A bombshell secret report sizing up David Paterson's leadership when he was Senate minority leader found his office mired in chaos, lacking clear lines of communication and hobbled by dysfunction and indecisiveness.

The 2005 report, based on interviews with key aides, is a devastating early look at the bumbling management style that would come to define Paterson's first year as governor.

"Leader Paterson has a restaurant maitre d' style of management - whatever the members want," Jonathan Rosen, then a top staffer for Senate Democrats, told a Paterson aide who was tapped to interview staffers and compile their opinions.

"Paterson is afraid of the conference; leads by consensus," the report says Rosen believed at the time. "This is a huge liability."

One top aide who should have been imposing discipline instead boozed with subordinates and came to work hung over, one employee griped.

A politically connected hire had only one job: to make sure drawers were stocked with copier paper, another revealed.

But it was hardly well-guarded. It was discovered tucked in a filing cabinet at the Legislative Office Building in Albany and obtained by the Daily News.

"Since the governor took office a year ago, he has displayed strong leadership by raising early alarms about the economic crisis and continually making the tough fiscal choices that will improve the state's long-term health and the lives of everyday New Yorkers," Cockfield said.

Paterson's inability to lead and his difficulty with saying no have been an open secret in Albany since his days as the Senate minority leader, a post he held from January 2003 to January 2007, when he was sworn in as former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's lieutenant.

But this was the first time his shortcomings were chronicled in crushing detail - and by the very people he was supposed to be rallying to oust the Republican Senate majority.

Paterson ordered up the top-to-bottom review of the Democratic conference and its staff in the summer of 2005. He asked Queens Sen. Malcolm Smith, a close ally, to head it up.

At the time, Democratic lawmakers were trying to capture the Senate majority from Republicans, and Paterson wanted an honest assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, sources said.

Smith had Meredith Henderson, then Paterson's director of human resources, conduct the interviews and compile the report.

Henderson interviewed everyone from top staffers such as Charles O'Byrne, then Paterson's director of press operations, to lower-level research assistants.

The report reveals an operation beset by infighting, larded with patronage hires and lacking any clear direction or vision from the top.

The complaints are nearly four years old - but the criticism is similar to that Paterson faces today.

"Each department functions separately; there is a lack of communication; no real message; no real platform and no agenda," regional coordinator Jaclyn Kessel told Henderson.

You "feel like you are fighting the people that you are working with," Kessel is quoted as saying.

Esther Greenbaum, a research assistant, said there was "no cohesive message from the top"and complained about "patronage hires."

"There are titles with no meaning to the titles. ... There is staff whose duty it is to put paper in the computer draw [sic]," Greenbaum said.

Alexandra Stanton, senior policy adviser to the minority leader, told Henderson she considered the Senate Democrats' overarching mission was to "take the majority," but worried "at least half of the members do not want to work that hard and therefore do not want to be in the majority."

Stanton cited "dysfunction" in the Senate Democrats' operation, the report states.

She said there needed to be an implementation of "structure and discipline" and "a willingness on Leader Paterson's part to abide by the structure."

Shawn Thompson, who served as O'Byrne's special assistant, told Henderson: "The leader plays staff against each other." He said the Democrats had an "inconsistent message" and were "disorganized."

A source familiar with Paterson's time as minority leader claimed he inherited a staff from Sen. Martin Connor that was "dysfunctional at best" and noted the minority's lack of resources.

Following the report, Paterson shook up his staff, replacing his old chief of staff, Michael Jones Bey, with O'Byrne, and the situation improved somewhat.

Democrats took control of the Senate in 2008, and Smith is now the majority leader.

Paterson has been besieged with complaints about his leadership since abruptly becoming governor in March 2008 after Spitzer resigned in disgrace.

The chaos became more evident after O'Byrne - a powerful and controlling chief of staff - left in October in the wake of a tax scandal. Paterson bungled the appointment of a successor to Sen. Hillary Clinton - trashing beloved icon Caroline Kennedy in the process - and his approval ratings fell to record lows.

Paterson has since shaken up his staff, bringing in former Westchester Deputy County Executive Larry Schwartz to replace his interim chief of staff, Bill Cunningham, and tapping Peter Kauffmann, a one-time aide to Clinton, as communications director.

Smith spokesman Austin Shafran confirmed Paterson commissioned the report. He said Smith handed off the completed report to Paterson and "never asked about it again."

"It was handled with all due care that something of this magnitude would certainly deserve," Shafran said.

@import url("http://assets.nydailynews.com/css/nydn_print.css");

New Siena Poll finds Gov. David Paterson's approval rating at just 19%

By Kenneth Lovett
Daily News Albany BUREAU CHIEF

Updated Monday, March 23rd 2009, 11:24 AM

Gov. David Paterson's approval rating dropped to 19% in a new poll.

Appleton/News

Gov. David Paterson's approval rating dropped to 19% in a new poll.

ALBANY - Gov. Paterson's job performance ratings have crashed thorough the floor, with less than one in five New Yorkers saying he's doing well, a new poll shows.

Just 19% of those polled gave him a positive rating, while 78% turned thumbs down, the Siena College poll found. That's down from 51% positive and 45% negative in the same poll just two months ago.

How bad have things gone for a governor?

New York's first black governor trails Attorney General Andrew Cuomo 55-22% among black voters in a potential 2010 primary.

Overall, he would lose to Cuomo 67% to 17%, the poll found. In late January, Paterson held a small lead over Cuomo.

"The speed of his falling numbers is staggering," Siena Poll spokesman Steven Greenberg said.

Two months ago, voters viewed Paterson favorably by a 54% to 34% margin. The latest poll has
him at 29% favorable and 58% unfavorable.

A whopping 67% of voters say they'd prefer someone else for governor next year, compared to just 14% who say they would vote to elect Paterson to a full four-year term.

The poll found black voters would prefer someone else to Paterson by a 52%-25% margin.

In a hypothetical matchup, Paterson trails badly to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, while Cuomo has a healthy 10-point lead over the Republican.

"The governor should be grateful he does not have to face the voters anytime soon," Greenberg said.

Paterson's numbers began plummeting in the wake of his messy handling of the process to select a replacement for Hillary Clinton in the Senate and the trashing of Caroline KennedyÂ by those close to him after she withdrew.

The governor was also hammered in a series of television and radio ads over his proposed budget cuts.

He has since replaced a number of key staffers to try and turn his administration around.

Meanwhile, Paterson's choice to succeed Clinton, Kirsten Gillibrand, also saw her favorable ratings fall.

The poll said Gillibrand has a 26% to 20% favorable rating, with 54% having no opinion.

That's down from her 34% to 20% favorable rating last month.

Just 23% of voters say they are prepared to elect Gillibrand next year; 37% prefer someone else.

Still, Gillibrand would handily beat Republican Rep. Peter King 47-23% in a general election and is in a dead heat with former three term Gov. George Pataki at 41% each.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.