Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said the state needs Richard Ravitch, Gov. David Paterson’s lieutenant governor appointee, “on our team.” Paterson and Ravitch are defendants in a lawsuit filed by Senate GOP Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, and Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx. The parties are due back in court tomorrow.

   Paterson appointed Ravitch, a former head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, on July 8, a day before the Senate resolved a month-long leadership battle. The seat has been vacant since Paterson replaced Eliot Spitzer as governor last year. 

   This is Silver’s statement:
   “Richard Ravitch has a long and distinguished record of public service. Time and time again, he has shown that he has the willingness and fortitude to tackle tough governmental and public policy challenges and bring about effective solutions that benefit all New Yorkers. Now more than ever, as we wrestle with the effects of a worldwide economic downturn on our state, we need Dick Ravitch on our team.

   “Mr. Ravitch is known for his ability as a fixer and has proven that he can get even the most difficult jobs done. In the early 1980s, he helped turn around a public transit system that was falling apart and on the brink of collapse. He was, and is, willing to do whatever it takes to build consensus and get things done in a pragmatic manner, always with New Yorkers’ best interests at heart.

   “I am well aware that the question of Governor David Paterson’s ability to appoint Mr. Ravitch to the position of lieutenant governor is currently being litigated. However, while the matter is under consideration in the courts, it is clearly in the best interests of New Yorkers to allow Mr. Ravitch to serve in the role. My Assembly colleagues and I stand ready to work with him – along with Governor Paterson and the State Senate – to take on the many challenges that we face.”