Lobbyist Draws Attention
I missed it until this afternoon when I read a hard-copy of the Gray Lady this afternoon.
To be honest, the only reason why I read beyond the headline, which had nothing to do with gays, was because I thought the story would be about influence-peddling conflicts in Albany, unrelated to anything gay-specific.
Who knew "Paterson Adviser Has Private Clients and Public Ties" had a thing to do with the gay agenda?
From the Times:
When Gov. David A. Paterson asked his former top aide and close confidant, Charles J. O’Byrne, to return to his old job earlier this month, Mr. O’Byrne said he would instead take an unpaid role on Mr. Paterson’s political team, which would allow him to continue to work for private clients. ....
But it turns out that Mr. O’Byrne has stayed involved in New York politics behind the scenes, advising a gay rights group in its dealings with the Senate majority leader, Malcolm A. Smith, who will hold much sway this year over whether the Legislature legalizes same-sex marriage. ...
Mr. O’Byrne’s other clients have been purely political.One is Gill Action Fund, a political advocacy group in Denver that poured money into the New York State Senate races last year, seeking to shift control to Democrats and thereby make it possible to legalize gay marriage.
Mr. O’Byrne, who was chief of staff to Mr. Paterson when he was Senate minority leader, was hired by Gill to advise the group on its dealings with Senator Malcolm A. Smith of Queens during and after the wrangling that led to Mr. Smith’s election as Senate president, said a friend of Mr. O’Byrne’s.
Mr. Smith punctured the hopes of many gay-rights advocates by declaring that he saw little chance for passage of a gay marriage bill this year, but advocates now say they believe that Mr. Smith will allow consideration of the bill once they have corralled enough support to pass it.
A spokeswoman for Gill declined to comment. ...
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