Let me re-introduce Myself. I am David Paterson, and I am the Governor of New York State.
Earlier this year, on March 17th, I used those words to conclude my address to the people of New York after I was sworn in as Governor. And though I was well known to the audience gathered in the hall that afternoon, I wanted everyone to know that we had work to do and that I was unafraid of stepping forward, rolling up my sleeves and getting to the task at hand.
To this community, however, I am not as well known. Now that the historic election of 2008 is over, I am coming here to begin what I hope will be a constructive conversation about the direction of New York and our nation.
This is not my first appearance here on Daily Kos. In late May, I posted my first and only diary. Your response was overwhelming, and I appreciate the words of support. There were 465 Comments and it made the Recommended list. I was told at the time that that was pretty good.
I wanted to come here again in order to begin a discussion with you about the important and difficult challenges we face here in New York and across the country. Although we are now celebrating the election of Barack Obama, we, here in New York, are faced with difficult economic times. We have been making hard decisions in order to keep our economic house in order, and I have called for a special legislative session so the Senate, Assembly and I can work together to map out a way though these uncertain times.
In the coming months and years, I will return to share with you what we are doing in New York to address that uncertainty.
But I did say this is a conversation, which means I want to hear from you as well. To that end, I recently announced the launching of my new web site, Paterson for NY, and I would like to invite you to take a look, share your ideas in our Your Voice section and leave your contact information so we can continue the back and forth.
A few weeks ago, you might have seen an interview I had with Sam Stein from the Huffington Post. He wrote two articles from that interview and I want to share those links:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
David Paterson Formally Declares Plans For Reelection
Paterson: McCain Camp's 'Terrorist' Attacks Are A Dangerous Low
I also held my first "Virtual Town Hall" at the Albany Project and you can see that conversation HERE. I was pleased with the questions. They showed how policy aware the community at The Albany Project is. On the right is a shot that was taken while I was pondering an answer.
I look forward to this conversation a great deal. Here's to a long and fruitful relationship. I am Governor David A. Paterson, and I'd like to hear from you.
UPDATE Thank you so much for the response. There are so many great questions but too many to respond to at the moment. We will be selecting many of these and I will respond to them in another diary. Please, also take a moment to go to the web site, and leave your comments there as well. We look at each and every one. Again, thank you.
