Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef spoke about the maybe-maybe not lieutenant governor, the party-swapping Sen. Pedro Espada and whether the senators “get it.” (Here’s the latest on Espada’s flip-flop, and more on the Ravitch appointment.)

Vanderhoef, who ran against Paterson for the lieutenant governor’s job in 2006, said he doubted the legal basis for Ravitch’s appointment. “The one thing that all of us have sworn to do is to uphold the law,” the Republican said. “Testing the law in terms of a gray area is one thing. But even his own attorney (State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo)” has said the governor’s appointment of a lieutenant governor isn’t legal. “Just because the law doesn’t say you can’t doesn’t mean you can.”

Vanderhoef said he doesn’t know Ravitch, but he has the kind of reputation that would make sense to choose him for the post, “barring the fact that it’s illegal.” Vanderhoef earlier this week held a press conference seeking the Senate’s cooperation in rolling back the MTA payroll tax that a group of local politicians and business leaders say will be devastating to Rockland. Today, he pointed out that Ravitch’s plan also called for tolls on East Side bridges, which the Senate didn’t implement. He did, though, point out that the Ravitch Commission focused on revenue for the MTA, rather than examining expenditures and performing audits to find efficiencies.

As far as Sen. Espada (sometimes D-sometimes Bronx) and the rest of the Senate, Vanderhoef said, “Cloistered up there, they misjudged the anger.”

Senators should soon start passing bills, including home rule extensions, like Rockland’s sales tax bill, much to the relief of municipalities around the state.

And the decision of whether Ravitch will or won’t be lieutenant governor will wind its way through the courts.

Vanderhoef said, “the circus now arrives at the governor’s desk.” He later added: “I don’t think anyone looks good.”