Published: May 21, 2008 05:31 pm            

EDITORIAL: Is the No. 2 spot needed?

When our previous governor quit office under questionable circumstances earlier this year, the state Constitution was crystal clear about who should take over: It becomes the job of the lieutenant governor, in this case, Democrat David Paterson.

It’s also clear who takes over as lieutenant governor now that Paterson is occupying the Governor’s Mansion: No one.

That’s right. Under the state constitution, New York was left without a lieutenant governor when he succeeded Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in March amid a prostitution scandal.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican, is next in the line of succession and would be acting governor if Paterson were out of state or became incapacitated or died.

Voters won’t pick a new lieutenant governor until the next gubernatorial election in 2010.

This all came front and center on Tuesday when Paterson checked into a New York City hospital, complaining of migrane-like symptoms. Subsequent medical tests diagnosed the 54-year-old governor as having acute glaucoma in his left eye and underwent a routine procedure to relieve pressure on that eye, his office said.

The operation, called an iridotomy, is not expected to have any long-term impact on the governor’s overall health.

First of all, we wish Paterson nothing but the best of health during his service as governor of New York and well beyond. But it is an issue and, in a sense, an opportunity. The state will go without a No. 2 person for the next 2 1/2 years according to the Constitution. If we discover that the state doesn’t fall apart any more than it already has, wouldn’t it make sense to abolish the post entirely?

Of course the Democrats shudder at the prospect of Joe Bruno, the most powerful Republican in New York, becoming governor. But if the same party should hold the governor’s seat and a majority in the Senate, that wouldn’t be a political issue. And if it were, so what?

The lieutenant governor’s job is one of the most worthless in the state; sit around and wait for the governor to die or get caught with his pants down. As we discovered, that occasionally happens. But is it worth hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to put one person on stand-by when the Senate majority leader can do that just as well?

Use the rest of Paterson’s term as a test case. If we find we don’t need the lieutenant governor’s office, let’s get rid of it. It would not only save money, it would show New Yorkers that Albany is not 100 percent dysfunctional. It would show that, in at least a few instances, logic can prevail over politics.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.