Spitzer collecting substance points on way to governor’s mansion
BRIAN ACKLEY Political Columnist
Like they did with the Beatles at Shea Stadium, voters and the media have an ongoing

love fest with Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer that at the moment appears to have no bounds.

But what exactly is the over-under on just how long his honeymoon will last? The number might be somewhere around three. What’s tough to figure, however, is whether that figure might be measured in days, months or years.

At some point, the governor-elect will take a major misstep, making a boo-boo that will draw the wrath of critics and columnists from Marilla to Montauk. But until then, the soon-to-be ex-attorney general is piling up style points just like any run-of-the-mill politicians who rack those up as easily and quickly as Spitzer swelled his campaign war chest over the past couple of years.

But more telling, and much more impressive so far, are the substance points he’s collecting as well. While much of the recent positive ink has been about Spitzer’s campaign finance reform plans, important although still largely window-dressing kind of attention grabbing (style points), there was a virtually unreported and certainly unheralded announcement last week that we can only hope truly defines Spitzer’s tenure, however long it may be, in the governor’s mansion.

In naming Patrick Foye to lead the Empire State Development Corporation, the mighty powerful entity which wraps its tentacles around virtually every major economic project or proposal in New York, Spitzer walked the walk.

Under George Pataki, that plum spot has been reserved for the ultimate political crony, Charles Gargano, who not so coincidentally doubled as the governor’s chief political fundraiser. How convenient for a man who, while wearing his public office hat could almost single-handedly make or break billion dollar projects, and while wearing his political one, could simultaneously reach out and touch bottomless bank accounts for potential Pataki campaign contributions.

Lest you think the arrangement was some kind of renegade Republican-only blurring of responsibilities, know that Mario Cuomo did the same exact thing while he was in office with a man named Vincent Tese.

Foye’s selection is remarkable in large part because of his unremarkable resume, at least when it comes to politics. One of his first forays into the public spotlight came as president of the Nassau County Taxpayer’s Committee, leading the fight against the creation of the Nassau County Legislature. (A county without a legislature? Now there’s a good idea.) His modest political contributions have been spread across the board, including $1,000 to John Faso, the man Spitzer beat in last month’s elections, in his close but unsuccessful bid in 2002 to become state comptroller. Newsday reports that he has no political affiliation.

His public service resume includes currently serving as president and chief executive officer of the Nassau County United Way and vice chairman of the Long Island Power Authority. This spring, he ran and was elected to his local school board. He holds degrees in law, history and philosophy from Fordham University. In a profile in the Port Washington News, in response to a question about using property tax assessments to fund the local share of educational costs and the possibility of changing that formula, Foye wrote, “We have to live and manage in the funding system that exists now. Board members and managers must manage in the world of reality.”

Pinch me. While agreeing the issue deserves scrutiny and possible change, his view was securely rooted in the here and now, not some Pollyanna-ish potential or whimsical whitewash which has perpetually painted and plastered over the political privations of an entire generation or two.

Voters have to be among the most eternally optimistic people on earth. We harbor more unfulfilled hope than Chicago Cubs and Buffalo Bills fans combined. Eliot Spitzer is the latest incarnation of an elected leader we think can actually pull us from the abyss. Sooner or later, Spitzer’s record player needle is going to scratch across the vinyl, but for now, in the words of the immortal Bellamy Brothers, let your love flow.

(Brian Ackley is a columnist for the Weekly Independent Newspapers of Western New York. Opin - ions expressed here are those of the author.)