New Yorkers George Pataki, Richard Ravitch, Harry Wilson mulled for Puerto Rico fiscal board spots

Three prominent New Yorkers are among those being considered for a spot on the federal Puerto Rico fiscal control board, the Daily News has learned.
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday gave final congressional approval to legislation to create a board to help the financially beleaguered Puerto Rico restructure its $72 billion debt and move forward.
Obama signed the legislation Thursday. He will pick the members, some of whom will come from lists provided by congressional leaders.
Former Gov. George Pataki, ex-Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, and business turnaround expert and potential 2018 gubernatorial candidate Harry Wilson are among the names under consideration for the seven-member board, sources say.
Pataki owns property in Puerto Rico while Ravitch is crediting with helping with the New York City financial bailout in the 1970s.
Wilson, who like Pataki is a Republican, in 2009 helped with the restructuring of General Motors as part of a federal automotive task force created by President Obama.

Harry Wilson, a possible gubernatorial candidate, is also being mulled.

 (SIEGEL.JEFFERSON)

Politically, such an appointment could help broaden Wilson's support among New York's traditionally Democratic Hispanic voters while at the same time — depending on the outcome of the board's work — put him at odds with his Wall Street base, one source said.
It could also raise a question about whether he would have time to actually pursue the Republican nomination for governor in 2018 given the amount of work that could be involved with the fiscal control board.
Former Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch is also being weighed for the seven-person board.

Former Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch is also being weighed for the seven-person board.

 (SMITH, BRYAN, FREELANCE NYDN)

A report issued Thursday morning by Height Securities listed Pataki and Wilson among eight likely candidates it is pushing.
Ravitch was listed among the unlikely candidates.
The report cites Ravitch among those close to the current Puerto Rico leadership, which makes him and several others "seem like unlikely candidates given the toxic relationship between the Garcia Padilla administration and the US Congress."
"The board is likely to be a mix of independently wealthy retired financial professionals, retired politicians, and technically minded bureaucrats,” Height said in its report.
Among the other potential likely candidates cited by Height are Jose Ramon Gonzalez, executive at the Federal Home Loan Bank; Steven Shafran, formerly of Goldman Sachs and the US Treasury; Aida Alvarez, a health-care executive and Walmart board member; former Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams; Mikey Dickerson, director of the US Digital Service, and Andres Lopez, a Puerto Rican lawyer and Democratic National Committee member.
Obama signed the legislation Thursday. He will pick the members, some of whom will come from lists provided by congressional leaders. 
By Kenneth Lovett
New Yorkers George Pataki, Richard Ravitch, Harry Wilson mulled for Puerto Rico fiscal board spots

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