NY's only statewide political program
Assembly
Strict Monitoring Plan In Motion For Vito Lopez-Founded Brooklyn Nonprofit
Mar 26th - 3:41 pm
A source forwarded this draft monitoring plan agreement between the state and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, Inc. and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Homecare Council, Inc. – Brooklyn nonprofits organization founded by Assemblyman/Brooklyn Democratic Chairman Vito Lopez – that require the organizations to allow strict oversight in exchange for a continued flow of state-funded contracts.
The agreement involves a veritable alphabet soup of state agencies – I count no fewer than 12 – as the state Interest on Lawyers Account.
When I last checked with this source, who has knowledge of the ongoing negotiations surrounding this agreement, it had not yet been signed and was under final review by the Budget Division. I called the Budget press office earlier today seeking comment. While a spokesman did not deny a review was taking place, he hasn’t yet gotten back to me with information on its status.
This would not be the first monitoring agreement for Ridgewood-Bushwick, which has been the focus of controversy for some time and the subject of two probes conducted by the NYC Department of Investigation in 2010 and 2011. In fact, many of the terms in the document that appears below mirror requirements laid out by the Bloomberg administration in order for the nonprofit empire to avoid losing some $69 million worth of city cotnracts.
The city required the departure of Ridgewood-Buskwick’s longtime director, Christiana Fisher. The state agreement mandates that Fisher “shall not serve as an employee, officer or director of RB, nor will she perform any other work or serve in any other capacity having any connection to any RB program or activity funded by or undertaken pursuant to state contracts.” Fisher has been replaced by James D. Cameron, according to the agreement.
In addition, Wesley Hitner, who was demoted from his position of chief financial officer last February after the Bloomberg administration found fraud had occurred on his watch, is banned from working at Ridgewood-Bushwick or on any state-funded contracts “in any capacity.”
The most interesting (to my mind) requirement in the agreement is that Ridgewood-Bushwich must “promptly” notify the state Inspector General if any present or former employee, officer, director, agent or consultant is subpoenaed, interviewed, questioned, or otherwise contacted by any government agency, official, and/or employee, in connection with any criminal investigation or proceeding related to their time and/or connection to the organization.
It seems like they’re getting at something specific there, doesn’t it? Maybe this? In which case, you should also read this.
Rivera To Labor: Let’s Kiss And Make Up (Updated)
Mar 23rd - 8:10 am
ICYMI: Assemblyman Peter Rivera, speaker pro tempore and past chair of Somos, played down the rift between top labor unions and the Latino legislative organization, saying the two sides need each other too much to continue this fight for long.
Rivera, who was on CapTon with Assemblyman Karim Camara to push for changes to the Medicaid prescription drug cuts made in the MRT, took issue with my characterization of top certain unions’ decision not to participate in this weekend’s 25th anniversary Somos event as “pulling out,” saying:
“Some individuals who are very annoyed with the Assembly and the vote that took place want to demonstrate their disappointment by not being here. That’s not a pulling out, that’s a turning their back on our conference.”
“As I was speaking to the governor recently: We need to have a relationship. There are certain issues. If you read today’s newspaper, you realize that 1199 needs over $80 million from the Assembly, from the Legislature, from the government to be able to pay their medical benefits.”
“So, we’re in a marriage. And in those marriages, we fight and we make up. And hopefully, the make-up will be sooner rather than later. “
For the record: 1199 is not among the unions that has taken their toys out of the Somos sandbox and gone home. The main boycotters are NYSUT, the UFT and CSEA.
UPDATE: I stand corrected. According to an 1199 spokeswoman, the union is indeed NOT participating in Somos this year. The amount of money the health care workers powerhouse usually contributes to the event was not immediately available. Also, it has been suggested that the $24,700 figure cited as the amount given by the teachers unions is for NYSUT along, but I’m trying to get more information on that.
But Rivera’s point is well taken nonetheless.
Labor is going to have to pick a side at some point in the upcoming elections. Even though the Senate Democrats are their the unions best friends at the moment following their redistricting-inspired walkout, which conveniently enabled them to miss the Tier VI vote, if they aren’t successful in taking back the majority, they’re not going to be able to accomplish much in the way of legislation/policy.
As for the Assembly Democrats, they’re really the only option on that side of the Capitol for the unions. It’s not as if the Republican minority is going to start voting pro-labor anytime soon, and with or without the unions’ support it’s a fairly safe bet that the Democrats are going to retain their comfortable majority quite easily.
Caption Contest – Tebow Fever!
Mar 22nd - 4:00 pm
Count the Assembly Republicans among New Yorkers celebrating the news that Tim Tebow indeed is coming to the Empire State, thanks to his trade from the Denver Broncos to the Jets.
Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt, a Hudson Valley lawmaker, posted this photo of herself and 18 of her minority conference colleagues Tebowing outside the Assembly chamber today.
And they’re not the only ones excited. Earlier today, SUNY Cortland, which hosts the Jets summer training camp, Tweeted the following:
“Is it too early to start Tebowing at @SUNY_Cortland? Get ready for New York Jets training camp, folks! #Timsanity
A big “thank you” to the reader who spotted this photo online and brought it to our attention.
Now, I’m wondering if this will start a Tebowing trend at the Capitol. Might we see spontaneous knee-bending at the next Red Room press conference? It might help lighten the mood.
BTW: I would offer some CapTon swag – I think we’ve got nifty coffee mugs around – to whoever comes up with the bext caption for this photo. But, I think I still owe someone a prize from our last contest…You know who you are, I expect. Please remind me, and I’ll get on that. – LB
Kearns Plays Nice
Mar 22nd - 1:11 pm
ICYMI: Newly-minted Assemblyman Mickey Kearns assured me last night that he’s prepared to be a “team player” in Albany and work with his fellow Democats, despite the fact that he pledged not to vote for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and ran a decidedly anti-Silver campaign.
I asked Kearns how he expected to get anything done at the Capitol if he insists on continuing his independent approach in a place where seniority and majority rules. I noted that his predecessor, Mark Schroeder, who was also anti-Silver, was often frustrated in his efforts – particularly when it came to UB 2020, although that was a very complex issue with a lot of competing interests. Nonetheless, Schroeder largely blamed Silver when the measure failed to move.
“..The thing is, the one thing I know is you meet with people, you talk with them, you have discussions, you communicate. I have a lot of experience in the private sector. Obviously, I have governmental experience. I’m a Democrat, I’m a lifelong Democrat. When I ran for this office, I said I would caucus with the Democrats. Unfortunately, the party bosses in Buffalo didn’t want to give me that opportunity. And the voters sent a message – a clear message to them – that they wanted an independent voice.”
The Buffalo News reported this morning that Silver refused to say yesterday if Kearns would be allowed to caucus with the Democrats after his upset defeat of the party’s preferred candidate, Chris Fahey, a top aide to Rep. Brian Higgins. Silver told the BN he hadn’t yet heard from Kearns, who won on the GOP line with support from Carl Paladino, and so had “no idea” what he did and didn’t want to do upon arriving in Albany.
Silver did issue a statement late Tuesday night welcoming all four Democrats – including Kearns and Didi Barrett, who has not yet been declared the victory in the too-close-to-call 103rd AD race, but his comments to the BN seemed to contradict that.
Well, Kearns is in Albany today, and he sat down with Silver, according to the Assembly Democrats spokesman, Michael Whyland. The two had a “good conversation,” said Whyland, who added: “(kearns) has indicated he
wants to conference with the Democrats and will adhere to Democratic principles.”
After the meeting, Silver confirmed to Gannett that Kearns had indeed asked to caucus with the Democrats. The majority conference will be “discussing” that request, the speaker said.
Somos Labors To Maintain Union Participation
Mar 22nd - 8:08 am
Dwindling union participation in retaliation for the Legislature’s passage of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Tier VI plan continues to threaten this weekend’s 25th anniversary Somos El Futuro spring conference in Albany.
Cancellations have forced Somos organizers to scrap the traditional labor breakfast, which usually takes place on Saturday, according to a source briefed on the plan.
Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, chairman of Somos, has gone dark since news broke two days ago that NYSUT and its NYC affiliate, the UFT, decided to withdraw their financial support of, and participation in, the conference to punish lawmakers for going along with Cuomo on pension reform.
I’ve left three messages for Ortiz since then, and he hasn’t returned a single one, which is odd for the normally talkative Brooklyn Democrat.
A labor source said unions have been fielding calls from elected officials and political operatives not affiliated with the Legislature who usually attend Somos. Anxious not to anger their labor allies, they are asking for advice on whether to show up this year.
Not every union is following the NYSUT/UFT lead and abandoning Somos. I received the following statement from DC37 political director Wanda Williams last night:
“As one of the co-founders of Somos el Futuro 25 years ago, District Council 37 has participated in Somos every year since its inception.”
“As a committed partner we will be continuing our partnership this year.”
“Our contribution and support for Somos el Futuro is given to help with the scholarships for the Angelo Del Toro mock session which provides an opportunity for Hispanic students to attend college.”
It remains unclear if Cuomo himself is going to attend Somos. I’m not sure what kind of reception he’ll receive if he does, given the consternation over Tier VI.
He’s a pretty commanding presence, though, so participants will likely be respectful (unless, of course, NYC Councilman Charles Barron and his wife, Assemblywoman Inez Barron, happen to be on hand).
The fact that Cuomo made no public appearance at this year’s caucus weekend in Albany, choosing instead to hold a private reception at the mansion in honor of Assemblyman Denny Farrell’s 80th birthday, may have set a precedent for this weekend.
Cuomo not only showed up at the Somos spring conference last year, but hosted a reception, too – and subsequently posted photos on his Flickr page as proof.
Cuomo, then the governor-elect, almost didn’t show up at the post-2010 election Somos get-together in Puerto Rico, but then relented at the last minute with a quick fly-in/breakfast/fly-out trip after Ortiz publicly complained.
Silver Into The Whole Brevity Thing Today (Video Added)
Mar 21st - 3:29 pm
As per usual, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was very talkative this afternoon following the closed-door the Democratic conference.
Reporters who waited for Silver to emerge tried to pry some specifics out of him, but he was his usual steel trap.
“Nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to,” Silver said twice.
Asked if there was any agreement on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to expand his post-budget authority by moving money from line item to line item, Silver wouldn’t predict if that would be changed, unlike Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos this morning.
“There is no update,” Silver said.
He added, “I think we’ll resolve this budget hopefully by next week and we’ll have the appropriate balance on all issues.”
And Silver denied he was delaying the budget over putting member items — AKA legislative pork — into the final draft.
“The Assembly is not holding up the budget,” he said. “The Assembly is not holding up the budget.”
The $132.5 billion spending plan as proposed by Cuomo is due April 1, but lawmakers and Cuomo are eager for an early budget.
Reilich Predicts Kearns Will Caucus With GOP
Mar 21st - 11:38 am
It was something of a mixed night for the Assembly Republicans.
Democrat Frank Skartados took back his old Assembly seat and Didi Barrett could pull off an upset victory against Republican Rich Wager for a seat held by now-Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro.
And then there’s that western New York race that, as usual with any western New York race, turns conventional politics on its head.
Mickey Kearns, a Carl Paladino-backed Democrat running on the Republican line, scored an upset win over Christopher Fahey, a protege of Rep. Brian Higgins. The most prominent feature of the race was Kearns attacking Fahey for being a “puppet” of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
But despite his party enrollment, Assemblyman Bill Reilich, the Monroe County Republican chairman, thinks Kearns will ultimately sit with Republicans.
“I think at the end of the day, the individual will caucus with the Republicans, but it’s yet to be seen but I would anticipate that,” Reilich told my NY1 colleague Zack Fink.
And the conference could certainly use the numbers. Assembly Republicans have been in the political wilderness since the Watergate scandal and have no realistic hope of recapture the chamber in the foreseeable future.
Their more modest goal has been to break the Assembly Democrats’ supermajority of 100 votes with the hope of sustaining gubernatorial vetoes (assuming the veto is one the Assembly Republicans agree with).
Last night’s special elections gives Democrats at least 100.
“The numbers here in the Assembly will have a significant impact,” he said. “The fact that now the Democrats will have 100 and we’ll have 50 votes. One hundred is required to overturn a veto, but the speaker is going to have difficulty getting that 100th vote because then everyone becomes a kingmaker.”
“We had quality candidates and we’re pleased to have the pickup that we did,” he added.
Reilly Aide Mulls Run For Boss’ Seat
Mar 21st - 8:00 am
The race for retiring Democratic Assemblyman Bob Reilly‘s seat is getting more crowded by the day. The latest contestant to mull throwing his hat into the ring is Reilly’s chief of staff, Tim Nichols.
Nichols, who does double duty as an Albany County legislator, confirmed last night that he is mulling a run, even though his boss has already endorsed a successor – Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari’s top aide, Kevin Frazier.
In a brief telephone interview last night, Nichols told me he’s “very seriously considering” a run, and in the meantime still continuing his duties as the assemblyman’s top aide.
“I have not made a decision as to what my plans are, and so I feel an obligation to continue serving in the capacity as chief of staff to help Bob and help people of 109th district,” Nichols said.
“That’s how I see my job right now. We’ll leave it at that.”
Nichols said he’s unconcerned about the changes in the district, which actually was renumbered the 110th from the 109th in the redistricting process.
The bulk of the district will remain the same, with its base in Colonie – long Nichols’ home. The additions in Schenectady and Niskayuna are fine with him, the county legislator said, because he is familiar with the area and has family members there.
Nichols said he expects to make a decision in the next couple of weeks. He would not comment on whether he’ll ask Reilly to reconsider his endorsement of Frazier, saying only: “He made a decision and, you know to be honest, I’m not really prepared to comment on it at this time.”
The TU reports Republican Jennifer Whalen, who lost a close race to Reilly in 2010, is mulling another run now that the seat is open.
Also, Nichols’ county legislative colleague, Phil Steck, is planning to run. So this could end up a three-way Democratic primary before all is said and done.
Kearns Victory Speech
Mar 21st - 7:31 am
As Liz broke down this morning, Democrat turned Republican Mickey Kearns scored an upset in the 145 Assembly special election last night – which baffled Democrats who thought this was a safe seat for the party’s pick, Chris Fahey. In his speech to supporters, Kearns said that voters who he talked to were grateful that he had given them a choice in the race – and not let party bosses decided who was going to Albany.
Here’s the speech:
And here is Fahey’s concession speech:
Special Election Cleanup
Mar 21st - 6:29 am
There were upsets at both ends of the state last night as the race for ex-Sen. Carl Kruger’s Brooklyn seat was too close to call, with both candidates declaring victory, and an insurgent Democrat backed by Carl Paladino defeated an aide to Rep. Brian Higgins in Buffalo’s 145th AD.
In the 27th SD, which is only slated to exist for another eight months, thanks to the Senate GOP’s redistricting plan and the desire to create a so-called “super Jewish” district, both Republican David Storobin and Democratic NYC Councilman Lew Fidler insisted they had won – yet another bizarre twist in a campaign that has been full of them.
The unofficial tally, according to the NYC Board of Elections: 10,756, Storobin; 10,636, Fidler, with 757 paper ballots to be counted. The machines were impounded. This one’s likely going to court.
Even if Fidler manages to eke out a paper ballot win, this race was still a blow to the Senate Democrats as they gear up to try to take back the majority this fall.
They will say that special elections are unpredictable animals and not indicative of general election results, and they’re right. But this is a Democrat-dominated district – albeit with conservative-leaning pockets of voters who can swing both ways, politically – and the race was widely viewed as Fidler’s to lose.
Even the GOP didn’t fully expect to win.
But here we are, with another unexpected special selection situation for the Republicans to crow about, a good election-year storyline. First Rep, Bob Turner won last year’s contest for ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s old Brooklyn/Queens district (which no longer exists, thanks to redistricting), and now Storobin leads in this battle for a different Brooklyn seat.
And again, it sounds like the Orthodox Jewish community played a big role in this race. Ditto the Russian community.
Also worth noting: Gov. Andrew Cuomo didn’t lift a finger to assist Fidler and the Senate Dems, while he did record robos for two of the Assembly Democratic candidates – Chris Fahey (who lost) and Didi Barrett (locked in a too-close-to-call race).
In the 145th, Common Council Member Michael “Mickey” Kearns trounced Higgins aide Fahey – 7,106 to 5,357 – a blow to the establishment Democrats and a win for the insurgent, anti-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver set.
Kearns, who was backed by Paladino, released one TV ad during the campaign, and it accused Fahey of being a Silver “puppet.” Fahey, on the other hand, had an ad that featured his boss, Higgins, who is preparing for a re-election bid himself in a newly-drawn – and supposedly safe – Buffalo/Niagara Falls seat.
The Buffalo News called Kearns’ win a “stunning upset,” and Dems on the ground who emailed me throughout the night were downright baffled about how this had happened.
It was also a redemption of sorts for GOP County Chairman Nick Langworthy and ex-County Executive Chris Collins political team after last year’s NY-26 special election loss of Assemblywoman Jane Corwin to Rep. Kathy Hochul. (Kearns ran on the GOP and Conservative lines, but has said he’ll caucus with the Democrats).
One insider suggested the real loser here was Higgins, who looks very weak after not being able to get his own aide elected in his own backyard.
This insider suggested maybe Hochul would re-think her decision not to primary Higgins and focus on him instead of running in the newly-drawn, +7 GOP NY-27. Seems a long-shot, especially since petitioning started yesterday for House races, but you never know.
Another insider noted the long history in the 145th of anti-Silver statements. (The seat’s last occupant, Buffalo Comptroller Mark Schroeder, cast the lone “no” vote in the speaker’s re-election to his leadership post).
Also, according to this source, Fahey, who has never held office before, started 15 points down in this race, so his loss to an established elected official with name recognition shouldn’t come as such a shock – no matter what the internals said.
In the other three Assembly specials, Shelly Mayer, the Senate Democrats’ former counsel, won an easy victory for Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano’s old seat in the 93rd AD. She was essentially unopposed.
The 103rd AD race was almost a dead heat, with Democrat Barrett and Republican Richard Wager separated by just 154 votes, and an estimated 1,000 absentees left to count.
In the 100th, Democrat Frank Skartados easily defeated Republican John Forman to win back the seat he lost to the late Republican Assemblyman Tom Kirwan by just 15 votes in 2010.
Silver issued a late-night statement – sent out by DACC, not the Assembly itself – offering a warm welcome to four new Democratic members, despite the fact that Barrett’s race hasn’t yet been called.
“I am delighted that unofficial tallies show that four new Democrats were elected tonight, bringing our Assembly Majority conference to 101,” Silver said.
“We welcome them to the New York State Assembly as we work to produce an on-time budget that protects working families.”
Even without Barrett, the Democrats have succeeded in preventing the Republicans from gaining back their veto-proof majority. So that’s something.
Take Capital Tonight and the State of Politics blog with you everywhere you go with our iPhone app! The mobile application features our blog posts, interviews, and a report news tool to send us your political news tips.