Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to do a full "rethinking" of how investigators and ethics bodies are appointed in New York, she said on Monday following the resignation of state Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro.
Tagliafierro, an appointee of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, had come under scrutiny for her office's lack of robust investigations whenever an issue would be considered too close to the governor's office.
At the same time, the embattled Joint Commission on Public Ethics, a watchdog panel composed of gubernatorial and legislative appointees, has also come under fire for failing to forcefully investigate those close to Cuomo's administration, including a former top aide, Joe Percoco.
"The whole premise who appoints the members, who appoints an inspector general, all of those are questions on the table," Hochul said on Monday.
State lawmakers have called for a complete scrapping of the ethics commission, known as JCOPE, in favor of a panel that is modeled after the state's judicial conduct commission.
Hochul, meanwhile, wants to put the proper background work in place for potential replacements to the state inspector general's office as well as vacancies at the ethics board.
"We'll be changing personnel in all these offices. I know everyone understands I need a little bit of time in order to get the right people in," said Hochul, who took office less than a month ago. "I want to get the vetting right to make sure no one has any issues that will come back later and make us regret a decisions."