Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle says he's ready to move on with doing the business the legislature should be doing, now that it appears Bronx Assemblyman Carl Heastie will likely be named the next speaker of that body. Morelle returned to Irondequoit on Friday night, after having taken himself out of contention earlier in the day to try and be the next Speaker.
Morelle says it became clear on Friday that his bid to replace Sheldon Silver as Speaker was not going to happen. As Morelle notes, being Majority Leader, it's his job to count votes, and he could see that he just couldn't overcome the solid block of New York City area lawmakers supporting Heastie.
But the Irondequoit Democrat doesn't want to dwell too much on what could have been.
"I'm personally disappointed but that's really not important, what really is important is how what we do affects the people of this community and the state and I feel like I'll be able to contribute perhaps even at a higher level than I have in the past and for that, 'm very grateful and looking forward to working with Carl and the rest of the leadership team to do that."
Morelle says he knows Heastie well, and believes that he will have even more involvement in state government in his role as Majority leader.
Morelle also believes that members of the Assembly are ready for a fresh start and many of them will be looking for being able to participate more fully in that branch of state government.
"It's going to be a much more member-driven body that it has been in the past. We had a Speaker who served for 20 years and when you do that, you tend to grow set in your ways, perhaps, and I think many of the younger and newer members want to have more say in the process, they should."
Morelle also says the last week has been a very difficult one for him, since it was Sheldon Silver who mentored him and chose him to be Majority Leader. But Morelle says the charges against Silver are serious ones, and it would have been a distraction for him to remain as Speaker.
