Political Machinations Cloud Campaign Finance Board's Decision-Making

PUBLISHED : TUES, 18 MAR 2014, 11:49 AM
UPDATED : MON, 21 APR 2014, 05:38 PM

With John Liu's lawsuit against New York City over conflicted city campaign finance regulators, this makes three federal referrals of elections violations, forcing Mayor de Blasio to lawyer-up, recruit special inside election counsel.

After a wave of federal complaints that have been lodged over electioneering violations in last year's municipal elections, Mayor Bill de Blasio has hired a special legal advisor specializing in election law.

1. GOP consultant E. O'Brien Murray argued to the State Department that Patrick Gaspard, a former top White House aide with a deep history in Gotham politics, violated the federal Hatch Act by getting involved in Mayor de Blasio's campaign -- and City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito's subsequent election as speaker -- while representing the U.S. in South Africa. (GOP Operative Files Hatch Act Complaint Against U.S. Ambassador Patrick Gaspard * The New York Daily News)
2. Louis Flores, a local political gadfly who ran a blog and wrote a book criticizing Christine Quinn, has filed a complaint with U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s criminal division against Scott Levenson and The Advance Group consulting firm, which came under deep scrutiny during the mayoral campaign. (Federal Complaint Filed Against The Advance Group for Election Work * Politicker)
3. Former New York City Comptroller and failed mayoral candidate John Liu has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and its Campaign Finance Board. He says the board unfairly crippled his campaign by denying him matching funds in last year's race for mayor. (Ex-NYC mayor hopeful sues Campaign Finance Board * AP/The San Francisco Chronicle)

The federal complaints filed by Mr. Flores and Mr. Liu allege that the Campaign Finance Board is not sufficiently independent of political motivations to independently conduct investigations and to render fair and just decisions. Since Mayor de Blasio and City Council Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and/or their political operatives, are entangled in some of these federal complaints, it should come as no surprise that Mayor de Blasio is now maneuvering to use his public office to defend himself against allegations of wrong-doing that took place during the electioneering of last year's municipal elections.

• RELATED : Henry Berger, a longtime election lawyer, previously served as election counsel to Bill de Blasio during his 2009 public advocate campaign, has been appointed to be "special counsel" to the mayor. (Election Lawyer Hired As Special Council To Mayor Bill de Blasio * City & State)

Mr. Berger had once saved Mayor de Blasio's political career when the election lawyer kept Mr. de Blasio from getting kicked off the 2009 race for public advocate after an error was found on a Board of Elections submission. In his new post, Mr. Berger "will provide legal counsel to the mayor and staff at City Hall," according to City & State. Other than the growing number of federal elections complaints that may implicate his Council speaker and himself, it's not known what other reasons exist for Mayor de Blasio to need a taxpayer-paid election lawyer to advise him.

Typically, the Campaign Finance Board "audits suspect claims long after an election and then imposes financial penalties on rule breakers," the Editorial Board of The New York Daily News wrote. In John Liu's case, the Campaign Finance Board "moved beyond policing violations to imposing the death penalty on a mayoral campaign."

As the staff of the Campaign Finance Board and the mayor's legal counsel become more politicized, it should not come to such a surprise that the mayor would receive preferential treatment at the hands of the Campaign Finance Board that he oversees.

Mayor @BilldeBlasio to return straw poll donations no questions asked, an option @NYCCFB never gave @JohnLiu4Mayor. http://t.co/fNOQXM716w

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) April 21, 2014

Among the complaints that Mr. Liu alleged in his complaint about the Campaign Finance Board, he noted that appointees to the Campaign Finance Board may follow the political agenda of those officials, who make the appointments. Mr. Liu further complained that two board members of the Campaign Finance Board had made campaign contributions to former Council Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign ; in spite of their expressed interests in support of Mr. Liu's political challenger, the two board members refused to recuse themselves from the decision by city campaign finance regulators to deny public matching dollars to Mr. Liu's mayoral campaign. The Campaign Finance Board is a conflicted institution with political motivations that can be reflected in its decision-making.

• RELATED : In disqualifying Jon Liu from receiving public matching dollars for his mayoral campaign, the Campaign Finance Board distorted election results for no valid reason, and Liu’s court fight will surely get him fairer treatment from a federal judge. (The Ghost of John Liu * The New York Daily News)
• RELATED : Could the clash between John Liu and the Campaign Finance Board affect the push for statewide public financing ? (Campaign Finance Board leadership questioned * Newsday)
• RELATED : Common Cause/NY calls for Super PACs to be required to disclose their top five donors on all public materials (Common Cause on NY Jobs Now contributors * The Times Union).
• RELATED : The mayor and his Council speaker, who both reject checks-and-balances, oversee city campaign regulators nominally tasked to investigate campaign corruption of groups with close ties to the de Blasio-Mark-Viverito administration. (Scott Levenson, NY-CLASS, Citizens United Super PAC Investigation * NYC : News & Analysis)

Days before the general election, E. O’Brien Murray, a political operative advising Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota filed a complaint with the Campaign Finance Board, alleging that Mr. de Blasio was coordinating his campaign with an anti-Quinn Super PAC, according to The New York Post. Because of the board members of the Campaign Finance Board answer to the mayor and to the Council speaker, it's not known how serious city campaign finance regulators will investigate the complaint. It was out of precisely this concern that Mr. Flores lodged his complaint against Mr. Levenson and The Advance Group with federal prosecutors, to be able to remove the investigation from the conflicted Campaign Finance Board. Mr. Flores has separately said that he believes that the city's Department of Investigations, headed by a loyal ally of Mayor de Blasio, is also insufficiently independent from City Hall and City Council, to be able to conduct investigations that may implicate city officials or their political operatives.

Complicating matters is that reform advocates want to impose on New York State the very New York City model of campaign finance regulations, including a form of a matching public dollar program, even though city campaign finance regulations have been shown to be so questionable that activists are filing complaints at the federal level in search of a truly fair and independent review of violations.

Documents show that former Utah Attorney General John Swallow sought to transform his office into a defender of payday loan companies that had helped bankroll his election. (A Campaign Inquiry in Utah Is the Watchdogs’ Worst Case * The New York Times)

Former New York City Comptroller John Liu will announce a “federal challenge” to the Campaign Finance Board after he was denied public matching funds during last year’s mayoral race. (John Liu to Announce ‘Federal Challenge’ to Campaign Finance Board * Politicker)

John Liu sues New York City for blocking public matching campaign funds

"John Liu's campaign did nothing wrong," says lawyer Richard Emery.

John Liu, the former Comptroller for New York City, filed a federal lawsuit today against the City of New York, alleging that he was "denied the opportunity to compete on an even playing field with the other mayoral candidates, and his reputation was irreparably damaged," The New York Post is reporting, adding, that the Campaign Finance Board's decision to deny Mr. Liu $3.8 million in matching public dollars amounted to a “death sentence” to his mayoral campaign.

• RELATED : John Liu sues city for blocking $3.8M in public funds during mayoral bid (The New York Post)
• RELATED : Scott Levenson, NY-CLASS, Citizens United Super PAC Investigation (Updated) (NYC : News & Analysis)
• RELATED : Proposed NYS public matching dollars at risk of being gamed, just like with "model" NYC campaign finance system (NYC : News & Analysis)

Mr. Liu's complaint alleges that the Campaign Finance Board unlawfully “crippled” his bid to become the city’s first Asian-American mayor by citing the court convictions of others, even though Mr. Liu himself was never charged with any wrong-doing.

The investigation into Mr. Liu's campaign finances originated in a report published in 2011 by The New York Times at a time when Mr. Liu was attracting serious attention and support for his expected mayoral campaign in 2013. Many activists have alleged that the editors of The New York Times preferred the mayoral candidacy of former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. After the Campaign Finance Board denied Mr. Liu's public matching funding dollars, former Speaker Quinn received the glowing endorsement of The New York Times' editorial board.

In a further example of the politicization of the Campaign Finance Board, city campaign finance regulators appeared to obsess over Mr. Liu's troubled donations, identified as only 35 out of over 6,300 donations, but city campaign finance regulators did nothing to scrutinize the corruptive influence of super PAC's in the 2013 municipal election.

In a video made last year by The Queens Courier, Mr. Liu described how investigators deceived his campaign workers into accepting tainted donations. Essentially, he was the victim of entrapment.

2014-03-12 John Liu v NYC Campaign Finance Board - USDC-SDNY COMPLAINT (Stamped Copy) by Connaissable

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QUESTIONING THE NEW YORK CITY CAMPAIGN FINANCE BOARD With John Liu's lawsuit against New York City over conflicted city campaign finance regulators, this makes three federal referrals of elections violations, forcing Mayor de Blasio to lawyer-up, recruit special inside election counsel. After a wave of federal complaints that have been lodged over electioneering violations in last year's municipal elections, Mayor Bill de Blasio has hired a special legal advisor specializing in election law. RELATED : Henry Berger, a longtime election lawyer, previously served as election counsel to Bill de Blasio during his 2009 public advocate campaign, has been appointed to be "special counsel" to the mayor. (Election Lawyer Hired As Special Council To Mayor Bill de Blasio * City & State) Since Mayor de Blasio and City Council Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and/or their political operatives, are entangled in some of these federal complaints, it should come as no surprise that Mayor de Blasio is now maneuvering to use his public office to defend himself against allegations of wrong-doing that took place during the electioneering of last year's municipal elections.

The three federal complaints lodged following last year's municipal elections : GOP consultant E. O'Brien Murray argued to the State Department that Patrick Gaspard, a former top White House aide with a deep history in Gotham politics, violated the federal Hatch Act by getting involved in Mayor de Blasio's campaign -- and City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito's subsequent election as speaker -- while representing the U.S. in South Africa. (GOP Operative Files Hatch Act Complaint Against U.S. Ambassador Patrick Gaspard * The New York Daily News) Louis Flores, a local political gadfly who ran a blog and wrote a book criticizing Christine Quinn, has filed a complaint with U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s criminal division against Scott Levenson and The Advance Group consulting firm, which came under deep scrutiny during the mayoral campaign. (Federal Complaint Filed Against The Advance Group for Election Work * Politicker) Former New York City Comptroller and failed mayoral candidate John Liu has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and its Campaign Finance Board. He says the board unfairly crippled his campaign by denying him matching funds in last year's race for mayor. (Ex-NYC mayor hopeful sues Campaign Finance Board * AP/The San Francisco Chronicle)

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The New York Times still has its head stuck in the sand on Christine Quinn

85% of Democratic primary voters rejected Christine Quinn in the mayoral election, but The New York Times still defends its baseless endorsement of a corrupt political hack.

In it's hasty review of political lowlights of 2013, The New York Times reporters Andy Newman and Annie Correal included a brief reference to Christine Quinn's loss in the Democratic mayoral primary.

The newspaper's reporters prefaced the mention of Ms. Quinn's campaign loss by framing her political career as showing "No major ethical lapses here."

The reporters seem to ignore Ms. Quinn's backroom machinations, her term limits betrayals, her enabling of 10 hospital closings in New York City during her speakership, and her slush fund scandal, amongst other ethical lapses, as documented in "Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn."

In its round-up of political lowlights, The New York Times seems to rationalize that the corruptive influence of money in politics that marred John Liu's Democratic mayoral campaign didn't also play out during Ms. Quinn's political career when, for example, by January 2013, executives from developers and landlords had donated over $800,000.00 to Ms. Quinn's political campaign for the 2013 election cycle, representing by one estimate to be 14% of the $6 million that Ms. Quinn had raised as of that point for her next political campaign. By this time, Ms. Quinn estimated that New York City had lost a total of 300,000 affordable housing units, and she blamed politicians up in Albany, even though as the City Council speaker, she was in a position to make a difference. But Ms. Quinn failed to deliver greater protections for Mitchell-Lama residents, and she herself accepted lower affordable housing requirements at the Hudson Yards project. Near the end of Mike Bloomberg’s mayoralty, it was reported that the billionaire mayor had managed to rezone 37% of the land in New York City. Under Ms. Quinn's leadership, the City Council failed to seize on this opportunity to make affordable housing a priority. As speaker of the City Council, Ms. Quinn had the most influence over land use issues, and the large role that real estate developers had in her campaign finance war chest suggests that Speaker Quinn wasn't about to stand up to developers when they were such a large source of campaign contributions.

So, when The New York Times talks about the corruptive influence of money in politics, it will condemn Mr. Liu for it, but it will stick its head in the sand when it comes to Ms. Quinn. Many believe that the editorial bias that favors Ms. Quinn stems from the former metropolitan editor, Carolyn Ryan, who has since been promoted to the politics editor and has been moved out of town to Washington. Activists have staged protests in the past to denounce Ms. Ryan's editorial bias that seemed to favor Ms. Quinn (VIDEO 1) (VIDEO 2) (VIDEO 3) (VIDEO 4).

NYC Conflicts of Interest Board : Cover Your Ass End of The Year Review

Conflicts of Interests Board CYA Time : The Big Losers on the COIB makes voters the Biggest Losers in 2013

From True News From Change NYC :

No Connecting the Dots or Follow Up By the Daily News of the Conflict of Interests Board Speakers' Race Duck and Cover

The Conflicts Board Ignores the Free Work Advance Group and Others Have Done for Mark-Viverito and Fines A Losing City Council Candidate and the Sister of UFT Union Boss

• The New York Daily News EXCLUSIVE : City Council Speaker candidate Melissa Mark-Viverito may have violated city ethics rules (NYDN Ed) Mark-Viverito, an East Harlem councilwoman, accepted unpaid assistance from the Advance Group, a prominent lobbying firm working to further her candidacy (Nov. 27th, 2013)
• The New York Post Losing Council Candidate Fined by Conflict Board * Liu aide fined $4G (NYP) The New York City Conflicts of Interest Board charged that Yudelka Tapia, an economist for Comptroller John Liu, used city time and resources for her City Council run, and fined her $4,480.
• The New York Post UFT Boss's Sister's Slap On the Wrist * Ethics no-no for teacher-union chief’s sister (NYP) The sister of teachers-union President Michael Mulgrew was wrist-slapped Monday for operating a booming tutoring company that was awarded $40 million in work from the city while she was employed as a public-school teacher. The overlapping gigs got Kathleen Mulgrew-Daretany a warning letter from the city Conflicts of Interest Board, after it determined that her work for Brienza’s Academic Advantage violated city conflict-of-interest rules.

The New York Daily News : Terrible Ethics Seddio Deal to Make Mark-Viverito Speaker

Many of the 30 who signed on share her progressive agenda. Joined in ideology, they overlook the conflict of interest that aided her candidacy. To rally support, she accepted free consulting from the Advance Group, a major lobbying firm that will press Mark-Viverito to support legislation and budgetary requests sought by its clients. After the Daily News disclosed the arrangement, Mark-Viverito denied impropriety even as she cut loose the Advance Group. She then hired consultants, paying them with money from donors whose identities she is not required to disclose until after the Council vote on her elevation.

Correction to DN Ed : Advance Group Operative Involved in the Seddio Deal : An operative with the controversial Advance Group, Jonathan Yedin, who has been working in Brooklyn Democratic Party politics for more than a decade and belongs to Mr. Seddio’s political club. Though Ms. Mark-Viverito eventually stopped taking free advice from the Advance Group, Mr. Yedin remained a crucial player in the brokering of the deal, sources said. Inside Melissa Mark-Viverito’s Road to Victory (NYO)

Mark-Viverito and her supporters are setting a terrible ethical standard. Further clouding the situation, she garnered support with the help of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, who pressed Brooklyn Democratic boss Frank Seddio to put the Brooklyn delegation in Mark-Viverito’s corner. Seddio complied. His Council troops will get plum committee assignments. Sources told The News that Seddio is also angling to line up posts for his loyalists in the de Blasio administration. Let this not be the return to City Hall of Democratic patronage. That cancer was excised 20 years ago with the election of Rudy Giuliani.

Seddio is a ward heeler out of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in Canarsie. He climbed from aide to backbencher assemblyman and then was shoehorned into a Brooklyn judgeship. After this page revealed that Seddio had improperly given tens of thousands of dollars from his campaign to his Brooklyn buds, Seddio quit the judgeship 17 months into a 14-year term to avoid judicial ethics charges. Seddio’s record shows that he wants things. He will make requests of Mark-Viverito, who would be in a weak position to refuse him. And, having helped de Blasio avoid embarrassing defeat, he will no doubt make requests of the new mayor. Vito Lopez expects to anoint a successor as Brooklyn party boss who has his own questionable history (NYDN Ed) * Frank Seddio resigned a judgeship while under investigation by the state's judicial watchdog agency * B'klyn Judge Probed. Allegedly Gave Campaign Bucks To Pols (NYDN)

The Conflicts Of Interest Board Covers Up Corruption, Rather Than Investigate It

The mayor-elect violated checks and balances by championing Ms. Mark-Viverito's speakership. The mayor should not be meddling in the affairs of the municipal legislature to the extent that he can determine its leadership. What is more, his support for her flies in the face of a possible ethics violations during her speakership race and a campaign finance investigation into the shady dealings of one of her lobbyists. If Ms. Mark-Viverito does become speaker, she and the mayor-elect will have authority over the Campaign Finance Board and the Conflicts of Interest Board to make these investigations go away. How convenient.

• More on the Advance Group Under Investigation
• The Big 8 Lobbyists
• CrainsNY on the Advance Groups Double Dipping

Board Members of the Conflicts Of Interest Board Enable Corruption and Conflicts of Interests

Mark Davies (Executive Director) : Mark Davies has served as Executive Director and Counsel of the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board since January 1994. He previously served as Executive Director of the New York State Temporary State Commission on Local Government Ethics, where he drafted the Commission's bill to completely revamp New York State's ethics law for local government officials, and as a Deputy Counsel to the New York State Commission on Government Integrity. During 15 years in private practice (first with a major New York City law firm and then with a small suburban firm), he specialized in litigation and municipal law. He has also served in local political party positions and was a major party candidate in 1993 for the New York State Supreme Court, 9th Judicial District. A graduate of Columbia College and Columbia Law School, he has been an Associate Professor at St. John’s University School of Law, a Visiting Associate Professor at Fordham University School of Law, and an Adjunct Professor at New York Law School and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, where he teaches New York Practice. He is a member of the executive committee of the New York State Bar Association's Commercial and Federal Litigation Section, whose newsletter he edits, and the chair of the Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee of the State Bar’s Municipal Law Section and a member of that Section's Executive Committee. He serves on the board of directors of Global Integrity and is a former member of the editorial board of PUBLIC INTEGRITY and a former member of the Steering Committee of the international Council on Governmental Ethics Laws. He has lectured extensively on civil practice and on government ethics throughout the United States and abroad, most recently at the IV Global Forum on Fighting Corruption in Brasilia at the request of the Brazilian Government and to officials in Jamaica at the request of The Carter Center, and has authored some two dozen publications, including several articles on governmental ethics laws, the municipal ethics chapter for ETHICAL STANDARDS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR (ABA 1999), the governmental ethics chapter for a new international work on ETHICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT: TOWARD GLOBAL GUIDELINES (Praeger 2000), and a chapter on adopting local government ethics laws for a recent New York State Bar Association publication. From 1990-2006, he was the directing editor and revision author of WEST'S MCKINNEY'S FORMS FOR THE CPLR and is the directing editor and lead author of NEW YORK CIVIL APPELLATE PRACTICE (West 1996). In 2000 he received the New York County Lawyers' Association Award for Outstanding Public Service, and in 2007 he received the New York State Bar Association Excellence in Public Service Award.

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Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair) : Nicholas Scoppetta was appointed to the Board and as Board Chair on December 28, 2012. Mr. Scoppetta serves as counsel to Scoppetta Seiff Kretz & Abercrombie, the law firm that he co-founded in 1980. Mr. Scoppetta has served in numerous City positions since 1972, when Mayor Lindsay appointed him as Commissioner of Investigation, including Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice, Chair of the Mayor’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, Chair of the Commission to Combat Police Corruption, Commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services, and Commissioner of the Fire Department of the City of New York. Mr. Scoppetta has also served as a Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University Law School and as a Lecturer in Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Program, as a Commissioner for the New York State Waterfront Commission, as an Assistant District Attorney under Frank Hogan, as Associate Counsel of the Knapp Commission, as a Deputy Independent Counsel under the federal Ethics in Government Act, and as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. Among his many civic activities, Mr. Scoppetta has served as President and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Children’s Aid Society, as President of New Yorkers for Children, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

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Erika Thomas-Yuille (Board Member) : Ms. Thomas-Yuille was appointed to the Board in February 2012. She is currently Associate General Counsel for The McGraw-Hill Companies, where her litigation practice primarily consists of employment matters, internal investigations, and providing legal advice in connection with the company's worldwide anti-corruption, compliance, and ethics initiatives. Prior to joining McGraw-Hill, Ms. Thomas-Yuille served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. Before her tenure as a federal prosecutor, Erika worked as an associate at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Ms. Thomas-Yuille graduated from Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She is a past member of the Judiciary Committee of the New York City Bar Association and the Board of Managers of the Harlem YMCA and currently volunteers as a Girl Scout troop leader.

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Andrew Irving (Board Member) : Andrew Irving was appointed to the Board in March 2005. Mr. Irving serves as Senior Vice President and Area Counsel of Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors, LLC, a registered investment adviser that provides consulting and decision-making services to public and private sector benefit plans and other institutional investors. He leads GFA’s fiduciary decision-making practice, which focuses on providing independent, conflict-free, discretionary decisions regarding particular transactions or plan assets. Prior to joining GFA’s predecessor firm, Independent Fiduciary Services, Mr. Irving was a partner at Robinson Silverman Pearce Aronsohn & Berman and Bryan Cave LLP, where his practice focused on employee benefits, labor relations, and collective bargaining matters, and also included representation of regulated companies in the telecommunications and energy industries. While at the firm he supervised its New York office's pro bono activities, and mentored the Moot Court team from Brooklyn's Thomas Jefferson High School. After graduating from Yale College and Columbia Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review, Mr. Irving clerked for the Honorable Eugene H. Nickerson, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.

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Burton Lehman (Board Member) : Burton Lehman was appointed to the Board in July 2009. He is Of Counsel to Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, a law firm which he helped to found in 1969. Mr. Lehman is an alumnus of Columbia College (A.B. 1962) and Columbia Law School (J.D. 1965, magna cum laude), where he was the Writing and Research Editor of the Columbia Law Review. Mr. Lehman has been a lawyer, advisor and counselor throughout his career. His practice has been very broad-based, with an emphasis on financial and real estate transactions and partnership matters. Mr. Lehman was Chairman of the Board of Governors of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion from 1997 through 2006. He continues to serve on that Board and is also a trustee of The HealthCare Chaplaincy. Mr. Lehman is a member of the Board of Visitors of Columbia Law School and was a trustee of The Town School from 1980-1989. Mr. Lehman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Harold R. Medina, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Judicial Circuit, in 1965-66, and also was Associate Counsel to the Temporary New York State Commission for the 1967 Constitutional Convention.

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Anthony Crowell (Board Member) : Anthony W. Crowell is Dean and President, and Professor of Law, at New York Law School. Prior to his appointment, he served as Counselor to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg from 2006 to 2012. His responsibilities included managing a broad portfolio of legal, regulatory, legislative, governance, administrative, and operational matters focused on enhancing New York City’s performance, competitiveness, accountability, and public integrity. He provided coordination and oversight of City agencies, boards, and commissions and spearheaded government reform efforts and business process re-engineering initiatives. He negotiated and helped implement landmark reforms to the City’s lobbying and campaign finance laws. He also has served either as a commissioner or an executive staff member of six charter revision commissions. Before becoming Counselor to the Mayor, Dean Crowell served as Special Counsel to the Mayor from 2002 to 2006. From 1997 to 2002, he served as Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department’s Tax & Condemnation and Legal Counsel Divisions. Dean Crowell is a recipient of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York’s Outstanding Municipal Attorney Award. Dean Crowell received a B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied urban policy, and a J.D., cum laude, from American University. He is a member of the bars of New York and New Jersey. While in City service, he taught State and Local Government Law courses at Brooklyn Law School for 12 years and New York Law School for 9 years. He serves as Board Chair of the Brooklyn Public Library.

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Additional Reporting by Louis Flores

NYC Mayoral Candidates Accept Corrupt Real Estate Campaign Donations

From Crain's : Longshot Dem blasts rivals' real estate cash

Sal Albanese, a former City Councilman and longshot candidate for mayor, is calling on his fellow Democrats to return campaign contributions they've received from real estate firms being examined by a state anti-corruption panel.

The Moreland Commission, a group created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to investigate corruption in state government, recently issued subpoenas to five top developers in New York : Extell Development, Thor Equities, Silverstein Properties, Fisher Brothers and Friedman Management. The five firms have collectively donated tens of thousands of dollars to each of the top four candidates for mayor, Mr. Albanese notes.

"When you've sold your integrity to the highest bidder, how can we trust you to follow through on building affordable housing or holding developers accountable?" Mr. Albanese asked in a statement. "The simple truth is: we can't. That is why I have not accepted a single cent from developers or lobbyists."

But it is not clear if any developers or lobbyists have even offered to donate money to Mr. Albanese's campaign, which is barely registering in public polls. The former Bay Ridge councilman was out of public life for 15 years before launching his mayoral bid, and only 1% of likely Democratic primary voters polled by Quinnipiac in the last few days said they would vote for him.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn has accepted a total of $79,125 from employees of the five real estate firms subpoenaed by the Moreland Commission. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has received $42,100, former Comptroller Bill Thompson $30,660 and ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner $37,550, according to Mr. Albanese. None of the firms has been accused by authorities of doing anything wrong, and the amounts they donated represent 0.8% of the $22.2 million raised by the four leading Democratic candidates.

News of the subpoenas hit the papers in early August. The commission plans to investigate whether the five developers building luxury housing projects opened their wallets to curry favor among state legislators to secure millions in tax breaks. An explicit exchange of a donation for a tax break would be illegal. The Real Estate Board of New York, an industry association, did not comment Tuesday afternoon on Mr. Albanese's call.

None of Mr. Albanese's rivals responded to his call to return the campaign contributions. A debate scheduled for Tuesday night, hosted by WABC, the Daily News and the League of Women Voters, will exclude Mr. Albanese based on his low fundraising numbers. The New York Times editorial page has called for him to be included.

Christine Quinn Loses endorsements from Village Independent Democrats, Broadway Democrats, and CoDA

We waited a few days for confirmation about last Thursday night's endorsement meeting.

But The New York Post was the first newspaper to finally report that the Village Independent Democrats did not endorse New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's mayoral campaign. Instead, the Village Independent Democrats voted to endorse New York City Comptroller John Liu's mayoral campaign.

"The Village Independent Democrats, located in the heart of Quinn’s district, instead opted to back City Comptroller John Liu — the most liberal in the race," reported Sally Goldenberg in The Post.

Two other Manhattan Democratic Party clubs also did not endorse Speaker Quinn in this year's mayor's race.

The Broadway Democrats and CoDA (Coalition for a Democratic Alternative), both progressive clubs in Manhattan, also threw their support behind Liu, whose campaign has been marred by the guilty verdict of two aides in a federal campaign-finance fraud case.

A source close to the Village Independent Democrats said Quinn was “livid” over losing that group.

“I think they were shocked,” the source said of the speaker’s election team. “Quinn’s ground game in Manhattan is off.” Campaign aides for Quinn and Liu did not comment.

Read more : Quinn is ‘left’ out.

Quinn No Show At LGBTQ Rally Against Stop And Frisk Outside Floyd Trial

Christine Quinn Was A No-Show At LGBTQ Rally

At Thursday's rally by LGBTQ groups outside the U.S. District Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street, where the Floyd v. City of New York class-action, stop-and-frisk trial was in progress, only one mayoral candidate showed up to express solidarity -- and to renew a call for an end to stop-and-frisk. And it wasn't Christine Quinn.

Thank you, John Liu, for showing leadership, courage, and solidarity with the LGBTQ community.

Maybe New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has not been able to hear the pleas from the LGBTQ community, because her office is soundproofed ?

During Michael Bloomberg's three terms as mayor, over 5 million New Yorkers have been stopped and frisked. During the over-lapping time that Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the City Council, over 3.9 million New Yorkers have been stopped and frisked.

Many politicians act powerless in the face of the NYPD's use of brutality, discrimination, and excessive force, but the members of the City Council, which each year approve the NYPD budget, simply rubber stamp Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attack on due process, the Bill of Rights, other civil rights, and civil liberties. If the City Council actually stood up to the mayor in the budget process, then maybe the City Council could legislate change without having to use the court system, like what is happening right now in the Floyd trial, a lawsuit that is challenging the NYPD's unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices.

The description at Thursday's rally by members of various LGBTQ groups of how the NYPD target, harass, and even falsely arrest LGBTQ New Yorkers was tragic, and the pleas for help were compelling. But one must wonder why Speaker Quinn was absent from the rally, why Speaker Quinn did not express solidarity with the LTGBQ community's efforts to end stop-and-frisk, and why the Floyd trial was being used as a backdrop for this demonstration ?

Because so many non-profits took part in Thursday's rally, one must wonder if an explanation of the lock-step could not be found in a demand for an election year political favour ? We know that how Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn manufacture political patronage support is by making private donations or distributing discretionary City Council funds, respectively. Were the members of the LGBTQ groups manipulated into showing up outside the Floyd trial in order to distract from the fact that Speaker Quinn supports stop-and-frisk and has expressed her desire to continue NYPD Commish Ray Kelly's policies of harassment, profiling, discrimination, and brutality ?

Indeed, last December, activists in Jackson Heights organised a demonstration to highlight Speaker Quinn's failure to end stop-and-frisk. Speaker Quinn is a high-profile LGBT leader, but she turns her back on LGBTQ New Yorkers, who are deliberately profiled and targeted for harassment and arrest by the NYPD, said activists during last December's demonstration.

Related : Christine Quinn Betrays The LGBTQ Community

Michael Bloomberg Grumpy Cat Meme

New York City mayoral candidate John Liu is the "only candidate who has called for eliminating the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practice, and increasing the minimum wage to $11.50 per hour, significantly higher than the $9 supported by President Obama. He is also the harshest critic of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg ; he describes Mr. Bloomberg as a 'grumpy' man who 'checked out a long time ago,' ” reported The New York Times.

Christine Quinn Takes More Heat Over Blocking Of Paid Sick Leave

Christine Quinn takes heat at mayoral forum for blocking vote on paid-sick-leave bill; Controller John Liu was consistently applauded by Harlem crowd.

From The New York Daily News :

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, seated next to Quinn during a lively forum in Harlem on poverty issues, also ripped into the Council Speaker for helping pass a “watered-down” living-wage bill.

Controller John Liu consistently drew the loudest cheers from the largely minority audience, as he went further on several issues than his Democratic rivals – Quinn, de Blasio, ex-City Controller William Thompson and former Councilman Sal Albanese. For one, he called for the minimum wage to be raised to $11.50 — the current rate is $7.25 in New York — while his opponents said they favored President Obama’s preferred figure of $9.

Liu also repeated a previous demand to have the NYPD’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy halted. “It makes everybody less safe,” he said. The other candidates argued to keep the practice but reform the way it is applied.

Publisher Tom Allon was the only GOP candidate to attend ; three others, including former MTA boss Joe Lhota, declined invitations.

John Liu : CityTime Developer Is Holding NYC Hostage

Without Naming SAIC Directly, A Report By The Comptroller's Office Finds That The Faulty CityTime Project Allows The Developer To Hold New York City Hostage ''In Perpetuity.''

“The CityTime product as it currently stands may allow the vendor to maintain an indefinite monopoly on the development and maintenance of New York City’s timekeeping system,” New York City Comptroller John Liu said in a statement issued today.

Mr. Liu released his statement in connection with a review of the technology behind the CityTime payroll system. The Comptroller's Office, in Mr. Liu's statement, says that the review ''casts serious doubts on whether the system could be run independently without the project’s developer.''

“The emerging product holds the client -- the City of New York -- hostage to one company, the project’s developer," Mr. Liu said, in his statement.

The development contracts behind the CityTime payroll system has involved the theft of $80 million dollars, and Mr. Liu asked that two city agencies to scrutinise the failed system.

According to the statement, ''Subsequent to the assessment, Comptroller Liu instructed his representatives on the Office of Payroll Administration and the Financial Information Services Agency Boards of Directors to ensure that all deficiencies caused by the vendor are cured at no additional cost to taxpayers, and to explore all options including ceasing deployment of new users.''

Stringer Raising Millions For Potential Mayoral Campaign In 2013

Potential New York City 2013 Mayoral Candidates Raising Money ; Sitting On Millions Of Campaign Cash.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer raised approximately $1 million dollars in 2010 in what is being called a preparation to run for Mayor of New York City in 2013, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that in the final 6 months of 2010, Mr. Stringer raised nearly $400,000, while City Council Speaker Christine Quinn raised $121,000. During the same period, each of Rep. Anthony Weiner and 2009 Mayoral candidate William Thompson did not raise any money.

While Mr. Stringer had a definite fundraising advantage in 2010, his rumoured competition for the Demorcratic nomination have piles of campaign cash that can be funneled into a mayoral campaign. Together with his 2010 fundraising, Mr. Stringer has a combined balance of approximately $2 million, Ms. Quinn has approximately $2.8 million available to her, and Mr. Weiner has almost $4 million on hand.

New York City Comptroller John Liu and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, each of whom are also considered potential mayoral candidates, have not released their fundraising activities for the latter part of 2010, The Journal reported.

John Liu Exposes Another Technology Contract

NYC's Emergency Telephone System Contract Draws New Scrutiny

The CityTime technology contract scandal has cast many doubts on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's other expensive IT programs. The Gothamist has reported that suspicion has grown in connection with the out-of-control costs associated with a technology upgrade to New York City's 911 emergency telephone system.

''The City Time scandal had already been a point of contention between the Bloomberg administration and City Comptroller John Liu, and now their fight has spread to the City's emergency services. Yesterday Liu's office rejected a $286 million contract request for the city's Emergency Communications Transformation Program, (ECTP), an effort to update the city's 911 system—a project that, incidentally, was initially budged at $380 million and has since ballooned to $666 million.''

Now that the Comptroller Liu has finally started showing up to the office as Comptroller and not a candidate for mayor, maybe he will expose other black holes in the city budget ?