Paterson Weighs Rehiring Top Aide Caught in Scandal

Gov. David A. Paterson has begun paving the way for the return of his former chief adviser, Charles J. O’Byrne, who resigned four months ago in a tax scandal that proved deeply embarrassing to the administration.

In recent days, Mr. Paterson has privately sounded out trusted political operatives and state officials about the wisdom of bringing Mr. O’Byrne back, according to two Democrats familiar with the discussions.

“He is exasperated by bad press and by the perception of an administration in disarray,” one of the Democrats said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the governor’s personnel decisions. “He’s turning to the one person he believes can get things back on track.”

In response to a reporter’s question on Thursday, Mr. Paterson described himself as open to the idea of rehiring Mr. O’Byrne. The governor’s response amounted to a tacit admission of the strain and disquiet that have rattled the administration in recent weeks.

Some allies of the governor believe that Mr. O’Byrne’s return could help bring stability to the governor’s office, despite the fact that it will resurrect, at least temporarily, the controversy that erupted over Mr. O’Byrne’s failure to pay income taxes for five years and forced him to resign.

Mr. Paterson said on Thursday that few could deny that Mr. O’Byrne had done an “excellent job” serving the administration, and said he should be forgiven for his tax problems.

“Charles O’Byrne made a mistake,” he told reporters outside the Harvard Club in Manhattan, where he was attending a symposium on the economy. “It’s one we can’t condone, but he paid for it, and he underwent some pretty severe public criticism for it.”

Hard to believe that Gov. Paterson couldn’t see it coming.

*Rimshot* Thanks! I’ll be here all week! Try the veal. Don’t forget to tip your waitress!

(It’s a two-fer! I get to sound like a racist AND someone making fun of the disabled.)

Face it, New York...your Governor sucks. And so does mine.

Oh yeah.

Paterson is desperate. I believe it was just yesterday that the NY Post ran an article about The Accidental Governor’s notoriety for laziness, party-hearty, unfocused work habits and the endless series of pratfalls he’s been making ever since he let his Man Friday go.

Hey, if Obama can laugh off tax-filing problems in his underlings so can the Gov.

"His former aide had late-filing syndrome."

I figured he was suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome since he failed to pay his taxes from 2001 through 2005.

This news really galls me. His office goes out and denigrates Caroline Schlossberg, throwing out allegations that she had tax problems, and now Paterson wants to bring this guy back? Paterson knew about O'Byrne's tax problems while they were going on, and looked the other way. And he just gave several of his aides large raises after telling everyone else they should forego their contracted raises.

I thought today was bad enough when I read he wants to charge people $10 for filing their State tax forms.

I got so incensed, I called his office, along with the offices of my State Senator and State Assemblywoman. My State pension and Social Security are not subject to State taxes. I have no property, stocks, bonds, or interest bearing accounts, nor do I qualify for any special deductions or credits. I don't ever have to pay any tax, nor do I ever qualify for any refund, but despite this fact, I still have to file a State tax form every year because I pay Federal taxes. If this $10 fee gets passed, I'm simply going to stop filing State tax returns. What are they going to do, arrest me? For not filing paperwork for taxes I neither owe or am owed?

This guy has got to go...and soon.

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