Spitzer successor rushes to form team

Mar 13,2008 00:00 by UPI

ALBANY, N.Y. -- David Paterson, New York's governor-in-waiting, is reported rushing to put together his team ahead of officially taking office Monday.

Paterson, the current lieutenant governor, is succeeding Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned over his alleged involvement in a sex scandal.

Some members of Spitzer's inner circle will be held over in an effort to smooth transition and meet the April 1 budget deadline, the New York Daily News said Thursday.

Others were expected to eventually leave, though a senior Paterson team member said there would be "no sudden changes and nobody has been asked to leave."

However, there was one major change: Charles O'Byrne, Paterson's chief of staff, replaces Richard Baum as secretary to the governor, the Daily News said.