Appearing on “Inside City Hall” Tuesday night, New York state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said he expects Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to bring a collaborative and personal style to the governor’s mansion when she takes over the reins from Gov. Andrew Cuomo next week, a contrast from reports about the sitting governor’s leadership style.
“I think already, you’re getting a sense of a much different tone, a much more collaborative, personal style,” DiNapoli said, adding, “She’s a hard worker. I think she’s prepared to manage this transition.”
DiNapoli, who’s served as state comptroller for over 14 years, said his relationship with Hochul dates back to when Hochul was a local upstate official, and that he campaigned for her when she ran for Congress successfully in 2011.
Despite the naturally combative relationship between the state comptroller, who is a watchdog over the state’s finances, and the governor, DiNapoli said he’s hopeful Hochul’s administration will perform their duties competently and accept his office’s audits as a natural and helpful financial inspection.
“We have to call the shots as we see them. Our audits are not personal. My style is certainly not personal attacks. I’ve never done things that way and I don’t intend to change,” DiNapoli said. “I’m hoping that when we do those audits that might be critical, that they will be accepted in the spirit of, we’re trying to make government work better for the people of New York, be more efficient for taxpayers.”
As for the state comptroller’s relationship with the outgoing governor, DiNapoli said his “run-ins” with Cuomo were generally known to the public.
“I remember there was an audit in the not-too-distant past that the administration didn’t like it, and that the governor was talking to a bunch of reporters and said, ‘Well, that audit represents the comptroller’s opinion. He tells his auditors what to write and then they write it the way he tells them,’” DiNapoli recalled. “You know, I think that just spoke to, there was never really a full understanding of what the role of the comptroller’s office is and how we need to go about our work.”
The comptroller said his auditors are professionals dedicated to carrying out their work on a non-partisan basis.
DiNapoli, whose name has been tossed around as a potential Democratic candidate for governor in 2022, said while he appreciates the recognition, his focus for the time being is on helping make Hochul’s transition as smooth as possible.
