Former New York Province Jesuit, Tax Cheat And Democratic Party Operative

A disgraced Charles O'Byrne left the governor's office four months ago after becoming a liability to his boss.

Now, Governor David Paterson is mulling bringing back his friend and former top aide to restore discipline and respect to a tumbling administration.

"It's certainly a conversation that I would have. I think people make mistakes and they deserve a second chance," said Paterson.

Those mistakes were failing to file about $300,000 in taxes between 2001 and 2005. The former Jesuit priest originally blamed clinical depression.

One of his attorneys later said he suffered from something called failure to file syndrome. Not officially classified a psychological ailment, the claim brought howls and ultimately O'Byrne's resignation.

Paterson's current top aide, Bill Cunningham, didn't return a request for comment. Neither did O'Byrne, who is said to be out of the country.

In his absence, Paterson has floundered.

"No one doubted that he wasn't doing an excellent job," said Paterson.

Paterson is criticized for doing anything but. This week, a poll projected he'd lose handily to state attorney general Andrew Cuomo in a hypothetical 2010 primary. He's also shepherding a controversial budget during the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression.

"There are a lot of issues that are going on in this state, a lot to be addressed. Some of the reaction I think has been a bit out of bounds, but some of it has been fair," said Paterson.

Reaction to O'Byrne's possible return was mixed among political insiders.

The state's top Republican, Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, says it speaks to a troubling pattern, combined with other Democrats with tax problems.

"I guess the real message here is that Democrats have no problem raising taxes, just paying them,"

said Skelos.

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O'Byrne's effort to save his position drew ridicule when his attorneys said he suffered from "non-filers' syndrome," a condition mental health practitioners had said they'd never heard of.

"Charles O'Byrne made a mistake," Paterson said. "But he paid for it, and he underwent some pretty severe public criticism for it. It's a fascinating idea .... It's a conversation I'd be willing to have with Charles."

O'Byrne is an openly gay, former Jesuit priest who officiated at the wedding of John F. Kennedy Jr. and counseled the Kennedy family three years later after he died in a plane crash.

He was responsible for mapping policy and politics as Paterson rose from the near powerless Democratic minority in the Senate to lieutenant governor and then governor after Democrat Eliot Spitzer resigned in March amid a prostitution scandal.

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