ALBANY – David Paterson spent his first day as governor-in-waiting at his Albany-area home, reaching out to state leaders while his top aides planned for a lightning-quick transition and dealing with a $4.7 billion budget deficit.
Paterson, who at his own request won’t officially take over until Monday, when disgraced Eliot Spitzer‘s resignation takes effect, is planning a public swearing-in for that day before a joint session of the Legislature, sources said.
Every state-level leader, including Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, will be there. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer and members of the state’s highest court are also invited.
Mayor Bloomberg will also attend, joining a delegation of VIPs who will have to skip the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Following the speech, Paterson, a former state senator for two decades, will give an inaugural address and is expected to promise a more cordial relationship with the Legislature after 15 months of vitriol from Spitzer.
“The symbol we’re trying to get is that we’re all governing together,” a Paterson aide said.
“The entire government is going through a transition and the entire government has sworn to uphold the Constitution and has an obligation to make it work.”
Spitzer called has handpicked lieutenant governor at 10 a.m. yesterday to tell him he was resigning.
“[Spitzer] wished him well and told him the state would be in good hands,” a Paterson aide said.
“Emotionally, it was a very difficult conversation for both of them.”
Paterson, a Democrat who will become New York’s first black and first legally blind governor, made no public appearances yesterday.
He released a short statement after Spitzer’s resignation, expressing sadness for the outgoing governor and his family, but pledging to move forward.
“It is now time for Albany to get back to work, as the people of this state expect from us,” Paterson said.
The Harlem Democrat spoke separately with Clinton, Schumer, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Gov. George Pataki.
He met at his house with DiNapoli and spoke with numerous governors who called to express support, an aide said.
Meanwhile, Paterson’s chief of staff, Charles O’Byrne, was at the Capitol meeting with Spitzer’s top aides to help with the transition, as well as talking to key legislative staff.
“They’re talking about taking things slow, not doing anything without thinking, and staying on a steady course,” said one official who spoke with Paterson aides.
O’Byrne and Spitzer’s chief of staff, Richard Baum, addressed the entire staff on the governor’s floor yesterday afternoon for about 20 minutes.
“There was a lot of reassuring going on,” a source who was present said. “They basically said no one’s coming in with an ax.[”
But Spitzer and Paterson aides acknowledge that some, if not most, of Spitzer’s inner circle will be gone after the transition, including Baum, top adviser Lloyd Constantine, and policy director Peter Pope.
“Until the governor’s trouble started last year, they weren’t responsive to [Paterson]; they often didn’t even return his calls,” said an official close to the lieutenant governor.
But target No. 1, an insider told The Post, is Spitzer’s top aide, Marlene Turner. She is said to have repeatedly taken action that Paterson viewed as a personal insult, in one case to both himself and his wife, Michelle Paige.
Expected to stay is Spitzer’s state operations director, Paul Francis, first secretary to the governor Sean Patrick Maloney, and budget director Laura Anglin.
Paterson’s first pressing challenge will be negotiating a new budget with legislative leaders – it’s due by April 1 – while closing a projected $4.7 billion deficit.