Matching funds in non-competitive races

From Crains:

It's an aspect of the city's campaign finance program that has been attacked by editorial boards, and been used as an argument by Albany Republicans as to why the city's taxpayer matching funds program shouldn't go statewide. The city's campaign finance system is intended to level the playing field for candidates by matching small-dollar contributions with taxpayer money. But often, entrenched incumbents running against minimal opposition can get heavy payouts in public dollars.

In order to get the taxpayer matching funds, a campaign needs to have at least one opponent on the ballot. Under a change in the city charter approved by the voters in 2010, getting on the ballot has become easier, because the number of valid signatures required in various races has been halved.

Candidates have the option of turning down the money. In 2009, for instance, Council Speaker Christine Quinn turned down matching funds in her council reelection campaign, even as her two opponents took them. Ms. Quinn won re-election, and is now running for mayor.

On the other hand, in 2009 Brooklyn Councilman Lew Fidler got more than $88,000 in matching funds for a general election against a poorly funded Republican, and was subsequently knocked by the Daily News editorial board for spending much of it. Mr. Fidler won a third term, although he later lost a state Senate race to a Republican in a larger Brooklyn district.

Meanwhile, some City Council incumbents who are expected to cruise to re-election did fill out forms seeking the maximum amount of taxpayer matching funds and stating they face viable challenges. The list includes Brooklyn Councilwoman Darlene Mealy and Manhattan Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez.

More pork doled out to favored council members

From the Daily News:

The heartiest eaters at the trough of City Council slush funds were named Tuesday in a good government group report which argues that the way the money's doled out gives the Council speaker too much sway over individual members.

Brooklyn Democrat Domenic Recchia, the powerful head of the council’s Finance Committee, was number one in FY 2012 with $12.1 million, according to Citizens Union.

Councilman Erik Martin Dilan (D-Brooklyn) came in second with $11.3 million and Councilman Lew Fidler (D-Brooklyn) was third with $10.7 million.

The Council allocated $459 (fixed) million in discretionary funds in FY 2012. Members gave the money to non-profits and used it for capital expenditures on city property.

Citizen Union head Dick Dadey said the funds should be handed out “more objectively” and with “greater equity” and that politics should be taken out of the process.

“The City Council speaker and some of the other leaders have too much say in what gets distributed,” he said. “One could argue that that’s a way to keep the Council in line as you try and move a legislative agenda forward.”

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn pointed out in a statement that Council had already made changes to make its expense funds more transparent and was planning to do the same with capital funds.

From the NY Post:

A new analysis of how the City Council allocated more than $2 billion in discretionary funds between 2009 and 2012 has found a wide gulf between the haves and have-nots.

Dominic Recchia (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the powerful Finance Committee, was the biggest winner in the Citizens Union study, collecting $66.7 million to spend on capital projects and nonprofits of his choosing. Erik Dilan (D-Brooklyn), an ally of Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez, came in second with $37 million.

Dead last in 51st place were Dan Halloran (R-Queens) and his predecessor Tony Avella, now a state senator. Over the four-year period, they pulled in just $9.5 million for their constituents.

Avella, an outspoken critic of Council Speaker Christine Quinn, said the results should come as no surprise to anyone.

“Nothing is done by merit,” he said. “I was independent and took on the speaker.”

From the NY Post:

Council Speaker Christine Quinn is yanking Seabrook’s discretionary funds in the upcoming budget as the beleaguered Bronx politician gears up for a second federal trial on charges of extortion, money-laundering and fraud, The Post has learned.

“Council Member Seabrook and I have come to a mutual agreement that this year’s funding to his district will be determined by the Speaker’s Office and the Bronx delegation chair,” Quinn said in a prepared statement, reversing her position on the issue from several months ago.

“All allocations will undergo the appropriate review and vetting process, including by the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services and city agencies,” she said.
In February 2010, federal prosecutors alleged that from 2002 through 2009, Seabrook funneled more than $1 million in council member items — also known as pork — to nonprofits he controlled, with about half that money lining the pockets of his girlfriend and family members.

When will the eyesore be taken down?

$50,000 to tear down two stories? Not bloody likely.

I think we should get one of our great Queens Council-panderers...er, members...to introduce legislation that mandates that the City create a new Department of Deconstruction for all of the BSA decisions that actually force developers to remove stories or remediate work if they don't meet a strict deadline in removing them. Then it should follow with tax liens and ultimately seizure of the properties in question with a resale at auction if necessary.

Parking rules don't apply to the ruling class

From the NY Post:

Councilman Lew Fidler (D-Brooklyn) -- the frontrunner to fill the disgraced Kruger’s Senate seat in a special election March 20 – is up to his old tricks routinely parking on a sidewalk corridor in the plaza behind Borough Hall and then walking across the street to work at his Court Street law office.

But unlike October 2010, when the Post reported he had illegally parked his 2002 Infiniti I35 routinely on the public plaza the previous two years, Fidler now pulls in with a larger, sweeter ride -- a 2011 Infiniti FX35.

All this while kicking up his campaign to fill the southern Brooklyn Senate seat held by Kruger, who stepped down last month after tearfully pleading guilty to collecting nearly $1 million in bribes.

“It’s insane that [Fidler] would do this when there’s already a lack of trust over politicians in his district between Kruger and [the sexting scandal that led to last year’s resignation of former Rep. Anthony] Weiner,” said a stunned Brooklyn pol.

The city says only borough-president office vehicles can park in the reserved section of the plaza, between Court and Adams streets and next to Columbus Park.

Fidler laughed all the way to the bank

From the Daily News:

Certified by the Campaign Finance Board: Brooklyn Councilman Lew Fidler ripped off the taxpayers to the tune of $88,550.

Rolling in private donations in a Democratic district, Fidler in 2009 faced a Republican running on less than a shoestring.

No matter. He insisted he was up against a mighty foe and demanded the full $88,550 in funds rather than the quarter of that which the board normally gives in lopsided races. He scored 82% of the vote.

Now the board is being refunded money by Fidler, but under the law it can recoup only what he failed to spend - a grand total of $8,760. That's a shame, because Fidler fleeced taxpayers for every penny of that $88,550.

Most Queens council members MIA during storm

From Sheepshead Bites:

With just about all of the roads finally clear, outrage at the city’s bungled response to the December 26 blizzard is now spreading beyond the Mayor’s office and the Sanitation Department. Flatbush Scoop, a blog owned by Yeshiva World News, is laying into our local City Council representatives for being MIA as residents struggled to cope.

They give high marks to Councilman David Greenfield, who was caught on video blasting the city’s response and the decision to clear bike lanes before residential streets. But other councilmembers received scathing reviews:

We at FlatbushScoop.com were shocked when we reached out to all the local Council Members representing the Jewish areas that were hard-hit by the Bloomberg Blizzard. We expected them to at the very least have staff answer our phone calls. Sadly, many were on vacation or simply did not answer the phone. Please don’t forgot that these politicians were NOT THERE FOR YOU next time these politicians ask for your vote.

Flatbush Scoop also put together a shame list of four local representatives – three of whom represent parts our coverage area – that were on vacation or otherwise unavailable during the storm.

FLATBUSHSCOOP.COM’S SHAME ON YOU LIST:

1. Brad Lander – Councilman Lander’s Boro Park portion of his district was hard-hit. On Monday his office wasn’t event taking phone calls. On Tuesday, when we asked for the Councilman we were told he was on vacation!

2. Mike Nelson – There were rumors of Councilman Nelson sighting this week but we called his office every single day this week and couldn’t get through even once!

3. Domenic Recchia – Councilman Recchia had some of the worst snow-piled streets in his Gravesend district. While some people told us they saw Recchia in the beginning of the week, his office was closed!

4. Lew Fidler – Councilman Fidler was on vacation this week. Enough said.

Ah, well where the hell were the representatives of Queens? Other than Council Members Peter Vallone and Dan Halloran, who seemed to be on every newscast you turned on complaining about the city's response, Queens council members were completely MIA. Their offices were either not answering the phone, not responsive or on vacation. Share your experiences here.

(Oh, and a lot of the third termers don't even bother to show up to work anymore.)

Council member gambles on lawsuits

From the NY Post:

City Councilman Lewis Fidler gets a $60,000-plus salary from a company that helped finance the lawsuit by police gunshot victim Sean Bell and other major cases against the NYPD.

The Brooklyn Democrat moonlights as the chief lawyer for LawCash, a company that gambles on the outcome of court cases -- including headline-grabbing police-brutality suits -- by giving money to cash-strapped plaintiffs who could hit legal pay dirt.

The company quietly gave money to Joseph Guzman -- who was shot 16 times in the 50-bullet barrage that killed Sean Bell, a source said. It was a savvy business investment: Guzman won a $3 million settlement from the city last month.

LawCash is "involved in many police-brutality cases filed against the city," said Bell family lawyer Sandy Rubenstein, who represents victims in the 2006 shooting case, as well as the woman Bell was to marry the day he died, Nicole Paultré-Bell.

Another LawCash client was NYPD torture victim Abner Louima, who won an $8.7 million settlement in 2001 against the city.

Fidler said he makes somewhere between $60,000 and $80,000 as LawCash's general counsel -- on top of the $127,500 he makes as a council member.

The firm generally advances a few thousand dollars to plaintiffs at interest rates of 2 to 4 percent a month. If the case loses, they get nothing back. If the case wins, they get principal plus interest, which can exceed 25 percent.

Fidler says there is no conflict of interest in his firm's going against the city in court.

"There is no contact with the city of New York," Fidler said of his part-time job. "What possible conflict would there be, as I do no business with the city?"

But the City Council sometimes sits in judgment of the same cases that LawCash invests in.

A little on the side

This comes from the Gotham Gazette. Interesting ranges there...

Budgetary winners and losers

From Gotham Gazette:

When it comes to bringing home the bacon, some City Council members do a lot better than others.

According to an analysis by Gotham Gazette, Councilmember and Finance Committee chair Domenic Recchia sponsored more individual member items than any other council member in this year's budget (more on its approval here). Recchia raked in nearly $1.3 million for nonprofits of his choice.

Recchia was one of four members -- Lewis Fidler, Leroy Comrie and James Oddo are the others -- who topped the million-dollar mark in member items, often referred to as council pork.

At the other end of the spectrum, Elizabeth Crowley garnered the least amount of money with $358,321, falling behind recently indicted Larry Seabrook, who had $362,276. Vincent Gentile, Gale Brewer, Margaret Chin and Helen Foster also got less than $400,000

Crowley's pot supposedly got chopped because she pissed off her royal highness, Christine Quinn.