Huntley Challenger Lynn Nunes And Sister Apply For Matching Funds In Back-Up Council Campaign For Tom White's Seat by Chris Bragg - City Hall News

Read original...

Lynn Nunes’ primary race against State Sen. Shirley Huntley does not seem to be the only campaign on his mind.

Nunes is one of 10 candidates who applied for matching funds with the City Campaign Finance Board on Tuesday in the race for the Council seat of the late Tom White.

Also on the list: Nunes’ sister, Elaine.

With petitions due next Monday—the day before the primary—this creates several different scenarios: if Lynn Nunes wins the Senate primary, his sister could capitalize on the Nunes high name identification to run her own campaign. Or if Lynn Nunes loses the Senate primary, Elaine could use her committee on vacancies to give the spot to her brother. Or, if both petition, they could run against each other.

Candidates looking to run must submit 899 valid signatures by Sept. 13.

Reached by phone, Nunes initially offered only that “someone related to me is most likely to get involved in the race,” but eventually confirmed that the person was his sister. Nunes did not return a subsequent call for clarification. A Nunes campaign aide declined to comment.

Candidates are not allowed to form vacancy committees to get CFB matching funds. Those who do apply will eventually be listed on the Campaign Finance Board’s website. The Board had received 10 applications on Tuesday, but more can be received provided they are postmarked Sept. 7.

The other candidates whose applications the CFB received included Martha Taylor Butler, the chief of staff for Assembly Member Michelle Titus; Nicole Paultre-Bell, the widow of Sean Bell; Ruben Wills, the former chief of staff for Huntley; Albert Baldeo, a former State Senate, Assembly and Council candidate who is running for district leader; Hettie Powell, a Forest Hills attorney; Charles Bilal, an imam from Jamaica; Vishnu Mahadeo; and Harprett Toor.

The race has already produced a split between two local powerbrokers: Assembly Member Vivian Cook is backing Wills, while Rep. Greg Meeks is backing Paultre-Bell

Though Nunes’ campaign has been building momentum with endorsements from both theNew York Times and Daily News over the weekend, his decision to simultaneously apparently wade into the Council race also gave Huntley fodder to hit the 25-year-old making his second—and perhaps third, if the Council race goes through—run for office for being overly ambitious.

“Excuse me while I laugh,” Huntley said, snickering upon learning about Nunes’ plans. “He talks about all these reforms in the Senate, but this just tells me he wants to get elected to something, no matter what the office. I guess I’d have to say he’s an opportunist.”

Anthony Como Must Pay $13,000 Back to NYC CFB by Chris Bragg - City Hall News

STATEMENT RE ANTHONY COMO'S ABUSE OF CAMPAIGN CASH FROM ERIC BLANKENBAKER, DSCC SPOKESPERSON

The recent Campaign Finance Board decision fining Anthony Como $12,484 for violating campaign finance law is yet another example of this career politician's utter disregard for the law and New York' s overburdened taxpayers. Anthony Como only announced his candidacy for the State Senate after losing out on two patronage jobs; one with the Board of Elections and one as a commissioner of NYC Housing Authority.

The people of Queens deserve better than an opportunistic, unemployed politician as their State Senator. New Yorkers need a State Senator who cares about them, abides by the law and is truly interested in improving our schools, lowering taxes and creating jobs. Anthony Como has shown once again that he does not meet those criteria.

Read original...


Former New York City Council Member Anthony Como, a Republican who is running for State Senate in Queens against Joe Addabbo, must return nearly $13,000 in unspent and misspent funds to the New York City Campaign Finance Board, according to a July 22 audit released by the CFB.

The charges stem from his losing 2008 general election Council loss to Elizabeth Crowley. The repayment includes $6,800 that was spent impermissibly on phone and copy machine contracts for his campaign office that spanned well beyond Election Day, repayments of unspent campaign funds, and $100 spent on a newspaper ad for the Holy Child Jesus Team Drama Club that the CFB deemed not campaign related. The campaign was also assessed $500 in penalties.

Como, an attorney, and his Council campaign treasurer, Laura Schreiner, are personally liable to pay off the nearly $13,000 balance, which the Board must receive by August 25, according to the audit.

Como’s Council re-election campaign’s most recent CFB disclosure, filed in January 2010, showed only $5,200 in his account. After an inquiry from City Hall, Como said he would double check whether he had enough money in the account to pay the $13,000 balance.

“I’ve been busy with the State Senate campaign, but I’m going to find out,” he said. “I believe the money should be in the account.”

Eric Friedman, a spokesman for the New York City Campaign Finance Board, said that Como would likely be allowed to pay off his remaining debt through his State Senate campaign’s account.

But there is not yet enough money there to pay off the balance either: according his July 15 filing, Como had raised $17,600, had spent $13,700, and had only $3,900 on hand.

Update 4:44 p.m.

John Conklin, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections, confirmed that Como could transfer money, if he so desires, from his State Senate account to pay off debt from his Council campaign.

Quirk on Runoffs Allows Candidates to Keep Thousands by Alison Leigh Cowan - NYTimes.com

Read original...

New York City’s efforts to recoup taxpayer money it has awarded to candidates running for office have been hampered over the years by delays, legal fights, poor record-keeping and the plain defiance of some candidates determined not to give back extra campaign cash.
But sometimes, it turns out, the city’s inability to recover taxpayer dollars owes to rules that the city’s lawmakers devised and approved.

To wit, the cases of A. Gifford Miller and Peter F. Vallone Sr., candidates who took the city’s money, failed in their election bids, but got to keep tens of thousands of dollars for their own use because of an arcane wrinkle in the campaign finance laws involving runoff elections.

Here is how it worked: When candidates running for office — those who had agreed to limits on private donations and thus benefited from the city’s program for generously aiding them with matching awards of taxpayer dollars — suspect that they might be in a primary race that will result in a runoff, they can petition the Campaign Finance Board for the right to raise extra private money for the runoff.

Mr. Miller, who in 2005 was the City Council speaker and was trying to gain the Democratic nomination for mayor, made such a petition.

He had raised millions of dollars himself and stood to receive roughly $2.5 million in addition from the city, but he argued that he needed more as the primary approached and he battled for votes in a crowded Democratic field. Allowed to go back to donors, Mr. Miller, of Manhattan, wound up raising over $200,000 more.

Mr. Vallone, of Queens, was in the same situation in 2001. He was City Council speaker and hoped to win the Democratic nomination for mayor.

He, like Mr. Miller, raised an additional $200,000 or so with the city’s blessing, on top of the millions he had already raised, even though he, like Mr. Miller, ultimately failed to attract enough votes to reach a runoff.

In each case, the candidate wound up with a six-figure campaign surplus, even after repaying a good chunk of the matches he got from the city.

Ordinarily, the city is allowed to demand that any campaign surplus — whether it stems from private contributions that are eligible for matching, or interest on bank deposits that are not — be used to pay it back.

But in both these cases, the candidates argued that their surpluses were merely the fruit of their added bit of private fund-raising, and that they were entitled to keep control of them.

And in both cases, the candidates prevailed.

“Everything was done according to Hoyle,” Mr. Vallone said in an interview.

Mr. Miller would not discuss the money but issued the following statement through a spokesman: “Funds that Speaker Miller raised from private contributors for the potential 2005 mayoral runoff campaign never received any public matching dollars because the campaign never took place.”

He did offer contributors to his runoff account a chance for refunds, which left him about $100,000 that he was free to move into his own political action committee. And that committee, controlled by Mr. Miller, has sent tens of thousands of those dollars to some of Mr. Miller’s favored charitable causes, including one run by a close friend.

Since 2008, the committee has given a total of $37,500 to Friends of the High Line, a charity that supports the new elevated park on the West Side of Manhattan. The High Line’s co-founder is Mr. Miller’s college friend Robert R. Hammond. Records of the State Board of Elections show that Mr. Hammond was also the treasurer of “Miller for New York” in its early days.

Six charities shared $22,300 more last year, courtesy of Mr. Miller’s committee. The LGBT Center, an organization that serves the gay and lesbian community, got $5,000. New Yorkers for Parks, New York City Outward Bound, and City Futures each got $5,000, and the Council on the Environment got $300. New York Academy of Medicine got two gifts of $1,000.

Mr. Vallone, for his part, used the same wrinkle in the law to preserve about $200,000 of his runoff money, set aside in a war chest that has come in handy as Mr. Vallone has pursued a new career as a paid lobbyist.

New York City Struggles to Recover Unused Campaign Funds by Alison Leigh Cowan - NYTimes.com

Read original...


Few cities are as generous as New York when it comes to matching political contributions raised by candidates for public office.

June M. Eisland, spent years fighting the city’s attempts to recover money left over from her campaign.

In big election years, the city has given anywhere from $4 million to $42 million to candidates in an effort to limit the influence of special interests and level the playing field for candidates of modest means.

There were, though, supposed to be limits to the city’s generosity. Candidates who accepted taxpayer money and did not empty their campaign accounts in the course of their election fights were obliged by law to return all surplus money to the city.

But the city, while handing out a total of roughly $120 million to candidates over the years, has been unable to recover much of the money it is owed.

Tens of thousands of dollars that candidates initially reported as surpluses appear to have dribbled away as the city took years auditing campaigns to determine how much might be owed. There are also candidates who have seemed to be in no hurry to settle up. Today, for instance, two dozen candidates owe a total of $800,000 from publicly subsidized races in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

Though it has sought to clarify its rules, the city has also struggled to stay a step ahead of candidates who avoid meaningful repayment by using surplus campaign funds to hire lawyers during the audits to challenge the city’s calculation of what they owe, or by paying penalties with surplus funds they would otherwise owe the city.

And to this day the city cannot keep publicly financed candidates from using legal loopholes to funnel leftover money to political or charitable causes of their choosing. Quirks in the rules governing runoff elections, for instance, have allowed two former City Council speakers, Peter F. Vallone Sr. and A. Gifford Miller, to shift six-figure surpluses of campaign money into political action committees they controlled.

For their part, some candidates correctly point out that the city’s Campaign Finance Board, which is responsible for protecting tax dollars and the public interest, is not always careful to make sure that what it publishes about candidates’ finances on its Web site is accurate and up-to-date.

Responding to that criticism, Eric Friedman, the board’s spokesman, said: “There are 1.2 million transactions in the database available for public view, and 1,700 campaigns over the course of the program. Anybody in a government agency or any long-running concern that deals with this kind of volume will have challenges assuring everything is accurate.”

Given that, it is nearly impossible to say how much money the city has missed out on over the years in repayments from candidates it helped underwrite. What seems clear is that the city is in no position to lose track of even small sums when it is cutting library hours and closing senior centers to balance its budget.
June M. Eisland, an unsuccessful candidate for Bronx borough president in 2001, spent years in court fighting the city’s attempts to recover some of the $300,000 it had given her campaign. Helping her do battle were two of the city’s pre-eminent election lawyers, Henry T. Berger and Laurence D. Laufer, a former general counsel of the Campaign Finance Board who now advises campaigns.

Ms. Eisland and her lawyers succeeded in carving out $130,000 she had raised in prior races, depriving the city of much of what it thought it was due.

Under New York law, the Campaign Finance Board approves all public matching contributions, under formulas that have become sweeter over time. Currently, the city gives candidates $6 for every $1 in qualifying gifts raised from private donors. In certain circumstances, candidates can receive as much as $8.57 for every $1 raised on their own. “It is an extremely generous match,” said Mr. Laufer, the lawyer.

The board monitors the use of the public money — demanding and examining candidates’ detailed expenditure reports — and is the ultimate bill collector when it finds that campaigns have unspent funds or other debts to the city. But less than $10 million of the $120 million that the board has handed out since its inception in 1988 has come back to taxpayers, judging from campaign reports and other statistics posted on the board’s Web site.

To be sure, a lot of the money is properly spent on campaigns, and board officials argue that the benefits of publicly financed elections far outweigh what they contend are the smaller amounts that may get lost in the process.

“At the end of the day, New Yorkers can have confidence that their politics are cleaner and freer from influence, and that’s what their investment gets them,” said Mr. Friedman, the spokesman for the board.

“There will always be challenges in collecting money from people who do not want to pay,” he acknowledged. But he said, “We’re here to watch that investment pretty closely.”

He and his colleagues also reject the idea that they take any of the shenanigans lying down.

They point to more than 40 cases they have litigated in court, and more if small-claims court is counted. Eight staff members, they said, are dedicated to collecting surplus money, and Thacher Associates, an investigative firm, is on call for occasional help.

One oft-used weapon for trying to recover money is publishing the names of those who resist the board’s demands for repayment or remittance of penalties. As of last month, a couple dozen individuals who ran for city offices from 2001 to 2005 were listed as owing a combined $797,293 in “outstanding repayments of public funds,” reflecting unspent funds and other overdue obligations.

Michael Roth was one. He garnered a mere 3 percent of the vote when he ran for City Council in 2005 but has hardly faded from view.

The board initially ordered him to repay all $20,392 of the public funds he got, once auditors found scads of expenses he had charged to the campaign, including dog food and liquor bought during the race, and sushi dinners and airline tickets bought months after the election.

According to Mr. Friedman, Mr. Roth paid the last of what he owed on June 23, nearly five years after his race.

Some candidates seem to be less receptive than others to the public shaming or to the board’s ability to withhold future financing.

Miguel Martinez is listed on the board’s Web site as owing $128,786 from the 2001 race that put him on the City Council. Currently serving five years in federal prison for misusing money intended for nonprofit organizations in his district, he may not be concerned about repaying the city for its help in getting him elected.

There are also 13 instances in which the board has granted extensions to candidates who “are engaged in efforts” to resolve debts or other obligations totaling $594,000. Lawyers familiar with the deferred payment plans say the recipients pay no interest and sometimes have as long as 10 years to settle up.

The Rev. Edward J. Norman, a 2001 contender for the City Council, was the beneficiary of one such deal. Troubled by sloppiness in his campaign spending reports, the board initially dunned him the entire $65,496 that he had received in public matches. But the board reduced what he owed to $39,179 once he had better documented his spending, and gave him until last year — eight years after his race — to pay off the last of it.

“If they added interest, I’d still be paying back,” said Mr. Norman, the pastor of the Union United Methodist Church in Brooklyn. He chalked up his errors to the inexperience of a first-time candidate, unsupported by party operatives or professional advisers.

In more than a few cases, candidates argue that the board’s assessment of their financial performance is flawed or mistaken. And sometimes those candidates are right.

Just the other day, the board confirmed that information on its Web site concerning Norman Siegel’s 2001 race for public advocate and William C. Thompson’s 2001 race for city comptroller was incorrect. Double-counting by its computer program had made it inaccurately look as if both campaigns had hung on to huge six-figure surpluses.

“The numbers in 2001 are just wrong,” Mr. Siegel said in an interview.
He later said the board had acknowledged its error and was correcting the data. Proud he had run clean campaigns and was on good terms with the board, he said, “I’ll have to re-evaluate them now in light of this.”

The board’s next challenge will involve trying to collect some $9 million in potentially recoverable funds from the $27 million it gave campaigns in 2009. But it looks as though it will be years before it is clear how much the watchdogs actually win back.

Bloomberg's $750K Payment for Election May Have Funded Purchase of Queens Home by Adam Lisberg - NY Daily News

Read original...

Inside sources say that John Haggerty may have used some of Bloomberg's $750,000 to purchase this home in Forest Hills

When Mayor Bloomberg funneled $750,000 to a longtime Queens ally last fall, he thought he was buying a citywide poll watching operation.

He may have paid for a house in Forest Hills Gardens, too.

The house was the childhood home of John Haggerty Jr., the Republican operative who has claimed he was working as a volunteer on Bloomberg's third-term campaign.

Haggerty has ducked calls to explain how he spent the $750,000 payment, which went into his newly formed "Special Election Operations LLC."

The money was channeled through the state Independence Party, which got $1.2 million from Bloomberg's pocket right before Election Day.

Sources inside and outside the Bloomberg campaign say it was supposed to buy an extensive Election Day operation, with up to 300 workers paid $500 each to make sure there was no funny business at poll sites.

That only adds up to $150,000, though. One source says the Independence Party can't account for $300,000 to $400,000 of the rest of the money - and has drawn up legal papers against Haggerty to locate the rest.

"It's just infuriating," the source said. "Haggerty probably made money throughout the campaign one way or another."

Special Election Operations got its $750,000 on Dec. 11.

Six days later, Haggerty bought out his brother Bart's share of the family home - paying $1.6 million to the estate of their late father, records show.

It's unclear how much of the purchase was in cash, but Haggerty apparently did not take out a mortgage. The next month, records show, Bart had enough money to buy a $619,000 apartment in Forest Hills - again, apparently without a mortgage.

So where did the Haggerty brothers get that cash? After all, it had been almost a year and a half since their father, a respected longtime lawyer in Albany, passed away.

In his will, he split most of his estate between the brothers - though he gave an extra $30,000 to Bart "due to the extra care, support and effort he expended on my behalf."

Haggerty had another potential pot of Bloomberg cash to tap as well: The mayor gave $120,000 on Nov. 20 to a new political committee Haggerty set up, the 28th Assembly District Republican Committee.

He did not respond to messages left at the house last week, or at the Rego Park office he rents for political operations. Bart did not respond to an e-mail.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. has issued subpoenas in the case, which may deter them from talking even if Haggerty has done nothing wrong.

Bloomberg campaign officials have generally defended Haggerty, who ran Election Day operations for the mayor's 2001 and 2005 campaigns through the Republican Party.

They say he put together an extensive operation in November that could well have cost $750,000. Campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said the campaign offered to pay Haggerty a salary or bonus, but he declined - which he would have been unlikely to do if he really needed money.

"The suggestion is unfair," Wolfson said. "If he was interested in money, he didn't demonstrate that during the campaign."

alisberg@nydailynews.com

Charges in Rockaway City Council Showdown Gulluscio, Ulrich Over Improper Help from Bloomberg by Nicholas Horshon - NY Daily News

Read original...

A heated City Council race in southern Queens has gotten more intriguing amid charges that the Republican illegally used Mayor Bloomberg's staffers and supplies and that the Democrat owes almost $1,500 in state business taxes.

Bickering between campaigns has ramped up a no-love-lost contest pitting incumbent Eric Ulrich (R-Rockaway Beach) against Democratic challenger Frank Gulluscio.

It's one of just a few races in the borough where political observers believe a Republican has a fair shot at defeating a Democrat.

Gulluscio filed a city Campaign Finance Board complaint a few weeks ago, alleging Bloomberg's camp improperly helped coordinate Ulrich's leafletting and offered the councilman complimentary use of its staffers.

The complaint argues that Ulrich should consider free use of the workers - and a campaign office the mayor shares with the councilman - as a donation that "may well exceed" the contribution limit for Council candidates.

The filing also includes a sworn statement from a short-term Bloomberg volunteer who claims a Queens campaign coordinator for the mayor identified herself as also being Ulrich's campaign coordinator, and told the volunteer to hand out literature for both candidates.

Bloomberg campaign spokesman Michael Levoff did not return calls for comment. Ulrich called the accusations "absurd."

"My campaign has a tremendous amount of grass-roots support," Ulrich said, adding he sent a response defending his campaign to the city. "The last thing we would need or want is to violate any campaign finance laws."

Campaign Finance Board spokesman Joe Ferris said the board will review Ulrich's reply. He said he didn't know when the board might render a decision.

Meanwhile, the Daily News has learned that Gulluscio, who often touts his success as former CEO of a beauty supply distributor that was officially dissolved in 2003, still owes taxes to the state.

Susan Burns, a spokeswoman for the state Tax Department, said Gulluscio's Brooklyn-based firm, Unlimited Beauty Resources Inc., never paid $1,083.06 in sales tax collected between March 1, 1999, and Feb. 29, 2000.

The company also owes $397.75 in corporate taxes from 1998, raising its unpaid total to $1,480.81, Burns said.

Gulluscio chalked up the discrepancy to a paperwork glitch and vowed to pay back any cash he might owe. "I'm certainly not a deadbeat," he said.

Bitter Campaign Battle's a Sign of the Times by Brendan Brosh - NY Daily News

Read original...

A CITY COUNCIL race in southeastern Queens is turning into an old-fashioned political street fight.

A $500 campaign sign for candidate Lynn Nunes, who is running against incumbent Thomas White Jr., was recently destroyed in front of a home on Baisley Blvd., Nunes said.

What's more, this isn't the first time his campaign material has been targeted, he said. More than a dozen of his signs were torn down at polling sites in September when he ran in a local Democratic District Leader race against White.

"We only put the sign up two days earlier," said Nunes, 24, who owns a real estate business in Richmond Hill. "The homeowner left the house for 20 minutes. Two of my campaigners drove by and saw that it was torn down."

The sign was about 5-feet tall and anchored into the ground. Nunes' campaign filed a police report declaring the sign was destroyed around 4:30 p.m. on June 17.

"Someone put a lot of effort into tearing it down," Nunes said. "It was politically motivated, no doubt."

Nunes said he saw a young man taken in by police for tearing down his signs in September - and then escorted out of the 113th Precinct by White.

"As I'm driving back to my polling site, I see Thomas White walking out with the guy accused of tearing down my signs," Nunes said.

White's spokesman Josh Wojehowski did not return calls to his mobile phone and office seeking comment.

White, who has been in office since 2005, represents a district that includes Jamaica, South Ozone Park, Rochdale Village and Richmond Hill. He previously served as councilman from 1991 to 2001, when he was forced out by term limits. He voted last year to repeal term limits.

"I'm all for competition, but this isn't respectful," said Nunes' campaign manager Tony Ortiz. "Tearing down signs isn't what's best for the community."

Nunes has since replaced the sign at the southeast corner of 154th St. and Baisley Blvd. because he wanted to show that he's not intimidated, he said.

According to the city Campaign Finance Board, seven candidates are vying for the seat, including White, Nunes, Robert Hogan, Stephen Jones, Mireille Leroy, Joseph Marthone and Ruben Wills. Former Councilman Allan Jennings is also said to be mulling a run.

Nunes said he hopes to run an "issues-oriented campaign" focusing on foreclosure prevention, crime reduction and improving local schools.

"As leaders, we have to set the tone," he said. "When we campaign, it should be about issues and integrity. It's foolish and immature to tear down signs."

115 Donors Spend Large by Rick Karlin -- Times Union - Albany NY

Read original...

If there's any doubt as to whether politics is an insiders game in New York, consider this: Just 115 people — from billionaires like Michael Bloomberg to uber-lobbyist Patricia Lynch — gave the lions' share of the $27.4 million contributed by individuals to legislative candidates during the 2008 campaign cycle.

As for the rest of the state's nearly 14 million people of voting age, less than a fifth of one percent gave any money at all.

Then there were business interests such as real estate/construction and health care ($5.4 million each); insurance, finance and banking ($4.2 million combined) and lawyers and lobbyists ($2.9 million combined) that dominated donor lists, overshadowing even the powerful labor unions in the state's biennial campaign finance derby.

All told, state legislative candidates and political parties raised an eye-popping $94 million for the 2008 elections.

"This is a record-setting number," said Blair Horner, legislative director at the New York Public Interest Research Group (Read entire NYPIRG report:Capitol Investments), which joined other good government groups Tuesday to release a survey of contributions.

Several trends emerged from the study:

Incumbents raised roughly double the amount of their challengers.

In the handful of truly competitive races around New York, much of the funding came from the state parties — not from voters within the given districts. North County Democrat Darrell Aubertine, who won a tough special election a year ago, got $121,791 from individuals but $1.7 million from the party. And Republican incumbent Serphin Maltese, who lost his Long Island race in November, received $291,653 from individuals but $1 million from the GOP.

In "marginal" or close races, 20 of 26 winners spent the most money.

The study, dubbed "Capital Investments," concluded that the state's political elite has enormous power due to their contributions. The influence, Horner said, feeds the growing public dismay with Albany's notorious pay-to-play culture.

He said the extent of business contributions was unexpected, given the common belief that public employee unions have the strongest hold over lawmakers.

The survey grouped contributors by categories or interests, rather than by individual PACs.

In past reports, individual PACs representing groups like the New York State United Teachers or the SEIU 1199 health care union, as well as the state Medical Society, have been among the top individual groups giving political contributions. Horner said NYPIRG is working on an update of that data as well.

Either way, Horner and the advocates who joined him — including Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters and Dick Dadey of Citizens Union — said this new survey reinforced the need for campaign finance reform. Among the changes they want are lower contribution limits and closure of loopholes. They have no reason to believe contributions won't continue to grow unless something is done.

"That money keeps going up," Bartoletti said.

Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.

Top Givers

By Industry

• Real estate/construction: $5.4 million
• Health and mental hygiene: $5.4 million
• Insurance/finance/banking: $4.2 million
• Lawyers/lobbyists: $2.9 million
• Food or alcohol production: $2 million

Individuals, total given and top recipient

• Michael Bloomberg, New York City mayor, media titan: $878,800, Senate Republicans
• Robert Wilson, philanthropist, $200,000: Senate Democratics
• Lawrence Kadish, real estate investor, $152,000: Senate Republicans
• Tim Gill, software entrepreneur, gay rights activist, $130,300: Senate Democrats
• Peter Koo, drugstore chain owner, Republican Senate candidate: $116,768, Peter Koo (donors can give to themselves).

Source: NYPIRG

Ballot Challenges in 32nd District Stun Voters, Candidates by Patricia Adams - Forum News

Read original...

The supposed front runner for Joe Addabbo's council seat, Frank Gulluscio, was thrown off of the ballot by his opponent, Geraldine Chapey on Monday because of a legal technicality about the nature in which his validating petition was served.

The candidate quickly cried foul stating that, "the idea that this is a system meant to uphold democracy is preposterous when the signatures of thousands of voters can be rendered meaningless by a legal technicality. We must demand that we have a system where the will of the people cannot be overturned by lawyers."

"Geraldine Chapey has been on what can only be described as a witch hunt, dragging her opponents into court, causing us hours of wasted time and thousands of dollars in lawyer’s fees. She obviously feels that the only way she can win is to eliminate the competition using her lawyer, rather than in a fair election by the will of the people. I cannot imagine that the voters of the 32nd Council District would want to be represented by someone like that."

Also among the candidates not to survive the challenge was former NYPD Officer Glenn DiResto.

The hearing was originally scheduled today because Chapey's team was claiming Gulluscio did not have enough signatures to make it on the ballot. Gulluscio had vehemently denied this claim and came into court prepared with hundreds of signatures that he felt had been knocked off erroneously. However, before they had the chance to make their case, the judge threw out the entire case because of what she felt was an error in the service of the validating petition.

Gulluscio commented that, "Although I am disappointed by the tactics employed by my opponent, I look forward to pursuing all options to allow me to continue to serve the people of the 32nd Council District."

James Wu, a spokesperson for the Chapey campaign explained the matter this way, “Frank Gulluscio did not attain the ballot because he had insufficient signatures.”

Some confusion seems to have existed regarding what challenges were filed and what was ruled upon. While a challenge to the legality of Gulluscio’s use of a star on his petition was filed, that issue ultimately was never considered or ruled on. The objection to the use of the five-point star was that it’s a recognized symbol of the Democratic party, which is not allowed in the non-partisan special election petition process.

As the Elections Commissioners resumed with their regular meeting on Monday morning, before the Executive Session, there was a second call in which they decided that Gulluscio simply did not make the signature requirement. And so it was, with a swift and final decision that the candidacy of Frank Guluuscio was ended on a technicality, that which the candidate continues to maintain was in no way a fair representation afforded to the voters of the 32 Council District in the upcoming special election.

With the field now narrowed to four candidates, one of the remaining contenders, Mike Ricatto had this to say, "I am extremely disappointed that some candidates have been thrown off the ballot for the upcoming 32nd Council District Special election. The democratic process is about giving voters a choice and the opportunity to vote for candidates who share their values, ideals and vision for better government. I am against eliminating candidates from the ballot for legal technicalities. Geraldine Chapey and her legal team along with Eric Ulrich and his handlers Tom Ognibene and the Haggerty's have successfully tied up candidates in court preventing them from reaching voters. I am glad this unfortunate episode is over and I can continue my efforts to speak to voters throughout the district about the important issues that concern them."

The third candidate who remains on the ballot is Democratic District Leader Lew Simon, Geraldine Chapey’s co-leader on the Rockaway Peninsula. There is much speculation as to why Simon’s petition volume did not fall prey to Chapey’s challenge axe, but nonetheless, Simon is very disturbed over the fact that any candidates were removed from the ballot during the process of the special election.

“I have been co-leaders with Geraldine for the last 15 years. Never once during that time did she produce more than 100 signatures for the district leader race. I find it shocking that she was able to gather these many signatures but I firmly believe that there should have been no challenges in the special election, especially due to the time constraints of the process. The bottom line, according to Simon is that he was disappointed and shocked to see that people were knocked off the ballot.

Simon also raised serious questions about why there has been no record of filings at the Campaign Finance Board. “It’s obvious that Geraldine has spent money on posters, literature, mailing and staff and that nothing has been reported. I would be most interested to see an audit conducted to see if these expenditures are in tact.”

The fourth and remaining candidate, Republican District Leader Eric Ulrich was quick to express that his feelings about the process is that it is “antiquated and that our state officials really need to re-examine the rules so that citizens have the right to get on the ballot and run in an election.”

Ulrich maintains that one of the first steps toward ensuring better government in the city and state is to make ballot requirements less stringent. “It is truly unfortunate that Geraldine felt it was up to her to select her opposition instead of affording that opportunity to the voters in the 32nd to whom it truly belongs. She felt it was her choice and not theirs.”

More Trouble For Monserrate, Funds For Ferreras by Elizabeth Benjamin - The Daily Politics - NY Daily News

Read original...

Sen. Hiram Monserrate, whose felony assault case is still wending its way through the legal system, was slapped today with an $30,102 fine by the Campaign Finance Board in connection with his 2005 City Council campaign.

According to the CFB, the former Councilman, who won an uncontested race for the state Senate last fall, exceeded the expenditure limit by $15,051 during his last re-election bid almost four years ago.

Monserrate received $82,500 worth of public funds that year and was among the top four Council candidate spenders ($222,308), despite the fact that he had no serious opposition.

(He was speculated to be eyeing a potential congressional challenge to Rep. Joe Crowley at the time. That never materialized and he opted to seek re-election instead, but the threat to Crowley was widely speculated to figure heavily in the Queens Democratic Party's decision to dump former Sen. John Sabini and back Monserrate for Senate in 2008).

This isn't the first time Monserrate has had campaign finance trouble. He missed the state Board of Election's Jan. 15 filing deadline (his first financial report since his swearing-in, which took place under the cloud of his alleged assault of his girlfriend. Karla Giraldo).

When Monserrate's filing arrived at the board, it revealed he had spent $15,000 worth of campaign cash on media advice by DolceGoldin, the consulting firm of former NY1 reporter, Davidson Goldin.

The CFB also distrbuted $75,742 worth of public matching funds to Julissa Ferreras, a former Monserrate staffer who is running in the upcoming Feb. 24 special election for his old Council seat in the 21st CD. (She was left out of the first round of CFB special election payouts).

The board dismissed a complaint made against Frank Gulluscio, who was a candidate in the 49th CD special election until the Board of Elections voted to oust him from the ballot.

One of Gulluscio's opponents, Eric Ulrich, alleged an unreported expenditure by the Gulluscio campaign for an ad in the Queens Chronicle. But the CFB determined this was merely a reporting error and dismissed the complaint once the mistake was rectified.

Attempting to Buy A Local Election? - Editorial - www.rockawave.com - Wave of Long Island

Read original...

The upcoming special election to fill, for less than a year, the City Council seat vacated by Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. when he won election to the State Senate, is like no other election. Because there are typically only 5,000 or so votes cast in such an election; and because there is no incumbent involved; and because there are seven people in the race, whoever can turn out a relatively small number of supporters can win. There is no run-off in this election. The one with the most votes wins, even should that person not get a majority. Do the math yourself. Five thousand votes divided by seven candidates equals approximately 700 votes per candidate. In a situation such as that, the candidate that can poll 850 votes wins. That is why it is disturbing that one candidate seems to be willing to outspend all the others combined, which touches off a fear in some that the candidate, virtually unknown prior to the election, is trying to buy the election. That candidate is Mike Ricatto, who has raised $98,085 in public funds for the special election and has already spent $96,190. That is more than all the other five candidates who have disclosed, combined. Money buys advertising and exposure, two things that are necessary in a quick and intense campaign. It also buys access to the halls of power and endorsements. The second highest amount of money spent so far was by Eric Ulrich, the mainland Republican leader, who spent nearly $50,000. Of the Rockaway candidates, Lew Simon has spent $11,218 at press time, Glenn DiResto has spent $3,644 and Geraldine Chapey, who has raised more than $21,000, has not spent a penny, according to her filings with the Campaign Finance Board. Sam DiBernardo's fundraising and spending are "undisclosed" because he is not participating in the Campaign Finance Board program. We hope that the best man or woman wins, but we hope more fervently that it is not possible to buy a City Council seat simply by outspending all of your rivals.

UP FOR GRABS: Special Election Set for Addabbo’s Council Seat by Pete Davis - The Queens Courier

Read original...

It’s off to the races in south Queens with the special election to replace former City Councilmember turned State Senator Joseph Addabbo only seven weeks away.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for the special election in the 32nd City Council District to take place on Tuesday, February 24, and there is no shortage of candidates actively seeking the position to replace Addabbo.

At least seven candidates - former teacher and real estate executive Sam Di Bernardo, City University of New York (CUNY) professor Geraldine Chapey, retired NYPD Lieutenant Glenn DiResto, Community Board 6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio, businessperson Michael Ricatto, Democratic District Leader Lew Simon and Republican District Leader Eric Ulrich - have all expressed interest in the seat, and the campaigning is expected to intensify during the upcoming weeks.

While each of the candidates has a close connection and affinity to different neighborhoods inside the 32nd Council District, the special election is very different from a normal campaign starting with the shorter campaign season.

“There are so many variables that are going to come in, it’s going to come down to the person with the best pull operation and the best name recognition,” said Gulluscio, who many pundits deem the favorite after he received Addabbo’s endorsement for the seat.

All candidates are required to file 1,100 signatures - equal to five percent of the total votes cast in the 32nd City Council District during the last gubernatorial election - with the city’s Board of Elections (BOE) by midnight on January 15 in order to get their name on the ballot.

“We’re out there pounding the pavement trying to get the ample signatures,” said DiResto, who already has been told that another candidate plans to challenge his signatures.

If the BOE approves the candidates’ signatures, his name will appear on the ballot regardless of party affiliation - something very different from a general election where a candidate’s name is listed next to a political party. All of the candidates on the ballot will be listed as an Independent in the special election.

“It’s a great time,” said Ulrich, who said his campaign has been preparing for the race for nearly eight months is very happy with its position. “It’s very exciting. Everyone has worked very hard, and now we are going to see the fruits of our labor.”

Meanwhile, another element of the short campaign is fundraising, and Ulrich and Gulluscio lead the way in fundraising filed with the city’s Campaign Finance Board (CFB) - something required for the candidates to receive matching public funds. DiResto and Simon have both filed the paperwork with the CFB, but as of July 15, 2008 - the last reporting period - neither candidate reported any money raised.

If the candidates meet certain fundraising thresholds, they can qualify for a maximum of $88,500 in public funds from the CFB for the special election.

Ricatto, the newest addition to the already crowded field, said he planned to run for the seat in November expecting former State Senator Serphin Maltese to defeat Addabbo. However, the President of Ricatto Enterprises - which consists of seven different business interests - believes that his district and the city need his leadership and business acumen to help with the continued financial crisis.

“I think I could do an excellent job as a businessman with a businessman’s outlook in helping the city get over this rough time,” Ricatto said.

Como and Crowley Prepare for Rematch in District 30 Election by Ben Hogwood - Queens Chronicle

Read original...

Barely a month is left before incumbent Councilman Anthony Como and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Crowley square off in a rematch for the District 30 Council seat.

While the race has been overshadowed publicly by the state Senate race between Councilman Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Ozone Park) and Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Glendale), the eventual winner could play a vital role in the council for years to come.

The victor, if elected again in 2009, would be one of just a handful of council members who wouldn’t be term-limited out of office next year, unless the mayor and City Council overturn the current two-term limits for members.

Whether that will happen is still unknown, but if the current term limits remain in effect, the District 30 representative would hold a position of seniority and possibly a leadership role, either in the speaker’s seat or as minority leader or whip.

One reason Crowley said voters should pick her is because, as a Democrat, she will be able to take a more pivotal role in the council and bring more bacon home to the district’s neighborhoods of Middle Village, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale and parts of Woodhaven and Richmond Hill.

“We want someone who can take on a leadership role and pass legislation. Republicans can’t pass legislation,” she said, because, at least currently, there are only three of them in the council.

Como disagreed. Though he has only served in the council for four months, he believes partisanship isn’t practiced by fellow council members once elected. “Being a Republican didn’t curtail me in any way this time” during the budget process, he said, adding that his district fared better than some with long-serving Democrat representatives. “In the council, you’re not Republican or Democrat. No one looks at party lines.”

The two candidates first squared off in a special election for the seat in June, although then former Councilman Tom Ognibene, a Republican, and Charles Ober, a Democrat, also vied for the seat. The election was necessary after former Councilman Dennis Gallagher resigned in April as part of a plea deal after being charged with sexual assault.

Como defeated Crowley by just 38 votes then. With just the one race on the ballot, the turnout was relatively small — only 7,751 people voted.

While voters in this district have elected a Republican in every election since the seat was first created in 1991, Crowley is optimistic this time, in large part because the presidential election will draw thousands more to the voting booths. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 2-1 and Crowley expects over 40,000 voters to turn out.

Michael Reich, the executive secretary for the Queens Democratic Party, supported Crowley’s claims. “This is very different than the special election,” he said, adding that the Maltese-Addabbo race will also be a big draw for voters. “I think we have a very strong shot. We are making a very big effort there.”

Como’s not so sure. “The voters are not machines,” he said. “They know who they are voting for. I can’t venture to think voters will vote for someone just because of their party.”

Also, he said it wasn’t a slam dunk that Barack Obama would win this district, and that being beneath Maltese on the ticket would be an additional benefit. “I don’t think it’s even going to be close,” he said of his race.

When it comes to finances, it is Como who currently has the edge. He has collected $19,446 in donations and received another $35,266 in public funds, for a total of $54,712. Crowley has collected $37,806 and has not received public funds as of yet, though she expected to after filing her next statement with the Campaign Finance Board. Crowley could not receive public funds until she paid off the over $50,000 in fines for violations from her 2001 bid.

Como’s primary focus in the coming weeks is to show people the job he has done so far while in office. From helping to preserve quality of life issues, such as making sure a biker bar proposed for Metropolitan Avenue never opened, to bringing in over $2.2 million to schools in his area, Como is proud of his brief time in office.

Crowley, however, didn’t think Como has had the opportunity to be a councilman. “He was sworn in one week before the budget passed. He didn’t have much say as to how the money was spent,” she said.

Crowley’s primary focus is education and she wants to improve the graduation rate at Grover Cleveland High School, in Ridgewood, and make sure more local children go to good universities.

The winner of this election will serve the remainder of Gallagher’s term, which expires at the end of 2009. As a result, the winner will have to participate in a third election in November of next year.

Campaign Ca$h by Pete Davis and Victor G. Mimoni - Queens Courier

Read original...

While the economy may be on the decline, political fundraising is soaring in Queens.

A Courier analysis of City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) filings found that 45 candidates from Queens filed with the CFB for a Queens Council seat or citywide office raising more than $3.9 million during the past six months and whopping total of $16.47 million to date, all for a primary that is still more than a year away.

“There’s no question everything started earlier, and there’s a competition for funds,” said Queens City Councilmember David Weprin, who is running in a crowded field of established candidates for City Comptroller. Weprin raised more than $334,000 during the last filing period and nearly $1.9 million overall.

Although Weprin’s $1.9 million total is impressive, Melinda Katz, another Queens Councilmember also vying for the Comptroller’s seat, has raised more than $2.1 million, but she has also spent more than $400,000 more than Weprin thus far.

While those two Queens representatives are in the top five in raising money overall as well as during the last six months, Congressmember Anthony Weiner, who is likely gearing up for a mayoral run, tops the Queens list with more than $5 million overall and roughly $1.4 million between the January and July filings.

In addition, City Councilmember John Liu took in nearly $825,000 from more than 1,000 donors during the past six months and has raised more than $3 million overall for a yet-to-be-determined citywide run in 2009. However, he termed his fundraising efforts thus far only a warm-up of what is likely to come during the next year.

“Once this year’s elections are finished and people start to focus on the 2009 elections, I will make an announcement and then the fundraising will really begin,” Liu said.

However, some candidates mentioned the struggling economy as well as the immediacy of the 2008 presidential and statewide elections as deterrents to raising money now.

“I think the presidential campaigns had a lot to do with it,” said Assemblymember Audrey Pheffer, who is running for Queens Borough President. “Some people had said, ‘I can’t now - call me in six months.’”

Pheffer, who raised roughly $110,000 during the last six months and $338,000 overall, said that since she returned to Queens after this year’s legislative session, her fundraising has picked up, but adjusting to the different city CFB rules that apply to the campaign has been challenging.

“The last time I campaigned for a new office was eight years ago,” Pheffer said. “It’s a completely different ballgame.”

Frank Gulluscio, District Manager for Community Board 6, has declared his candidacy for the 32nd City Council District - a seat currently held by Councilmember Joseph Addabbo. Gulluscio reported raising roughly $28,000 during the last filing period, which was nearly seven times the amount he raised during the previous filing.

“It’s important for me at least to raise funds early, because if Addabbo wins his Senate race, there will be an election for his seat almost immediately,” Gulluscio said. “You have to be prepared.”

Others like Dale Nussbaum, who currently works at Queens College’s Office of Institutional Advancement, reported to the CFB for the first time in July, and she had raised more than $60,000. However, Nussbaum said she is still just exploring the possibility of running and does not have a date where she would make a decision one way or another.

Although 19 of the 45 Queens people who filed in July reported raising more than $20,000 during the last six months, five candidates who had filed previously with the CFB reported raising no additional money during the most recent period.

With more than a year before 2009 primaries, some candidates may decide not to run, while other candidates who have not signed up with the CFB are likely to do so before the next filing deadline in January.

“I don’t know if this year or this election cycle has distinguished itself,” said Liu, who referenced the 2001 city elections, as a comparison for the last time this many open seats were up for grabs.

Anthony Como and Elizabeth Crowley Both Confident in City Council Run by John Lauinger - NY Daily News

Read original...

Democrat Elizabeth Crowley said she didn't think Republican Anthony Como was her "competition" in the June special election to replace City Councilman Dennis Gallagher until Como beat her by 38 votes.

With the way Como has raised money for their rematch in November, it seems the feeling could be mutual.

As of last week's filing deadline with the Campaign Finance Board, Crowley said she had raked in about $15,000. The newly minted councilman claimed enough for barely two tanks of gas - $100.

"My record is going to be all I need," Como said confidently, touting prompt successes in securing dollars for his district.

Though he arrived at City Hall near the end of budget talks, Como said he netted more than $3 million in capital funds, including money for upgrades at Juniper Valley Park and Forest Park.

He said he also got big bucks for schools in the 30th Council District, which includes Middle Village, Glendale and Ridgewood, along with parts of Richmond Hill, Woodhaven and Forest Hills.

"I made sure that almost every school in my district got funded hundreds of thousands of dollars," Como said, noting it has allowed educators to purchase more laptops for classrooms.

"I've had principals who have been coming in every day since then, thanking me," he added.

That Crowley continues to raise more money than Como is no surprise. In the special election, she raked in $50,000 more than Como, despite being ineligible for 6-to-1 matching public funds, which Como received.

Yet Crowley is still paying off more than $80,000 in fines for fund-raising irregularities during her unsuccessful 2001 Council bid against Gallagher.

She said she has roughly $25,000 remaining to pay. "By mid-August, this will be behind me," she told Queens News.

Crowley said Como is putting too much stock in his brief incumbency - and attributed his razor-thin victory to the nonpartisan nature of the special election.

"I never thought Anthony Como was my competition," she said, claiming a general election showdown will allow her to capitalize on the more than 2-to-1 enrollment edge Democrats enjoy in the district.

The other two candidates in the special election - Republican Tom Ognibene and Democrat Charles Ober - have said they will not run in November. In that election, voters will select someone to hold the seat for 2009, the final year in Gallagher's four-year term.

jlauinger@nydailynews.com

Councilman Liu Leads Race to Raise Funds for Election War Chest by Lisa L. Colangelo and John Lauinger and

Read original...

Queens City Councilman John Liu continues to be one of the city's most aggressive fund-raisers, stuffing his campaign coffers with more than $760,000 during the past six months, records show.

Liu, rumored to be eying a bid for city controller, raked in more than $3 million as of Tuesday's filing deadline with the city Campaign Finance Board.

But the term-limited Liu, who has yet to formally declare his candidacy in the 2009 race, downplayed his fund-raising prowess, insisting he is focusing more on the city's mounting transportation and utility woes.

"There is way too much going on right now to become obsessed with next year's elections," said Liu (D-Flushing), who has already spent $556,000 on his campaign.

Tuesday's fund-raising tallies showed other Queens City Council members also are packing their war chests for next year's elections. Thirteen of the 14 members of the Queens delegation are term-limited.

Council members Melinda Katz and David Weprin, who have announced runs for controller, raised $192,000 and $316,000 respectively since the last filing period in January.

Katz has raised $2.1 million in total, spending $775,000, compared to Weprin's $1.8 million, with $338,000 spent.

Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside), eying a run for public advocate, raised $309,750 in the most recent six-month cycle. He said most of the more than $2 million he has raised has come in $10 donations.

"At all my events, I am telling people to give what they want," Gioia said. "A lot of people don't participate in politics because they feel they can't afford to."

In a possible three-way battle for Queens borough president, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. leads the way, with $799,758 raised, followed by Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, with $338,167 and Councilman Leroy Comrie with $100,515. Pheffer is the only declared candidate so far.

As candidates jockeyed for position in the race for the 13 open Council seats, this week's filings revealed a packed and deep-pocketed field in the 19th District in northeastern Queens, where mayoral candidate Tony Avella is term-limited.

In that battle, Paul Vallone, Peter Vallone Jr.'s brother, filed $90,734 - among the top for 2009 Council hopefuls.

Paul Vallone, who already has doled out more than $25,000, is squaring off against Jerry Iannece, former chairman of Community Board 11, who raised $38,295, and Debra Markell-Kleinert, Community Board 2 district manager, who raised $25,571 and already has spent $16,647.

jlauinger@nydailynews.com

In the Council Race That Never Ends, Candidates Find Thrills, Frustrations by Andrew J. Hawkins - City Hall News

Read original...

Como, Crowley and Ober Prepare for Rematch This Year...and Next...

Anthony Como came out ahead in the June 3 special election, but Liz Crowley is hoping to overtake him this November-or, if not, by 2009.

After his June 3 victory in the special election, Anthony Como (R-Queens) said he planned to surprise his wife with a week-long vacation. Elizabeth Crowley, a Democrat who lost to Como by just 38 votes, said she hoped to take her son golfing in Montauk for a few days.

Those short breaks are about all they can afford.

Como defeated Crowley and several other candidates in the nonpartisan election to fill the Council seat left vacant by Dennis Gallagher, who stepped down in April as part of a plea deal to a sexual assault charge.

But there is another election for the seat coming in November, and interested candidates had only a few weeks after Como's win was certified to register for the September primary and the November general election. Whoever wins will have to defend the seat again next year.

Como said he shrugs off all campaign exhaustion and keeps moving forward.

"It is what it is," Como said with what must pass for Zen in Queens. "We knew going into it that it was going to be this way."

Crowley is also committed to running again, as is insurgent Democratic candidate Charles Ober. But even though he came within 300 votes of winning the special election, Thomas Ognibene, who once held the seat, vowed not to run again and endorsed Como.

Como said the voters feel the pain of multiple elections more so than he does.

"Numerous constituents have said, 'I can't believe you have to go through this again. We voted for you the first time. We're going to vote for you the second time. It's just silly,'" he said.

Ongoing fundraising has not cramped his style either, Como said, mainly because he relies on small donors rather than labor unions or political action committees for support. Como has accumulated numerous contacts from his time spent as an aide to State Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Queens) and as a commissioner on the Board of Elections.

"Having that background and that support allows me to continue to do my job and not have to worry about making phone calls," he said.

The main difference between the special election and the November election, Como said, is that this time he will have 145 days of incumbency to his advantage. On the campaign trail, he said he will tout the $3 million in discretionary funds he managed to grab for the district, which includes money to improve Juniper Valley Park, as well as cash for senior centers and schools.

Como said operating a district office will be another key advantage, by enabling him to directly address constituent needs and problems.

"Even though it's going to be a short period of time," Como said, "they're going to see if I was able to accomplish so much in such a short period."

But Crowley sees Como's abbreviated time in office as a potential liability. Most of the budget negotiations were done by the time he was sworn into office, she pointed out, preventing him from bringing as much pork as he would have wanted.

"They had some budget cuts for local organizations and he wasn't really able to spend as he saw fit," Crowley said. "Rather, the money was allocated before he got in there."

As she gears up to run again, Crowley said she is trying not to get bogged down in the nuts and bolts of campaigning. Headaches like attorney fees, closing and re-opening her campaign office, and filing with the Campaign Finance Board and the city Board of Elections can easily distract from the actual issues, she said.

"You have to remain focused," Crowley said, "not get lost in silly, non-important stuff."

Fundraising poses another challenge for Crowley. She was not eligible for matching funds because of outstanding fines and allegations of fraud committed by her campaign during her bid for Council in 2001 against Gallagher. But as the preferred candidate of the Queens County Democratic Party, chaired by her cousin, Rep. Joseph Crowley, as well as with endorsements from the Working Families Party and several labor unions, Crowley still managed to out-raise and out-spend Como and the other candidates by a nearly 3-to-1 margin.

Her loss on June 3 was certainly disappointing, but once she got back down to petitioning, going door-to-door and talking to voters, Crowley said she felt rejuvenated.

"I love talking to voters," she said. "They say, '38 votes and he's the Council member, how can that be?' I tell them, 'You know, it's really just 'til November.'"

Ober's decision to run for the Democratic nomination in September will further complicate Crowley's bid for the seat. The county organization believes he split the vote and allowed Como to win, and members are doing little to hide their displeasure.

"Charles Ober should stay under the rock where he's hiding," said Michael Reich, executive director of the county party.

Ober said if he fails to win the primary this year, there is always 2009. The election laws that prolong this seemingly never-ending campaign are ridiculous, he said. But he believes his support in the community is strong and he is committed to continue to campaign. Fundraising, Ober said, is what exhausts him.

"We managed to raise $67,000," Ober said. "I don't even now how I did that."

Here They Run Again - Term Limits Don’t Seem to Faze Council Members by Diane Cardwell - NYTimes.com

Read original...

For New Yorkers who voted to impose term limits on the City Council, the promise was to sweep clean a moldering institution and fill it with “citizen legislators” who would bring energy and fresh ideas from the private sector, where they would return after their eight-year allotments.

But as the first class of councilors elected under the term limits law in 2001 prepares to leave office next year, the very opposite is becoming reality: With lawmakers seeking new elective offices and career politicians looking to join, or rejoin, the body, the Council may well become a political revolving door.

Already, 20 of the 35 Council members who are being forced from office have filed with the city’s Campaign Finance Board to run for another position. And at least a dozen of those planning to compete for open Council seats have budding or established political careers, including state officials, relatives of Council members and even a few former councilors who collectively have decades of service under their belts.

For instance, Karen Koslowitz, the Queens deputy borough president who once worked for Andrew J. Stein, a former council president, is contemplating a run for the seat she held for 10 years in Forest Hills, Queens. And Herman D. Farrell Jr., who has represented Upper Manhattan in the State Assembly since 1975, is planning to run for a City Council seat representing the same area.

Paul Vallone, whose father, Peter F. Vallone, represented a district in Astoria, Queens, for 27 years until his brother Peter F. Vallone Jr. took it over in 2002, is running to represent the Bayside area. Paul Washington, a former chief of staff for Councilman Charles Barron, is running for the councilor’s East New York, Brooklyn, slot, while Evan Thies, a former spokesman for Councilman David Yassky, is competing to represent Mr. Yassky’s Brooklyn district, which stretches from Park Slope to Williamsburg.

And then there is Thomas V. Ognibene, who represented Middle Village, Queens, for 10 years before leaving office in 2001 because of term limits. He recently lost a bid to replace Dennis P. Gallagher, his former chief of staff, who resigned from the Council this year after admitting to a sexual assault.

“The person who runs for the office is a relative, a chief of staff, a protégé of the person that was in there in the first place,” Mr. Ognibene said. “Insurgency is virtually impossible. You cannot generate the money or the support,” he said, adding, “So you don’t get the people in there that had been contemplated, the people with the fresh start, the new view.”

Ronald S. Lauder, a wealthy cosmetics heir who spent millions pushing for the change that limits officeholders to two terms, said in a 1993 statement that it would “take the power away from the politicians and return it to the people.” Officials would serve “long enough to make a contribution,” his statement said, “but not long enough to make a career.”

After Mr. Lauder’s costly campaign, New Yorkers approved the limits in 1993, despite the howls of protest from City Council members who predicted the coming of a bureaucratic apocalypse. The law withstood an effort in 1996 to add a third term, with voters reaffirming their wish to restrict service for council members, the mayor, the public advocate and the comptroller to eight years, and survived Council plans to overturn it.

But officials and analysts say that it was naïve to expect term limits to take the politics out of politics, especially since the Council lacks sufficient glamour — and power — to woo many people from their day jobs.

“A lot of people who are successful in the private sector aren’t going to be attracted to be in the City Council,” said Mr. Yassky, who has made unsuccessful bids for Brooklyn district attorney and Congress and is now running for city comptroller. “The reality is that voters will elect people in government.”

For those who are interested in a public sector career, the Council, which pays members $112,500 to $141,000, depending on the leadership positions, and gives them two parking placards and at least $277,366 in operating expenses, can be a steppingstone to higher office or a landing strip after years of trekking to the State Capitol. And what had been a steady flow between the Council and the State Legislature is threatening to become a torrent as officials in Albany who are frustrated by their relative lack of power look to win an office that keeps them closer to home.

Mr. Farrell at one point considered trying to become the next Council speaker but dropped that ambition while still eyeing a Council seat. And Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, with his sights on the speaker’s post, is considering a bid for the Astoria, Queens, district seat that Mr. Vallone Jr., a likely candidate for Queens borough president, will vacate.

With the Queens Democratic Party backing City Councilman Hiram Monserrate in his bid to snatch the seat of State Senator John D. Sabini, consultants are suggesting that Mr. Sabini reclaim the Council seat he gave up in 2001, which would be open again.

Moving in the other direction are several council members who are seeking state positions, including Simcha Felder of Brooklyn, who announced last week that he would not compete in the crowded field for city comptroller but would try to unseat State Senator Kevin S. Parker.

Evan Stavisky, a political consultant who is active in state and local elections, said term limits provide “expedited promotions for chiefs of staff and other people active in local politics” while increasing “ancillary competition, so there are more state legislators who have races.”

At the same time, officials and policy analysts say, term limits have strengthened the Council’s focus on politics at the expense of governance. As a result, consultants and lobbyists say, there is now a professional class of candidates whose members focus on making names for themselves and eyeing the next offices rather than returning to the private sector, as advocates of limiting public service have promoted.

“It’s not reasonable to expect somebody to interrupt their life for eight years and then go back to the farm — you’ve set on a career path,” said Lewis A. Fidler, a Brooklyn councilman who has not determined his next move. Speaking of his fellow council members, he said, “Their attention is being diverted as to what they’re going to do to feed their family and continue on their career path.”

Eric Lane, a law professor at Hofstra University, found in an analysis of the Council in 2004 that nearly all of those elected had political backgrounds and planned to stay in politics.

“If your interest is a future in the Council, then you worry about compromising and getting legislation passed,” he said. “But if your interest is the next office right away, then you’re interested in outshining someone else and you’re going to play to the crowds much more and you’re going to play to lobbyists much more.”

Supporters of term limits see it differently. “Term limits have always been about creating opportunities, not dictating outcomes, and undeniably term limits have opened doors for new people,” said Nelson Warfield, a spokesman for New Yorkers for Term Limits, an advocacy group that campaigned for the restriction.

“Term limits has clearly increased the diversity of government,” he said, pointing to the rise in black and Hispanic representation, as well as to the election of John C. Liu, the Council’s first Asian-American member.

For many council members, gaining office can instill a sense of self-importance and self-worth, making it difficult to see a future outside of government.

“You are the one who is in charge of what happens in your district,” said Ms. Koslowitz, the deputy borough president in Queens. “It was one of the best experiences of my life because I helped a lot of people. I still walk through the streets and people are thanking me and remembering what I did for them and for the community.”

With the election more than a year away, it is too early to say who will end up back in the Council and where the class of 35 forced departures will land. But with a finite number of offices to be won, many are bound for disappointment.

Judging from the fates of their predecessors, some will snare work in government while others will seek to become lobbyists or pursue jobs related to law.

Still, they can also rely on inevitability: Their old seats will eventually open up, perhaps even earlier than the typical eight-year cycle. Take the case of Thomas White, who had to leave office in 2001 after representing a district in South Jamaica, Queens, for a decade, and has already returned. His opportunity, like Mr. Ognibene’s, came in the form of a sex scandal.

After the City Council censured Allan W. Jennings Jr. for the sexual harassment of two female employees in 2005, Mr. White won back the seat that fall, becoming the first of his generation to return. Time will tell if he showed up early for the reunion.