Okay; confession time is here. My quest for the 40th council district seat has been rather challenging over these past six months (surprise…surprise…lol). Those of you, who have been following this race via both mainstream and non-conventional media, have probably kept score on my manager changes, fundraising obstacles (I limited any one contributor to only 200 dollars/ max), my fights with campaign staffers, lawyers and advisors, and the other issues that have swirled around this campaign. Those who have been following it through the grapevines probably have heard even more outlandish stories circulating the district: don’t believe the hype.
Rumors of my political demise are greatly exaggerated folks: greatly exaggerated. Rock Hackshaw’s campaign for Brooklyn’s 40th council district seat is alive and well. And in the immortal words of one of our top ring announcers in boxing: “Let’s get ready to rumble……………..”
Yesterday the Board of elections sent in my score sheet. In their estimation I filed 2724 signatures with my petition. They claim to have found 1130 of these signatures to be solidly registered voters (Dems) in the district. They claim to have disallowed 1594 of those I submitted for various reasons. The bottom line is this: I AM ON THE BALLOT.
In a city council race, a candidate needs 900 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. And to think near everyone thought I was dead in the water during the petition period, just because I sent out an “SOS” in the last few days, asking for help. At least four mediums (newspapers included) did stories about my petition problems. Even my buddy Erik Einquist (Crain’s) took a slice of me/lol. Where is Errol Louis (NY Daily News) when you need him most/lol?
Rumors had it that rigor-mortis was setting in on my campaign. Truth was that I did an in-house mailing from scratch, which took many of my people away from collecting petitions for quite some time. We stuffed envelopes with too much literature, stamped them and even licked them. All in all, it also drained off some of my meager resources. It was a risqué move. It was a unilateral decision which caused some consternation inside and outside my camp. But it worked. The reception to my mailing has been extraordinary. Many who received it came looking for me to sign the petition sheets near the end of the petition period. I believe that I have locked in some early votes here. We shall see.
So the five people who formally challenged my petitions last month -via general and specific objections- better have something else up their sleeves, if they insist on blocking my constitutional right to pursue this office. Two of these objectors had last names that spelt EUGENE. One of the other three objectors had a last name that spelt TULLOCH. Note that my opponents here are EUGENE and TULLOCH. Some coincidence huh?
So come next week I will be in court trying to cement my place on the ballot. My attorney is the young and talented Terry Hinds. He is also my friend. I know that because we fight a lot. I sometimes wonder why he puts up with me (and me with him/lol); but he is young: so I make allowances for that/lol.
In a matter of a few days I will be officially a candidate for the September 15th primary. This is where the fun starts. I can win this race. I have always felt strongly that I can win it. Campaigning throughout this district over the past few months has helped to reinforce that feeling (I will say no more). For those of you interested in my platform, resume, affiliations list, etcetera, please go up to my website (www.rockhackshaw.com) for pertinent information.
All this brings me to the reason I write this column. I need to hire a political consulting firm to help me bring this victory home. I must admit that I have made preliminary inquiries into only two firms, but nothing is signed on any dotted lines. I am very very sweet on the Berlin-Rosen Public Affairs firm. I am told that the main principals here (Valerie Berlin and Johnathan Rosen) are fans of my columns; I hope that helps me land them. I also know that consulting firms don’t come cheaply; and after all I am a grassroots campaign that has raised less than fifteen thousand dollars. If the NYC Campaign Finance Board matches my money (six to one) then I probably will be able to afford a firm at discount rates (I guess). Hopefully I would also be able to pay my attorney and all my other campaign obligations.
Look; I am going to give Berlin-Rosen first crack at me; then I will give Bill Lynch Associates the second crack at me; if neither one of them lock me in, then I am open to proposals from any firm out there willing to help me win this race. As I said before, you can go to my very informative website (www.rockhacksahw.com) to get a strong sense of the type of candidate I am. Feel free to contact me at any point in time. I will keep readers informed as to my decisions along this line.
People; I need your help. I need contributions from you like yesterday. Send money; send it now. We can pull this off. Go up to my videotape that I did for CFB recently (www.nyc.gov/videovoter), there you can get a better sense of what I am about. If you have followed me here over the years -and if you have agreed with most of my positions- then write me a check. If you have enjoyed my columns over these years, then think of how much more enjoyment you can get seeing me in the city council over the next four years (God’s willing). Either way, make me a contribution; I need it (and I probably deserve it too/lol). If you can’t contribute money then come in and volunteer on my campaign. You all know how to reach me. You will have big fun; I guarantee that.
Stay tuned-in folks; we’ve only just begun: to run.
PS: The old guru himself (Maurice Gumbs) is coming up from Florida (and out of political and professional retirement) to help me down the homestretch of this race. Exciting isn’t that?