New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says he will use the law to force to resignation of an MTA and Port Authority board member who has refused Governor Paterson's calls to step down.
The governor asked real estate developer David Mack, vice chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a board member of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, to resign after Cuomo’s report revealed that Mack refused to cooperate with investigators who were looking into whether the state police operated with a political agenda. Mack, who held an nonsalaried position as deputy police superintendent from 1995 to 2007, reportedly dressed fully in uniform, upsetting troopers because he had no law enforcement training.
Cuomo said Mack's presence at the state police lowered morale, but Dan De Federicis, the former president of the troopers' union, said that his expertise in real estate was extremely helpful to the police get contemporary buildings across the state.
Mack's public service was "exemplary," a spokesman said. Even though his term on both boards have expired, he remains as a holdover.
"We have not yet received his resignation from the MTA board and we are exploring whether the governor has the authority to remove him," Paterson spokeswoman Marissa Shorenstein said Wednesday.
Former Gov. George Pataki appointed him to the Port Authority board and Paterson renominated him but has now withdrawn the nomination. Scheduled confirmation hearings were due for today, but those hearings will be delayed upon the release of Cuomo's investigation, according to The New York Times.
