CityHallNews.com

Grannis Pushing Comptroller Bid

By Edward-Isaac Dovere

Alexander "Pete" Grannis (D-Manhattan) may not come from a financial background, but he does know something about keeping down costs.

Leaving a message from his Albany office, Grannis suggests a way to save the long distance call fee: returning the call through the Assembly's Manhattan switchboard.

Now Grannis is looking to watch a lot more than people's phone bills. With the resignation of State Comptroller Alan Hevesi (D) last month in the wake of a scandal for misusing a state employee last two weeks jockeying to fill the vacancy Hevesi left as the state's top financial officer.

Unlike campaigning among the 105,000 constituents of his Upper East Side District who heavily elected him to a 17th term last November or the 19 million residents of New York State, Grannis must convince only two people to win: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and new Gov. Eliot Spitzer, both Democrats.

Grannis is one of five widely-watched Democratic Assembly members in the running. Thomas DiNapoli of Long Island, Richard Brodsky of Westchester, Felix Ortiz of Brooklyn and Joseph Morelle of Rochester are also making active bids.

The situation is unusual: rarely have statewide offices gone vacant in New York history. When they do, the 212 members of the Assembly and State Senate elect replacements. Since Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has 107 members of his conference, the decision largely rests in his hands.

Silver is believed to favor appointing a member of the Assembly. However, Spitzer has told Grannis and others that he wants someone with Wall Street experience from outside government for the job, and has made clear that he wants to influence the process.

Further complicating matters, state law does not provide for special elections for statewide office, meaning that since Hevesi resigned even before his second term began, the appointed comptroller will hold office through 2010.

"There certainly are some people in the Assembly who I think have the skills and the smarts to do a good job, and lord knows there are certainly a lot of people from outside," said State Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan).

All that, Grannis said, makes for "busy times and uncertain process and uncertain outcomes."

Grannis is certain, however, that though the governor's emphasis on reform is correct, his insistence on picking someone from the finance world without government experience is not.

"This has never been a prerequisite for this job, and the performance of the investments shows it doesn't need to be," Grannis said, pointing to figures which show the growth of the $140 billion in state pension funds far outpacing market indices in recent years. Recent comptrollers have come from political, not financial backgrounds.

City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. (D), who has said repeatedly that he is not interested in being considered for the statewide job, disagreed.

"Ideally, it would be someone who has some investment background," he said.

Malcolm Smith (Queens), the Democratic State Senate leader, has been meeting with many people interested in getting picked as comptroller, including Grannis. He noted that half of his senior staff previously worked outside government, which he credits for the "fresh ideas" they have brought to their jobs.

"Perhaps that's what we need," he said.

The other main responsibility of the job is audits, and Grannis said that he has demonstrated an independence which perfectly suits this "critical watchdog" office.

Earlier in his career, Grannis chaired the Assembly Housing Committee for a decade. He has been Insurance Committee chair since 1992. He said the understanding of government from this work, his decades reviewing budgets as a member of the Ways & Means Committee and his approach to doing it, should put him over the top.

There has been political pressure to pick someone from outside New York City, given that Spitzer, Lt. Gov. David Paterson and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo all live in Manhattan.

Thompson said this should not matter, though politically it might.

"It would help for a balance, but I don't think you have to limit it to someone from upstate," he said.

Grannis said he brings experience and integrity.

"That's what I put on the table, but I cannot do anything about where I live," he said, adding that the comptroller cannot focus undue attention on a favored area as a governor or attorney general arguably can.

Grannis said that though he had spoken with upwards of 70 fellow legislators about his appointment hopes, he does not expect that the decision will come down to an active floor fight, or much of an argument at all once Silver makes up his own mind. This is reinforced by the common refrain from conversations with other Assembly members: "'Where's Shelly? What's Shelly doing on this?'" referring to Silver by first name.

So that is where his energy is focused.

"I think until Shelly and the governor work out their differences or the speaker chooses to chart an independent course, this will be up in the air," he said.

An independent screening panel of former comptrollers was formed Jan. 9, which is expected to put forward finalists between Silver would pick Most agree that the new comptroller should be in place by Jan. 31, when Spitzer submits his proposed budget. The comptroller traditionally reviews and analyzes this proposal as an integral part of the process.

Grannis believes the record of reform and support from good government groups he has enjoyed throughout his political career will put him over the top.

If it does, this would mean leaving behind the Assembly, in which he has served since 1975, and direct work with his constituents on the East Side, which he says he thoroughly enjoys.

"If anything, that's my hesitation about doing this," he said.