Como resurfaces like turd that won't stay flushed

Former City Councilman Anthony Como, who served a whopping 5 months in office back in 2008, has resurfaced. He is trying to inject himself into the District 30 City Council race. Why? It appears to be sour grapes.

He started back in September, whining to the Queens Tribune:

“I was extremely upset and disenchanted when [Robert Holden] got the Conservative [Party] endorsement. When something like that happens, you know there is something behind the scenes going on,” Como said.

Oh no, Anthony is disenchanted! Well, Holden collected signatures to get on that line after the party agreed to back him - just like as Anthony did when he ran for City Council on the Conservative line. Como is not a registered Conservative but a Republican. Then he stepped it up by authoring this letter with this included:

On this November’s ballot, the Republican candidate will be an erstwhile longstanding Democrat who is little more than a pawn for party bosses.

I think Liz Crowley and every other candidate with Machine backing are the bigger pawns for party bosses, dontcha think? Hilarious. He is so upset that a registered Republican didn't get the party's nod that he endorsed Liz Crowley - who claims her opponent is really a Republican - because that makes perfect sense. Como lives in Merrick, LI now, by the way (Amy Fisher country).

Finally, he's giving quotes like this to the Queens Chronicle:

“It’s embarrassing. I don’t know what it is going to take for our party leaders to stop perpetrating these scams on the voters.”

So let's recall how Mr. Como tried to scam voters when he put out a palm card claiming that the Catholic Church endorsed him.

Let's also remember that Mr. Como had committed to run for City Council to try to reclaim his seat back in 2009, but was more than happy to step aside for a backroom deal patronage job.

A former Queens Republican councilman is in line to be appointed by Mayor Bloomberg as a $172,311 commissioner at the Housing Authority — considered a prime patronage post — just weeks after the county’s GOP endorsed the mayor’s re-election bid, The Post has learned.

His departure from the race cleared the way for Tom Ognibene to not have to run in a primary that year, yet the joke was on Como, because he never got the job.

Reviewing this guy's history was like a walk down nightmare lane without even getting into the infamous violations on his house.

Casa di Como is for sale!

I was perusing the local real estate listings and lo and behold, I spotted a familiar house. Former Council Member Anthony Como is selling his Middle Village palace. The asking price is $1,699,000. The last time this blog visited, it was 2010.

Queens GOP dumps Halloran, backs Saffran; 2 other candidates enter race

From Crains:

The longtime former chief-of-staff for Republican Councilman Daniel Halloran is looking to run for her old boss' seat—as a Democrat. The councilman was recently hit with bribery allegations, setting off a free-for-all for his post.

Chrissy Voskerichian, who had a reputation as extremely loyal to Mr. Halloran but quit soon after the scandal hit, registered a campaign committee Friday to raise money for a possible run. In an interesting twist, a knowledgeable Queens source said, unlike Mr. Halloran, Ms. Voskerichian is registered as a Democrat and was expected to enter a crowded Democratic primary. Her voter registration status as a Democrat was noted in a 2011 Queens Chronicle profile.

"You could say she's more of a conservative Democrat. She's probably got a good shot, since she's well respected and knows everyone in the community," said the Queens source, who is not affiliated with any Democratic campaign.

Also from Crains:

The Queens Republican Party is officially dumping embattled Republican Councilman Daniel Halloran.

A Queens GOP screening committee voted unanimously Thursday evening to instead back the candidacy of Dennis Saffran, an attorney who lost a 2001 race for the same seat by a mere 400 votes, for the northeast Queens seat held by Mr. Halloran, according to party chairman Phil Ragusa. The Queens GOP's executive committee is all but certain to follow suit next Tuesday.

"[Halloran] is a Republican, and he can decide whether or not he wants to run. I can't say whether he's innocent or guilty," said Mr. Ragusa. "But he's got a cloud hanging over his head. He's got to make up his own mind, but I don't think it would be a good idea."

The bribery scandal also ensnared former Queens GOP executive vice-chairman Vincent Tabone, who has since been replaced by former Councilman Anthony Como. Mr. Tabone is accused of accepting a cash bribe. It's unclear whether Mr. Halloran will try to run for re-election. He did not return a request for comment.

From the Queens Chronicle:

A City Council candidate’s long-rumored run was made official this week, as John Duane formally kicked off his campaign after months of fundraising and behind-the-scenes legwork.

The Little Neck resident spent one term in the state Assembly nearly three decades ago and is making a second push for public office since that initial stint in Albany. (Duane lost to Ed Braunstein for the 26th Assembly District seat in 2010.)

Duane said his drive to represent the people of Northeast Queens has not diminished since his long-ago stint in Albany, and in fact has only grown.

“I certainly know the struggles my neighbors have had, and I’ve had them as well,” the Democrat said. “I’ve spent my whole life serving my community.”

The 59-year-old often portrays his candidacy and potential stint in the City Council as a time of bridge-building and nuts-and-bolts legislating. Transportation, education and public safety top his priorities list, as well as veterans issues. The latter concern distinguishes him from his potential opponents.

Board of Elections saga: Here we go again

From City Hall:

For the past seven months, the 10-member New York City Board of Elections, consisting of five Democrats and five Republicans, has been deadlocked in appointing a $180,000-a-year executive director. No candidate has been able to line up the six votes necessary to win the job, and the board has refused to conduct a public search for the best national talent.

But Queens Republicans have renewed their push for the appointment of former City Councilman Anthony Como, and have struck a tentative deal with Brooklyn Democrats under which party chairman Vito Lopez would back Como, according to two sources with knowledge of the agreement.

Como, a Republican, would be appointed executive director, while a Brooklyn Democrat—most likely current Board of Elections counsel Steve Richman—would be appointed deputy director, the board’s other plum patronage post. Board of Elections rules require that the executive director and deputy director be from different parties.

Como and Richman both declined to comment.

Como still running

From City Hall:

On Monday afternoon, Anthony Como conceded his State Senate race to Joe Addabbo, issuing a statement that concluded, “I remain committed to public service and look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”

By Monday night, he was already on to those new challenges and opportunities, renewing the bid to be executive director of the Board of Elections that he abandoned in June to seek the Senate seat. Como called several commissioners and began the outreach to the county chairs who would be crucial in putting him in the top job, now vacant again after George Gonzalez’s firing.

But Como’s newest attempt to get the $172,000-per-year job, which has prompted derision from several close Board observers who see him as now looking for a job in the wake of the Senate loss, may be over before it gets off the ground. To be selected, Como would need at least six votes, and he does not appear to even have a solidified bloc of the five Republicans: Bronx GOP Commissioner J.C. Polanco is not on board.

Polanco, who supported Como through the spring, had put himself forward as an alternative for executive director after Como withdrew. But after the Queens GOP made a surprise, ill-fated attempt to install former State Sen. Serf Maltese in the top job, Polanco joined with the Democrats to vote for Gonzalez and break what had been a six-month stalemate. According to a source, Polanco remains disgusted with Como and the Queens GOP, and is completely opposed to supporting the former City Council member for executive director.

Asked about his position on Como, Polanco referred instead to his call for a nationwide search for executive director, as Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Council Government Operations chair Gale Brewer have supported.

We interrupt this blog for a public service announcement

Click photo to read the sign and its stupidity.

Casa di Como: What's with the single door in the double wide door frame?

Our "new" state senator?

Looks like someone's jumping the gun here.
Click photo to read all the typos... It's so hard to find good help these days...

Como offers exactly what we expect from him

"We must vote our Joe Addabbo and his fellow incumbents to protect ourselves form their liberal tax and spend policies."

What, Anthony, you can't afford spellcheck? It's pretty easy to tell that you tacked on that last line to the standard drivel from Unshackle Upstate.

Also, I don't think most taxpayers are in favor of hydrofracking... or some of the other things listed here. Good luck with that...

Como flub justifies elections board snub

From City Hall:

Apparently, even a former commissioner of the Board of Elections and one-time hopeful for the executive director job can make mistakes on his elections paperwork.

That is what Anthony Como, the Republican running against State Sen. Joe Addabbo discovered some time late Tuesday, hours after submitting 4,900 petition signatures to create a third party line for his candidacy.

The problem was that Como filed the petitions for the wrong election.

At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Como submitted petitions for the “Tax Cuts Now” line that were designated for the Sept. 14 primary, not the Nov. 2 general election, when he will face Addabbo. As a result, the Board has taken initial actions to invalidate Como’s signatures, according to Steve Richman, its general counsel. The 10-member Board as a whole will now get the case.

Como already lost out on the Independence Party line after a dispute over his campaign’s use of signature gatherers from the party’s rival New York City faction. The “Tax Cuts Now” line was conceived of as a replacement.

Instead, it seems it will be the party line itself which may be cut now.

From the Queens Courier:

Addabbo questioned whether all of the petition signers were legit saying he has heard stories of confusion.

“A number of people I spoke to said they were approached to sign petitions for Como and some of them thought it was for Andrew Cuomo, and they didn’t know what they were signing,” Addabbo said.

[Where did I hear this before? Oh yeah...]

Meanwhile, Addabbo is still dealing with his own ballot issue, whether or not to appeal the court’s decision to boot him from the Working Families Party Line.

“I normally like to exhaust all legal remedies before closing a case or a matter,” Addabbo said.

Serf's back...

From City Hall:

Former State Sen. Serf Maltese wants back into politics.

But instead of running himself, Maltese wants to run all city elections, in a bid to become the new executive director of the city Board of Elections.

“I am writing you to indicate that I would like to be considered for the position of Executive Director of the Board of Elections in the City of New York,” Maltese wrote in an email that was sent around to commissioners Wednesday evening. “My biography accompanies this request and I believe that my background and experience would qualify me for this position of great responsibility and importance.”

That 2,000-word biography details Maltese’s history in local politics, hitting all the highlights and many of the awards he picked up during his 20 years representing Queens in the State Senate. Maltese lost by double digits to Joe Addabbo in 2008 in one of the two seats that swung the majority to the Democrats.

And in an ironic twist, Addabbo is this year being challenged by former Council Member Anthony Como, who had been agitating for the executive director job before pulling out at the last minute to pursue the State Senate race. Como, though a former commissioner, had been unable to rally the six votes necessary to get a majority of the 10 commissioners.

In his email to the commissioners, Maltese indicated that he had a running start in getting to six.

“I can assure you that I have the confidence and backing of my Queens County Chairman, the Honorable Phil Ragusa, our Queens County Republican Commissioner the Honorable Judith Stupp and my former Senate colleague Senator Marty Golden,” Maltese wrote.

However, Serf's resurrection may swing the vote over to the Dems. How ironic.

Independence Party keeps Como off their ballot

From City Hall:

In his attempt to hold off former New York City Council Member Tony Avella this year, State Sen. Frank Padavan will have the crucial Independence Party line.

But fellow Queens Republican Anthony Como, who is running against State Sen. Joe Addabbo, will not.

The party’s executive committee officially submitted its endorsements on Monday.

Both riled members of the State Independence Party by using members of the party’s rival New York City faction to gatherer their petition signatures. Padavan was pulled from the precipice thanks to his longstanding ties with party chair Frank MacKay and his close relationship with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an Independence ally and benefactor.

But in Como’s race, the line went to Addabbo.

“I was able to keep one of them off,” said Michael Zumbluskus, a downstate executive committee member who was upset with the campaigns’ use of rival signature gatherers, and claimed victory from keeping Como off the line.

Zumbluskus said that the decision was also helped by Addabbo’s campaign carrying petitions for Independence Party state committee members, while Como’s had not.

Como campaign spokesman James McClelland sought to downplay the development, which could make it difficult for Como to win in a Queens district with a heavy Democratic enrollment advantage. McClelland said that Como’s campaign met Sunday night after learning of the news and decided they still would be viable going forward.

“It’s not a blow to the campaign, because this year the anti-incumbent sentiment is so strong,” he said. “In the past, the Independence Party was more of an asset.”

Photo from the Daily News

Como hit with election penalty

From the Queens Tribune:

Dusting off the dinosaur

Anthony Como Files Petition Signatures for New York State Senate (15th District) with the Board of Elections

Anthony Como filed his petition signatures with the Board of Elections bringing him another step closer to winning the New York Senate seat in the 15th District. Como and his team of over 100 supporters were extremely excited after filing well over the required amount of petition signatures to secure the Republican, Conservative and Independence Party lines.

Anthony Como addressed his team and supporters, “I want to express my sincerest thanks to all my friends, family and supporters who carried and signed petitions for me. During this process we strengthened existing friendships, created new alliances and mended broken relationships. We have come together for a common cause and will fight together to bring State government back to where it belongs, in the hands of the people. Now that the petition process is over, I look forward to meeting residents and getting my message out of bringing reform, transparency and dignity to Albany.”

(Pictured L to R. Anthony Como and Senator Serphin Maltese)

Not so fast, boys! The Independence Party is not exactly on board.

Como taking on Addabbo

From City Hall:

What a difference 30 hours can make.

In the space of that time, former Council Member Anthony Como went from confirming with City Hall on Sunday afternoon that he would not be a State Senate candidate, to being convinced by a deluge of calls from some of the state’s top Republicans, his county chair and constituents that he would, in fact, begin collecting petitions to challenge Joe Addabbo in Queens as early as Tuesday.

“It’s 10:30 at night, I’m talking to you, and I basically an hour-and-a-half ago decided that this city and state can use me in the 15^th Senate District,” Como told City Hall late into the evening on Monday.

Como attributed his decision in large part to the response to a City Hall article from Monday morning that explained what had been his decision to skip the Senate race to focus on trying to be selected as the new executive director of the city Board of Elections. Though Como said state GOP chair Ed Cox was not among those who reached out, Queens GOP chair Phil Ragusa was, as were State Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, Senate Republican Campaign Committee (SRCC) chair Tom Libous and Brooklyn State Sen. Marty Golden.

Golden: "Anthony, your last name is Como. Remember, voters in that district thought you were Mario's boy back in 2008."

Ragusa: "Yeah, Tony, his name is at the top of the ticket this time. This can only help you."

Skelos: "Just don't debate Joe and you'll be fine...."

Frank Lloyd Crap: "YES!!!"

Aaaaand Tom Ognibene is running for Lieutenant Governor.

Como comeback?

From City Hall:

Anthony Como is still waiting to hear on the job he says was promised to him to be a commissioner for the New York City Housing Authority. But if that does not work, State Sen. Joe Addabbo could have something to worry about.

“I think my wife would kill me [if I passed on the NYCHA job]” Como said. “I’m upset. I’m hoping it comes through sooner rather than later. As long as I can stay in government, that’s what I’m looking for. Whether it’s the city level somewhere in the administration, or on the state level in the State Senate, I don’t know.”

Como said he was offered the $172,311-a-year commissionership last spring by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign around the same time Bloomberg sought support for his mayoral campaign from a recalcitrant Queens Republican Party.

Como said the last time he was in contact with the Bloomberg administration about the NYCHA job was in late November or early December, and was told the Department of Investigation inquiry was still ongoing into several zoning violations Como committed while renovating his Middle Village home in 2007.

One local GOP operative said that Como appeared unlikely to get the position at this point. The operative said tensions between the Bloomberg campaign and the Queens Republican Party, which on several occasions bashed the mayor after giving Bloomberg their Wilson-Pakula endorsement, were a factor in Como likely not getting the position.

Other possible candidates include Gabriel Tapalaga, president of the Middle Village Republican Club and 2008 Assembly candidate Anthony Nunziato, a district leader who is part of the Haggerty faction. [Tom] Ognibene said he is not interested in running.

Addabbo vs. Ulrich in 2010?

From the Daily News:

State Republicans focused on returning the Senate to GOP control may turn Queens County into a political ground zero in their all-out effort for 2010.

City Councilman Eric Ulrich, who was reelected to his seat last week, is being courted by state Republicans to run for Senate next year against Joe Addabbo, a race that could have a long-lasting impact on the party's viability in the state, according to multiple sources.

Democrats currently have a slim majority in the Senate at 32-30, and both parties are focused on being in control in 2010-11 when mandatory redistricting takes place.

If the GOP loses, Senate Republicans could be in the wilderness for years to come.

"Senate Republicans have approached me," said Ulrich, who first won his seat in a special election in February. "That's not a decision I'm going to make until next year."

Ragusa mentioned former Councilman Anthony Como as another potential contender for Addabbo's seat saying, "I'll try and talk him into it."

Please don't, Phil. On election day this year, he still had at least one of his council campaign signs up from election day 2008:

What about that cushy 6-figure no-show job you arranged for him to get? He'd give that up to schlep back and forth to Albany? Or did that die along with democracy in this city?

Top photo from NY Magazine

The joke's on the GOP, part 3

From City Hall:

Back when Mayor Michael Bloomberg was meeting with Republican county leaders about running on the GOP ballot line in November, his administration offered Anthony Como, the former Council member and favorite of the Queens County Republican Party, a job in his administration as a commissioner with the New York City Housing Authority.

Yet five months later, Como has yet to assume the job or collect a paycheck. And some members of the Queens GOP, the county organization which had been the most skeptical of the mayor’s entreaties, are now seething that Bloomberg is once again not living up to promises made to them.

“I don’t think it was ever a sincere offer,” said one Queens Republican. “They’ll keep him dangling until the campaign season is over, so he doesn’t become an enemy. But that job is never materializing.”

Two sources in the Queens GOP who have spoken with Como say a lengthy vetting process has held up his appointment. They say they doubt whether he will ever actually be appointed to the coveted $172,311 a year post.

Arrivederci, Anthony!

Anthony Como...
has left the building.

Como to be a $172,311/yr commissioner

From the NY Post:

A former Queens Republican councilman is in line to be appointed by Mayor Bloomberg as a $172,311 commissioner at the Housing Authority -- considered a prime patronage post -- just weeks after the county's GOP endorsed the mayor's re-election bid, The Post has learned.

Sources said Anthony Como, ousted from his council seat last year by Democrat Elizabeth Crowley, is the leading contender to succeed Earl Andrews Jr. as one of the authority's three commissioners.

"I would say it's one of the best patronage plums in town," said a former official, expressing a widely held view about the high-paying post with few defined responsibilities.

Maybe he'll be able to pay off his fines and legalize his McMansion now...

Como's sure thing

From the Times Ledger:

An anonymous source close to the Como campaign said he dropped out to accept an appointment by the Bloomberg administration to a spot in a city agency, likely to be the Department of Housing. Como will formally announce the appointment after the vetting process is completed, the source said.

Housing? How funny is that? And I guess Bloomberg has no trouble with having a repeated rule breaker on the city payroll. Anything for a third term.