Refusing patronage positions is what keeps an unpaid adviser independent

Evidence

Her loyalty to Smith was so complete that when, knowing she needed money to raise her children, Tammany leaders offered her a choice of lucrative city posts in an attempt to woo her from the Governor’s side, she refused so that she could continue as his unpaid adviser. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 606

Categorization

• QUESTION: Belle Moskowitz refusing paid posts to stay an unpaid adviser — is her power actually dependent on having no formal position, mirroring Moses’ own position?
• XREF: connects to: Governing-through-friendship requires an equal partner who will not flatter — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 606