Skelos: Pass Mayoral Control In The Spirit Of 'Love'

The Republicans are calling on Gov. David Paterson, Sen. Malcolm Smith, Sen. John Sampson, Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. - any Democrat, really - to exert some power over the Senate Democrats and bring the Assembly mayoral control bill up for a vote.

Here's Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos calling for the bill to at least be allowed out onto the floor, where supporters insist there are sufficient GOP votes to pass it, "in the spirit of reform, transparency, openness and love that existed last night" when the Senate approved the rules resolution.

Next to Skelos is Sen. Andy Lanza, who just barely cracks a smile at the leader's "love" remark.

Lanza, who was furious over what he considered the Democrats' manipulation of the judicial confirmation list to help their former colleague, newly-minted Court of Claims Justice Rick Dollinger, wasn't feeling much love in the chamber last night.

As for mayoral control, things remain bottled up at the moment, with the Democrats insisting on chapter amendments and the Bloomberg folks holding firm.

Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott said earlier today that he believes some of the changes sought by the Democrats could be accomplished "administratively" and did not require either amendments or the signing of a memorandum of understanding.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/07/skelos-pass-mayoral-control-in.html#ixzz0LSWvicJL