Who is worse: Toby or Pinky?

From the Daily News:

Some advocates for women are saying state Senate candidate John Messer should dump disgraced former City Councilman Dennis Gallagher as a political advisor.

Gallagher, who pled guilty to sexual abuse in 2008, is currently fighting a civil lawsuit filed by his victim.

Messer has launched an aggressive primary challenge to state Sen. Toby Stavisky for the Democratic nomination.

“This, in my opinion, shows incredibly poor judgement,” said state Sen. Liz Krueger.
“I don’t know Mr. Messer but I know quite a bit about the history of Mr. Gallagher. He continues to argue that the woman he violated shared some responsibility for that action.”

Messer’s supporters downplayed Gallagher’s involvement in the campaign — saying he has no direct role.

“Why would you want someone like that working for you?” asked Ann Jawin of the Center for the Women of New York.

Messer and Stavisky will have a rare joint appearance on Wednesday night at a forum sponsored by the Queensboro Hill Civic Association.

The event starts at 7 p.m. at New York Hospital Queens.

While the women's objection is nothing more than a 3rd party attack on a guy trying to upend the Queens Democratic machine, the reality is that voters really do need to think twice about anyone seeking advice from Dennis Gallagher. Why haven't Jawin and Krueger called out Peter Koo for also employing Gallagher?

Tribune bucks the status quo

From the Queens Tribune:

The Stavisky family has been exposed to the Albany culture of corruption years before Senator Toby replaced her deceased husband in the Senate. She had gone to Albany with her husband, who had been a member of the legislature for 34 years before his untimely death.

Toby has extended the Stavisky hold on the legislature for the past 14 years.

In the close to 50 years the Staviskys have made their living as legislators, their only child Evan was exposed to Albany and learned very well how to make a huge amount of money by playing the lobbyist game. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with lobbying Albany. There is nothing wrong with being a lobbyist.

However, when your mother is chairperson of a committee, there is something wrong with that committee legislating and funding your firm’s clients and their industry or giving grants or member items to your firms’ client. There is something wrong when you profit because your mom is an elected official or she does anything as an elected official to help your firm, its clients or to help you to recruit clients.

But such is the culture of Albany.

Evan Stavisky has run the fastest-growing lobbying firm since its inception a decade ago, and his mom’s elective office is one of the firm’s biggest assets with its Albany clients.

If it’s not illegal, it should be. Either way, it stinks.

Dead woman signs petition of Stavisky & Iannece

From the Times Ledger:

A candidate for the state Senate seat based in Flushing has charged that his opponent, state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone), got onto the ballot with forged signatures, including one of a dead woman.

John Messer, an Oakland Gardens business owner and lawyer, released an affidavit signed by Jesus Palomino, saying that his mother Ana Rita Palomino could not have signed a designating petition for a slew of Democratic candidates, including Stavisky, this summer.

His mother died in February 2011.

“The petition signature shown to me that designates Toby Stavisky for the office of state senator and submitted to the Board of Elections could not have been that of my mother,” the notarized affidavit said.