Gov. Paterson and his Dad Basil (left), who's a co-chair of the labor practice and represents some of the state's biggest unions at the LI law firm Meyer Suozzi, told Newsday a few weeks ago that they weren't going to seek any state ethics opinion on how to stay away from conflicts.
Apparently, that has changed.
According to the LoHud blog: Meyer Suozzi lawyers have now drafted some guidelines which are going to be submitted to the state Commission on Public Integrity. They would wall him off from any firm lobbying revenue -- he's not a lobbyist himself -- and bar him from representing "any client before an agency that the governor’s office has influence on."
Basil represents, among others, the city's teachers union. Just this week, Gov. Paterson negotiated a budget that provided a big boost in school aid, but eliminated a provision that would have allowed NYC to tie tenure to student performance. In both cases, that was what his Dad's client wanted, though both father and son say no influence was peddled.
It's a little curious that Meyer Suozzi is drafting the guidelines. Why not the governor? Or the commission? And: How much does it really accomplish to prohibit Basil from appearing before an agency influenced by the governor when he has Thanksgiving Dinner with the governor himself?
You can't ban family ties, and you can't really monitor them. Even if the Patersons do everything right, it's likely to be a continuing source of suspicion and questions.