How convenient!

From CBS:

Mayor Bill de Blasio has outside political consultants who have been paid upwards of $2 million during his first 18 months in office.

The bill though, is not paid by taxpayers. Instead, nonprofit Campaign For One New York is footing the bill, WCBS 880’s Rich Lamb reported.

Its donors include real estate developers and union leaders, and there are no contribution limits, according to Citizen Union Executive Dick Dadey.

Dadey said that the practice is legal because there have been no laws passed to define what he called ‘a very serious conflict of interest.’

Meet the new City Council. Same as the old City Council.

From last October in the Daily News:

The newcomers who pledged to abolish the stipends are: Corey Johnson, Helen Rosenthal, Mark Levine and the winner of the David Garland/Ben Kallos race in Manhattan; Alan Maisel, Robert Cornegy, Antonio Reynoso, Carlos Menchaca, Inez Barron and Mark Treyger in Brooklyn; Costa Constantinides, Rory Lancman, Daneek Miller and the victor of the Paul Vallone/Dennis Saffran election in Queens; Andrew Cohen and Ritchie Torres in the Bronx; and Steve Matteo in Staten Island.

We’ll see if they are true to their word.

From CBS New York:

Members of the New York City Council have voted to give themselves stipends.

As WCBS 880′s Rich Lamb reported, council members already get paid just over $112,000 annually from taxpayers.

In its first meeting, the new council approved a long list of extra pay to be doled out to members.

The speaker gets $25,000 and the majority leader $20,000, while ten members get $15,000 apiece. Thirty four other members get $8,000 each.

The stipends, known as lulus, are extra payments given to members in lieu of expenses.

“New Yorkers elected a reform-minded city council and this was an opportunity for them to deliver on that promise and they missed it,” said Dick Dadey of the non-partisan watchdog group Citizens Union.

“Over 30 members of the city council pledged not to accept lulus when they were elected and now they all voted in support of the committee recommendations and the lulus. So they’ve broken a promise that they made to New Yorkers.”

Democratic Machine barks an order; good government group complies

From Crain's:

The good-government group Citizens Union canceled its planned endorsement of a Republican challenger in a little-watched City Council race after two Democratic lawmakers complained about his campaign literature, its executive director confirmed.

Citizens Union announced Friday morning that it would not support anyone in the Queens race between incumbent Democratic Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and a young Republican former television producer, Craig Caruana. The organization had told Mr. Caruana it would endorse him this week. Ms. Crowley, a cousin of powerful Queens Democratic leader Joe Crowley, is heavily favored to win re-election.

In an email to reporters, the good-government group explained that it had backed away from supporting Mr. Caruana upon learning this week of literature mailed to voters by his campaign.

"After the Citizens Union board met yesterday and reviewed the message of the flyer and its consequences, it felt the flyer crossed a line and engaged in inappropriate fear-mongering that unfairly targets immigrants," the group explained.

Not mentioned was that two members of the City Council had called Citizens Union Executive Director Dick Dadey this week to complain about the impending endorsement. Manhattan Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, the co-chair of the council's Progressive Caucus and a candidate for council speaker, brought the matter to Mr. Dadey's attention, he said. Councilman Danny Dromm, a Queens Democrat, also called to register his concern.

First of all, the mailer doesn't target immigrants, it targets people trespassing on American soil. Big difference.

Interesting that 2 council members from outside the district (one from Manhattan) would call Citizens Union about an endorsement and that Citizens Union would listen to them. Citizens Union is not an immigrant rights group, they are supposed to be a good government group. It's never a good thing when the government tells a good government group what to do, and they do it. They have a long history of doing so, however. It's pretty sad.

An actual quote from their director: “Citizens Union has been pleased to work over the past couple of years with reform-minded individuals like Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn.”

Oy vey!

And it's quite interesting that a mailer about a piece of legislation that Citizens Union decided not to take a position on was a dealbreaker for Caruana, yet the many mailers from the real estate PAC, Jobs for New York, on behalf of CD19 candidate Paul Vallone, didn't cause them to bat en eyelash when deciding to endorse Vallone in that race. Outside spending in elections is usually a top 5 concern for good government groups, but for CU, it's of no concern.

At the end of the day, I'm not sure Caruana would have wanted to be on the same endorsement list as Paul Vallone and Melinda Katz, anyway.

Can Johnny's cash contributions be trusted?

From the Daily News:

Cash is king for Controller John Liu’s mayoral campaign.

While most campaign contributors write checks to their chosen candidates, records show that Liu has received 895 donations in cash — far more than other candidates.
The donations, totaling $65,000, are worth $121,240 with the city’s generous matching funds program — and the haul is raising red flags for watchdogs.

“With the campaign’s funny money issues, it’s unfathomable that so many contributions are in cash,” said Dick Dadey, of Citizens Union, a government watchdog group. “Cash is not traceable or verifiable.”

Liu is under scrutiny in the wake of the convictions Thursday of two campaign aides charged with funneling illegal contributions through straw donors.

Liu has not been charged in the case but law enforcement sources said Friday that the investigation into Liu’s campaign is continuing.

The traveling man

From the Daily News:

Campaign cash gave Queens State Sen. Malcolm Smith a ticket to travel the globe.

Smith drained more than $41,000 from his campaign war chest on airfare, rental cars and hotel stays in more than a dozen cities, the Daily News has learned.

As his cash-strapped Democratic colleagues struggled to boost their campaign war chests, Smith’s donor-funded world tour included stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Montreal, Chicago, Tampa, Baltimore, Philadelphia, San Antonio and Saratoga Springs.

Along the way Smith’s campaign paid for golf at the exclusive Breakers resort in Palm Beach, barbecue at Dick’s Last Resort in San Antonio, accommodations at the Beijing Grand Hotel and a “meeting” at Big Daddys liquors in West Palm Beach, campaign records show.

Closer to home, Smith billed his campaign for hotel stays in Newark, Newburgh and the Crowne Plaza LaGuardia — which is just a few miles from Smith’s district.

“With all that time spent traveling, did he spend any time in Albany?” quipped Dick Dadey of watchdog group Citizens Union.

“His liberal use of campaign funds for travel to far flung locations just shows how bad our campaign finance laws are in New York,” Dadey added.

Using taxpayer dollars to promote themselves

From the Daily News:

The state's budget crisis hasn't stopped lawmakers from spending big bucks to promote themselves.

Members of the Senate and Assembly have spent nearly $9 million in taxpayer money this year on constituent mailings, the Daily News has learned.

The spending comes as the state faces a $9 billion budget deficit and is preparing to lay off hundreds of government workers on Dec. 31.

"It's an extraordinary amount of money when the state is broke," said Dick Dadey, executive director of the good government group Citizens Union.

"And the timing of the newsletters is geared to inform voters just before an election, which is doubly inappropriate."

Senators spent $5.3 million on postage, while Assembly members spent $3.6 million. The Senate and Assembly spent a combined $12 million last year, records show.

Finally, an honest tweeder

From the Daily News:

Controversial state Sen. Kevin Parker has raised eyebrows yet again with a fund-raising invitation that boasts: "I help you. You help me.”

"It would be simpler if he just said ‘quid pro quo’ on the invitation,” cracked Citizens Union executive director Richard Dadey.

Parker’s campaign sent out the formal invite in advance of his annual dinner-dance gala, which will be held Nov. 19 at Crystal Manor in Brooklyn.

It costs a minimum of $150 per person to attend, and supporters are asked to raise or contribute between $400 and $2,500 — or buy an ad in the program for $50 to $750.

The front of the invitation bears the slogan: “I help you. You help me. Together we build.”

Dadey, other government reformers and lobbyists who received the invite were stunned at its boldness.

“I find it breathtakingly straightforward,” said Susan Lerner of Common Cause/New York. “It gets to the heart of the deal from his point of view.”

Dadey said the language reinforces “the public’s perceptions that in order for you to represent me, I’ve got to pay up.”

Bloomberg: election reformer

From the NY Post:

A group of elected officials and voting advocates said New York is among the least voter-friendly states in the nation and called for reforms like early voting, same-day registration and allowing New Yorkers to fill out ballots at home.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and several state legislators joined civic groups and activists Monday at City Hall, citing New York’s ranking as 47th among the states in average voter turnout for the last three state and federal election cycles.

To increase voter participation, the group wants New York to join other states that have passed measures to make voting more convenient and easier.

Bloomberg called the ideas “common sense things that other states and municipalities have done.”

“Not doing them is an outrage,” he added.

Some of the proposals on Bloomberg’s wish list have been introduced or debated in recent years and have not gotten far in the state legislature, including the concept of early voting, an option offered in 35 states.

Public interest organizations said pushing election law reforms has historically been difficult in Albany, where some lawmakers worry that increased voter participation could weaken their own power.

Dick Dadey, of the group Citizens Union, said some state legislators “fear people participating, because the more people participate, the less likely they control the outcome.”

Something about the words "Bloomberg" and "election reform" just don't go together. Oh yeah, it's that whole term limits thing from a couple of years ago.

$7M for CB office

From the NY Post:

The city is spending $7 million in taxpayer money on a state-of-the-art office building for a Brooklyn community board that has only two employees -- state Sen. Carl Kruger's girlfriend and sister, The Post has learned.

It's a costly "giveback" to Community Board 18 and the embattled Brooklyn Democrat for his backing nearly two decades ago of a $357 million city sewage-overflow storage plant, which is just now being built at Paerdegat Basin, officials said.

"It's a sweetheart deal for a community board run like a family-owned store," said Dick Dadey, executive director of the government-watchdog group Citizens Union.

Dadey said the recently completed 4,000-square-foot office and meeting space is "so out of context" with what other local boards get that it will just open the floodgates to others asking for the same.

It's rare for community boards to have dedicated city-owned office and meeting spaces. Most rent offices, are advised not to exceed 1,500 square feet of space, and host public meetings at larger spaces, city officials said.

But the city is paying the price now for a deal the Dinkins administration cut in the early 1990s, while Kruger chaired CB 18 and the Department of Environmental Protection project was up for approval by the board.

Kruger, however, said the city has only itself to blame for the high cost.

"It's a disgrace that this project is 10 years behind schedule, so, of course, costs escalated," said Kruger, the subject of an FBI probe into alleged influence peddling.

Still profiting after all these years

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.

Good government group crosses the line

From the Daily News:

One of the city's oldest watchdogs is trying to find the right balance between its bark and its bite.

Citizens Union, the good-government group that has pushed for reform and transparency since 1897, is grappling with how close it should be to the politicians and government officials it monitors.

One of its board members, Joel Berger, resigned this month with a scathing e-mail, accusing Citizens Union of straying from its roots by cozying up to Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

"It saddens me that the organization has become so timid, conflicted and corrupt that I can no longer serve it in good conscience," Berger wrote.

Citizens Union executive director, Dick Dadey, and its board chairman, Peter Sherwin, both reject those charges.

They said they have consciously tried to work with New York's movers and shakers to create real reform, instead of just hollering from the sidelines.

At a hearing this month on the commission, Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) lashed out at a union staffer who testified against a state plan to curb the mayor's Charter power.

"I'm just trying to figure out what are the outer limits of Citizens Union's willingness to be a shill for the mayor," Lancman said. "At what point is Citizens Union going to actually advocate for the citizens and not merely for Mayor Michael Bloomberg?"

Citizens Union called for a referendum on extending term limits in 2008 and strongly opposed how Bloomberg rammed it through the Council. Then it endorsed him for re-election, saying he was good on most other issues.

Not only that, but according to Atlantic Yards Report:

The Citizens Union (CU), responding in December 2006 to a drastic decline in estimated tax revenues--first revealed by AYR, then picked up by the New York Times--called for a “limited delay” in the process and noted that it “does not align itself with those who oppose the project and wish to use the process of delay to kill the project, because we believe that economic development is needed so that the city can continue to be a dynamic place of business and meet the needs of a growing population.”

No call for an investigation as to how Ratner got away with bidding less for the railyards than competitors and winning the bid? No outrage over eminent domain abuse? That's some 'good government' group.

Told y'all about this shady group months ago. Glad that the mainstream press is finally catching on. Sadly, only after the election...

Good government group doing Quinn's bidding

From the Gotham Gazette:

Located on the middle floor of a storage facility that's practically on top of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, it's an elusive setting to kick off a run for the city's top office.

When I visited last week, the Prince Street sign teetered on its hinges, the Q train crossing the Manhattan Bridge rumbled in the distance and a likely homeless man marched in the vacant lot next door, dragging a large wooden stick. Just flights up inside, a quote from Mahatma Gandhi hung in one room, a bubble-lettered campaign schedule in the other. Another hand-written poster read: "Viva Avella."

Earlier this month in Williamsburg at the Italian Festa del Giglio, the candidate weaved through the crowds, undaunted by the smell of cannolis and the sausage and peppers sizzling.

While making his way through, Avella turned to his campaign confidant, Phil DePaolo. "You know my crowd," he said with a smile.

"That's why I wanted you to come," DePaolo, president of the New York Community Council, replied.

Just a half hour before, Avella had been attempting (emphasis on attempting) to court the voters of Williamsburg disembarking from the Bedford Avenue subway stop. Note: The young and hipster laden population seemed far more interested in getting to the local watering hole than shaking Avella's hand.

But here on North 7 Street, flooded with Catholic Italians, Avella felt right at home.

If there are any areas that Avella will be able to carry come this fall's primary, it's the ethnic enclaves, said one city political consultant. They won't carry him into the general election, Mercurio says, but Avella might be able to win the votes of New Yorkers who, whether they want to admit it or not, would not vote for a black candidate, like Thompson.

Wow, the Citizens Union is entertaining the suggestion that "ethnic enclaves" won't vote for a black candidate (Besides, did they forget that some of the largest ethnic enclaves in the city are black or Hispanic)? Why would CU infer that Tony Avella only feels comfortable around Italians? Why would Dick Dadey's group allow unchallenged the notion that most of Avella's voters won't make an informed vote for him?

Well, it turns out ol' Dick has got a long history as a gay activist and is Christine Quinn's buddy from way back. Despite now heading a "good government" group, he has never truly criticized Chris (or the mayor) and he never will. He was eerily quiet when she hired an expensive lawyer with taxpayer money during the breaking of the slush fund scandal and didn't exactly respond vociferously when term limits were extended. But when she wants help getting revenge on people she doesn't like, she knows exactly who to call!

Just so you guys know the real story.

Quote: “Citizens Union has been pleased to work over the past couple of years with reform-minded individuals like Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn,” Dadey said.

Wha...?

And check out CU's "recommended community development" page! Ratner's Folly! West Side Stadium! Hooray!

If you can't count on good government groups to look out for your interests, then who can you trust? Looks like only Tony Avella...

The Village Voice wrote something funny:

Some council colleagues call Avella "crazy" because "he is apparently the only one who has returned his parking placard," which is totally nuts; also, "he often acts, they say, as if he is the smartest person in the room," which, if you've looked at the city council, actually seems a reasonable assumption.