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From
Progress Queens:
A requirement that Democratic Party candidates running for the New York State Senate use The Parkside Group for campaign mailers reminds government reform activists of the years-long prosecutorial effort to bust the corrupt Brooklyn party machine.
The New York Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, or DSCC, headed by State Senator Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), required that "DSCC-backed candidates must use Parkside to print their campaign mail, an arrangement some Democrats have long bristled at," according to a report published by The New York Observer.
The DSCC requirement is similar to requirements demanded of some candidates over a decade go by the Democratic Party of Brooklyn. In 2002, Karen Yellen ran as a candidate for a judgeship for Brooklyn Civil Court. When former Kings County Democratic Party chair Clarence Norman tried to shake down Ms. Yellen’s campaign for costs associated with the printing of campaign literature for a slate of candidates, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, led at that time by Charles Hynes, later brought criminal charges against Mr. Norman, alleging that forcing candidates to pay for the costs of campaign literature designed by Ernest Lendler was a way to funnel money to the party's favored political campaign vendors, one sign, according to the District Attorney's Office, that the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s endorsement in judicial races could be had -- for a price, according to various news reports at the time.
In due course, Mr. Norman was found guilty in a jury trial of "coercion, grand larceny by extortion and attempted grand larceny by extortion" stemming from charges of having "coerced two candidates for civil court judge to pay thousands of dollars to favored campaign consultants, or lose his organization’s support in the 2002 primary," according to a 2007 report published by The New York Times.
For years, former Brooklyn District Attorney Hynes had scrutinised the Brooklyn Democratic Party over persistent allegations of corruption. At the time of the 2007 conviction of Mr. Norman, then District Attorney Hynes said of the Brooklyn political machine : “We have exposed it for the evil that it is,” adding in his comments to The New York Times that, “Any political leader who engages in this kind of rank extortion, and think about it, any political leader who tries this, does so at her or his peril.”
A message left with a principal at The Parkside Group, seeking more information about the nature of the firm's work for the DSCC, was not answered.
Seven years after Mr. Norman's conviction, some government reform activists say that the Democratic Party may be back to its old tricks, this time in Queens, but, activists note, there no longer appears to be any prosecutorial appetite by the city's District Attorneys' offices to investigate political corruption as there was a decade ago by former Brooklyn District Attorney Hynes.
Efforts were unsuccessful to reach the Queens District Attorney's Office about the DSCC's requirement to likewise use party-favored political campaign vendors.
A request for an interview with Senator Gianaris went unanswered.
From the
Daily News:
A new ethics panel unveiled Monday to root out corruption in state government is packed with cronies of the very state leaders the body is supposed to watch over.
No appointment of the 14 panel members was questioned by political observers more than that made by Senate Democratic Minority Leader John Sampson. He appointed Ravi Batra, a lawyer with ties to disgraced ex-Brooklyn political boss Clarence Norman.
Before Norman was tossed behind bars for misusing campaign funds, he served as of-counsel to Batra’s law firm. Norman also appointed Batra to a judicial screening panel.
While Batra’s selection was the attention-grabber, a number of other panel appointees have ties to those who put forward their names.
Cuomo appointed Mitra Hormozi, his former deputy chief of staff when he was state Attorney General; he had picked her to chair the previous ethics board. He also appointed Daniel Horwitz, a lawyer who formerly worked in the frauds bureau of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office; he has donated more than $4,000 to Cuomo in recent years.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Long Island) selected his former Senate colleague Mary Lou Rath, who represented western New York for 15 years before retiring in 2008. Rath, who served with many current state senators, narrowly met the requirement that an ex-lawmaker must have been out of office for three years in order to be eligible to serve on the panel.
Skelos also appointed former state appellate division judge Joseph Covello. In May, Covello returned a ruling on legislative redistricting that was favorable to Skelos and fellow Nassau County Republicans. Covello stepped down from the bench not long afterward, explaining that pay raises awarded to judges for the first time in 11 years were not sufficient.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver appointed Pat Bulgaro, who has held several roles in state government, including as budget director under Cuomo’s father, ex-Gov. Mario Cuomo. He had previously been Silver's appointee to the now-defunct state lobbying commission.
From the
Capital:
When former Brooklyn Democratic county leader Clarence Norman turned 60 years old last month, a top aide in city comptroller John Liu's office sent out Facebook invitations to a party to mark the occasion.
The Facebook messages were forwarded to me by a reader.
Norman was convicted of extortion, grand larceny and other charges back in 2006, forcing him from the Assembly office he held and, more importantly, from his powerful post as head of the party in Kings County.
The person who sent the invitations is Carmen Martinez, who is a "director" in the comptroller's office. Cell phone and email messages left for Martinez were not immediately returned.
A spokesman for the comptroller's office, Matthew Sweeney, said, "It’s not the business of this office to comment on what an employee does in his or her personal time as long as the City’s rules and procedures governing employment were not broken."
There are in fact no rules against current public employees in good standing associating with former public employees in poor standing. But the visuals aren't great.
From the
Daily News:
Just because they violated the public's trust doesn't mean they've stopped taking the public's money.
At least 10 ex-lawmakers who've been convicted of criminal charges are still receiving taxpayer-funded pensions worth tens of thousands of dollars a year, a Daily News review of state pension records found.
"The law says I've earned it. I am entitled to it. I take it," said disgraced former state Sen. Guy Velella, who receives a $75,012 annual pension from the state.
Velella, a Republican who represented parts of the Bronx and Westchester, pleaded guilty in 2004 to bribery charges and served six months at Rikers Island.
Other convicted felons who receive fat pensions include former state Controller Alan Hevesi, who pleaded guilty in 2006 using state workers as his wife's chauffeur, and ex-Brooklyn Assemblyman and Democratic leader Clarence Norman, who was convicted in 2007 of selling judgeships.
Hevesi receives $105,221 a year, while Norman gets $43,321.
Ex-Senate boss Joe Bruno, a former GOP kingmaker who is appealing his conviction of honest services fraud, pockets $96,085.
Dick Dadey, executive director of the good government group Citizens Union, said the payouts underscore the need to reform New York's pension system.
