NY Elections 2006

Poll Site Notice

Civix — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 11:20:00 -0400

If you haven't recieved this in the mail, there may be something wrong with your voter registration.
Call your Board of Elections.

The Ethical Flavor of Marty Connor

Civix — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 10:37:00 -0400

While the issues have received scant media attention in the the 25th State Senate race, incumbent Martin Connor has left a trail of actions that may speak to his ethical convictions.

In 2002, Connor was Senate Minority Leader and chaired the convention where judges are nominated by the Democratic Party, and Brooklyn boss Clarence Norman supported and a judge whom Connor considered a "horrible" choice. Rather than voice objection and risk alienating the boss, he deferred by convening the nomination process and then "stepped down as chair, quickly departed, and allowed the nomination to go forward," according to last week's US Appeals Court ruling(pdf format) calling New Yorks's Judicial Convention system unconstitutional.
“I long since learned the value [in] politics of the unspoken thought,” he quipped.
Connor is once again seeking the leadership post, along with half of the Democrats in Senate.
In this election, he unsuccessfully fought to knock his opponent, Ken Diamondstone, off of the ballot by arguing that he didn't fulfil residency requirments - a strategy, Connor once told the Daily News, is not the "slam dunk a case as a lot of investigators make it out to be."
The Times criticized Connor, an election law specialist, for what they called his long-time role as "the go-to man for politicians who want to get pesky challengers off the ballot."
In his role as election lawyer, his clientle has varied.
One example has him being paid thousands of dollars in consulting fees, according to the NY Post, by embattled Assemblymember Brian McLaughlin, who is not running for re-election due to an indictment by the FBI
In another instance, he worked for Margarita Lopez-Torres - who was part of the suit that ended with the ruling on Judicial Conventions - in her hard fought recount battle with the Brooklyn Democratic Party over a Surrogate's Court seat. The seat she was seeking is viewed as highly lucrative to the party because of its opportunities for patronage, and Lopez-Torres is a party pariah.
When new seats were being created on the already warily eyed Surrogate's bench last year - in a manner so oblique and hastily that it avoided primaries - he again aquiesced to leadership. Crain's reporter, Erik Engquist, wrote that Connor "expressed surprise, even shock" at the bill's appearance on the legislative floor, but then "proceeded to vote for it when the roll was called a few mintues later."
In July, he introduced a resolution for amending the constitution to eliminate the election of judges, and create a merit selection system. The concept of merit selection has the support of a some influention figures and institutions, such as Mayor Bloomberg and the NYC Bar Association. Connor's bill would set up a city-wide judicial selection commision to nominate judges for everything except the Appelate Courts and Court of Claims, with a state-wide commission selecting judges for those branches.
Elected officials will then make appointments from among these nominees.
A critical report(pdf format) on the state of New York's campaign finance system, by Common Cause New York, showed car expenses to account for a third of Connor's total campaign expenditures between July 2003 and March 2006.

The Reform Debate

Civix — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:22:00 -0400

It's no surprise that all of the Demcoratic candidates for the 74th Assembly District were the reform candidate last Monday, with nothing but a large placard for a good-government group looming in the background, and given the current popularity of the word "reform."
The candidates were participating in a debate for the Democratic Primary that was co-sponsored by Citizens Union (the aforementioned good government group, active in the city for over a hundred years) and the local papers City Hall and Our Town Downtown.
The seat is currently held by Sylvia Friedman, who won it in a special election when Steve Standers resigned to become a lobbyist last year. Neither Sanders' career change, nor the procedure for special elections, failed to become issues in themselves for her opponents, Brian Kavanaugh and Esther Yang.
Kavanaugh, a former mayoral aide in four administrations and past chief of staff for Councilmember Gale Brewer, derided the special election process as "a system that is essentially driven by party insiders." When a seat is left vacant in the middle of an official's term, the political parties nominate a candidate, and run them in the general primary, leap frogging a primary election. The incumbent is then usually comfortably ensconced in their seat, with 98 percent of incumbents being re-elected, according to a report by the Brennan Center, which Yang touted. Indeed, Sanders won his seat in a special election, and held it for 27 years.
Kavanaugh called for a system modeled after the city level process, where the seat is left vacant until the special election, where there is a full election including primaries. The vacancy prevents an appointed official from reaping the benefits of incumbency, which he notes are government funded newsletters, an office in the district, and staff.
Yang, a community activist also involved in mind and body health care, called for a "break point" - usually called a cooling off period - where Assembly members cannot become a lobbyist for two years after serving. While she also voiced concern over aides becoming lobbyists, in a reference to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's staff, she did not elaborate. Kavanaugh showed a rhetorical aversion to the practice as well, but espoused no concrete plans to thwart this "conflict of interest." He did call for a total ban on gifts from lobbyists, and increased disclosure of their activities dealing with government.
But Friedman is a natural reformer, she says, and she began to change Albany at her first committee meeting, in "10 seconds flat", by beginning a debate over a bill in committee. She said she was told afterward that that "had never happened before." A former Community Board 6 member, she said she wants the Assembly's legislative process to resemble that of the community boards, where much of the work is done in committee.
On the topic of campaign finance, Kavanaugh called it one of his top three priorities, but offered no policy recommendations, while Yang called for a total ban on contributions from lobbyists. But Friedman called for a public funding system modeled after the city's Campaign Finance Board, where a candidate that follows expenditure and contribution limits receives a certain amount of money, depending on the amount already raised. She said she only supports donations by individuals, and pushed a bill out of committee to set up the program.
As a member of the Elections Law Committee, Friedman said she worked to shrink the period between election day and the last day to register down to 10 days, although she supports same day registration.
Espousing his independence from the current government in Albany, and calling it a necessary ingredient to "change the system," Kavanaugh sought to portray Friedman as too closely aligned with Speaker Silver. He said he could find only three bills where the incumbent voted differently than the Speaker, and those were all on issues concerning areas outside of the district and of little importance, like coyote hunting law.
But adding to the list of differences, Friedman said she was supporting the election of a judge competing with one of Silver's choice and pointed out that she supports the inclusion of low and moderate income housing in the Seward Park Extension, while Silver does not. When the Legislature passed a bill eliminating the statute of limitations for rape, she says she was part of the group that helped to convince Silver to include civil cases, not only criminal, in the law.
The only candidate to support term limits for the legislature was Yang, with the others calling it an affront to democracy and highliting their stances on other reform issues that would serve reduce the incumbency rate
Yang, who had a tendency to trail off into tirades tenuously related to the subject at hand, made a broken attempt at a point about disclosure concerning the amounts of money raised by her opponents. Friedman countered by noting that Yang has failed to even file with the Board of Elections, "Which is illegal by the way." she quipped. In her defense, Yang said of the filings: "I do have it notarized, I do have it affidavit, but they somehow disappear, but my attorney sent it back."

For the other issues discussed during the debate, I will do separate posts. The links are below:

9/11 legislation
Health care
Housing/development
Judicial reform
Noise

More Ballot Access Drama for Queens Candidates

Civix — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 15:33:00 -0400

In the aftermath of a series court challenges, only one candidate - out of a field of three - has survived challenges from the Queens Democratic Party's chosen candidate for the 22nd Assembly District, Ellen Young.
On Monday, Grace Meng gave in to charges that she didn't meet residency requirements, saying that while she has the required proof, "I do not want my family, friends, neighbors and supporters to go through a lengthy trial. I also do not want my contributions to be used towards a legal battle." She plans to return her remaining contributions, which amount to $125,000.
She is the daughter of the current Assemblyman, Jimmy Meng, whose has chosen not to run for re-election because of an unspecified illness. He is currently under investigation for voter fraud by the Queens District Attorney.
Democratic District Leader Terence Park, who was kicked off the ballot on Monday for flaws in his cover sheets, vowed to appeal.
Julia Harrison withstood Young's challenges and remains on the ballot as a Democrat, and running on the Republican and Conservative lines is Christopher Migliaccio, who was not challenged.

Challenger to Ada Smith Knocked of Ballot

Civix — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 13:30:00 -0400

Elizabeth Bishop-Goldsmith, founder of Mothers Against Guns, has been knocked off the ballot in her pursuit of the 10th Senate District seat. After challenges, she ended up with only 153 valid signatures, about 15 percent of the 1,000 needed.
And Alan Jenning's petitions may not hold up either. The campaign only has 17 signatures more than needed - not a comfortable margin - and Board of Elections workers testified that 20 of his signatures are invalid.
Goldsmith accused the Board of Elections of corruption, saying it is owned by the Queens Democratic party, and called for an investigation into its practices. She then went on to accuse her staffers of conspiracy, denouncing them for sabotaging her petitions.
In the past, she has had problems with staffers. Her campaign manager left over what he said was a dispute about pay, which she denies was the reason.
Goldsmith was running largely on an anti-gun violence platform. Prior to this race, she proposed local legislation, which became law, to raise the purchasing age for a rifle or shotgun to 21 from 18, and was working with state lawmakers from both parties to limit sales of ammunition.

Ask, but Don't Listen...

Civix — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:58:00 -0400

Over the past couple of Sundays, the Times' metro editors editorial writers have been asking some public questions of candidates running for state office. And what's more public than the pages of the institution that is the New York Times?
The first round of questions were a series of reform minded questions, revolving around elections issues and the legislative
proccess. The second round - which was more general in nature, tackling the issues of the day - they actually answered themselves.
In an interesting experiment in public give and take, Urban Elephants, a community driven, right-wing blog, has provided a space for candidates to answer the questions.
UE provides blogs for candidates' personal use to reach the public directly with the issues they feel important. They also provide an audience.
In the '2006 Local Candidates' section, in their right hand column, there is a list of candidates, and links to their blogs, which are hosted by the UE site. There is also links to all of the posts about the candidates from other bloggers on the site. Most of the candidates also have websites (at least rudimentary ones, anyway). Unfortunately, the majority of candidates do not use them.
Some of the candidates have used this space to respond.
The Times' campaign blog, the Empire Zone, seems like the perfect venue to publish answers to questions its own editorial board deems so important. At least they linked to UE.
Respect to Urban Elephants for attempting to pick up the slack, even if it is for partisan purposes.

Candidates who responded:

Robert Heim - 73 AD
Stuart Mirsky - 23 AD
Yvette Velázquez Bennett - 44 AD
Philip Pidot - 26 SD

Diamondstone: "Carpetbagger"

Civix — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 13:02:00 -0400

Challenger Ken Diamondstone is embroiled in a ballot access challenge with the incumbent, Marty Connor, for the 25th Senate District seat.
Connor tells the Politicker that Diamondstone is a carpetbagger, and that he is challenging his status because he doesn't even, in fact, live in the district.
But the Diamondstone camp rebutts with the accusation that Connor "has resorted to acts of desperation to protect his seat," and that he does in fact live in the district. Diamondstone's defense is that he had moved to the district prior to the date required by State Election Law, but failed to register in time.
Engaging in rhetorical debate, Connor says that even if that were true, that would only make him a 9 month resident of the district, which is split between Manhattan and Brooklyn, while Connor has lived there for over 36 years. "So of course there's a difference in familiarity and knowledge of the issues." he says.
But, a reader points out that Diamndstone's prior address (map) was only a couple blocks away from the Brooklyn side of the district.

On an interesting note (or at least I think so), regarding the Board of Elections: while Diamondstone's ballot status is up in the air, the BOE doesn't list his name on their tentative 'Candidacy List'.

Ballot Battles and Violent Backgrounds

Civix — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 15:14:00 -0400

Could New York politics get anymore cartoonish? The 10th Senatorial District must prove great fun for the tabloids:
In the time honored tradition of ballot bumping, Allan Jennings is challenging(pdf) Ada Smith's petitions to get her name on the ballot, with Smith challenging right back, and attempting to knock Liz Goldsmith off to boot.
No need for serious debate over the issues here, it's my legal team versus yours.
The candidates' backgrounds are enlightening here.
Smith is currently under investigation for paying two no-show or semi-show staffers, has just recently been accused of throwing a telephone at another staffer, was found guilty of a is facing misdemeanor charges - reduced from criminal charges - for throwing coffee into the face of one more staffer earlier this year, and was accused of biting a police officer in '98. But hey, she gets the endorsment of the Queens Democratic Party anyway.
And then there's Jenninings, the former city councilman. After being found guilty of sexual harassment of a staffer, and then throwing a chunk of metal at a reporter doing a story about him, he was accused of brandishing a gun at a an opponent's wife. At least he didn't win re-election that year - in fact he was the only incumbent not to be. After being denied the GOP's permission to run on their line this year (they did give the idea serious consideration, though), he gathered enough to run on the Democratic line.
Other challengers in this... spirited race, are fellow Democratic hopeful and former School Board district president, Shirley Huntley, and perennial Republican candidate, Jereline Hunter.

In Search of a Challenger

Civix — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 01:38:00 -0400

At the risk of sounding subjective: when the winner of a race has been caught on tape trying to extort a bribe, it can't be a good thing.
That said, the prospects for the 40th Assembly District, in East New York, don't look good.
The indictee, incumbent Diane Gordon, has three challengers that we know of, and last we looked at Winchester Key.
So, who else is there? Godfrey Jenks on deck!
Wait, he can't spend any money on his campaign, because he hasn't even filed a committee with the Board of Elections, yet.
The last challenger is perrenial candidate, Kenneth Evens.
There's a debate, over at Room Eight, as to whether or not he challenged the Genovese crime family's political club in '94, which would have been "heroic" in the author's eyes.
Evens was the petition coordinator for Councilmember Charles Barron's '01 campaign, but Barron said he wouldn't support Evans' '02 campaign "because he wasn't serious." Although, Barron did mention Evan's early support for Representative Edolphous Towns, who opposed Barron's '01 campaign.
In this campaign, Evans has raised $2,600. $2,000(pdf) of that was transfered from Philip J. Smallman's failed independent bid in '05 for the Supreme Court on the Republican and Conservative lines. Smallman's claim to fame seems to be his (court appointed?) defense of a man charged with rape and murder, who tried to kill his last lawyer in the courtroom.
Anybody planning a write-in campaign we should know about?

A Challenger's Sordid Past

Civix — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 13:54:00 -0400

An indictment for corruption can certainly be an opening for challengers to defeat an incumbent, no?
So, now that charges against Diane Gordon, Assemblywoman for the 40th District in East New York, have been made public, just who is opposing her?
Winchester Key for one.
A former School Board Community president, Key has an interesting story.
He was an aide to former Assemblyman Edward Griffith, whom Gordon - also a former aide - ousted six years ago after being fired for her participation in a police brutality protest.
But that's not the story. The story(pdf), according to Tom Robbins, is about how as the chairman of East New York Urban Youth Corps, he managed to tarnish the name of that rising star of a non-profit.
In 1997, Key fired a director, Martin Dunn, for refusing to award a contract for the contruction of a new complex for the homeless to one of East New York's political hacks: Democratic district leader, DeCosta Headley.
At Key's urging, Dunn awarded two contracts to a firm of Headly's with calamitous results. So, he refused a third and was sacked.
As a result, Youth Corps lost out on significant funding for other projects, and the homeless shelter was never built.
Dunn is now a very successful developer of low and medium income housing at Dunn Development Corporation.
Key is now president and CEO of Youth Corps.

An Incumbent Leaves an Opening - By Not Running

Civix — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 18:38:00 -0400

So Brighton Beach Assemblywoman, Adele Cohen, has decided not to run for relection this year - leaving an open seat in the 46th for the taking.
(Not that that would stop DC37, the city's largest municipal union, from giving her their endorsement anyway, Daily Politics points out. The endorsement was just one out of a sweeping list of incumbents, and a well vetted one at that, I must say...)
The Daily News reports that she is looking for a judgeship, but is also facing problems from Russian and Catholic groups from her district. "She's stabbed so many people in the back there's no one left," an unnamed source told the News.
But the search for a seat on the bench isn't going too well, says Crain's Insider: "After a year on a waiting list with more than 200 other lawyers ... she has yet to be interviewed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's screening panel."
Some bloggers are excited at the prospect of a representative for the new immigrant population taking the seat.
Jspot hopes that the election of a Russian Jew, which both of the Democratic candidates are, would remind New Yorkers "that Jewish immigration is not something that only happened over four decades at the turn of the 20th century," but that it is still taking place.
And while happy with the prospect, Ruby Jewsday is worried that the campaign will turn too negative. "The Russian community needs both of you, the Jewish community needs both of you, and New York needs the talents and political passion that both of you bring to the table. God forbid you should destroy each other and hurt the entire community."

Yang Protests Private Restauranteur's Use of Union Square Park

Civix — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 03:45:00 -0400

A private developer is seeking approval from city officials to build a restaurant within Union Square Park, and officials will not release their name, says Assembly canididate, Esther Yang.

"I oppose the use of this public park space for private profits and wheeling and dealing behind closed doors. Good government is about full disclosure and transparency.” she says.

Clinton Lays Out Energy Strategy, Outlines Goals

Civix — Wed, 31 May 2006 01:28:00 -0400

Citing national security, environmental, and economic concerns, senatorial candidate Hillary Clinton, laid out a major energy policy proposal last week at the National Press Club.

"The present crisis offers us a great opportunity to improve the lives of all Americans with more predictable energy prices, in a cleaner environment, with technology-driven job growth and new economic dynamism." she said.

Noting that the internal combustion engine wastes 80 percent of the energy it uses, and half coal plants' energy is lost, she proposed reducing our dependence on foreign oil by at least half by 2025 through innovation and efficiency.

Half of this would come through a conversion from oil to biomass. Clinton would reduce the other half by expanding hybrids and getting more fuel-efficiency from trucks, industrial and residential sources. Also, she wants to utilize more renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind.

She also proposed the creation of a $50 billion "strategic energy fund" to develop energy technologies. This would be financed by a windfall tax on oil companies for two years. The oil companies could avoid the tax by investing in alternative fuels themselves. She would also repeal some of the oil companies' tax breaks and add that to the fund. Some of this money would be used to reform energy taxes.

On energy tax policy she said:

I support comprehensive legislation that would overhaul our energy taxes; signal the market we're in this for the long run by extending for 10 years the production tax credit; spur demand by doubling consumer tax breaks for hybrids, clean diesel and other advanced vehicles; and create a new tax incentive for fleet owners to purchase more efficient vehicles; speed the development of cellulosic ethanol by providing loan guarantees for the first billion gallons of commercial production capacity; ramp up the availability of ethanol by providing gas station owners with a 50 percent tax credit for the cost of installing ethanol pumps; and then extend and increase tax incentives for homeowners and businesses who will make their homes and businesses more energy-efficient.

She called for an energy research agency modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, an idea endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences. DARPA is the agency that the internet was created at. The agency would be supported by $9 billion for 5 years from the fund.

Federal purchasing could reduce energy use, she said, then laid out a series of goals: by 2010 the federal government should purchase the most fuel efficient cars available; by 2013 it should purchase 10 percent of it's energy from renewable sources; and by 2020 it should reduce it's oil consumption by 40 percent. And "federal buildings should be designed whenever possible - and then retrofitted as well - to meet the highest green building standards.", she said.

$1 billion dollars from the fund would go towards expanding ethanol consumption. She proposed that 50 percent of gas station have ethanol pumps by 2015, and all by 2025. Under he plan, the large oil companies would be required to do so, while tax incentives would be offered to other, smaller stations.

Saying coal is to America as "oil is to Saudi Arabia," she said it must be part of our domestic strategy, but raised concerns about its contribution to global warming. A new process called "carbon sequestration", where carbon emissions are captured and buried, may be a solution, Clinton said. She also wants to use the CO2, which can be pumped into oil wells to help extract hard to reach reserves, to spur domestic oil production.

She proposed a tax credit for carbon sequestration, and five large scale tests, in a variety of settings, to find whether it is a realistic option.

She also voiced support for the Mccain-Lieberman bill, which would mandate a cap and trade system of carbon dioxide.

On nuclear energy as an energy alternative, she raised concerns about the threat of the plants as a target for terrorists, and reserved support for it until questions of cost, safety, proliferation and waste are resolved, and until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reformed.

She attempted to strike a balance on her concern for the auto companies shaky economic foundations, and the need for an increase in fuel economy standards.
In cooperation with Senator Barack Obama, Democrat from Illinois, she is working on legislation to offer auto companies assistance with retiree health care costs in exchange for them investing more in fuel-efficient cars.

Fee-bates, a system where less fuel efficient vehicles are at taxed higher levels to pay for increased tax incentives for more fuel efficient vehicles, was a strategy she supported, but did not go into depth about.

"That's a start." she said, "But we need the carmakers, the unions and the Bush administration to hammer this out. This is one of those moments that cries out for presidential leadership."

President Bush has been pushing for lawmakers to give his office the authority to set fuel economy standards for the whole fleet. Currently, the administration sets the standards for light trucks.

Chan's experiences as an immigrant

Civix — Fri, 26 May 2006 15:29:00 -0400

Manhattan Civil Court candidate, for District 2, Margaret Chan spoke in front of the Village Independent Democrats political club - who have endorsed her - about her experience as an immigrant from Hong Kong in Canada: (Via the Villager)

“I learned French, English — and discrimination,” Chan said. “The Civil Court is really for the little people, people who don’t know their rights,” she said.

Faso Accused of Voting Against Equal Rights

Civix — Thu, 18 May 2006 12:04:00 -0400

As the Assembly Minority Leader, Faso voted against civil rights in 2002, says an opponent, William L. DeProspo, chair of the Orange County Republicans. The characterization was part of a letter sent out by DeProspo sent out in an attempt to portray Faso as a conservative extremist.

The bill he voted against - for "comparable worth" - would have
required equal pay for men and women by setting pay scales for jobs in the private sector. (It was passed only by the Democratic-controlled Assembly and never became law.)"

Faso told the Times in response, "It means that I was the only one who really understood the issue and had the political gumption to vote against some nice-sounding but some thoroughly discredited idea," he said. "I have a pretty consistent record of being honest with how I voted and why I voted."