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ALBANY — A three-week dispute over control of New York's Senate is getting more frantic behind the scenes, leading to a change in negotiators for the Democratic conference and new efforts to split the Republican-dominated coalition.
Despite optimistic sound bites, the two sides seemed no closer Sunday to agreeing to a power-sharing arrangement than they were nearly three weeks ago.
The coalition insists it is in charge because of its June 8 vote to overthrow the Democrats; the Democratic conference, which boycotted the vote, says it wasn't valid, and it's time to deal with power-sharing under a chamber split 31-31.
"We're not up here to play games," said Sen. John Sampson, a Brooklyn Democrat chosen over a week ago to lead the Democratic conference. He said the conference still seeks a temporary power-sharing arrangement — rather than one that would last until the end of the legislative term in December 2010 — and won't recognize any validity to the June 8 coup.
"We're very focused on June 8, we're very focused on 2010," countered Sen. Pedro Espada, a Bronx Democrat who was elected June 8 by the coalition as Senate president.
"We don't think a Band-Aid approach will work."
He said a temporary fix is "unacceptable."
However, Espada said talks are coming closer to a resolution because of "the climate of civility, the climate of focus and the climate of accepting what happened on June 8. ... I think the issues will be clarified today, and we'll be getting closure."
He referred to a closed-door negotiation on Sunday night. Paterson met privately with the Democrats, some of whom insulted him as incompetent in recent days, and declared both sides "deadlocked."
"It's difficult for them, but unacceptable to us, that they can't see their ways past it to address the issues," Paterson said.
The back-channel drama and internal debate on each side resulted in the canceling of one or two negotiating sessions over the weekend — the sides differ even on that number.
The Democratic conference replaced its top negotiator — Senate President and Majority Leader Malcolm Smith — with a negotiating committee, said Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran. The committee includes a more diverse group of senators, including upstaters, to replace a tandem of Smith, of Queens, and Sampson, who was elected earlier to the new position of conference leader in what appeared to be an effort to move Smith aside.
Sampson remains on the negotiating team. He refused to address concerns that he might hold up an extension of mayoral control of New York City schools, which faces a Tuesday deadline. It's one of the biggest issues held hostage by the Senate fight.
Sampson and Smith had differing views of mayoral control, and Sampson prefers returning some of the power to the community residents and boards.
Shafran and Smith denied the change showed split within the conference.
Meanwhile, Espada says he's being approached by Democrats to flip back, which would assure the majority for the Democratic conference.
"Titles have been offered, I'm sure, on all sides of this," he said. "There are back channels, there are direct meetings and phone calls in the middle of the night," Espada said, referring to leadership posts that carry lucrative stipends.
"Those things happen. But when Dean Skelos and I meet as we are about to now, we are unified," he said, referring to the Republican leader.
Sunday marked the sixth extraordinary session Paterson ordered to get the sides to meet together and take up essential bills. Paterson ordered another session for Monday. He said he would keep senators in Albany and try to dock their pay until the power struggle is resolved.
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