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Dem Primary In SD 10? (Updated)
Mar 16th - 2:33 pm
There’s a sort of odd murmur going around the state GOP convention in Rochester – odd because it has to do with a Democrat-on-Democrat contest, and nothing to do with Republicans whatsoever.
Several sources say NYC Councilman James Sanders is calling around to feel out support for a potential primary against fellow Queens Democrat, Sen. Shirley Huntley.
I’m told that Huntley got a bit shafted in the LATFOR redistricting process. She pretty much swapped her Southern Queens district with fellow Democratic Sen. Malcolm Smith, putting her into largely unfamiliar territory, much of which is in Sanders’ current Council district.
Huntley took a difficult vote last year on same-sex marriage. She was one of three Democratic senators who voted “no” when the measure failed in December 2009 to switch their votes at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s request.
(The others were former Sen. Carl Kruger, of Brooklyn, and current Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr., also of Queens).
She also sustained a blow last December when AG Eric Schneiderman and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced that the senator’s niece and her top aide were indicted for allegedly pocketing $30,000 in state money meant for a non-profit the senator founded.
Huntley has long had a close relationship with Senate Minority Leader John Sampson, however. He supported her when she faced a 2010 primary challenge from gay-marriage supporter Lynn Nunes.
Sampson gave Huntley $9,500 from his own campaign cash that year and tried unsuccessfully to prevent the Empire State Pride Agenda, New York’s largest LGBT organization, from endorsing Nunes.
Despite Nunes support from the pro-gay marriage forces, Huntley easily won re-election that year.
UPDATE: Sampson sent this comment:
“Senator Huntley is a trusted colleague and strong voice for her constituents. Despite the Senate Republicans’ attempts to marginalize her through partisan gerrymandering, she will prevail in any primary or general election with the full support of her Conference and our partners.”
Senate GOP, Dems Continue Squabble Over Debate
Mar 15th - 12:47 pm
This morning’s protest by Senate Democrats by walking out of the chamber was blasted this afternoon by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who said the minority conference “acted like little children” in leaving the floor.
“I think it was childish,” Skelos said. “They do not know how to govern. They do not know how to be a part of government. That was not a serious debate. when Senator Gianaris says to Mike Nozzolio have you no shame? That’s an insulting a member. When Senator Gianaris concludes a debate saying take the bill and shove it, that’s not an indication that you’re serious about a debate.”
Skelos, R-Nassau County, told reporters after today’s session wrapped up that Sen. Mike Gianaris, D-Queens, insulted his conference by concluding a debate on redistricting by saying they could take the lines and “shove it.”
“Senator Gianaris was totally insulting as a member of the Senate to another member and they all had an opportunity to explain their votes,” Skelos said. “If they did that, that would have brought us to about four hours. So they opted to have a little fit, leave, like Democrats do in Texas and other states when they’re not happy when things are going and they were wrong. Each one of them could have gotten up and explain their votes.”
Democrats walked off the floor during the wee hours of Thursday morning after they accused majority Republicans in the Senate of cutting of their alloted debate time. Democrats wanted to fully debate the redistricting bill, which included newly drawn and revised lines for state Assembly and Senate districts, as well as a constitutional amendment overhauling the process in the long term.
Senate Minority Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, released a statement this morning that blasted Republicans.
“What we witnessed last night is a continued assault on the principles of democracy, open government and substantive debate. Our State Government is once again an embarrassment to the concept of fair representation. Senate Republicans stifled debate on the floor of the Senate on the most crucial pieces of legislation. But it was not just a Legislative Conference that was silenced. It was the voices of working men and women, government reformers and all New Yorkers who care about a functioning democracy that represents everyday people.”
The lines passed 36-0 after the 32-member GOP conference and the four-member IDC voted in favor of the bills.
Democrats in the Senate have bitterly opposed the amendment, saying it provides only the veneer of an independent redistricting process in time for 2022. But good-government groups like Citizens Union and the League of Women Voters have backed the amendment, pointing to provisions that prevent lawmakers from having too broad a hand in drawing their own political boundaries.
Skelos, meanwhile, also insisted that the Tier Six pension bill and the redistricting compromise was not lined, contrary to Democratic assertions.
“There was no linkage on anything,” Skelos said, adding that this wasn’t the traditional process of putting policy measures into one big bill. “Members had the opportunity to vote yes or no on each of these major policy decisions individually.
Working with a popular governor like Cuomo hasn’t hurt Senate Republicans, or so it would seem. The conference is holding on to a 32-29 majority and worry a presidential election could tip the balance for the Democrats.
“We have a lot of strength in New York state,” Skelos said. “Whether people are Republican, Democrats or independents, it’s beginning to resonate working with the governor bipartisan basis, we’re going to have differences of opinion, we resolve them and we’re moving the state forward.”
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Cuomo: Vote ‘Yes’ Next Year On Redistricting Amendment, Or Commit ‘Political Suicide’
Mar 15th - 11:04 am
During Round I of his radio victory lap following the Legislature’s passage of a redistricting, pension reform, DNA expansion, gambling package late last night/early this morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo heaped praise on lawmakers for again bucking Albany’s dysfunction to approve his top policy agenda items.
“The dysfunctional was the aberration,” Cuomo told the NY Post’s Fred Dicker on Talk 1300. “This is what government should be doing…Government is about action; it’s not a debating society.”
“…I think legislators heard the message, and I think at the end of the day, the legislators did the right thing. At the end of the day there’s a different dynamic, and government is working and the legislators want to keep it working.”
Cuomo rejected any suggestion that he compromised too much to get this deal, or screwed organized labor – particularly when it comes to pension reform. He called that “politics,” adding: “You have to take it all with a grain of salt..sometimes two grains of salt.”
The governor said he’s “very happy” with where the state ended up on pension reform, even though the final deal achieves about $80 billion over the next 30 years – down from the $113 billion estimated in his original proposal. He reiterated his claim that if the Legislature had not acted, there would have been mass layoffs at the local government level and tax increases for New York property owners.
On redistricting, Cuomo admitted that the Senate and Assembly lines are “far from perfect,” and he “did not accomplish what I hoped to accomplish during the campaign,” which was creation of an independent redistricting commission in time for this year’s line-drawing extravaganza. He again insisted that his hands were tied after the Legislature refused to heed his call for reform that would take effect now instead of ten years from now.
Cuomo said he understands former Mayor Ed Koch’s frustration with the Legislature – again, he took no responsibility for the situation – saying: “He feels betrayed. They betrayed him. I get it.”
Cuomo side-stepped the question on Koch’s disappointment with his plan to sign LATFOR’s Senate and Assembly lines, (assuming he’s going to; Dicker didn’t actually ask that question). He said he initially planned to keep his veto pledge, but that option became “less appealing” after he saw the special master’s plan for the House lines, which he deemed more or less the same as the Legislative-drawn congressional maps. (This point is debatable).
Had the legislative lines been punted to the special master, Cuomo reasoned, there would have been no opportunity for redistricting reform via the constitutional amendment and back-up statute passed last night/this morning, and that would have been a “terrible defeat.”
Cuomo predicted that the next elected Legislature will give second passage to the constitutional amendment, effectively rendering the statute moot, because not to do so would be “committing political suicide.” If the Legislature does indeed act as the governor believes it will, the public will be able to vote on the redistricting amendment next fall.
The governor refused to reveal his thinking on where the seven non-Indian casinos approved in the gambling constitutional amendment, saying only that he cares very much about the process that will play out next year.
Cuomo didn’t want to get tied down to predictions about an early budget and easy end to the legislative session, although he did admit what remains to be done is “far and away less controversial” than last year’s budget fight. “There’s still work to do on the budget,” he said. “But I think surely most of the contentious work has been done.”
Libous Unsure If Tier Six Is Going Tonight
Mar 15th - 12:15 am
This post could very well be old news in a few hours.
Deputy Majority Leader Tom Libous emerged from the Senate Rules Committee saying he was unsure if Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s pension overhaul will be voted on in the Republican-led chamber this evening.
“I don’t know,” Libous said when I asked him about it. “I don’t know.”
The Senate committee did approve an amendment for expanding casino gambling, the governor’s teacher evaluation deal with unions and the state Education Department and the expansion of the DNA database.
The Assembly is debating the merits of the teacher evaluation bill now, but vote-counter Jim Yates is on the floor checking and re-checking a tally of legislators.
Senate Doing The Big Ugly
Mar 14th - 9:31 pm
Here’s the livestream of the events in the chamber tonight. Grab some popcorn and a comfy seat.
Watch live streaming video from nysenate at livestream.com
The Mothership Meets
Mar 13th - 7:29 pm
The unofficial official kickoff to the nitty-gritty budget negotiations began late this afternoon with the first meeting of the so-called “Mothership” — the General Budget Conference Committee of Assembly and Senate legislative leaders.
Naturally, they agree on finishing the budget by the April 1 deadline, the start of the 2012-13 fiscal year.
“We’re confident we can pass an early budget,” Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, was just as confident, prognosticating “an on time, if not early budget.”
And as usual, lawmakers are not in agreement on how big the deficit is or how much money the state has to spend. The Democratic-led Assembly says the deficit is $3.5 billion; Republicans in the Senate project a roughly $2 billion hole, which is closer to the governor’s figure.
“The deficit is in the eyes of the creator of the solution,” Silver said somewhat cryptically.
Meanwhile, lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo remain at odds over his Tier Six proposal, a new and less generous retirement plan for future public employees. Cuomo is reportedly ready to jettison the more controversial, but optional, defined contribution plan while renewing his effort a full Tier Six.
“I think the issue is finding relief for local property taxpayers,” Skelos told reporters at a gaggle after the meeting ended. “That’s going to be our priority — not what you call something, but the actual results.”
Silver, meanwhile, wants more “specificity” as to where and how many casinos may be built should an expansion of gambling be allowed. Cuomo has stuck to broad strokes on his gambling amendment, promising finer details once a statute is written.
“There has to be some specificity,” Silver said. “I think it’s more of an issue of how many across the state, where it should be, where it shouldn’t be, things of that nature.”
Senate Republicans want a state spending cap and tax credits aimed at boosting job creation. Assembly Democrats, meanwhile, passed a budget resolution calling for $100,000 to study the health impacts of hydrofracking, the controversial natural gas extraction method.
Both chambers want a restoration of $200 million in education aid.
The first joint budget hearings begin at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Diaz Sr. Professes His Innocence, Sorta
Mar 13th - 5:27 pm
Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. just sent out one of his signature “What You Should Know” emails, addressing the arrest and arraignment this afternoon of Clement Gardner, who has been accused by AG Eric Schneiderman of bilking a nonprofit founded by the senator and funded with taxpayer dollars steered by him of at least $75,000.
The statement is a little strange, but you should keep in mind who we’re dealing with here. The strangest thing is that Diaz Sr. doesn’t proclaim his innocence, but reiterates what he told reporters earlier: That he’s in the business of giving, not taking.
If you don’t know by now, you should know that one of my former staff and close ally, Clement Gardner, was arrested after being indicted by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman,” the senator wrote.
“Mr. Gardner served as the fiscal officer of the Christian Community Benevolent Association (CCBA), an organization that I founded in 1977 and proudly ran for 25 years helping to create jobs, housing and opportunities for needy people in the South Bronx. Mr. Gardner was charged with embezzling $75,000 from the CCBA, bringing shame to one of the best Bronx not-for profit organizations that ever existed.”
“‘Que sera que sera?’ is the question that everyone will be asking.”
“‘Is the fourth member of the Four Amigos involved in this?’”
“‘Is the friend of Pedro Espada, Hiram Monserrate, and Carl Kruger a part of this?’”
“‘Is he guilty by association?’”
“For now, my dear reader, you will have to wait for the results, but I assure you that if I ever lose my salvation, it will not be for taking money because I am in the business of giving not in the business of taking. I am Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz and this is what you should know – for now.”
Schneiderman: Bronx Man Embezzled $75K From Nonprofit Founded By Sen. Diaz Sr.
Mar 13th - 3:33 pm
AG Eric Schneiderman just announced the arrest and arraignment a Bronx man accused of embezzling at least $75,000 from a taxpayer-funded nonprofit organization founded by outspoken and often controversial Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr.
Clement I. Gardner, 64, has been charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. The investigation is ongoing.
According to the indictment, as fiscal officer for Christian Community Benevolent Association, Inc., Gardner prepared and executed at least $75,000 in unauthorized payments to himself from the nonprofit’s accounts.
Those accounts were partially funded by member item grants administered through the Empire State Development Corporation and the Office of Children and Family Services, which were intended to provide educational and recreational opportunities to children and senior citizens in the Bronx.
Diaz Sr. directed close to $495,000 to CCBA between 2006 and 2007, according to a source with knowledge of the case. The Bronx Democrat founded the organization in 1977 in the basement of the Church of God on Seward Avenue, according to his official Senate biography, and served as its executive director until shortly before his election to his current post in 2002.
Schneiderman’s press release about Gardner’s arrest makes no mention of Diaz Sr., with whom the former senator-turned-AG has had something of a rocky relationship. Diaz Sr. has never forgiven Schneiderman was leading the investigation that resulted in the expulsion of his former amigo, ex-Sen. Hiram Monserrate, after he was found guilty on a misdemeanor charge of abusing his then-girlfriend, Karla Giraldo.
Here’s Schneiderman’s quote on Gardner:
“By unlawfully stealing money from a nonprofit that was designed to deliver critical services for children and seniors, this criminal scheme turned a charity into a personal piggy bank.”
“Today’s charges demonstrate our vigilance in ensuring that every taxpayer dollar is spent properly, and that corrupt individuals who betray the public trust to line their own pockets will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Between January 1, 2004 and May 3, 2007, Gardner served as CCBA’s “fiscal officer.” Prior to that, he had worked for several years without pay.
In his fiscal officer role, according to the AG, Gardner managed CCBA’s finances, maintained its expense records, and administered its bank accounts. Gardner co-signed at least $75,000 in unauthorized checks to himself during the approximately three-and-a-half year period covered by the indictment. He allegedly devised false memo lines for each payment to escape detection, endorsed the checks to himself, and cashed these checks or deposited them into his personal bank account.
This isn’t the first time Diaz Sr. has been under the microscope for CCBA, which is apparently part of a web of nonprofits the Diaz family has created in the Bronx over the years.
The steering of cash to this empire by the senator and his son, former Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., who is now Bronx borough president, sparked scrutiny from former AG Eliot Spitzer, but his successor, AG-turned-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, never picked up this particular ball.
This is the second member item scheme Schneiderman has uncovered in a matter of months.
In December 2011, he announced the indictments of four individuals connected to another of his former Senate colleagues, Shirley Huntley, of Queens, who were accused of participating in a scheme to pocket taxpayer dollars intended for public services in NYC.
That investigation exposed a nonprofit set up by, as the AG’s press release put it, “a New York state senator,” which allegedly funneled about $30,000 in member item funds to those associated with it, including the senator’s aide and an individual who shares a residence with the senator.
Does anyone else find it odd that he doesn’t even mention Huntley’s name, either? Anyway, the Huntley investigation is also still ongoing. UPDATE: Below you’ll find the Gardner indictment, compliments of the AG’s office:
Krueger: I’ll Blame The Gov For Redistricting Failure
Mar 13th - 8:33 am
ICYMI: Sen. Liz Krueger said last night that she would blame Gov. Andrew Cuomo for “renegging on his promise” if he signs off on the tweaked Senate and Assembly redistricting maps and accompanying constitutional amendment to change the line-drawing process.
Here’s the CapTon exchange between Krueger, a reform-minded Upper East Side Democrat, and me:
LB: “Let’s assume he does actually sign, what will you guys do?”
LK: “We will go into court and challenge that it violates the Constitution and voter rights.”
LB: “Will you accuse him of renegging on his promise?
LK: “Yes. I believe that if the governor does not veto these lines as I have seen them, then he will be renegging on his promise.”
“And now I have seen the language for the constitutional amendment, and it also does not pass the smell test in any way, shape or form.”
Krueger is the first to go quite this far, I believe. The Senate Democrats have so far been reluctant to say what they might do if Cuomo doesn’t stick to his pledge to veto any hyper-partisan, non-independent and overly political lines.
They’ve so far stuck to the script of saying that they believe the governor is a man of his word, and thus will wield his veto pen on the LATFOR lines.
The Dems continue to oppose the slightly tweaked version that came out yesterday (actually, the maps did; the block-by-block bill was released shortly before midnight on Sunday), even though Cuomo himself said the changes represent “progress.”
Cuomo did say that the constitutional amendment proposed by the Senate and Assembly majorities didn’t go far enough.
“(S)o to make the entire arrangement work, you need a statute that would handle the situation in case they don’t vote a second time for the constitutional amendment because there’s not a lot of trust out there, as you can imagine,” Cuomo said yesterday during at Talk 1300 AM interview with Fred Dicker.
“And it also has to address issues that the constitutional amendment poses – what happens if this structure doesn’t work and it goes back to the Legislature?”
Two goo-goo groups – Citizens Union and the League of Women Voters – have given it their seal of approval, while two others – NYPIRG and Common Cause – gave it a thumbs down.
Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, an outspoken advocate of independent redistricting reform, also opposes the amendment, saying: “It’s the most devious Legislature in America. We tried our best, and the ghouls won.”
If the Democrats get too far out on a limb here, it could backfire on them as they seek to take back the majority this fall.
Then again, perhaps they don’t have all that much to lose, since if Cuomo signs onto the Senate GOP’s redistricting proposal, he’s essentially choosing sides in that battle, since the maps dramatically improve the Republicans’ chances of retaining control.
MacKay: McDonald Will Be A Senator For A ‘Very, Very Long Time’
Mar 12th - 8:41 am
ICYMI: State Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay was in Saratoga County this weekend to publicly declare his early endorsement of Sen. Roy McDonald, who has been losing support among local Republicans and Conservatives of late and may face a primary challenge from Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin.
It’s possible this early endorsement isn’t actually so early if the Senate and Assembly get their respective acts together and move the regularly scheduled Sept. 11 state primaries up to coincide with the court-ordered June 26 US Senate and congressional primaries – or relocate all the primaries to some mutually agreed-upon date in July or August.
That hasn’t happened yet, though, despite multiple calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to flex some muscle and make it so.
We also still don’t know if McDonald will actually have to duke it out for Rows B and C anyway, since McLaughlin has yet to formally announce his candidacy.
MacKay, a close ally of Cuomo, has already provided an “early” endorsement to another of McDonald’s GOP colleagues who crossed the aisle to vote “yes” on the governor’s gay marriage bill and is now paying the price for it on the right: Sen. Mark Grisanti, who lost the Erie County Conservative Party nod to Democrat (yeah, well, it’s WNY politics, remember) Chuck Swanick.
Here’s what MacKay had to say about McDonald; he was quite effusive in his praise of the former Wilton town supervisor:
“We’ve always endorsed Senator McDonald. The question would be: Why did we endorse Senator McDonald early?”
“I think because he’s one of the most independent men out there, certainly the most independent public official, I feel, in this area. I think he’s fantastic. He’s taken some very tough stances on some tough votes, and he’s hung in there…So we’re here earlier than we’ve ever done.”
“…In politics, if there’s one thing I’ve learned is, if you’re not happy with the way things are going, wait. In ten minutes, everything could be completely different. Let’s see how everything plays out.”
“I think as far as other people’s endorsements, we certainly can’t speak to that, but the senator has a tremendous amount of support…I think he’s going to be a senator for a very, very long time. I think people will back him more and more as we go.
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