Results tagged “citizensunion”

Despite a mad dash at the deadline to hit the minimum in donations necessary to receive public matching funds, City Controller Bill Thompson fell just short in the latest cycle and will lose out on $1.5 million in public funds. Thompson scrambled to to find donors on the final day of eligibility—including making a donation from himself to the campaign—in order to hit the necessary $250,000 needed in order to receive six-to-one matching funds. But after a few donations are expected to be disqualified by the Campaign Finance Board, Thompson will miss out. Mayor Bloomberg, of course, has opted out of matching funds and has already spent over $36 million on his re-election bid. Dick Dadey, of the good government group Citizens Union, told the News, "If he doesn't qualify for public matching funds, his campaign is in trouble.For a major candidate to not qualify one month out from the primary sends a disturbing signal about the strength of his candidacy." In the race for public advocate, frontrunner Mark Green was the only one of the four major candidates to miss out on matching funds this cycle. The next opportunity for matching funds is August 20.

With the coup-coup State Senate still gridlocked, Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) and good government group the Citizens Union offer this idea: Governor Paterson can and should appoint a lieutenant governor who can break the tie! Gianaris said, “The answer to the state's gridlock was right under own noses the entire time: the law allows Governor Paterson to choose a Lieutenant Governor when there is a vacancy. I urge the Governor to make this appointment as quickly as possible so the state legislature can resume its work and pass the dozens of important measures that await action."

Mayor Bloomberg spoke out about the unofficial results from NYC's primary night undercounted votes in 78 districts. These districts' unofficial results raised eyebrows because no votes at all were recorded Barack Obama.

The City Council's Committee on Government Operations met this week to talk about possible changes to how much money council members make. Questions were raised about how raises were determined, leadership bonuses, and whether outside work should remain permitted. After a 25% increase in base pay in 2006, council members earn $112,500 annually. They can earn an additional $10,000 a year on average if a member holds a leadership position. In addition, members can hold...

After some City Council members were caught red-handed using public funds to distribute self-promoting ads to voters--even in election years, which is illegal--the council voted 48-1 in favor of banning the practice. The vote comes on the heels of the release of a report [pdf file] by Citizens Union that showed elected officials spent $1 million in paid advertising singing their own praises during the last five years. According to The New York Sun, city...

On Monday, the Citizens Union released a report revealing that City Council members have used $1 million of their council budgets to pay for advertising, even in election years (which is prohibited), over the past five years. You can read the report here (PDF), as well as peruse the variety of ads, from public service ads (PDF), community event ads (PDF), and local news ads (PDF).

Don't miss the Observer story that asks City Hall beat reporters what they think of Bloomberg and the possibility of him running for President. The Times' Michael Powell observes, "There comes a point in every Mayor’s political life where they start to get bored with the city and start to kind of look around at what’s next." Yeah, he must be pretty bored to head to swing state Missouri for a speech next month. The Post says he'll be speaking at a forum that has also invited all presidential would-bes. Hmm.

If you live in the 40th District, an area that covers parts of Crown Heights, Flatbush and East Flatbush, you can vote in tomorrow special election to the seat that used to belong to former City Councilwoman - now Congresswoman - Yvette Clarke. And there's another special election for a City Council seat in Staten Island as well, so South Shore voters, head to the polls.

The NY State Ethics Commission said that State Comtroller Alan Hevesi did violate state law by having a state driver chauffeur his wife. And now it seems that Hevesi is more likely to resign now with this finding. The ethics panel report also found that Hevesi underestimated how much he owed back for the driver and lied about his wife needing a driver because of security concerns - and that the state driver Hevesi hired wasn't even part of his security team.

Jonathan Mandell & Mark Berkey-Gerard, Gotham Gazette