Government For The People, Not The Party

The Gotham Gazette interviewed former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone about a number of subjects, including his book Learning To Govern.

Vallone was the first City Council Speaker, leading the city's legislative branch under mayors Ed Koch, David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani.

The former Democratic gubernatorial candidate, who lost to George Pataki in 1998, had this to say about Albany.

"Politics is a great vehicle to get you into office, but it should not be the end. Well, Albany -— which now has the distinction of being the worst state legislature in the whole country, all right -— has just the opposite. Instead of using politics to get you into government to do the right thing for all people -— good government -— they use government to get you into politics to do the right thing for the party."

Vallone had one favorite prediction for 2006, Bloomberg taking on the two men in the room.

"I think you're going to find a mayor who's going to take on the state legislature, and that’s my hope and my wish, And I think he has learned how to deal with the governor and is going to be very forceful and I hope he goes back to the spirit of the city, Ed Koch, who threatened to run against Shelly Silver."

We could even forgive Koch for endorsing Spitzer if he challenged Silver, or at least helped someone else to take down the autocratic boss.

As for Bloomberg, his support of Suozzi could go a long way to making Vallone prediction come true.