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Could Scott Murphy be the new ESDC head?
Jan 27, 2011 8:53 am
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Lt. Gov. Robert J. Duffy, former mayor of Rochester, has been pegged with leading the state's promised rethinking of its approach to the business community, including restructuring of its Empire State Development Corp, which is still without a named head. Image from Governor's website."]
[/caption]Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been pushing the idea of making New York State more business-friendly, and yet The Capitol is reporting that the 10 regional economic councils Cuomo planned to create are not yet formed and his plans to makeover the Empire State Development Corp. are “shrouded in secrecy.” They note that as far as they can tell, Cuomo is trusting Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy, the former mayor of Rochester seen as an Upstate advocate, to oversee the regional councils, and is "intent on moving away from the top-down, New York City-and-Albany-driven models of the past, empowering the regional councils with funding and bond-buying powers, and instilling a sense of competition in the process to encourage growth." Yet the story also summarizes growing worries that the administration's failure to name a new ESDC head, or outline specific changes to its long-criticized policies, is a bad omen of yet another promise that could likely go un-kept. Those are answered, however, by several upstate development specialists who note that such matters will likely stream to the top of the state's agenda following the submission of an executive budget on February 1. The Capital notes several names that have been floated for the ESDC president, including ex-Rep. Scott Murphy, who lost his reelection bid against Republican Chris Gibson last November, and Mike Carey, an economic development official under Rudy Giuliani whose father, former Gov. Hugh Carey, is often credited with helping rescue New York City during the fiscal crisis of the 1970s. But neither man, the publication goes on to say, seems eager to take the job. A Cuomo chairman said only that the name of the ESDC president and the membership of the regional councils would be publicized in “the coming weeks.”
[/caption]Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been pushing the idea of making New York State more business-friendly, and yet The Capitol is reporting that the 10 regional economic councils Cuomo planned to create are not yet formed and his plans to makeover the Empire State Development Corp. are “shrouded in secrecy.” They note that as far as they can tell, Cuomo is trusting Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy, the former mayor of Rochester seen as an Upstate advocate, to oversee the regional councils, and is "intent on moving away from the top-down, New York City-and-Albany-driven models of the past, empowering the regional councils with funding and bond-buying powers, and instilling a sense of competition in the process to encourage growth." Yet the story also summarizes growing worries that the administration's failure to name a new ESDC head, or outline specific changes to its long-criticized policies, is a bad omen of yet another promise that could likely go un-kept. Those are answered, however, by several upstate development specialists who note that such matters will likely stream to the top of the state's agenda following the submission of an executive budget on February 1. The Capital notes several names that have been floated for the ESDC president, including ex-Rep. Scott Murphy, who lost his reelection bid against Republican Chris Gibson last November, and Mike Carey, an economic development official under Rudy Giuliani whose father, former Gov. Hugh Carey, is often credited with helping rescue New York City during the fiscal crisis of the 1970s. But neither man, the publication goes on to say, seems eager to take the job. A Cuomo chairman said only that the name of the ESDC president and the membership of the regional councils would be publicized in “the coming weeks.”