifics regarding how the cabinet might be filled, but Anderson said that as attorney general, Spitzer cast a wide net and posted jobs in many different places in order to get the most qualified candidates.

“He will replicate what he did with the Attorney General’s office,” she explained.

Many political consultants expect Spitzer to look beyond New York City, Albany and Buffalo when it comes to finding possible appointees, reaching perhaps to Washington, D.C., or other state governments.

As for where Spitzer might look in-state, some say he could look to New York City Council members or state legislators to find agency heads. But most seem to think that he will look predominantly in the private sector.

Could Spitzer be looking to create a technocratic government like a certain other politician?

“Based on taking a look at Spitzer over the years, I would think he would follow a Bloomberg model of going out and finding experts in a lot of different places who aren’t identified with a political party,” said political consultant Norman Adler.

But Spitzer may not be able to avoid politics entirely when making appointments. Former lieutenant governor candidates Leecia Eve and Jon Cohen, for example, are expected to be under consideration for posts.

“I think that on the whole, we’re going to see a guy who has a very good balance between getting extremely good people and making sure he’s in the strongest possible position for fulfilling policy promises. And some of that relies on political relationships,” Adler said.

The first indication as to the types of appointments Spitzer might make could come from his transition team.

“The transition is the first chance we have to look at whether the reformer is going to reform,” said William Stern, who served on Gov. Mario Cuomo’s (D) transition team in 1982 and is now a scholar at the Manhattan Institute.

Stern said nobody knows yet what kind of transition team Spitzer will have—one that conducts a real job search or insiders who will help him decide on appointees. “I’m looking to how many outsiders he brings in. I think that’s a clue,” Stern explained.

If Spitzer brings in people without Albany connections—perhaps people who have records of reform in other states—that will be a good indication that it will not be politics as usual in Spitzer’s Albany.

Stern said he will pay particular attention to Spitzer’s appointments for Secretary of State, budget director, health care appointments, and head of economic development as indications to the type of governor he will be.

But one thing seems for sure: there will not be holdovers from Gov. George Pataki’s (R) administration, though it may take some time to clear these people out of the bureaucracy.

“It would make absolutely no sense for a governor who has run on a reform agenda to rely on people of the previous administration,” said Moss, the urban policy and planning professor.

Instead, Moss expects Spitzer to tap the Democratic talent base in New York and the large number of people who have worked with him for years or who worked on his gubernatorial campaign.

Moss explained, “he’s got the ability to tap talent from anywhere in the state because he’s going to be a new, young fresh face.”