Category: News and Opinion

Those of you who read my first posts on this blog may recall reading that from 1990 to 2005 local government employment fell in New York City while soaring in the rest of the New York State, with public school employment a particular growth sector outside the City.  You may also recall that public school employment outside the city soared after the state implemented the STAR program, diverting even more of the state taxes paid by city residents away from the city’s schools, and in particular after the first ruling in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case.  It is almost as if the school districts elsewhere were rushing to establish “facts on the ground” that could not be taken away regardless of the needs of the city’s children or the burden on its taxpayers.  Well, more recent data from the State Department of Labor shows that from June 2005 to June 2006, that process continues.

Everyone I speak to is wondering why Mike is continuing to defend Con Edison.

My theory is that it’s all part of the Presidential campaign and the energy crisis.

Think about it – Mike can say that the other candidates can promise to cut the use of oil but he’s done it. Look how much was saved in the last week by Queens residents who didn’t run their AC, computers, stereos, TVs or lights.

Hey – it makes as much sense as the other theories about Mike can get elected President.

About one year ago, on “The Politicker”, I called Brooklyn assembly-member Roger Green: “The Dodger”. This wasn’t done by accident, and it surely wasn’t meant to describe the contemporary legal woes from which he had pulled a Houdini-type exit. The nickname came into being because of an article about him, written many years ago in “Footnotes”-an esoteric political paper/website/blog, which has been covering Brooklyn’s political scene for more than two decades now. In that article, the editor/publisher (Maurice Gumbs) described Green as the luckiest politician in Brooklyn. He posited that anytime shit hit the fan, Roger was always lucky enough to avoid having it sticking to his suits. He further argued that Roger had an uncanny knack for extricating himself from very ticklish situations. Gumbs said that whenever the proverbial “political-bullet” was hurling straight for Roger, somehow he always managed to dodge it. Thus, I thought the nickname quite apropos.

Most people agree that the NYPD has done a really good job.  But with the contract for police officers now going to arbitration, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association wants us to think we’ve had a good deal.  That isn’t necessarily so.  In fact, we’ve paid a huge price for the level of police protection we have received, according to local government data from governments division of the U.S. Census Bureau – even if the police officers, on average, haven’t received a big paycheck.

In Fiscal 2004, this source reports, the City of New York spent $11.01 on police protection for every $1,000 of its residents’ personal income.  The City, therefore, had to collect about 1.1% of our income in taxes to pay for it.  The national average was $6.21 in police spending per $1,000 of personal income, requiring local taxes of about 0.6% of income.  The rest of New York state, and New Jersey, were about average.  For New York City residents, the NYPD costs one out of every $200 they earn MORE than they would have to pay if they lived elsewhere.  And the city’s spending on correction, at $3.70 per $1,000 of personal income, was nearly double the national average as well.

Up in Albany, they are selling out our future to benefit narrow interest groups with one foot out the door.  It is government by the insiders, of the insiders, for the insiders, the rest be damned.  That is mostly what I write about on this blog (lots more to come when I get the time).

I’ve also been upset enough at some things Mayor Bloomberg has done to vote against him, after expecting to vote for him.  And if Speaker Quinn decides the say "screw you" to the people of the city by revoking term limits, we’ll she’ll have black mark in my book forever.  The federal government?  Forget it.

In Brooklyn today the word is that Roger Green is finally dropping his bid for the tenth congressional district. It is said that Roger will run for re-election to the 57th Assembly District. His last filing had him showing very little money on hand with mounting debts.

STAY TUNED-IN.

Previously I posted the list of candidates who filed petitions to run in NYC Democratic Primaries.

Now, I’ll discuss Primary contests in the Republican and Independence Parties.

There are no Conservative & Working Families Party Primaries.

Republican

Congress

11 CD  – 2 Republicans filed petitions to run in the district being vacated by Major Owens – Stephen Finger & Mariana Blume.

State Senate

15 SD – Senator and County Leader Serph Maltese is being challenged by Bartholomew Bruno. I suspect this race is part of the war between Maltese & his allies and Jack & Bart Haggerty for control of the Queens GOP.

A few weeks ago, the New York City Council held a hearing over the two waste–transfer stations being proposed for the east side of Manhattan. The proposals call for building a station around 59th Street, and another around 91st Street. It’s all part of an eventual long-term move to shift transfer stations from land to marine. Expectedly, the overwhelmingly white “upper-eastsiders”, took a latte-break from Starbucks, to show up in force at the hearing.

As I write this article, my observation is that there are forty-six waste-transfer stations in the five boroughs of NYC. As far as I know, there are nineteen in Brooklyn, fifteen in the Bronx, eight in Queens, four in Staten Island, and zero in Manhattan. My research also suggests that areas near these sites have higher comparative rates of asthma, common colds, flu, bronchitis and other bronchial and respiratory ailments. So why is Manhattan so lucky? Why are Manhattanites so insulated? Why are they so isolated in terms of sharing part of the burden that other New Yorkers share, relative to the city’s trash?

Sorry, to those who are bored, to take my argument with Mr. Wonk to another post, but I think this is an important issue. 

I believe the "free media" given to incumbent politicians during their terms, combined with a lack of similar attention to challengers (other than those with "interesting" backgrounds like KT), is in part responsible for the lack of competitive legislative and congressional elections.  As responsible, if not more so, than imbalances in money and gerrymandering.

When I’ve had this discussion with journalists such as Ben Smith and Erik Engquist (the latter, unlike other news outlets, did write about my protest campaign for state assembly two years ago). Ben responded that it’s a dilemma since you want to be evenhanded but you also don’t want to waste the reader’s time with something that is not significant — like a challenger with no chance to win.  Erik pointed out that you have to work to get the attention of reporters rather than just send literature and letters asking for an interview, as I did, and that there are other ways (community organizing, prior successes) to draw press attention.

I previously posted the list of candidates who filed petitions to run in NYC  Democratic Party Primaries for Public office.

Today, I’ll list those running for Party Office.

In Manhattan and Staten Island, Democratic State Committee positions are contested. In Bronx & Queens State Committee and District Leader are up.  In Brooklyn State Committee and District Leader are the same position. In the Democratic Party, there are Male & Female positions for State Committee & District Leader in each district.