One would think that in this day and age, political party organizations would go out of their way to avoid the appearance of impropriety, if not actual impropriety itself.
One would be proven wrong. At least in Brooklyn.
I’ve just gotten my hands on a questionnaire sent out by the Party to prospective candidates for Brooklyn Borough President. The questionnaire includes a section on “Land Use”. The section notes that “Borough Presidents appoint representatives to local community boards and the City Planning commission, which vote on land use and zoning actions under the NYC Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.”
It then asks if the candidate will “pledge to”:
“A. Consider the advice” of the party “regarding your appointments”.
“B. Commit to consulting with” the party “on development before deals with the developer are struck”.
Has The Party no shame? Even if not illegal, is this not blatant overreach which smacks of potential corruption and undue influence?
Where are Mole333, Michael Bouldin, NKD, and Oneshirt when one needs them?
By the way, in this instance, by “The Party” I am referring to the guilty party, which is the county party organization responsible for this outrageous behavior.
The Kings County Working Families Party.
Can you imagine the uproar if Vito Lopez had done this?