Thompson Pushes Paterson to Support Authorities Reform
August 18th, 2009
City Comptroller William Thompson has joined Sen. Bill Perkins and Assemblyman Richard Brodsky in pushing Gov. David Paterson to sign the 2009 Public Authorities Reform Act into law.
“This bill would bring much needed transparency to the State’s public authorities, which collect and spend billions of taxpayer dollars every single year while conducting business through a process that is largely cloaked in secrecy,” wrote Thompson in a letter to Paterson. Here is the press release from Thompson’s office.
Critics say Paterson is bowing to pressure from Mayor Michael Bloomberg who does not support the bill. They say Bloomberg is only interested in preserving his control over the authorities.
Perkins said he thinks the only reason Paterson is considering vetoing the bill is because of pressure from Bloomberg. “Without a doubt there is no other influence that is significant.” said Perkins.
Thompson, who has not been shy in attacking Bloomberg as he campaigns to replace the mayor, urged Paterson to disregard pressure from Bloomberg’s office.
“Some critics, such as the Mayor of New York City, have complained that by requiring the appointment of independent board members, the proposed law reduces accountability when the reverse is clearly the case. Such disingenuous criticism should be rejected,” wrote Thompson
By David King on August 18, 2009, 4:13 pmIn category: Albany, Eye on Albany | 2 Comments »



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September 5th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
It sounds like you’re creating problems yourself by trying to solve this issue instead of looking at why their is a problem in the first place.
September 7th, 2009 at 7:07 am
my God, i thought you were going to chip in with some decisive insght at the end there, not leave it with ‘we leave it to you to decide’.