Results tagged “campaignfinanceboard”

It's less than a month till the primary election, but frontrunner Democratic mayoral candidate City Comptroller Bill Thompson is gearing up his attack on Mayor Bloomberg. Thompson's campaign complained to the city’s Campaign Finance Board that Bloomberg didn't disclose $3.3 million in contributions. PolitickerNY explains, "The contributions at issue here are mainly to local Republican organizations and the Independence Party, both of which later endorsed Bloomberg"—however—"The contributions were not unreported: the campaign reported them to the state board of elections, not the city board."

Sure, the 2008 election is exciting, but hundreds of candidates are expected to run for city office next year.

A lawsuit filed Monday against the City Campaign Finance Board seeks to overturn a recently enacted funding law that opponents assert will just make the City Council richer - and whiter. The recently-enacted campaign finance restrictions reduces the contributions from companies who do business with the city by a whopping 92%. Translation: In a mayoral race, the individual limit on giving is now $400, versus $4,950; in City Council races, it's $250, down from $2,950.

Gothamist hopes that you'll take time to go and cast votes for Mayor, Public Advocate, other politicians, and various ballot measures. If you have time to read up on candidates and measures before you head out, read these to make informed decisions: The Campaign Finance Board's 2005 Voter Guide and Gotham Gazette's Guide for the Last Minute Voter.

Tomorrow, there are four ballot proposals that New York City voters will be able to cast a "yes" or "no" on. Unfortunately, many people don't know about them. So, Gothamist recommend you spend a little time reading about these ballot proposals before you head out and vote. The Campaign Finance Board site has descriptions of what each ballot measure says, as well as pro and con arguments for them:

Just five days until election, and it's like there's one of those grey, rainy clouds over Fernando Ferrer's head. Not that he or anyone from his campaign or his supporters will admit it, but even the trying-to-be-upbeat words are veiled with gloom. For instance, City Councilman Lewis Fidler tells the Times, "I'd be a moron to tell you I was confident. I'm a Met fan and I've been a Met fan since 1962, so I am not adverse to being the underdog, and I always believe in miracles because I've lived through them." Ouch. And Ferrer was struck with uncanny timing and attentiveness from city agencies when he tried to campaign at a subway station and park in Harlem to show how dirty they were, only to have cleanup crews try to stuff the crap into the closet and under the couch before TV crews came. Then the Campaign Finance Board has been warning his campaign that the NY State Democratic party's emails on his behalf may be illegal.

- We haven't even finished this years election and already we're seeing polls for next years. Anyway, and this shocked, , us, it seems that Hillary Clinton and Eliot Spitzer are the clear crowd favorites to win in their respective elections. Which might mean something if the election weren't a year away.

-Finally, Tuesday's election is expected to have an anemic turnout. Prove them wrong and vote (y'know, if you're registered).

The Campaign Finance Board's records show that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has not reimbursed her government drivers for driving her to campaign events. Newsday points out that Fields hasn't "paid for gas or parking used during those appearances" and that in the past week, only two of her many events were job-related. Fields' campaign manager, Chung Seto, claims that the drivers/city will be reimbursed, but she doesn't know why it's taking so long. Just like she didn't know why the flyer was Photoshopped, eh? Actually, the practice of using a city government car for campaign events is common, as long as the city is reimbursed is common (City Council Speaker had his police detail drive him around). Congressman Anthony Weiner's campaign took the opportunity to say that while he has a congressional car, Weiner uses his own hybrid car to get to campaign events.

- Newsday reports the Parks Department is considering various ways to kill the dangerous snakehead fish. Hilariously, one of the suggestion is "salting" it (okay, it's just raising the saline level of the lake, but still).

Oh, Mayor Mike. The Campaign Finance Board has its Finance Summary online now and, surprise, Bloomberg is once again set to outspend his competition by leaps and bounds. Of the $57 million total raised for all the campaigns in the city besides the Brooklyn and Manhattan District Attorney races (thats more than 200 candidates) Bloomberg has 40%. That's $23.6 million bucks that Bloomberg has given his own campaign. That's a lot of money, but the question still remains if its enough for Bloomie to keep the election a "snooze" for the next three months so he can stay in office. And just as interesting, will he outspend his record breaking $69 million from the 2001 election?