I know he hasn’t even officially assumed the governorship yet, so it’s way premature to judge him. Still, I just assumed I’d easily find a lot not to like about David Paterson, but honestly I’m having a very hard time of it. Turns out he supports reforming the Rockefeller drug laws, reining in trigger-happy cops, and even voting for non-citizens. Now it turns out he is (or at least was very recently) a big opponent of eminent domain:
If David Paterson as governor displays the opposition to eminent domain that he showed as a state senator, several high-profile development projects in New York City could be derailed or delayed, including a Columbia University expansion, the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, and the transformation of Willets Point in Queens.As a state Senate leader, Mr. Paterson in 2005 held a rally with Council Member Letitia James and state Senator William Perkins on the steps of City Hall during which he called for a statewide moratorium on the use of eminent domain.
Mr. Paterson said a decision handed down by the Supreme Court in the Kelo v. City of New London case could lead to a “gold rush” of eminent domain use across the state, The New York Sun reported at the time. He said he would gather legislators and introduce legislation to impose a moratorium on its use.
I’m sure he’ll go along with whatever tax hikes Sheldon Silver proposes (but then again he might surprise us), and all his talk at his press conference yesterday about campaign finance reform made me nervous, but so far we could do a lot worse. Heck, we have done a lot worse — in each of the last three gubernatorial administrations.
Do any of our readers have any dirt on Paterson? Leave a note in the comments.