Central Labor Council Endorses Queens Incumbents Minus Ulrich by Stephen Stirling - Queens Campaigner

Read original...

The Central Labor Council endorsed all but one of Queens’ nine City Council incumbents running for re-election, notably leaving off the only borough Republican member of the legislative body, Eric Ulrich (R-Rockaway Beach).

The CLC said it would endorse candidates in the Ulrich’s race and the other six disputed Council races in Queens after its candidate screening process, which will take place July 8. Jack Ahern, president of the 1.3 million member CLC, issued this statement regarding endorsements:

Today’s early endorsements recognize the strong support and positions taken for working people by these City Council Members. Each has shown a keen awareness and understanding of the issues, needs and concerns of working men and women, and have voting records that support the health, safety and well-being of workers in our city.

The candidates endorse by the CLC are listed below:

District 21 - Julissa Ferreras
District 22 - Peter Vallone Jr.
District 24 - James Gennaro
District 25 - Helen Sears
District 27 - Leroy Comrie
District 28 - Tom White
District 30 - Elizabeth Crowley
District 31 - James Sanders

Pols Back Seniors in Fight to Save Centers by Ben Hogwood - Queens Chronicle

Read original...


In a corner of Jaqueline Eradiri’s office sits a 54-inch Sony Bravia flatscreen television, still in a box.

Seniors chat while waiting for lunch at Ridgewood Older Adult Center, in Ridgewood. The center hopes to win a contract with the city to remain in business next year.
(Photo by Ben Hogwood)

The TV will eventually be paired with a Nintendo Wii gaming system and brought out into the Ridgewood Older Adult Center, where seniors will have the opportunity to go virtual bowling, or play virtual tennis or even shoot virtual zombies.

But Eradiri, the executive director of the senior center, sees it all as a little ridiculous. Fewer than half of the seniors who attend the center know what a Wii is and she doesn’t expect it to get heavy use.

Still, she believes the facility needs the system — as well as the boxed Dell computer towers stacked almost to her office ceiling — just to have a shot at surviving the city’s reorganization of the senior services program.

The Department for the Aging is moving ahead with a plan that some estimate could shutter as many as 89 centers. The DFTA says the centers are underutilized, outdated and do not offer the services today’s seniors are looking for.

In fact, the agency claims that some 44 percent of the city’s 329 centers are chronically underutilized. An average of only 2 percent of the 1.3 million seniors in the city eat a meal at a center on any given day.

Now, the DFTA is preparing for the “longevity revolution.” By 2030, seniors will outnumber school-age children, accounting for one-fifth of the population. The city is in the process of awarding new contracts for the centers through a request for proposals process.

The DFTA wants centers to offer services that today’s seniors would be more interested in, such as walking clubs, blood pressure screenings, exercise classes, and other social activities and intellectual classes.

The RFP outlines the need for two different types of centers: senior hubs and neighborhood centers. The hubs each will have a maximum budget of $1 million and serve at least 200 meals a day and offer six daily health and wellness or art activities. The city will contract with between 15 and 25 of them.

Neighborhood centers will have a maximum budget of $500,000 and must serve 75 meals a day. They must offer three health and wellness and art activities daily. The city will contract with between 225 and 310 of them.

However, the plan is widely opposed, from seniors to center workers to politicians.

A Dec. 4 hearing on the topic brought a standing-room-only crowd to City Hall. Prior to the hearing, seniors marched petitions with 14,000 signatures from their peers to Mayor Michael Bloomberg denouncing the changes.

Bobbie Sachman, the director of public policy for the Council of Senior Centers and Services, was ecstatic about the participation from the elderly community. “It was a very empowering day for seniors,” Sachman said. “Given all the opposition ... we believe Mayor Bloomberg should withdraw this RFP.”

Borough President Helen Marshall has been a longtime detractor of the proposal. She gave testimony at the hearing, stating that moving forward with the RFP process would be “totally reckless and irresponsible,” especially during tough economic times, when centers will be heavily relied upon.

The plan, Marshall continued, would eliminate social adult day care programs, elder abuse prevention and many other support services. Also, it wouldn’t fund expenses for building renovations or major long-term equipment purchases, shifting the burden to the nonprofit group operating the centers.

William Thompson Jr., the city’s comptroller, has also attacked the funding plan for the overhaul.

Thompson stated last week that the math doesn’t add up. If centers apply for the maximum amount of money, as is expected, the city would not have enough to contract with more than 239 centers, 89 less than the current 329.

Also, more than $20 million of the $117 million for the contracts reportedly comes from allocations from the council or borough president’s offices, money that may not be available on a consistent basis.

Queens Councilmembers Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) and Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights) both issued statements protesting the proposal. “A society’s moral strength is judged in large part by how it treats its most vulnerable members, and in the case of our seniors, they are also some of our most valuable assets,” Sears said. “We must guarantee that any modernization will not result in a reduction of services.”

Eradiri said she plans to submit a proposal for the Ridgewood location to operate as a neighborhood center. To do so, she would need every penny of the $500,000, which is still less than her current budget. “But it keeps you open,” she said.

This is now the third RFP process the DFTA has gone through in the past year. The first was for case management, which helps older adults “age in place” by remaining in their communities.

The second was for the Home Delivered Meals Program, better known as meals on wheels. The city wanted to cut the number of providers from 98 to 20 in order to minimize cost and improve efficiency.

The Ridgewood center lost out on both contracts and as a result lost some funding for staff positions. Eradiri said the restructuring constantly has her spinning. With plans always changing, she finds herself unable to answer staff questions about what will happen in the near future.

“It makes you look so stupid,” she said. “It makes you feel so insignificant and stupid.”

Charles Weber, 80, comes often to the Ridgewood center and has done so since his wife died 17 years ago. He sits on the board of directors for the center and is fully away of the situation. He is a firm believer that the squeakiest wheel gets the grease.

“If we all squeak, maybe we’ll get some grease,” he said.

Working Families Party Hit List by Sal Gentile - City Hall News

Read original...

The Working Families Party is gearing up for the 2009 City Council elections—and getting ready to pick a fight with anyone who voted to extend term limits. There are a few Council Members who seem especially vulnerable, according to political insiders, either because they would make for potential examples or because their voting records have rubbed the WFP the wrong way:


Alan Gerson: The WFP proved that it had a formidable ground operation in lower Manhattan when it helped put Daniel Squadron over the top in his primary challenge to 30-year incumbent Marty Connor in September. Gerson was known as a good-government type until his vote on term limits, making him an especially appealing target. And the WFP has experience going up against Gerson: the party endorsed one of his opponents, Rocky Chin, in 2001. He came within 700 votes then, and the Chinese-American community—which also went for Squadron this year—has only grown as a political force since then.

David Yassky: The WFP has already targeted Yassky once this year, with mailers in his district urging constituents to contact his office about term limits. Their point person—and the only WFP member on the City Council—Letitia James has been openly coordinating with some of Yassky’s potential opponents on her lawsuit against the mayor’s bill. And the WFP has proven its strength in North Brooklyn, where its progressive and labor-friendly issues resonate especially well.


James Sanders: The WFP essentially made Sanders a City Council Member in 2001, when he failed to get the backing of the Queens Democratic Party. But Bertha Lewis, the national chief organizer for Acorn and a leader in the Working Families Party, publicly called him out in The New York Times in September for his prolonged indecision on the term limits issu. He was also a target of the WFP’s term limits mailers, and once he voted for the bill, one of his main opponents—Marquez Claxton, who has won the endorsements of some of Sanders’ fellow council members—began courting the WFP.

Darlene Mealy: Mealy is another Council member who owes much of her success to the WFP. She defeated a much more established candidate, former Assembly Member William Boyland, in 2005 with the WFP’s strong organizational support. But she made herself one of the most public figures in the term limits debate when she came out strong against the mayor’s bill—only to reverse herself, and cross the WFP, in the final vote. The WFP may want to make an example out of her as well.

Kendall Stewart: Stewart was viewed as vulnerable even before he voted for the mayor’s term limits bill, after the indictments of two of his staffers on charges of fraud and embezzlement. That ethics cloud crippled his campaign for State Senate this year, in which he was defeated by Sen. Kevin Parker, who won the WFP endorsement. Stewart’s district is two-thirds black, and the WFP is particularly strong in the predominantly black communities of Brooklyn. Stewart has shown difficulty raising money and institutional support, so the WFP may see him as an easy target. Not to mention that one of his opponents—Rodrick Daley, a teacher—is a member of the United Federation of Teachers, which also opposed the mayor’s bill.

Larry Seabrook: Before term limits were extended, Seabrook’s Northern Bronx seat had already attracted one of the more crowded fields in the city. He was one of the more prominent players in the behind-the-scenes drama that unfolded over term limits, reportedly helping convince Darlene Mealy to change her vote. The WFP has never backed Seabrook, and may look to make inroads in his district, which is predominantly black. Plus, Seabrook has attracted a lot of criticism for his financial dealings over the years—he was fined by the campaign finance board for abuses of campaign funds, and was implicated in the slush fund scandal for his use of discretionary funds. He has not been charged.

Helen Sears: Should she run for re-election, Sears will face two well-established challengers who have said they will go ahead with their campaigns regardless of the term limits extension. Daniel Dromm, a longtime gay rights activist and teacher, was expected to get the backing of the Queens Democratic Party before term limits were extended. And Alfonso Quiroz has raised a sizeable war chest for his Council campaign. Sears has kept a fairly low profile in the Council, and the demographics are changing in her district—there are growing Hispanic and Asian-American communities there—both of which might make her a prime target for the WFP, should it back one of her opponents.

Thompson, Marshall Push to Keep Queens Reservoir Wild by Bharat Ayyar - The New York Observer

Read original...

The campaign to preserve the wildness of Ridgewood Reservoir in Queens--to stop the city from building athletic fields and a public park--continued today at a hearing before the City Council's Committee on Parks and Recreation.

The committee heard testimony from Adrian Benepe, commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, and a written statement from Bill Thompson, who has led the charge against developing the area around the reservoir, which was abandoned in 1989.

The proposal to develop the area into a park has been met by opposition from local community groups, who fear that development would endanger the wildlife (including, apparently, eight rare species of migratory birds).

During her testimony Marshall said the reservoir is now "a great place to enjoy the wonderful fruits Mother Nature has to offer." No one on the Parks and Recreations Committee expressed any strong opinions against the proposed park, but mostly asked that the D.P.R. exercise caution.

Marshall and several other attendees were glad to hear that the $50 million in funding allotted to the project had not yet been committed to a specific purpose. Benepe, who is in favor of developing the area, characterized the funding as a "blank slate," and emphasized the importance of the D.P.R. reaching out to the community for ideas on how to best preserve wildlife, while potentially introducing recreational areas.

Bill Thompson, a likely mayoral candidate, echoed the Times op-ed he wrote with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., calling the preservation of the wilderness "a critically important issue" and criticizing Michael Bloomberg for funding development.

"The plan also flies in the face of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's widely hailed environmental blueprint, which bemoans the loss of the city's natural areas," his written testimony reads.

Meanwhile, on YouTube, this serene and text-laden "Save the Ridgewood Reservoir" video has somehow garnered 1,816 views.

City Council Members Get $277G for Little Extras, on Top of $112G Salary by Benjamin Lesser and Kathleen Lucadamo - NY Daily News

Read original...

City Council members are taking cabs, buying MetroCards, hiring photographers and paying pricey consultants on the taxpayers' dime, the Daily News has learned.

Lawmakers spent $7,364 on MetroCards last fiscal year, $11,234 on photographers, $254,480 on consultants and $17,502 on travel, which includes black cars, E-ZPasses and cabs, documents show.

The perks are allowed under funding each member receives for staffing and other office matters. They have wide latitude on how to spend the funds, and it's one of the few areas not being reduced in the upcoming year.

Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez (D-Brooklyn) topped the charts with $41,923 in consulting fees, according to records obtained under the Freedom of Information Law. Half went to her communications director, Michael Schweinsburg, and $11,000 went to Promotional Strategies, a Queens-based campaign consulting agency. Gonzalez defended her spending, noting, "I'm very careful."

Gonzalez was hardly alone in her consultant spending spree.

Councilman Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan) dished out $32,833 to consultants, including youth services director David Feiner.

Councilwoman Helen Sears (D-Queens) gave $30,997 in consulting fees to civic leaders who serve as community liaisons. "We don't have staff to work day and night," she said.

Each Council member received $277,336 for staff and office expenses last year. Committee leaders got an additional $40,000. Each earns a base of $112,500.

Councilman Larry Seabrook (D-Bronx) shelled out $1,140 on MetroCards. Councilwoman Helen Foster (D-Bronx) followed with a $1,100 tab.

Sears, however, spent the most on local travel - $4,208 - and was trailed by Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Queens), who logged $3,414 in cab fares. Councilman James Gennaro (D-Queens) dished out $1,319 to Masada II Car Limo Service for travel.

Sears defended her spending, saying the cabs are used to get to meetings throughout the day.

Few rules govern where the cash goes and how much is spent.

Councilwoman Letitia James (WFP-Brooklyn) spent $9,300 on maids and exterminators while at least three members spent nothing. Her two-level office with three bathrooms in a Brooklyn brownstone is "a lot to clean," she said.

More startling were the differences in rental payments.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose district includes trendy Chelsea, spent $52,167 for the year, while Gerson, of lower Manhattan, spent nothing. He uses free government offices, his spokesman said.

Councilwoman Jessica Lappin (D-Manhattan) paid about $30,000 for her upper East Side offices, the same as Councilman James Oddo (R-S.I.) paid for his New Dorp digs. "It's a challenge," Lappin said.

The war chest for individual office spending has increased 15% in the past five years.

The revelations come as the Council is under fire for relying on phantom organizations to siphon money to pet projects in various districts.

"Because of the recent Council scandals, they have to make sure all money is being spent appropriately," said Elizabeth Lynam, research director at the Citizens Budget Commission.

"As we've seen, there are practices that have been historic that may not be appropriate."

blesser@nydailynews.com

Et Tu, Bloomy? Mike Bares Own Slush Fund by David Seifman and Tom Topousis - New York Post

Read original...


Five weeks into a federal probe of City Council slush funds, Mayor Bloomberg revealed yesterday that he kept his own secret taxpayer-funded cash stash - and used it to reward favored lawmakers.

The mayor's $4.5 million slush fund had never before been made public - and some council members said they weren't even aware of it.

After being doled out to selected lawmakers, the money was passed along to dozens of nonprofit groups supported by legislators - including at least one with a checkered history.

The largest chunk, $1.9 million, went to Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), one of the mayor's most ardent supporters.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who has publicly praised Bloomberg as the greatest mayor in city history, received $900,000 to help fund two popular concert series.

Councilman Erik Dilan (D-Brooklyn) won $100,000, including $60,000 for the North Brooklyn Community Council, which has come under question because it is run by his wife.

That was on top of the $187,000 he delivered to the group through the council over the past three years.

"They recognized that the North Brooklyn Community Council has done great things over the year," said Dilan spokesman Woody Pascal.

"There was no quid pro quo," Pascal added.

One source said seven out of the eight council members who received funds endorsed Bloomberg for re-election in 2005. Only Helen Sears of Queens did not.

Bloomberg's slush funds were channeled through various city agencies to 45 groups and weren't listed on the document released each year by the council that delineates how some $50 million in discretionary spending is allocated.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and the city Department of Investigation are investigating the council's use of slush funds - first revealed by The Post to be hidden under the names of nonexistent sham organizations.

In a memo to Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler conceded the process lacks transparency and "can create a mistaken impression that the Mayor's Office is funding its own 'member items.' This should be rectified."

In the future, Skyler said, the groups receiving the mayor's funds would be made public along with the council sponsors when the budget is adopted each June.

Bloomberg aides wouldn't reveal whether special grants had been made in prior years and said they are reviewing them.

The practice dates back at least to the Giuliani administration.

"I always believed it started as a way for the then-mayor to help the minority [Republican] delegation members," said Councilman James Oddo (R-Staten Island).

A spokesman for Markowitz said the borough president never requested the funds, but they had instead been sought by a nonprofit organization.

Ober is Out Gay Candidate in Queens Race by Andy Humm - GayCityNews

GRead original...

Charles Ober, a gay Democrat and civic leader in Ridgewood, is running for the City Council seat in the 30th District in Queens being vacated by Dennis Gallagher, a Republican. Gallagher was charged with rape but pleaded guilty to "sexually abusing a Middle Village grandmother in his campaign office," the Daily News reported. He cut a deal with prosecutors that makes his resignation effective April 18.

By April 21, the mayor must call a special election to fill the seat within 45 to 60 days. Candidates face the daunting task of collecting at least 2,700 valid signatures in the 12 days following Bloomberg's call. It is an open, "non-partisan" election where candidates may not list their party affiliations on the ballot and the winner of a plurality prevails.

Ober has been the longtime president of Queens Pride House, an LGBT social services center, but stepped down to run. Daniel Castellanos will be heading the agency. Ober has also been active in Dignity, the LGBT Catholic group, and is a co-founder of the Diversity Center of Queens, a multi-racial social justice collaborative in Jackson Heights.

Among the others seeking the Gallagher seat are Republicans Tom Ognibene, a conservative attorney who once held the post, and Anthony Como, commissioner of the Queens Board of Elections. Another Democrat eyeing the race is Elizabeth Crowley of Glendale, a cousin of Congressman Joe Crowley.

Queens has a wealth of out gay and lesbian candidates looking to run in November 2009 for City Council. In the 25th District centered in Jackson Heights, currently served by Helen Sears, Danny Dromm, a district leader and gay pioneer in the borough who founded its LGBT pride parade, is contending, as is Alfonso Quiroz, who works in public affairs for Con Ed. In the 29th District seat held by Melinda Katz, out lesbian Lynn Schulman, a former Council staffer from Forest Hills who also headed up communications at Gay Men's Health Crisis, is looking at a bid. And in Sunnyside's 26th District, Jimmy Van Bramer, a Democratic state committeeman who is a government affairs specialist for the Queens Public Library, is considering a run for the seat being vacated by Eric Gioia.