I’ve been amazed by the television ads New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi has put out apologizing for his “mistake”–in the commercial, Hevesi speaks to the camera saying,
“Honest concern for my wife Carol led me to make a stupid mistake. I’m truly sorry. Now, unfairly, some politicians want to stampede me out of office. But it’s your choice, not theirs. I’m asking you to weigh my mistake against my 35 years of public service. I’m human; I’m a good comptroller who did a dumb thing. If you give me the chance to keep serving you in the job I love, I’ll owe you everything, and those politicians nothing.”
I think Alan Hevesi had better learn the definition of the word “mistake”. What Hevesi did was an intentional, and it was theft. For those who don’t know much about the story, here are some excerpts (emphasis added) from a Buffalo News story a couple of days ago.
ALBANY - State Comptroller Alan Hevesi owes more than double what he belatedly reimbursed the state to cover the services of a government employee assigned to his wife as a chauffeur, an investigation by State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office has determined.
Hevesi, fighting for his political life in Tuesday’s election against Republican J. Christopher Callaghan, paid an additional $90,000 to the state Friday to help resolve the ongoing investigation by Spitzer, a fellow Democrat who only a week ago withdrew his endorsement of the embattled comptroller.Meanwhile, Gov. George E. Pataki on Friday evening received a report from a former federal prosecutor he tapped a week ago to look into evidence already gathered by a state ethics agency to determine if the governor should proceed with a formal recommendation to the State Senate that Hevesi be removed from office.
David Catalfamo, a Pataki spokesman, declined to reveal the contents of the report. Whether the governor will release the report or his recommendations today was uncertain late Friday.
The comptroller, who serves as the state’s chief fiscal watchdog, last month reimbursed the state nearly $83,000 for three years’ worth of work by one of two drivers assigned to his ailing wife. The payment was not made, though, until after the chauffeur arrangement was revealed by Callaghan, who phoned his concerns into the comptroller’s fraud tip line. The latest development in what in Albany is being called the “Driving Mrs. Hevesi” scandal came as two new polls showed Hevesi losing ground, though still leading Callaghan in one poll by 12 points. Hevesi released a new television ad Friday that breaks from a recent barrage of negative ads against Callaghan.
In the ad, Hevesi stares into the camera and says concern for his wife “led me to make a stupid mistake” and use a state worker to drive her on personal errands.
But now, he said, “some politicians want to stampede me out of office, but it’s your choice - not theirs.” He asks voters to forgive him for the driver scandal. “I’m human. I’m a good comptroller who did a dumb thing,” Hevesi said.
The question remains whether his actions were illegal. The state Ethics Commission recently said Hevesi violated the law by using his position to secure “unwarranted” benefits; the agency’s board, including an appointee of Spitzer, concluded Hevesi had no intention of repaying the money because no records were kept of the drivers’ time with his wife.
A spokesman for Spitzer, who personally recused himself from the probe of his fellow Democrat into how much Hevesi still owes the state, said the attorney general’s office would not comment on an open investigation.
David Neustadt, a Hevesi spokesman, declined comment.
Hevesi’s lawyers in Manhattan released a one-paragraph statement noting that records were delivered to Spitzer’s office Wednesday night showing when the driver for Hevesi’s wife was “physically at his work station and when he was not.” It said Spitzer’s office “made a demand” for $90,000 in additional payments by Hevesi; the money will be held in escrow until the probe is complete.
On a bus tour upstate Friday afternoon, Callaghan said he believes Hevesi still owes another $211,000 based on the three years’ worth of salary and benefits for the driver.
Basically, we as New York State taxpayers pay Hevesi to watch our state cookie jar, but Hevesi apparently “accidentally” dipped his own hand in the cookie jar, and then put some half eaten cookies back in when he got caught. This isn’t the guy we want in the position of comptroller. I think its time to give Callaghan a chance.