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NY governor orders background checks of his staff
2008-10-23
ALBANY, N.Y. - Gov. David Paterson has ordered background checks of all executive chamber employees after learning that such a check had not been done on his chief of staff, who came under fire for failing to pay taxes. Sixty percent of executive chamber employees didn't have completed background checks and some of the material employees submitted for the checks is lost, Paterson said in a statement Wednesday night. The background checks, which are not required by law, were started by Paterson's predecessor, Gov. Eliot Spitzer. The checks were designed to discover and avoid any conflicts of interest. Potentially, an employee could lose his or her job if the check discovered a conflict or some other major problem, such as a felony conviction, that the employee hadn't reported to the governor. A background check had not been completed on Paterson chief of staff Charles O'Byrne, who failed to pay nearly $300,000 in taxes from 2001-2005. O'Byrne said he informed Paterson of the tax debt and that he was suffering from depression in 2004 and again in 2007. His tax debt came to light this week in several news stories. Paterson released a letter dated Jan. 28, 2007, from O'Byrne to the governor's counsel noting the tax debt, which he has since paid with penalties and interest, and the diagnosed depression that O'Byrne said led to it. "I suffered from and have been treated for depression and, among other problems, I fell behind in taking care of my taxes. I have spoken to the lieutenant governor about this and I am in the process of resolving the problem by completing and filing the forms and paying what I owe once I understand interests and penalties that will apply. "I would be grateful if you would treat this information with some sensitivity as my staff does not know of my illness," wrote O'Byrne in the letter released Wednesday. His debt and diagnosed depression were first revealed in press accounts Saturday.
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