On Oct. 5, Jay Walder assumed his role as the current CEO and Chairman of the MTA, and upon his arrival, outgoing chair Dale Hemmerdinger returned to his real estate roots. Hemmerdinger, a major player in New York State’s Democratic party, was not out of a public role for long though. As The Observer reported a few weeks ago, Hemmerdinger was nominated to the Port Authority board in mid-October by Gov. David Paterson. Even more so than the MTA Board, the Port Authority’s board has become a dumping ground for what reporter Eliot Brown termed “many a campaign donor, budding politicians in search of a placeholder, and onetime political heavyweights who have passed their peaks.” Political patronage lives on in New York.
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Is this a paid position? If I recall, his old job was not. If so, good for him…
Technically, I should have called it political cronyism. It’s not a paid position.
I wasn’t critiquing your choice of words (patronage versus cronyism) — I didn’t even pick up on that. Was just wondering if being relieved of his duties at MTA turned out to be good for him.
[…] package, he resurfaced in November when, in a fit of cronyism, Gov. David Paterson nominated him to join the Port Authority board. Well, apparently, that nomination isn’t going too smoothly. As Eliot Brown of The Observer […]