Caroline Kennedy vowed Saturday that upstate New York would not be shortchanged if she’s picked as the state’s next U.S. senator, saying she would promote renewable-energy initiatives, look to rebuild the infrastructure and bolster education.

“If I am lucky enough to be selected, I absolutely would take this commitment seriously to represent all of New York state,” she said in an interview with Gannett News Service.

“There are a lot of opportunities with the new alternative-energy jobs and green jobs upstate that may provide the kind of opportunity that we haven’t seen in a long time.”

Under criticism for her lack of experience and openness about her candidacy, Kennedy agreed to some media interviews in recent days to try to better explain her credentials and why she’s interested in succeeding Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

She has talked about following her family legacy of public service and being inspired by her father, the late President John F. Kennedy.

She said in interviews she doesn’t feel a sense of entitlement to the position, which was once held by her uncle Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, telling NY1 television Friday that “I can tell you in our family, in particular, there is a sense we have to work twice as hard.”

Kennedy, 51, of Manhattan, said she’s been a wife, a mother of three, an author and an education advocate and now feels it’s the right time to seek public office. She said she has connections in Washington—particularly with her uncle Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and President-elect Barack Obama—that could help New York.

Some other points:
—When asked about the future of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester County—which Schumer and her environmental activist cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has wanted closed—Kennedy said she also thinks it should be shut down.

“We have an opportunity now,” she said, “to really invest in alterative energy … I think we need to develop alternatives to Indian Point in particular.”
—Kennedy said she’s up for the rigors of running in both elections if picked by Paterson. In fact, she said she would almost prefer a traditional campaign, saying that would make it easier for her to talk to voters and get her message out.

She said she doesn’t plan to travel the state again before Paterson makes his decision, saying the “governor’s made it clear that he doesn’t want a campaign.”

Kennedy said she would back whoever the Democratic governor picks.
—Kennedy beat back criticism, particularly from Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-Queens, that she has been handled by aides in the same manner as former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who was initially held back from media interviews.

“People like to say all kinds of things in politics. I’m used to that. I grew up with that,” she said. “When I look in the mirror I don’t see Sarah Palin, so that’s for everybody else to decide.”
—Kennedy said she doesn’t have “the traditional kind of experience in elected office. But I think that in our country today people are looking for new kinds of voices.”
—As for Paterson’s recent state budget proposal, she called his plan to slap taxes on soda “an interesting approach” to deal with childhood obesity problems, but didn’t fully endorse it.

She said raising income taxes on the wealthy—which Paterson has so far ruled out—may need to be an option in the future.

“In principle I think that everybody has to pay their fair share and those with more should have to step up as well. But I think people seem to agree that now maybe is not the time with the economy (struggling). So I think that’s obviously down the road and requires a lot more study.”

The Associated Press appears to have gotten the first sit-down interview with Caroline Kennedy. Here’s what they’ve put out so far:

NEW YORK (AP) — Caroline Kennedy tells The Associated Press she will have to work twice as hard as others if she is picked for the U.S. Senate.

Kennedy sat down with the AP on Friday for her first sit-down interview since she expressed interest in being appointed to the seat held by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

She called herself “an unconventional choice” and said she knows she’ll have to work hard to prove herself because of her famous name.

Kennedy’s name first surfaced as a contender for the post in early December after President-elect Barack Obama nominated Clinton to be secretary of state. Since then, Kennedy has largely avoided the media.

While he doesn’t live their full-time, Gov. David A. Paterson and First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson announced today that they “will continue the New Year’s Day tradition of opening the doors of the Executive Mansion in Albany to the public.”

The Executive Mansion Open House will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 1

Tickets to the open house are available by applying online here.

Registration ends Dec 29 at 5 p.m.

The governor’s office plans to have a lottery if the number of requests become excessive, his office said. One ticket allows you to bring a guest and child.

And the governor’s office offered this warning: “Guests are reminded that bags, backpacks, luggage, parcels, briefcases, and like articles will be strictly prohibited from the event sites. Weapons of any kind will not be permitted on the premises. Additionally, no photography will be allowed. Guests with prohibited articles will be turned away at the entrances, and no storage or “check-in area” will be provided for such items.”

It’s unclear why people can’t take pictures, but we’re checking with the governor’s office.

Updated: The governor’s office said that it has long been protocol that the governor doesn’t take pictures with people visiting the mansion for security reasons.

“Restricted use of photography is a long standing policy for all public tours at the Mansion. It was put in place to ensure the integrity of the security for the Governor and his family,” said spokeswoman Marissa Shorenstein.

New Yorkers are fizzling on the state’s proposed “obesity tax” on soft drinks, though they support efforts to increase taxes on cigarettes and alcohol, a Quinnipiac Poll found today.

Sixty percent of voters oppose Gov. David Paterson’s idea to hit drinkers of soda and other sugary beverages with an 18 percent tax on purchases. Even diet-soda drinkers aren’t happy: 58 percent don’t want the tax.

The proposal was one of about 137 new taxes and fees that Paterson proposed last week as a way to close a $15.4 billion budget gap over two years. Seventy-three percent of voters support increasing taxes on cigarettes, while 67 percent agree with increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages.

While 88 percent of voters agree with Paterson that the state has a budget crisis, his plan to cut aid to schools and hospitals and raise taxes and fees isn’t sitting well with the public, the Quinnipiac poll found.

The budget battle has knocked Paterson’s approval rating from 64 percent to 53 percent since August, and by a 46 percent-to-40 percent margin oppose the way he is handling the state’s fiscal woes.

“Voters aren’t swallowing the proposal to tax non-diet soft drinks, the so-called ‘fat tax,’” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“But Gov. David Paterson has won the bigger argument: Almost everyone agrees the state is in lousy shape.”

By a 53 percent to 36 percent margin, voters would rather cut services than raise taxes. New York has the
highest local and state tax burden in the country.

Yet 84 percent of voters—including 72 percent of Republicans—support raising the state income tax on millionaires, consistent with other recent polls on the issue. Paterson has not proposed raising income taxes on the wealthy, but has said it may be an option in the future.

In looking to cut state services, 65 percent of New Yorkers said Paterson should cut economic development aid, while only 10 percent want education or health-care funding cut.

From Dec. 17 through 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 834 New York registered voters, with a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

   Gov. David Paterson has completed his holiday visit with American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, his office announced this afternoon. Paterson and U.S. Reps. Steve Israel and Anthony Weiner, both Democrats from the state, toured Afghanistan today on the last leg of their trip.

   While in Afghanistan, the delegation met with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and nearly 200 troops from New York. The governor awarded several service members with purple hearts.

   In Iraq, delegation members met with service members, senior military officials and public officials. The group, which also includes Reps. Tom Cole, R-OK, and Ed Whitfield, R-KY, also toured various military facilities and shared meals with soldiers, Paterson’s office said. The American officials also met with Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of the Multi National Corps in Iraq and had dinner with New Yorkers from an Army National Guard Aviation Battalion. Many of the troops were on thier second or their third tours of duty.

   “Much will be asked of our nation’s service men and women and members of New York’s National Guard and Reserves to put Iraq and Afghanistan on a path toward peace and stability,” Paterson said in a statement. ”We have come away with a better understanding of what we can do to ensure they have all they need before they deploy and are given the care and benefits they deserve when they return.”

   Paterson, Israel and Weiner are planning a phone conference call with reporters this afternoon.

Even Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, offered some reservations about Caroline Kennedy’s Senate bid, saying this morning she may be beholden to supporter Mayor Michael Bloomberg if she’s picked by Gov. David Paterson.

“I think the undercurrent would be, if I were the governor, I would look and say her candidacy is  being promoted by the mayor, by his deputy mayor, for political aspirations, who took her around only to mayors around the state not to any other elected officials because of his contacts as mayor,” Silver said on Fred Dicker’s radio show this morning on Talk 1300-AM.

Silver said “If I was the governor, I would look and question whether this is the appointment I’d want to make where her first obligation might be to the mayor of the city of New York rather than the governor, who will be appointing her.”

Silver also wouldn’t say whether he thinks Kennedy has the experience for the job, instead pointing out that others do, such as Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney of New York City and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

“I don’t know Caroline Kennedy. I have nothing against her,” Silver said, adding he would work with whomever Paterson picks.

Conversely, Silver said Paterson has to consider gender balance on the 2010 Democratic ticket, when the Senate pick would be on the ballot with Paterson, Sen. Charles Schumer, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and potentially Cuomo—if he’s not picked for the Senate seat.

“Women might be reluctant to vote for a ticket where it’s only all males,” Silver said.

Updated: A source pointed out that Kennedy did meet with more than just the mayors in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo and met with some business leaders as she visited the cities.

While New Yorkers are evenly split over whether Caroline Kennedy is qualified to be a U.S senator, her swing through upstate last week did little to convince the region’s voters that she is ready for the position, a Quinnipiac Poll today found.

The poll found that New York voters are split 40 percent to 41 percent on whether Kennedy is qualified to succeed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, but by a 48 percent to 25 percent margin believe that Gov. David Paterson will appoint Kennedy anyway.

Thirty-three percent of voters say Paterson should name Kennedy, while 29 percent want Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Twenty-four percent want someone else.

Kennedy is less attractive to upstate voters than Cuomo, the Quinnipiac Poll reported. Cuomo leads Kennedy 31 percent to 27 percent in upstate, even though Kennedy tried to woo upstate political leaders on a quick tour of Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse last week.

Kennedy leads Cuomo 42 percent to 27 percent among New York City voters and ties Cuomo with 30 percent each among suburban voters.

“Will we get another Kennedy in the Senate? Only Gov. David Paterson knows for sure. Among New Yorkers in general, Caroline Kennedy’s grade is just okay,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac Poll.

The daughter of late President John F. Kennedy has come under persistent criticism from Democrats and Republicans over her lack of qualifications for the job and the poor rollout of her effort to convince Paterson she’s right for the job.

Paterson is expected to appoint Clinton’s successor next month when Clinton is confirmed as secretary of state in the Obama administration.

The State University of New York doesn’t have a new chancellor yet, but the 64-campus system now has an officer in charge. SUNY’s Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee voted unanimously today to appoint John O’Connor, vice chancellor and secretary of the university, as officer in charge.

O’Connor will act on behalf of the chancellor’s office until the Board of Trustees appoints a permanent chancellor or takes other action. He will maintain his current responsibilities as vice chancellor and secretary, and his salary will be $245,669 a year. He is not a candidate in the search for a permanent chancellor and serves as staff to the chancellor search committee, according to SUNY.

Former Chancellor John Ryan left at the end of May 2007, and Interim Chancellor John Clark recently announced he was resigning from the post Dec. 31. (Trustees appointed him as a visiting professor at an annual salary of $195,000.) A search committee has been looking for a permanent replacement. The job pays $340,000 a year, plus the use of a car, drive, a residence in Albany and an apartment in New York City.

“During this period of transition, SUNY needs a steady, knowledgeable leader,” SUNY Trustees Chairman Carl Hayden said in a statement. “I have great confidence in John O’Connor’s ability. He has more than 25 years of senior level service in higher education and has stepped in to meet a variety of challenges in times of need.”

The search committee expects to appoint a new chancellor in the near future, SUNY officials said. Read more of this entry »

A state Assembly member from Dutchess County is asking Gov. Paterson to reconsider his proposal to eliminate the Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council and Hudson River Valley Greenway Heritage Conservancy and transfer liabilities, assets and responsibilities to the Department of State. Hudson Valley communities and groups have had “numerous successful endeavors” working with the council and conservancy, according to Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, R-Red Hook. The governor recommended eliminating the agencies in his 2009-10 budget plan, which he presented last week. The council was established as a state agency by the Greenway Act of 1991 to work with local and county governments on land-use planning. The Conservancy, also set up at that time, works with local governments, organizations and individuals to set up the Hudson River Valley Trail System, promote tourism and preserve agriculture.

   The success of the Greenway in “spurring intermunicipal cooperation and regional planning is a model for cost savings and consolidation at the local level,” Molinaro wrote in his letter. “Eliminating their independence to work with municipalities, skeptical of state interference, will significantly set back these efforts and diminish your stated desire to further local government sharing.”

   “The bottom line is I do not believe that a budget savings of less than $100,000 (assuming the loss of federal revenues for the management of the National Heritage Area and re-assignment of Greenway staff) is sufficient reason for elimination of these highly functional and successful organizations, shifting the responsibility for DOS,” Molinaro said. “Doing so would significantly limit the state’s ability to work with our local partners, hamper economic development and environmental stewardship in the valley and would signal the state’s abandonment of seeking consensus in order to confront the myriad challenges throughout the Hudson Valley.”

Sen. Martin Golden, R-Brooklyn, announced today what’s been expected for days and is calling on state senators to sign a resolution urging Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate not to file his oath of office until the felony assault charges against him are resolved.

“Monserrate is facing very serious charges and it would be in his own best interests, and the best interests of the people of this state, if he delayed taking his seat until he addresses the charges against him and lets the justice system take its course,” said Golden, a former city cop.

Monserrate, of Queens, said in a statement over the weekend that he will “look forward to continuing my role as the new representative of this community in the New York State Senate.”

Monserrate was charged Friday with two counts of assault after an alleged altercation with his girlfriend, and Senate Republicans are trying to make the case that Monserrate should not be seated until his case is decided.

Under state law, Republicans said, Monserrate has 30 days after the first of the year to file his oath of office. If he does not file the oath, the senate seat would be declared vacant. If Monserrate were to officially join the Senate, he would be automatically removed if he was convicted of a felony.

Republicans said the Senate can also “take steps to try, convict and remove him, based on the seriousness of the charges, even if he is not convicted of a felony offense.”

If Monserrate isn’t seated, it would be one less vote for Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith’s bid to become majority leader. So he would presumably have 28 votes, and Republicans would have 29 because the Frank Padavan seat in Queens instead expected to be resolved in time for the leadership vote Jan. 7.