Melissa Mark-Viverito, The Advance Group May Have Violated City Ethics Rules

• RELATED : Melissa Mark-Viverito Lobbyist Firm Never Quit, Continued Lobbying Despite Investigations (NYC : News & Analsyis)
• RELATED : Proposed NYS public matching dollars at risk of being gamed, just like with ''model'' NYC campaign finance system (NYC : News & Analsyis)

Will The Conflict of Interest Board Investigate Mark-Viverito's Acceptance Of Unpaid Assistance From The Advance Group ?

New York City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito may have violated city ethics rules by accepting unpaid assistance from the Advance Group, a lobbing firm, to further her candidacy for Council speaker, The New York Daily News reports (City Council Speaker candidate Melissa Mark-Viverito and her lobbying firm, The Advance Group, may have violated city ethics rules) .

"The Conflicts of Interest Board must investigate, and the Council must disqualify Mark-Viverito from consideration for so blatantly violating the rules. Elevating her to speaker would send the message that the Council is up for sale," wrote the Editorial Board of The New York Daily News. (No To Melissa Mark-Viverito)

But so far, nobody's asked whether The Parkside Group is working for free to provide any support to the pro-Big Business candidate, Mark Weprin, or whether Alison Hirsh, the 32BJ union lobbyist that was hired by Progressive Caucus of Councilmembers to promote Ms. Mark-Viverito, is being paid, or if Ms. Hirsh is working for free, too. Ms. Mark-Viverito is also receiving help from two other consultant-lobbyist firms, Bishop Pitta Del Giorno and the Mirram Group, Crains Insider reported. Indeed, Ms. Mark-Viverito opened a new campaign committee called "Viverito NY" on Election Day. Who is funding that campaign committee ? Who is receiving payments from that campaign committee ? (Friday wrap-up examines consultants in the speaker race, and more * Crains Insider)

Besides investigating possible violations of campaign finance law or conflicts of interest, this is a great time to update campaign finance laws.

The Need For Full Public Campaign Financing, Not NYC Model http://t.co/dIePuA8VOA @informedvoting

— Bold Progress NYC (@boldprogressnyc) November 27, 2013

Given that the violations involving the provision of free campaign services to elected officials is being referred to the Conflicts of Interest Board instead of to the Campaign Finance Board shows that campaign finance laws are not keeping up with the times. To roll back some of the worst impacts that Citizens United is having on the selection of the Council Speaker and on the rest of our municipal elections, we can begin by updating campaign finance laws by : (i) reforming the do-nothing Campaign Finance Board ; (ii) pressuring progressives to enforce transparency ; (iii) improving Speakership electioneering reporting ; (iv) ending subcontractor loopholes ; and (v) ending the provision of free campaign services, including for the Speakership.

If making reforms is seen as not enough, others, like Howie Hawkins, have suggested a fully-public campaign system.

The Growing Influence Of Lobbyists In Determining The Council Speaker, Other Investigations Against Scott Levenson

The @nytimes Reports That Advance Group Is Under Investigation By @NYCCFB For Using PAC's Illegally In 2013 Election http://t.co/TK6cIWD3gl

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) November 26, 2013

New York City’s county bosses face challenges from lobbyists over the election of the Council Speaker. (Despite Denials, De Blasio Team Met With Weprin and Mark Viverito About Speakership * City & State)

The flood of money into politics from Citizens United is creating a "clash of the titans" between the County Political Bosses and Big Business, on one side, and Lobbyists and Special Interest Money, on the other. With campaign finance law failing to keep up with the changes in money in politics, the voters are being kept in the dark about the true way that the speaker is selected. (NYC Council Speaker Race Campaign Finance Controversies * YouTube)

Who is Paying the Advance Group to Lobby For Melissa Mark-Viverito ?

• RELATED : Melissa Mark-Viverito Lobbyist Firm Never Quit, Continued Lobbying Despite Investigations (NYC : News & Analsyis)
• RELATED : Proposed NYS public matching dollars at risk of being gamed, just like with ''model'' NYC campaign finance system (NYC : News & Analsyis)

''If you can find a loophole, then the law is not doing what the law is supposed to be doing.'' -- Peter F. Vallone, former City Council speaker

Isn't it against Campaign Finance Board rules for politicians to receive political consulting services that are neither declared nor paid for ?

The Advance Group, one of the city’s leading political consulting firms, has been laboring behind-the-scenes for almost a month to assist Ms. Mark-Viverito. (Advance Group Helping Melissa Mark-Viverito in Speaker’s Race * Politicker)

SEIU 1199, the city’s powerful healthcare workers union says they are lobbying for one City Council speaker hopeful, Melissa Mark-Viverito. (1199 Leads Effort Boosting Mark-Viverito * Politicker)

Who is paying Advance Group for helping @MMViverito ? #DarkPoolPolitics @RossBarkan http://t.co/Rk5BHZA57r @deBlasioNYC

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) November 12, 2013

The Advance Group has been laboring behind-the-scenes for almost a month to assist Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito in her quest to become the next speaker of the City Council, Ross Barkan is reporting on Politicker, adding, "When reached by Politicker earlier today, the firm’s president, Scott Levenson, confirmed he had been assisting Ms. Mark-Viverito, but declined to discuss any additional details. 'We’re just helping,' he said."

• Scott Levenson and The Advance Group manage the independent expenditures for several groups (Crain's Insider).
• Top Bill de Blasio supporters funded the NYCLASS #ABQ campaign (Crain's Insider).
• Nearly a third of the $1.1 million spent on a highly publicized campaign to defeat mayoral frontrunner Christine Quinn came from donations above the legal limits imposed by the New York election law, records and interviews show. (Anti-Quinn group got $320K above legal limit * Crain's Insider)
• Bill de Blasio and key allies illegally operated a Super PAC that spent more than $1 million attacking Christine Quinn in the Democratic primary race for mayor. (Bill de Blasio accused of coordinating with anti-Quinn Super PAC * The New York Post)
• Special prosecutor Roger Adler told The New York Daily News that he expects to convene a grand jury shortly after Veterans Day as part of his probe into allegations that the Working Families Party illegally gave candidates below-cost campaign-related services in 2009. (Grand jury will eye Working Families Party leaders : Special prosecutor * The New York Daily News)

In 2001, The New York Times reported that it was against Campaign Finance Board rules for Alan Hevesi to receive free consulting services from Hank Morris.

As part of the deal, Mr. Hevesi offered to pay his chief political consultant, Hank Morris, an extra $240,000 for work leading up to the Democratic primary on Sept. 11. Mr. Hevesi's opponents had charged that he was circumventing the campaign finance spending cap by allowing Mr. Morris, a longtime friend, to work for free or provide his firm's help at a steep discount. (Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi struck a compromise with the Campaign Finance Board * The New York Times)

Peter F. Vallone, the City Council speaker in 2001 and an author of New York City's campaign finance law, told The New York Times, ''The whole point of the law was to make it a level playing field so that money doesn't determine the outcome. So if you can find a loophole, then the law is not doing what the law is supposed to be doing.'' (What's a Campaign Debt Between Friends ? * The New York Times)

Political consultants, who work to elect lawmakers, are turning around and lobbying them on behalf of private clients.

Will speaker campaign services received by @MMViverito be declared to @NYCCFB ? Will new expenditures exceed limits ? @colvinj @RossBarkan

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) November 12, 2013

"A growing trend in the state capital is raising alarms for ethics watchdogs: political consultants who work to elect lawmakers, then turn around and lobby them on behalf of private clients. At least two dozen political consulting firms are also registered lobbyists with the state, according to an analysis done for the Daily News by the New York Public Interest Research Group," Kenneth Lovett reported in The New York Daily News, adding, "The Advance Group was paid $756,907 in political consulting fees the past two years while also lobbying. Firm president Scott Levenson said he doesn’t get special favors from pols his firm helped elect, but he doesn’t deny that his firm emphasizes its access to lawmakers when drumming up business."

“We’re a lobbying organization,” Mr. Levenson told Mr. Lovett. “One of the things we do is talk about our ability to have access.” Mr. Lovett concluded his report by stating that, "Levenson also noted that straight lobbying firms often bundle money from clients for candidates."

Is Advance Group working as a lobbyist ? They must register as working for Mark-Viverito. http://t.co/wYrRRiuSNx @BKcolin @MarkWeprin

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) November 13, 2013

Christine Quinn is looking for endorsements and voters in the cemetery

Reality Sets In For Quinn, Isay : Early Poll Numbers Are An Illusion.

Greg David: "The idea that Ms. Quinn is the front-runner is a media fallacy." Via @crainsnewyork crainsnewyork.com/article/201302…

— Errol Louis (@errollouis) February 20, 2013

More and more, the Christine Quinn mayoral campaign are acting desperate.

Greg David published an editorial in Crain's New York Business giving everybody a reality check : The early polls portraying that Council Speaker Christine Quinn was an early leader in the crowded Democratic primary field are a fallacy !

Because Josh Isay, Matt Tepper, and Speaker Quinn's other campaign advisers know this, they are pulling out all the stops to maintain a public veneer of being in a leadership position, when in reality they could be further from it.

Earlier today, The New York Times published an article about how Speaker Quinn is now trolling through cemeteries and crematoriums for campaign endorsements. Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign is trying to figure out how to milk the endorsement she received from Ed Koch before he died. (An Endorsement Hard to Pass Up, and Harder to Promote)

''The idea that Ms. Quinn is the front-runner is a media fallacy,'' wrote Mr. David.

How low can Speaker Quinn go, for an endorsement ?

“If I were running against her, what do you say? ‘How low will she go, six feet under, or more?’ ” quipped Kenneth Sherrill, a political science professor at Hunter College. “The question is, how voters will respond to it, what they will think of a candidate who uses it.”

If Mr. Isay and Mr. Tepper try to push former Mayor Koch's endorsement of Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign, then Speaker Quinn risks triggering a major backlash from LGBT political and healthcare activists.

Bloombo Dicto to Bloggers : Drop Dead

''Mike Bloomberg Still Thinks Bloggers Are Lawless Partisans''

The Village Voice today published a post on its Runnin' Scared blog about comments that Mayor Michael Bloomberg made in an interview with The New York Times :

---

By Jen Doll, Mon., Sep. 20 2010 @ 10:38AM

​Today the New York Times City Room (blog) runs excerpts from an interview with Mayor Bloomberg in which he's asked a range of questions about whether he'd run for president (no, but maybe), how much he likes shaking hands (a lot), how much he likes being "popular" (well, who doesn't?), and, oh yeah, how does he feel about bloggers?

His answer:

The bloggers -- you know, the New York Times, for better or worse, has some standards as to who they hire and how much experience you have to have. And then they have an editor who looks at the story and sees whether it's fair and accurate and that sort of thing. And they have lawyers that make sure they don't violate the law. Bloggers don't have any of that. And that also leads to some of the partisanship.

And thus, a nation of bloggers dismissed in one fell swoop. Except, presumably, for those at the New York Times City Room (blog). Bloomberg, how 'bout you just call us all writers and we'll call it a draw? Seriously, some of us even get dressed in the morning these days!

Anyway, last we heard, that "popularity" was in question. Probably the fault of some bloggers.

[via New York Times]