21 October 2021: Hochul Announces New Inspector General, Other Appointments

Hochul appoints Inspector General, other prominent posts

Replacement NY Governor Kathy Hochul has announced she is appointing a new Inspector General, following the September 2021 resignation of Cuomo appointee Letizia Tagliafierro, who was under an ethical cloud. Here's an excerpt introducing Lucy Lang:

Gov. Kathy Hochul made several key appointments on Thursday, including naming a new state Inspector General, Lucy Lang.

Lang, who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Manhattan District Attorney earlier this year, formerly worked as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District's office for a dozen years. A June profile in the New York Times described her as having a reputation within that office for "pushing reforms that created new opportunities for those charged by prosecutors" while being "stymied by a leadership team that did not always want things to change as fast as she did."

During the decade-long tenure of Hochul's predecessor, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, all three inspector generals were drawn from the ranks of Cuomo's staff when he was state attorney general. The office was criticized for lacking of independence from Cuomo, particularly in its lackluster investigation of a 2019 state ethics commission leak to the governor.

Hochul also announced several other appointments:

• Jeanette M. Moy as Commissioner of the Office of General Services
• Maria Imperial as Commissioner of the Division of Human Rights
• Jackie Bray as Commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services
• Gaurav Vasisht as Executive Director of the Commissioners of the New York State Insurance Fund

Hochul has a very mixed track record with her appointments to date, with her appointees to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) representing her biggest failures to date in satisfactorily addressing Andrew M. Cuomo's multiple scandals.