City Hall - April 13, 2009

Anthony Weiner, below, works his way through indecisiveness (Page 4),

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April 13, 2009

MISSION CONTROL Joel Klein puts his experiment and himself on the line in the battle for city schools

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

Vol. 3, No. 14

Robert Morgenthau moves hard in DA race (Page 14) and Joe Lentol, above, reflects on finally reforming Rockefeller (Page 31).

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APRIL 13, 2009

Forethought

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

Abstract Thinking

is precisely why the conversation needs to not be about them, but about the merits of the policy and changes like increasing transparency and the checks within the system.

There is a way to talk about mayoral control that does not just focus on the personalities. That is why, after all, the sunset was written into the law in the first place: Six years later, legislators can take a look at what has worked and what has not and make a decision about the future of public education apart from everything about Bloomberg himself.

Of course, in 2003, when mayoral control was first authorized—back in the days when George W. Bush and George Pataki still reigned supreme and Michael Bloomberg was at the low point in his popularity—no one could have predicted the 2009 political landscape. When legislators wrote the sixyear sunset provision into the law, some of them might have been counting on Bloomberg being a oneterm mayor who would have already been sent back to the private sector by now. And no one could have guessed that he would extend term limits and remain so popular, making him the safe bet to remain the mayor in control of mayoral control for the next four years.

But another sunset provision is expected to be part of the renewal, meaning that legislators (who themselves may experience significant turnover during the next six years) will eventually be giving mayoral control to someone else, either after the November 2009 elections if Bloomberg loses, or after the November 2013 elections, if he does not extend term limits again. The next mayor might be in control as soon as January of next year, and will at the latest take the helm in four years.

Not knowing who will be the mayor in control makes the need to enhance accountability even greater. Clearly, the public has to be given an opportunity to be heard more often than every four years in the voting booth. Clearly, there needs to be some independent monitor set up to audit the data and statistics on which so much of these discussions are predicated, and which have created such a trust gap among all those outside Tweed and City Hall. And clearly, whatever changes are made need to be done in a way that does not nickel and dime mayoral control into a label attached to something which is not actually mayoral control at all. Independence is necessary and good. Accountability is necessary and good. Transparency is necessary and good. Debate about the facts is necessary and good. Going back to the way things were is obviously not an option. With all that in mind, let the facts, statistics and information drive the conversation, not Michael Bloomberg, not Joel Klein, not Randi Weingarten, not Cathy Nolan, not any of the other major or minor players. There is a generation of children who entered school at the outset of mayoral control and will graduate by the time it is up for renewal again. A responsible public policy would be one that prioritizes them and benefits their education, and not gets bogged down in complaints or praise of any of the people involved. That is a lesson they should learn, and learn quickly.

t this point, whether or not they believe mayoral control should be renewed, all the serious people seem to agree that it will be.

But the questions that remain are no less important as the legislature begins the process of fixing and fiddling with the system that has, at the very least, delivered tangible accountability to the management of the city’s public schools.

Too often, the conversation about mayoral control has been about Michael Bloomberg and Joel Klein. One day—either in nine months or four years after that—the city will have a different mayor and chancellor.

Whatever is decided in Albany this spring will live on past them. That

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Not knowing who will be the mayor in control makes the need to enhance accountability even greater.

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DON’T HAVE A FIRE OR HEART ATTACK IN ONE OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS! Cost of the FDNY Service is Low

by National Standards But the Mayor Still Wants to Close 16 More Fire Companies A study of municipal fire and police departments across America show that 17 cities spend more per capita on fire protection than New York City does.

New York City spends only $157.56 per capita on the FDNY, while San Francisco with a population of less than 765,000 spends $316.81 per capita on its fire service.

Despite having an already cost effective FDNY, Mayor Bloomberg wants to close 16 more fire companies on top of the 6 he already shut.

Firehouses Already Closed by Mayor Bloomberg Are: Potential fire house Engine 36 in East Harlem, Manhattan closings Engine 204 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Engine 212 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn Fire houses closed

by Mayor Bloomberg Engine 278 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn Engine 209 in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in 2003 Engine 261 in Long Island City, Queens

DON’T LET THE MAYOR & FIRE COMMISSIONER

U N D E RC U T YO U R C O M M U N I TY ’ S S A F E TY A N Y F U R TH E R !

For more information visit:

Uniformed Firefighters Association

WWW.UFANYC.ORG

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APRIL 13, 2009

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Weiner the Wanderer

BY EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE he life of non-candidate candidate Anthony Weiner can be very strange.

Every morning starts with a strategy phone call which generally includes Chief of Staff Marie Ternes, political consultant Tom Freedman and former Chiefs of Staff (and current Democratic Leadership Council staffer) Marc Dunkleman and Anson Kaye, despite the delay in Kaye’s expected transition to become Weiner’s 2009 campaign manager. Pollster Joel Benenson sometimes participates as well.

Nights are spent away from public campaign activities, away from organization dinners and union events like the 32-BJ candidate screening.

The only press he is doing is about government funding and new legislation.

He tends to duck out before whatever reporters are left get a chance to ask him about his campaign.

And there is the idea floated in private over the past few weeks about abandoning politics altogether.

Then there was the strained appearance at Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats on March 26, during which Weiner alternated between advising the club to put off its endorsement vote until the summer (in the end, he was rebuffed, with ex-officio member Chris Owens later referring to Weiner’s recent campaign suspension as his “John McCain moment”) and trotting out lines from his standard stump speech.

Sometimes he spoke about his candidacy in the present tense. Sometimes in the future.

That left many of those in the room confused, including blogger and Council candidate Rock Hackshaw, who was curious to know where Weiner had been turning for advice.

“Who do you talk to before you get to this place where you make a gambit like this?” Hackshaw asked Weiner.

Weiner rejected Hackshaw’s term.

“Gambit’s loaded,” he said. “I would ask you to take me at my word that this simply feels like the right thing to do.”

Why Weiner feels that his atypical public indecisiveness about the race is the right thing to do may have as much to do with an interest in governing as about the early focus on him by the Michael Bloomberg campaign, according to one person who discussed strategy with Weiner. The Weiner camp was frustrated by efforts to generate

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stories like the March 6 CBS-2 review of his recent subcommittee performance, which pointed out his missing of several votes on visa grants. Notably, though, these were voice votes, meaning that Weiner’s absence would have only been apparent to someone who had been in the room, specifically keeping track.

Those close to Weiner believe actions like these have continued, which they feel signals the Bloomberg campaign’s continuing concern about him as a potential candidate. The Bloomberg push polls about which they fed stories to The New York Times are real, they say, as is the young man they presume to be a Bloomberg operative whom they have grown accustomed to seeing at the back of their press conferences.

What has also continued is Weiner’s surprise at the size of the workload in Washington now that Democrats control Capitol Hill and the White House for the first time in his Congressional career. He has been very active there, issuing no shortage of press releases—though the topics have been immigration service funding, expediting mammograms and reauthorizing the COPS bill.

But while Weiner may be wavering, his now-liberated Democratic opponent Comptroller William Thompson (D) has been moving strongly to assert himself, insisting that the lack of a primary challenge will provide him the backing of a Democratic Party more unified going into the November elections than in the past several mayoral elections, which they believe could prove decisive. Moreover, they argue Weiner’s staying out enables Thompson to much earlier focus his attacks, and what money he does have, against Bloomberg, which could prove an especially important benefit given the unlimited resources the mayor has indicated he will make available to his own campaign. Thompson’s lawyer has asked for special clearance from the Campaign Finance Board for higher fundraising limits given what they see as the preempted primary and their billionaire opponent.

Even an increased spending cap, however, will not be able to buy Thompson the amount of free media coverage that would come from a contested primary with Weiner. Weiner’s letter about leaving the campaign, after all, received more attention than just about everything Thompson has done so far in his campaign combined. Even Thompson attack

JOHN DALY

What a postponed campaign means for Democrats, in September and beyond

Anthony Weiner’s transition to the sidelines of the Mayor’s race has led to some conflicting behavior. lines like “During these tough economic times, we cannot afford to have Mike Bloomberg,” which he has been road-testing on the trail in recent weeks, pale in comparison to the sharper quips that come as second nature to Weiner and could have bloodied Bloomberg no matter who won the primary.

Thompson’s campaign manager, Eduardo Castell, said he believes that not having a primary would enable the comptroller to wage a six-month race against Bloomberg that could provide a more thorough challenge to the incumbent’s record. He said he was confident that the media coverage would follow even without Weiner.

“I think you will have a sitting billionaire incumbent in a contested race, and that will be news and that will be covered,” Castell said.

One major trial for the mayor’s popularity will be the city budget, which is due right at the beginning of the summer, when Weiner has said he will make a final decision about this year’s race. He has already maxed out in primary fundraising, but if he decides to run, he will have just two weeks to collect and file petitions for the primary ballot after the June 30 budget deadline.

If he does not, Weiner will be able to spend the next four years building a war chest for the general election as well, and putting together the legislative record that has for the most part eluded him so far in the House. In the event of a Bloomberg win this year, the congressman could be well positioned to dominate a primary field, even one as crowded as many expect it to be. Weiner will be all of 49 in 2013, which would still make him one of the city’s youngest mayors, were he to win.

And if he is eager to move up before then, there is always next year’s Senate primary against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D), which seems to grow more crowded with potential candidates by the week. So far, though, no popular billionaire is among that group.

In the meantime, there are press conferences like the one on April 5, where Weiner spent his Sunday morning in front of a newsstand on 53rd and Lexington, quoting statistics about Internet tobacco sales from state Indian reservations. The city loses up to $150 million each year in tax revenue it would be collecting from cigarettes that are instead being sold on reservations. If every cigarette in the 30-40 million cartons sold on New York reservations was actually being smoked on that land, each Native American would have to be putting away a pack each minute, every minute of the day.

Something needed to be done.

And Weiner, who introduced himself as a member of the House Health Subcommittee ready to submit a bill to the Judiciary Committee for markup, had the answer: Pass a law that banned the shipping of tobacco through the mail.

Not many reporters came. Those who did left without asking Weiner anything about the campaign, or whether he is in fact running.

But the passing middle schooler who stayed after the press conference to talk to him wanted to know.

The newsstand operator asked too.

Weiner gave the same answer to both.

“Thinking about it,” he said, in what has clearly become an automatic response to a question he has become used to fielding.

“Got any advice?” eidovere@cityhallnews.com

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APRIL 13, 2009

Early Endorsement Gamble for WFP de Blasio’s performance expected to be statement about party’s clout

BY DAVID FREEDLANDER n 2008, the Working Families Party helped a 28-yearold neophyte knock off a 30-year incumbent state senator and turned all levers of state government blue for the first time in 70 years.

Such moves and moxie left many WFP members wondering what they could do for an encore after helping vault 28-year-old Daniel Squadron to the State Senate last September in what was the biggest electoral successes for the 10-year-old party to date.

Now it appears they have their answer: Make sure that the man they endorsed surprisingly early, Bill de Blasio, is elected public advocate.

“We don’t do paper endorsements,” said George Albro, a WFP executive committee member. “The party has a real track record of being effective in campaigns like this. We anticipate being very active—a lot of resources, a lot of troops, a lot of publicity.”

De Blasio has, to date, lagged in fundraising and name recognition compared with his rivals for the seat, but his backers are hoping that an infusion of Working Families money and support can vault him to at least the run-off.

“I think they are an incredible brand, and are extremely good at organizing people on the grassroots level,” de Blasio said. “They made an extraordinary commitment to me by endorsing me so early, and I’m sure they fully intend to back that up.”

The potential lack of a serious Democratic mayoral primary may give extra weight to the WFP endorsement. In a low turnout primary, the key to winning a down ballot race in 2009 may come down to identifying and turning out supporters, something at which the Working Families Party has proved adept.

But winning a 25,000-vote Senate primary is one thing. Throwing their weight around citywide six months out from a competitive citywide primary is another, particularly for an organization that has until now only supported one citywide candidate, Comptroller William Thompson (D), and avoided the last two public advocate’s races entirely.

The support of de Blasio, then, will prove a crucial test of the WFP’s muscle.

“They are not middleweights any more, they are tuning up for the heavyweight bout,” said Doug Muzzio, professor of public affairs at Baruch College. “They are not the third major party in New York anymore. They are the second.”

But the move does not come without risks. By putting all of its chips on one candidate early, the party risks angering others in the field. If de Blasio wins, the party will be able to make the case that it is the dispositive force in Democratic primaries. But if he fails, the eventual The Working Families Party put public advocate will all their chips on Bill de Blasio’s have proven he can win public advocate run, hoping for citywide without any a big payoff on primary day and help from the WFP. Fast beyond. forward four years, when

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the first-term public advocate decides to run for the open mayoralty, and he could afford to essentially ignore the WFP, who would have already proven themselves ineffective at winning citywide races.

Other citywide candidates could develop similar doubts.

Nor did the endorsement come without controversy. The other candidates grumbled that because of de Blasio’s longstanding ties with some of the big unions, like 1199, and with progressive groups like ACORN, receiving the Working Families Party imprimatur was a foregone conclusion, and thus, hardly newsworthy.

Some within the party voiced concern as well, complaining that the endorsement was railroaded through for the sake of getting the support to de Blasio early. Each of the party’s affiliates—its clubs, member unions and civic organizations—cast a weighted vote, but some organizations did not have a chance to consult their members before the vote. This could create an awkward situation if in the end some of the member unions, organizations or clubs opt to support another public advocate candidate while the WFP and its army of grassroots operatives turn out for de Blasio.

“There was no reason to push the vote through that early,” said Michael McGuire, director of the Mason Tenders PAC. “They easily could have tabled it and let other organizations do their process. There was a feeling that a certain powerful segment of the party has been with de Blasio from day one.”

These are precisely the kind of bareknuckle tactics that have vaulted the WFP to influence. Now that they are there, though, many are left scoffing that the party has abandoned some of the good government roots.

“I think a lot of people in the inside just roll their eyes and don’t see them to be all that progressive of a group,” said one Brooklyn political insider. “They are very much part of the traditional power structure, and make very opportunistic endorsements.” dfreedlander@cityhallnews.com

The support of de Blasio will prove a crucial test of the WFP’s muscle.

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APRIL 13, 2009

Quinn, Jeffries, Towns Look to Reverse-Engineer Development Bubble Plan emerges to convert luxury apartments to affordable housing

BY SAL GENTILE latbush Avenue was once a hotbed of development in the new downtown Brooklyn.

Glittering towers filled with pricey condos began to dot the landscape, rezoned by city planners ushering in a would-be renaissance.

Developers cheered that vision, rallied by the surging housing market. They even advanced into the heart of Kensington, four miles down the road, where yet another 107-unit luxury project began to take shape.

Now, just three years after groundbreaking, those plans have unraveled. The towers are vacant relics of the housing bubble. The Kensington project, not even complete, faces foreclosure and possible demolition.

Some see the failed projects as nothing more than monuments to a reckless development era. But others have seized them as an opportunity to try and reverseengineer the city’s housing bubble by paring down the city’s condo glut and adding to its affordable stock.

Housing advocates and policymakers

Jeffries is considering using subsidies to lower rents, or creating a new state tax incentive program similar to the 421a program, which requires developers receiving tax breaks to build affordable units in select neighborhoods.

Both are waiting on guidance from the new commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development, Rafael Cestero, who started in March. His interim

“We’re going to do oversight,” said Rep. Ed Towns, vowing to bring Washington power to bear on lenders.

“Investigators will ask them what they’re doing.” predecessor, Marc Jahr, approved of the idea and ordered up a study to identify units that might be ripe for conversion in areas like downtown Brooklyn.

“We’ve asked HPD to tell us what, if any, legislation would be necessary

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

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“There are hundreds of units of empty luxury apartments that developers are unable to sell or rent because of the declining housing market,” said Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn), whose district includes some of the newest high-rises in Brooklyn. “It makes sense to figure out a way to convert those empty luxury units into affordable housing for the community.”

The plan is seen by advocates and even some developers as a creative if untested strategy for easing the city’s housing woes as credit tightens and prices plummet.

“When we see vacant units around, often times we can fantasize about relieving the homeless crisis, and also the overcrowding issues that we have,” said Michelle de la Uz, executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee in Brooklyn. “It’s an idea that resonates.”

Jeffries’ plan, which he calls Project Reclaim, got its first major boost in February, when Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) featured a similar blueprint in her State of the City address.

Details of how the various plans might

High-rise buildings erected during the height of the housing boom are vacant. The Kensington project, not even complete, faces foreclosure and possible demolition. are piecing together plans to convert many of those luxury units into cheaper ones, either through subsidies, affordable housing programs or new tax incentives. Or perhaps even government intervention.

work, and whether they can succeed, are beginning to emerge.

Quinn’s proposal focuses primarily on using an aquisition fund to purchase luxury units and convert them into moderate- and middle-income housing.

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refinancing and tax incentives.”

Those two options have been the source of considerable debate in housing circles, as advocates and policymakers untangle the multiple layers of financing developers put together to underwrite their now-stalled projects. Deciding which strategy will work for which project is likely to be a messy process.

In most cases, someone will have to lose money.

“Who takes the haircut is a complicated situation here,” said Brad Lander of the Pratt Center for Community Development, which is working on recovering the Kensington project for affordable use by possibly buying it through the foreclosure process.

Jeffries is working with Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the House Oversight Committee, to get banks receiving federal bailout money to help refinance landlords’ mortgages. If they can lean on banks to help restructure those deals, they say, landlords could then afford to offer their luxury units at lower rates.

“We need to stipulate that [banks] will put forth an effort to lower mortgages,” said Towns, who added that he was considering using his subpoena power as oversight chairman to sift through the banks’ books.

“We’re going to do oversight,” he said.

“Investigators will ask them what they’re doing.”

But housing experts caution against leaning on the banks too heavily, warning that funneling the bailout money to landlords could, if done carelessly, amount to a windfall for developers who invested recklessly in the housing market.

The details of such a plan would, at the very least, involve a lot of wrangling.

“Developers should not expect the profit that they would have made on luxury housing,” said Irene Baldwin, executive director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development.

“Affordable housing is profitable, but less so than luxury condos. And the folks that built these projects shouldn’t be expecting top dollar.”

The response among landlords and developers has been lukewarm. Some see the plan as a way to recoup a portion of the money they hemorrhaged when the market went bust.

Others prefer to wait out the economic slowdown in the hope of attracting luxury renters once the market rebounds, rather than lose their most valuable units to conversion.

“I think most people figure that the market will at some point come back,” said Frank Ricci, director of government affairs for the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents landlords. “The trick is holding out until the market does bounce back, and then turning a profit.” sgentile@cityhallnews.com

to empower them to reach into some of these luxury developments and incentivize developers to convert them into affordable housing,” Jeffries said.

“Outright purchase is difficult … the two more viable approaches would relate to

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HEALTH CARE

Children’s Access to Medical Coverage Must Be Wide Ranging

BY REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY uch attention has been paid to the number of Americans, especially American children, who lack health insurance. With the recent extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) we have made important strides in bringing insurance coverage to more individuals.

Working with our new president, I expect that we will make even more progress in the coming months.

While a significant amount of attention has been focused on expanding coverage to the uninsured, other aspects of insurance coverage have been largely overlooked.

For millions of Americans who do have health insurance, there are a variety of serious medical conditions that fall into gaps in insurance coverage, preventing individuals from getting the care that they need. One such area lacking coverage under many insurance plans is surgery for children born with facial birth defects.

Facial and cranial birth defects can be devastating to children and their families. Facial abnormalities like cleft lips or palates can have major health consequences and the surgeries that are required to correct them are far from merely cosmetic.

Imagine being a parent with a child who has a cleft lip and palate or another more severe congenital facial deformity that requires reconstructive surgery to achieve a sense of normalcy. Now imagine receiving a letter from your insurance

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carrier that states the following: “The reviewer determined that although the procedures listed above would enhance the appearance of the patient, the procedures listed are not necessary to correct a functional disorder and therefore do not meet the criteria for benefits as outlined in the medical plan.”

Unfortunately, there are numerous examples of children and families around the country that are experiencing this kind of obstruction and denial to necessary reconstructive surgical care. In order to correct this deficiency, I was proud to introduce H.R. 1339, the Children’s Access to Reconstructive Evaluation and Surgery (CARES) Act. The CARES Act will make sure that children with congenital deformities are able to have access to the care that will allow them to lead normal, healthy lives.

Examples of congenital deformities include cleft lip, cleft palate, skin lesions, vascular anomalies, malformations of the ear, hand or foot, and other more profound craniofacial deformities. According to the March of Dimes, 3 percent of the babies born annually in the U.S. (120,000) suffer from birth defects, which are abnormalities of structure, function, or body metabolism present at birth that result in physical or mental disabilities or are fatal. Of the 120,000 children born annually with birth defects, approximately 40,000 require reconstructive surgery.

On average, children with congenital deformities or developmental anomalies can expect anywhere from three to five

surgical procedures before normalcy and function are achieved. Although carriers may provide coverage for the initial procedure(s), they regularly resist coverage of the later-stage procedures, claiming they are cosmetic and not medically necessary.

A survey of members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) revealed that nearly 54 percent of respondents indicated they had pediatric patients who have been totally denied insurance coverage or have experienced significant obstacles in obtaining approval for coverage of surgical procedures.

An increasing number of insurance companies are denying access to care

by labeling the procedures “cosmetic” or “non-functional” in nature.

The American Medical Association defines reconstructive surgery as being performed on abnormal structures of the body, caused by congenital defects, developmental abnormalities, trauma, infection, tumors or disease.

Reconstructive surgery is generally performed to improve function and approximate a normal appearance.

Cosmetic surgery, in contrast, is defined as being performed to reshape normal structures of the body in order to improve the patient’s appearance and self-esteem. The CARES Act, using the AMA definitions, differentiates between cosmetic and reconstructive surgery and requires managed care and insurance companies to do the same.

The CARES Act is cosponsored by 44 Members of Congress and it has received support from the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and the ASPS. The CARES Act is common-sense legislation that will improve the current delivery system and restore patients’ and families’ trust and confidence in their health plans. The struggle for insurance coverage can not end at making sure that everyone has access to an insurance plan—it must also ensure that the plans are of a quality that meets the needs of our families.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a Democrat representing parts of Nassau County, is the chair of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities.

The Recession Is the Right Time to Move on Health Insurance Costs

BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER RICHARD GOTTFRIED xcept for the current economic crisis, health coverage may be the single most important issue facing New York. It affects everyone whose health plan tries to avoid paying for care, individuals and employers burdened by the high and growing cost of health coverage and, of course, the uninsured.

The recession makes this even more urgent. Health insurance costs are a major obstacle to doing business in New York.

Many people expect sweeping reform from Washington, but I’m skeptical.

New York and some other states may be able to do better. For example, my New York Health Plus proposal would make comprehensive coverage, based on New York’s Family Health Plus and Child Health Plus, available to everyone, without regard to income. It would be funded fairly, through revenue based on ability to pay, not through regressive premiums, deductibles and co-pays.

But right now, New York State is about to offer an extraordinary opportunity to

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employers and their employees.

In July 2007, my bill creating the Family Health Plus Employer Buy-In became law.

Family Health Plus is ordinarily available only to low-income New Yorkers who earn too much for Medicaid. It’s paid for

by New York State, with federal funds covering half the cost.

Under the Employer Buy-In,

employers can offer Family Health Plus to all employees, regardless of income eligibility, and their family members, including Child Health Plus benefits for kids. The employer would pay at least 60 percent of the premium, with employees paying the rest.

Chances are, you’ve never heard of this extraordinary program, because the state has moved very slowly to implement it. But now the State Health Department says it will be available this fall, when employers and employees will be making health coverage choices for the coming year.

The big obstacle has been setting the appropriate premium for employers to pay.

First, the premium has to include the state fees that conventional health plans have to pay but which ordinary Family Health Plus is exempt from paying.

The state is assuming that covering the general population will be more expensive than covering low-income people. People tend to earn more later on in their careers, so higher-income people will be older, and presumably therefore more expensive to cover, than people now on subsidized

Family Health Plus. But on the other hand, higher-income people tend to be healthier than low-income people. So figuring out the right premium is not simple.

A reasonable estimate is a premium between about $3,850 and $4,500 a year for one adult. Employer-sponsored coverage for that same adult now typically costs well over $5,100 a year, and a lot more for small employers.

You might ask, “How can Family Health Plus deliver comprehensive health coverage for so much less than commercial health plans?” My answer is: It’s doing it.

Let the commercial health plans explain why they’re charging so much more.

Governor Paterson and the State Health Department must make sure that the Employer Buy-In is on the market for New York employers this fall. Let’s not miss the chance to save a small business and its employees tens of thousands of dollars a year.

Richard Gottfried, a Democrat representing parts of Manhattan, is the chair of the Assembly Health Committee.

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HEALTH CARE

The State Senate Will Make Fundamental Reforms in Health Care Finance

BY STATE SEN. THOMAS DUANE

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lthough economic circumstances have made this a difficult time to assume the helm of the New York State Senate Health Committee, I am grateful to be in a position to influence how the inevitable cuts to New York’s health care spending are made.

We must ensure that these cuts are done carefully in order to minimize the harm done to individuals and institutions in the short term, as well as to create a blueprint for a stronger health care infrastructure for the long term.

Working with Governor Paterson, the health care industry, interest groups and consumers, the Senate plans to support several fundamental reforms in how health care is financed in New York State. We will take this opportunity to update Medicaid reimbursement and bring rates into the 21st century. Managed-care providers will have to look at how their data is collected and made available in order to ensure that public dollars are maximized and truly benefit the goal of high-quality care. We will also improve funding for primary care, preventative care and community health, and address longstanding racial disparities in health care access and outcomes. And we will work with health care providers every step of the way to avoid severe across-the-

board cuts that make no sense and potentially hurt patients.

In the past month and a half, both health care organizations and advocates have come to me with the same message: We provide essential services, and our programs cannot be cut. And it’s hard not to agree with them.

But the simple fact is that to maintain them, we need new sources of revenue.

Towards that end, I am fighting to ensure that federal stimulus dollars and new funds from the temporary increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) are wisely spent on health care projects that have the dual benefit of improving coverage and creating jobs.

However, I continue to solicit new ideas, particularly from the large institutions that are unhappy to be targeted with cuts. They and their supporters and benefactors must step up and support revenue enhancement, otherwise their fight against cuts appears disingenuous.

I must note that many health care stakeholders also have children in schools whose funding they want preserved; take mass transit whose fares they don’t

NYSNA RNs Put Patients First At 27,000 strong in New York City, NYSNA nurses advocate tirelessly for safer patient care, better working conditions in our New York City hospitals and for Health Care for All.

New York State

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want increased; drive on roads that they want to see maintained; and enjoy cultural institutions and events whose availability they don’t want curtailed.

As weakened as New York State’s economy may be, the Senate is committed to strengthening our health care system in the long term. As chair of the Senate Health Committee I will promote sound health care policies and seek to expand health care eligibility and coverage. The latter is now more crucial than ever, as a growing number of New Yorkers are finding themselves jobless and without employer-provided insurance.

Among my priorities is passage of legislation, originally conceived by my wise colleague New York State Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried, that establishes a New York Health Plan. In its updated form, it would create a comprehensive system of access to health insurance for all New York State residents.

Another bill that I hope to see enacted quickly is the Healthy Teens Act, which was voted out of the Health Committee last year. Republicans and Democrats

alike recognize the urgent need to provide New York’s children with information that can protect them from sexually transmitted diseases and help them avoid unwanted pregnancy. I will push to bring this bill to the Senate floor this Session.

I will also work with my colleagues in both houses of the Legislature and the executive branch to increase enrollment in our publicly funded health coverage programs for low-income New Yorkers and to pass legislation that would promote mandatory offering of HIV testing in most health care settings, streamline written, informed consent and customize posttest counseling to reinforce prevention.

I was pleased to help draft this latter legislation with New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines, New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden, Assembly Member Gottfried and Senator Kemp Hannon, the highly respected former chair of the Health Committee upon whose wisdom I rely.

There is much more policy work to be done, even in these difficult times, and so while now is not an easy time to take the reins of the Health Committee, I welcome the challenge and the opportunity.

Thomas Duane, a Democrat representing parts of Manhattan, is chair of the Senate Health Committee.

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APRIL 13, 2009

CITY HALL

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ISSUE FORUM:

HEALTH CARE

Take Care New York: Health Policy that Works

BY COMMISSIONER THOMAS FRIEDEN ew Yorkers are healthier than ever. The city’s death rate has hit an historic low, and life expectancy has reached an all-time high: almost 82 years for women and 76 years for men—an increase of 15 months since 2001.

It hasn’t happened by accident. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City has pursued an ambitious health policy called Take Care New York. It’s a policy framework designed to focus the city’s attention on 10 critical health issues and provide 10 steps to prevent sickness and premature death. The interventions are based in scientific evidence, and we’re now seeing what a difference they make.

In 2004, we set ambitious goals in each of Take Care New York’s 10 priority areas—and by 2007, we had met or surpassed seven of them. In each case, we knew what action was needed. And we focused our own efforts and enlisted literally hundreds of partner organizations to help achieve the goals. We focus on actions needed at three levels: policy change, health care services, and individual action. The results include significant increases in colon cancer screening, sharp reductions in smoking and intimate-partner homicide, and a narrowing of racial and ethnic disparities in some preventive services.

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BUILDING FOR A HEALTHIER TOMORROW New York Downtown Hospital is a center of excellence for Wellness and Prevention, inpatient and ambulatory care, and a leader in the field of emergency preparedness.

You will find an efficient and effective health care experience at New York Downtown Hospital and will have the best of both worlds: the support of your own private physician along with the latest developments in preventive care and specialty services.

Our Wellness and Prevention Team provides a broad range of services including a Women’s Health Program, dedicated to the prevention and treatment of medical conditions that are common to women; digital mammography; comprehensive non-invasive cardiovascular assessment; and cancer screening and detection through Downtown Hospital’s affiliate, the Strang Cancer Prevention Center.

Bringing the latest medical research, most up-to-date screening techniques, and the newest technological advancements to the heart of Lower Manhattan, our Wellness and Prevention Team will advise you on how to preserve your single most important asset…your good health! This is our commitment to you.

A community hospital committed to meeting the healthcare needs of people who visit, live and work in Lower Manhattan.

83 Gold Street, New York, NY 10038 Telephone: (212) 312-5000 www.downtownhospital.org

Take Care New York’s10 steps: 1. Have a regular doctor.

2. Be tobacco-free.

3. Have a healthy heart.

4. Know your HIV status.

5. Get help for depression.

6. Live free of alcohol and drugs.

7. Get checked for cancer.

8. Get the immunizations you need.

9. Make your home safe and healthy.

10. Have a healthy baby.

One of the program’s most innovative features is its emphasis on partnership.

Neither individuals nor the government can take all these actions alone. Many require coordinated effort by public agencies, community organizations and the private sector. With Mayor Bloomberg’s support, Take Care New York has enlisted 400 partners, including hospitals, health plans, colleges and universities, faith-based organizations and advocacy groups. In February, the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission of New York honored Take Care New York, noting that the initiative “has set a new standard for innovative public health

programs.”

Some of the achievements to date: • 360,000 more New Yorkers—4.8 million altogether—have a regular doctor.

The proportion without regular care fell from 25 percent in 2002 to less than 20 percent in 2007.

• 300,000 fewer New Yorkers smoke.

Between 2002 and 2007, the smoking rate fell from 21.5 percent to 16.9 percent among adults—surpassing the goal of an 18 percent smoking rate by 2008. Teen smoking declined by half during the same period—from 17.5 percent to 8.5 percent.

• 62 percent of New Yorkers 50 and older have now been screened for colon cancer, up from 42 percent in 2003—and blacks and Hispanic residents are being screened at the same rate as whites, whereas 5 years ago, screening rates for blacks and Hispanics were far lower than those for whites.

• Deaths from intimate-partner violence have fallen by 20 percent among women.

Despite progress, significant challenges remain. Too many New Yorkers still die from heart disease, HIV, alcohol abuse and drug overdose, and too many children still die during infancy.

Also worrisome: Fewer New Yorkers are taking advantage of life-saving preventive services, including flu immunization and breast cancer screening.

As we get ready for the next phase of Take Care New York, we are renewing our commitment to using the best evidence and enlisting a wide range of partners to help New Yorkers live even longer, healthier lives.

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Thomas Frieden is the New York City Health Commissioner.

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11

Obama’s Number Cruncher Looks to Divide and Conquer for Bloomberg 2009

BY CHRIS BRAGG ark Penn, the pollster who brought such terms as “soccer moms” and “impressionable elites” into the political dictionary, was already famous in the world of microtargeting by 2005, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) tapped him to break down voting trends for his 2005 mayoral campaign.

But as Hillary Clinton’s (D) chief strategist during the 2008 presidential election, Penn’s reputation took a serious hit: He was widely seen as being outflanked by a new kid on the block, a younger number cruncher named Ken Strasma, who served as Barack Obama’s microtargeting guru.

To the victor go the spoils (and over $391,000 in just the first few months of the year). Strasma, not Penn, will be running Bloomberg’s 2009 microtargeting.

Speaking by phone from his Washington, D.C., firm Strategic Telemetry, Strasma said he believes his work could deliver 3 to 5 percentage points on Election Day to Bloomberg.

Strasma’s approach expands on a somewhat Orwellian technique long used in the business world. By analyzing reams of consumer and voter data, Strasma identifies small niches of people whose voting preferences would seem to defy convention wisdom. For example, the Obama campaign identified evangelical Christians who might nonetheless be potential supporters because their concerns about global warming trumped their reservations about Obama’s stances on social issues.

Strasma’s process can incorporate a thousand types of data, from basics like age, sex and zip code to consumer data culled from sources like credit card records and magazine subscriptions.

That can provide information on whether someone owns a cat, what brand of scotch they drink or whether they own satellite televisions.

A single potential voter can generate 10,000 pages of this data.

Using multiple algorithms and high-speed software, Strasma then cross-references the vast amount of personal information with surveys about voters’ political preferences.

With that information, campaigns can target very specific messages to highly segmented portions of the population, allowing it to identify who is likely to vote for the candidate without any prodding, who needs more convincing ideologically, who needs a ride to the polls and who is likely to not vote at all.

“Just like in the consumer world, in the political world the idea is to make the most of scarce resources,” Strasma said. “What I do helps campaigns decide who to talk to and how to talk to them.”

That is one reason why microtargeting is thought to work best in places with expensive media markets, such as New York City, where campaigns generally look to be more efficient and spend less money.

Of course, Bloomberg’s resources are not exactly scarce.

But microtargeting can make a big difference

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even for campaigns with big war chests, provided the data is used to expand direct voter contact, said Alexander Gage, a leading microtargeting guru for the GOP and veteran of Mitt Romney’s (R) largely self-financed presidential campaign.

He said Bloomberg should follow Obama’s lead and use Strasma’s data to facilitate mass e-mails, text messaging and door-to-door campaigning.

“The next wave is that you have to touch the customer in many different ways,” Gage said.

“The voters expect you to cater to them one-onone.”

Bloomberg campaign manager Bradley Tusk seemed to indicate that this thinking was on his mind, saying that he expected Bloomberg 2009 “to be the biggest canvas the city has ever seen.”

While Strasma did not want to get too specific about his strategy for Bloomberg, he did offer some broad strokes. For example, he said, there are parallels between the mayoral race and a presidential primary, given that ideology will not likely be the determinative factor.

“It’s a race that’s cutting across partisan lines,” Strasma said. “You can’t just think about voters as Democrats and Republicans. You have to think about broad coalitions and other parties. That makes microtargeting very important, because you can’t win by running a traditional partisan campaign.”

Strasma said he would look into Penn’s highly effective approach in 2005. That work yielded some surprising results. For instance, Penn found that a mailer with a particular message on crime would work equally well with middle-aged white Catholics in Tottenville, Staten Island, and with senior black homeowners in Saint Albans, Queens.

Strasma first gained widespread recognition five years ago, helping Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (D) win the 2004 Iowa caucuses. In 2006, running faster software and with fundraising support from MoveOn.org, Strasma ran simultaneous analyses for 125 different Democratic Congressional campaigns.

One of the 2006 races for which Strasma was credited with turning the tide was the heated Virginia Senate race between incumbent Republican George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb, who won in a photo finish.

However, Allen campaign manager Dick Wadhams cautioned against overstating the impact of Strasma and his microtargeting on the results.

“Webb wouldn’t be a U.S. Senator if it wasn’t for one word, [macaca],” Wadhams said. “So I don’t think Webb won because of microtargeting.”

After working for Obama and other liberal Democratic candidates his whole career, working for Bloomberg is something of a switch.

But Strasma said he had no reservations about working for a candidate who is currently seeking the Republican line.

Like the voters he analyzes, Strasma’s reasons for crossing party lines are highly individualized.

“I definitely enjoy the luxury of working for a candidate who believes in helping the environment, gun control, education and making the city safer,” Strasma said. cbragg@cityhallnews.com

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THE

OF

The weird and woeful mayors through hizz-tory

Song and Dance Man Fast cars, faster women, boozesoaked parties and parades up Broadway: it was all in a hard day’s work for Jimmy Walker.

As mayor from 1926 to 1932, James J. “Jimmy” Walker arrived at City Hall when New York was in the midst of a Jazz Age bacchanalian blowout. Jimmy was the man for his time and place. In the end, he split town a half step ahead of the law, but he had a hell of a good time along the way.

Originally trained as a song and dance man, Jimmy whirled around the political stage in the Assembly and the State Senate from 1910 to 1925. When he JAMES J. “JIMMY” WALKER was backed by Gov. Al Smith 1926-1932 as the Democratic candidate for mayor, one Tammany elder observed, “He’ll make a lousy mayor, but what a candidate!”

Indeed, once he took office, Jimmy proved a firm believer in the 16hour workweek and spent 143 days on vacation during his first two years as mayor. When not touring the world’s top resorts, he cruised the city in his $17,000 Duesenberg and entertained visiting dignitaries with song and dance on the steps of City Hall. Above all, he loved to throw a parade. And not just for celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart—the Belgian Debt Refunding Committee? Give ’em a parade!

Jimmy’s base of operations was the Hotel Mayfair, where he lived (and avoided his wife) with a rotating cast of female admirers that would make JFK blush. He eventually married one of them, Betty Compton, after a sensational and highly public affair that featured the mayor found locked outside of a Boston hotel room, naked, with Ms. Compton, also naked, beating him with a slipper. So much for the dignity of office.

By 1929, Democratic reformer Al Smith was so incensed with the mayor’s extravagant ways that he forbade him to run for re-election.

Jimmy, in turn, invited Smith to perform a very unnatural act with his hat.

That year Jimmy crushed Republican opponent Fiorello LaGuardia by a half million votes and was swept in for a second term. But the party could not last. Shortly after LaGuardia’s humiliating defeat, Albany Republicans announced a sweeping investigation of corruption in the city. While he probably could have killed the investigation with a few phone calls, the mayor said simply, “The hell with it, they’ll never get anything on me.”

At first, he was right. But eventually the investigation turned up a $1,000,000 bank account that Jimmy’s accountant was using to pay the mayor’s bills, not to mention those of his wife and mistress. When called to testify on where the money came from, said accountant split town for Mexico City, much to the mayor’s relief.

The investigation went on, with Jimmy taking the stand in colorful sparring matches with investigators. But he eventually saw the writing on the wall and in 1932, just hours before the investigators were to meet with Gov. Roosevelt, the mayor resigned and fled to Paris.

—James Caldwell

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Chin and Gleason Mount Gerson Challenge Clubs divide in Lower Manhattan as incumbent defends

BY CHRIS BRAGG

“The community rejected her three times,” said Virginia Kee, the club’s founder. “We’re not looking for tokenism.”

So far that has not affected the money race. As of the latest campaign finance filings, Chin had raised $100,000, while Gerson is carrying $4,000 in debt.

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BRONX

Little Italy

QUEENS

Lower East Side Chinatown

DISTRICT

1

Financial District

BROOKLYN

STATEN ISLAND

Governor’s Island

Margaret Chin and Pete Gleason are staking their candidacies on community frustration with Council Member Alan Gerson (right).

HAI ZHANG

hen District 1 was carved out in 1991, most people expected a united Chinatown to help the district send the first AsianAmerican to the Council.

Instead, that trail was blazed by John Liu (D-Queens) in Flushing in 2001. And with the term-limits extension allowing incumbent Alan Gerson to seek a third term, the Asian-American drought from Lower Manhattan seems increasingly likely to continue.

Opponents of the term-limits extension cited the district specifically in arguing that the extension violated Department of Justice regulations since a white incumbent may gain an additional term in a minority-dominated district.

More directly, the extension hurt Margaret Chin, a longtime immigrant advocate making her fourth run at the seat.

“Some people I talk to are very upset about the vote and really want an AsianAmerican to be elected,” said Chin, who moved to the United States from Hong Kong as a child. “It makes a major difference because it was originally an open seat. People saw that opportunity.”

Nonetheless, demographic shifts over the last eight years offer Chin some hope.

The Asian-American population in the district has grown by several percentage points since she last ran in 2001, when she was thought at one point to have the inside track. A crowded field that included two other Chinatown candidates left her in fourth place.

Carrying Chinatown, though, may not be enough, given the Asian-American community’s relatively low voter turnout.

“Even if much of the population is Asian-American, some are not going to be citizens, some are not registered Democrats and some don’t vote in primaries,” explained political consultant Jerry Skurnik, who studies demographic trends.

However, Asian-American voter turnout may increase this year with Liu in the comptroller primary. Notably, Gerson has positioned himself as an ally of Liu, appearing at his colleague’s side on the City Hall steps as Liu announced his switch to the comptroller race in March.

But while Chin has grassroots support in Chinatown, Chinatown’s only official political club, the United Democratic Organization, is backing Gerson. Some believe Chin, who once served as spokesperson for the local Communist Workers Party, is too liberal.

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Meanwhile, attorney Pete Gleason is challenging Gerson in the western portion of the district. Gleason, a veteran of both the NYPD and FDNY, believes Gerson waffled when he voted in favor of extending term limits (while at the same time voting for an amendment to put the matter to a public vote), and in his decision to abstain on a bill putting a sanitation garage on Spring Street, one block from Gerson’s district.

“There comes a point in time where you have to make a decision,” Gleason said. “Unfortunately, the incumbent has an inability to make a decision.”

If elected, Gleason said he would

voluntarily cut his salary from $111,500 to $69,000 in order to hire another staffer, since he believes Gerson’s constituent outreach has been poor.

The Village Independent Democrats did not back Gerson in 2001. Gleason appears to have a good chance at landing their endorsement this year, according to several club members, especially because Gerson hails from the rival Village Reform Democratic Club.

Gleason may also score the endorsement of Downtown Independent Democrats, in which a strongly antiGerson faction has emerged.

DID president Sean Sweeney, who also heads the Soho Alliance, said he opposes Gerson primarily because the councilman is unresponsive to constituent phone calls and e-mails. Sweeney cites the fact that

Gerson has the ninth-poorest attendance record on the City Council over the last three years, even though City Hall is in Gerson’s district.

Others in the anti-Gerson faction of the club share similar sentiments.

“He’s been in office two terms and he’s kind of lost touch with the constituents he represents,” said Dr. Gil Horowitz, president of the Washington Square Park Association. “He’s grown comfortable in the job, and I think he sees it as his. But I think he is miscalculating.”

Another faction of the Downtown Independent Democrats continues to back Gerson, however, and includes Community Board 1 chair Julie Menin, who had been preparing to run for the seat before the term-limits extension.

Gerson said he remains confident he will eventually receive the club’s backing.

Gerson is likely to receive the support of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), who led the charge for the term-limits extension.

His base of support remains strong in NoHo, especially within the Silver Towers affordable-housing complex, where Gerson still lives in the same room in which he grew up, in an apartment he shares with his parents.

Gerson admitted he is not always the easiest person to reach, but argued that this is because he is so busy serving his Council district. He added that his record of accomplishment speaks for itself on environmental, education and housing issues.

Gerson said his decision not to give patronage jobs to past supporters is the reason for the discontentment among some members of the Downtown Independent Democrats.

“None of this is over any community issue,” Gerson said. “It’s all in-house, clubhouse politics.” cbragg@cityhallnews.com

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April 13, 2009

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Budget Cuts and BP Pushback Could Stall Fellowship Expansion Effort to take Stringer’s land use approach citywide lacks details, support

By Dan Rivoli

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t his State of the Borough address in February, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (D) announced that the city was planning to create a program to pair urban planning students with community boards, modeled after his office’s land use fellowship program.

Yet with Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) slashing the budgets of the borough presidents and talks of stripping the office and community boards of the public land use review process, the program may remain in stasis. The nuts and bolts of the plan are being drafted by Stringer’s office, the mayor’s Community Assistance Unit and the City University of New York.

“It’ll take some time to shape,” Stringer said.

With community boards often made up of local professionals and community gadflies, the barely-funded, volunteer-driven community boards in Manhattan generally lauded the program, which armed the board members with a student educated in land use and zoning procedure to assist in research, evaluate

large development projects, or draft board proposals.

Expanding Stringer’s land use fellowship program citywide, initially allowing community boards to opt in, has been discussed intermittingly for a year, Stringer said. However, questions about the basic framework of this proposed program, such as funding and recruitment,

about the proposal only after discovering the plan when Stringer announced it in his speech. Dan Andrews, Marshall’s spokesperson, said that Deputy Borough President Karen Koslowitz will likely meet with representatives from Stringer’s office to discuss a citywide land use fellowship program.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (D), who pushed through large development projects that sometimes circumvented the public landreview process, refused to speak about the plan, only saying that he is “interested in learning more about [the land use fellowship] initiative” and is looking forward to learning more details about the proposal, as well as “participating if budgets allow.”

Bloomberg’s office, while acknowledging the plan to expand the program, declined to provide any details.

With funding for their offices likely to be cut, the other borough presidents have indicated that details on how the program would be funded will be a condition of involvement. Currently, Stringer’s

The other borough presidents, who bemoan their office’s limited say over land use and zoning matters, are either out of the loop or are staying silent on the expansion. are met with shrugs.

The borough presidents, who bemoan their office’s limited say over land use and zoning matters, are either out of the loop or are staying silent on the expansion.

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall (D) had interest in learning

program pays urban planning students $5,000 stipends for the academic year in exchange for assisting a Manhattan community board. It costs $60,000 a year to put a land use fellow in each of the 12 Manhattan community boards. To pay for the bill, Stringer’s office plays fundraiser, tapping into philanthropic organizations including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Funds for the City of New York and New York Community Trust.

This kind of effort would be complicated by the budget cuts that are likely to force staffers to be dropped, leaving less time for fundraising. The result could render this citywide effort a Manhattan-centric program.

Desperate for assistance in crafting a preservation district to protect 1,900 acres of hills on the northeast corner of the borough from developers, Staten Island Community Board 1 contacted Stringer’s office in 2006 to see if his Manhattan-only program could spare a land use fellow.

“We don’t really have the time that City Planning staff would have or the developer would have,” said Vince Accornero, chair of the board’s land use committee. “Everybody could use a helping hand.” drivoli@cityhallnews.com

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“I don’t understand why the Mayor wants to move my 4 year-old from her neighborhood day care center to an already overcrowded public school’s kindergarten! If money is the problem, why can’t we use what President Obama is sending us in the stimulus package?

There has to be a better way ...”

Wendy Lee Manhattan

Call the Mayor at 311 and tell him to lay off public day care. Working families need safe, affordable and quality public day care. To read more about AFSCME 1707’s plan for a better way, go to www.dc1707.net.

Paid for by the women and men of District Council 1707, AFSCME, AFL-CIO.

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Morgenthau Looms Large in Race to Replace Him DA pushes for his choice as candidates begin to draw up plans

BY EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE he year is 2009 and Robert Morgenthau is not running for re-election as Manhattan district attorney. But as the race to succeed him begins to unfurl, the 2005 race and Morgenthau are continuing to loom large.

That year, Morgenthau faced a primary challenge from Leslie Crocker Snyder, a former judge of the city’s criminal court and state supreme court and court of claims. That not only made for a heated campaign, but rabid animosity between the two, whose supporters snipe back and forth about everything from the exact decimal points of her final vote tallies to whether she was, in fact, the first female Manhattan assistant district attorney to try both felony and homicide cases.

This year, Crocker Snyder is in the race again, and Morgenthau is widely known to have an “anyone but Leslie” mentality about who should be his successor.

And though legally, he cannot make an endorsement, Morgenthau is throwing his considerable weight behind the candidacy of Cyrus Vance, Jr., son of Jimmy Carter’s secretary of state.

In backing Vance, Morgenthau is expecting to rely on a 1983 decision by the State District Attorneys Association about an upstate race which allowed an exiting DA to indicate support (technically different than an endorsement) for a successor, provided the decision was not made for political reasons.

Morgenthau made his decision to back Vance after numerous conversations with potential candidates guided by two questions: 1) Who was most likely to do the job well? and 2) Who was most likely to beat Crocker Snyder?

According to one person familiar with the process, this was at the root of Morgenthau’s passing over of long time top aide Dan Castleman, who many in the office felt was well positioned to carry on Morgenthau’s legacy, but who lacked the war chest, avid fundraising ability, famous name and deep network of connections which Vance possesses.

But while Morgenthau has been calling to rally support or positive press for Vance, the district attorney has yet to make any public indication of his choice. The concern is apparently not that a legal challenge to the announcement, if brought, would hold— Morgenthau himself is a past president of the association and current association president Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan (R) is a Morgenthau protégé.

Instead, the worry is that the announcement might be premature. There have been complaints of disorganization within the Vance campaign. Morgenthau has even intervened, scolding Vance for not being strong enough out of the gate in the first month of the campaign. Fearing Crocker

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

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Last time, Leslie Crocker Snyder ran against Robert Morgenthau for Manhattan DA. This year, she faces Cyrus Vance, Jr. and Richard Aborn, though Morgenthau continues to be a factor.

Snyder’s mounting strength, Morgenthau is said to have been so frustrated at points that there have been considerations of Vance exiting the race, followed either with him backing Richard Aborn, or even getting back into the race himself.

Vance, a civil and criminal lawyer in private practice at the same firm as Morgenthau’s son-in-law, dismissed the idea that there were problems with his campaign. Asked whether he shared the common understanding that he already has Morgenthau’s backing, Vance evaded an answer.

“I would love Bob’s support, would be proud to have it, and will ask for it to the maximum degree he can provide it,” Vance said, adding when pressed, “I’ve asked for his support, I want his support, I feel like I would be lucky to get his support and I hope I’ll get it.”

Already, though, Vance has moved to set himself up as the next logical entry in the incorruptible, old money, old New York tradition that stretches back from Morgenthau to Frank Hogan and Thomas Dewey.

“When I talk about the Morgenthau legacy, I’m referring to traditions of nonpartisanship, fairness and integrity,” Vance said, “and quite honestly, I think that’s a tradition which preceded Bob Morgenthau.”

And indeed, that message is at the center of his campaign.

“As district attorney,” Vance’s campaign handout reads, “every action I take will follow two basic questions. Is it fair? And does it make us safer?”

Beyond that, Vance has a proposal to expand what he calls community based justice, pairing assistant district attorneys with precincts and neighborhoods across Manhattan. A proud wonk, he gets excited discussing a system he has devised to clear the backlog of unindicted misdemeanors and felonies at the criminal court. With a few reassigned judges, he believes the office could dispose of the 17,000 cases in

the court in six to nine months.

What he will not consider is any attacks on him for the 16 years he spent raising his family in Seattle before returning to New York several years ago. Given his family history in New York and love of the city, he sees no merit in the argument that living and working for so long on the West Coast in any way disqualifies him.

“We should elect the DA based on competency, not residency,” he said.

But that is not the only charge being leveled against him. Though few doubt that Vance has a strong chance of winning, many have begun to question his rationale for running, wondering what, other than a youthful dream of being district attorney and the Morgenthau connection make him the right man for the job.

Crocker Snyder’s campaign has eagerly leapt at this line.

“I think a lot of people are reluctant to admit the preposterous nature of Vance’s candidacy,” said Crocker Snyder’s political consultant, Michael Tobman, who compared Vance to the emperor who had no clothes.

Crocker Snyder, who keeps a Rosie the Riveter “We Can Do It!” poster on the wall of her law office, said that her interest for running is the same now that it was in 2005: to bring her experiences as a prosecutor and judge to bear in reshaping the district attorney’s office for the first time in 35 years. Unlike her opponents, she notes, she was the one calling for changes in 2005, and she is still calling for them now.

Four years more, she said, “doesn’t change the rationale at all.”

The Palladium case, which put a man in prison 14 years on a wrongful conviction for shooting a nightclub bouncer, continues to motivate Crocker Snyder’s insistence that the office needs what she refers to as a Second Look Bureau, which would have assistant district attorneys not previously involved reinvestigate questionable cases.

She would ask for the creation of mental health and veterans’ courts to review those

specialized cases, as some of the main innovations in what she calls an approach to the office that would be progressive while being tough on crime.

For years, though, people have been insisting that Crocker Snyder is too tough, and that as judge she was more interested in stringent punishment than anything else. Far from it, she said. In fact, she claimed to have been one of Morgenthau’s favorite judges for the stringency with which she approached sentencing.

But no matter how many references to Morgenthau she makes—and given that the man has been district attorney since Gerald Ford was president and that she ran against him in 2005, everyone involved with the race necessarily speaks about him constantly—Crocker Snyder said that she is not as obsessed with him as Morgenthau’s supporters would have everyone believe.

Meanwhile, Aborn has been building support and hiring staff for his own campaign. A private practice attorney who has spent years conducting legal investigations and studies for government agencies and police departments around the world in addition to playing a central role in legislation like the Brady Bill and the assault weapons ban, Aborn puts himself forward as the candidate of innovation and big ideas.

That has already generated gripes that while he could make good use of the office’s bully pulpit, he may not be up to the practical, day-to-day work that being Manhattan’s top law enforcement official entails.

“Frankly,thatreflects averystandardized view of what a prosecutor should be,” Aborn said. “What I’m proposing is to think in a broader way in order to make the DA’s office even more effective than it’s been, to embrace techniques that have been used in policing.”

Drawing inspiration from the CIA’s and FBI’s switches in recent years to terrorism prevention, as well as the approach of

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APRIL 13, 2009

Camp Likely for GOP Line, Primary with Parker Avoided T raditionally, Robert Morgenthau carried the Republican line in addition to the Democratic in his easy re-elections as Manhattan district attorney. Few expect the same courtesy to be extended to whoever wins the Democratic primary to succeed him.

That is where Greg Camp comes in—probably. Camp, a lawyer now in private finance, spent 1999-2006 working for Morgenthau, prosecuting violent felonies and then organized crime as part of the office’s Labor Racketeering/ Construction Industry Strike Force.

Camp said that he is seriously considering running on the GOP line, with a final decision expected by May. But he insisted that he will only run if he believes he can have a strong chance at victory. “It’s obviously going to be a tough race to win, but I do think the voters, especially at this time, are looking for a candidate who’s driven by principles, who’s looking for practical solutions, not partisanship,� he said.

Besides, given how much of city government is in Democratic control, Camp argued that having a Republican as district attorney would be a positive. “In particular, the DA’s office, since it pursues political corruption, would be a good place to expand the control of another party,� Camp said, vowing to double the size of the political corruption unit if elected.

He is on par or to the left of the Democrats on most criminal justice issues, with some arguing that he would be more liberal than Leslie Crocker Snyder. He advocates enforcing a policy that would require criminal lineups in the DA’s office to be run by detectives who do not themselves know the identity of the criminals, and what he calls an “in-house Innocence Project� that would re-examine questionable cases. And he vowed to use the office as a bully pulpit to

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2003, the comparably sized boroughs of Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens had their last DA races without an incumbent were 1989, 1988 and 1972, respectively.

All this year’s candidates lay claim in some way to the lessons of 2005: Crocker Snyder because she was in the race, Vance because he has collected so much Morgenthau support and Aborn because he has signed Morgenthau’s 2005 pollster and one of the DA’s consulting firms in his bid. All were assistant district attorneys (Crocker Snyder from 1968-76, Aborn from

78-84 and Vance from 82-88), but all believe a different set of experiences represents both the widest breadth of legal expertise and precisely the right preparation to succeed Morgenthau—a mix that just happens to mirror each of their rÊsumÊs.

Still, what counts as an advantage is entirely unclear. On April 1, for example, Aborn made hay out of his endorsement

by Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell (DManhattan), making him the first candidate to score the support of a local elected official. That night, though, Vance held a

quiet midtown fundraiser that brought in over $300,000 from 330 people, former Mayor David Dinkins (D) among them.

Crocker Snyder, meanwhile, claims the support of all the unions representing those who work in the criminal justice system.

But what has occupied conversations at political clubs and in the media so far are debates over whether the candidates believe that the drooping economy will lead to a crime spike and the death penalty (Crocker Snyder once supported capital punishment for terrorists and serial child rapists, but has since ruled that out entirely, which she claims is an evolution that came from investigating the wrongful conviction of Jeffrey Deskovic, but her opponents dismiss as an election year conversion.)

Issues like these—which have little to actually do with being district attorney, given the other factors which would contribute to a rise in crime and the fact that the state’s death penalty law has been struck down—seem to be getting more attention than the candidates’ actual plans for the office. But given the lower profile of any district attorney and the likely lack of a competitive mayoral primary to drive turnout, an expected 150,000 at most, they may be what drives the vote. The candidates and those around them are also trying to push other questions into the mix, like why certain lawyers are backing each candidate or whether Morgenthau should be able to stretch his influence past nine terms by helping shepherd Vance into the office.

As Aborn said at a April 2 Village Independent Democrats candidate forum, the stakes are high. “When Bob Morgenthau leaves office at the end of this year, he will provoke a change in prosecutorial office unprecedented in this city, even in this country, in 35 years. That presents with a challenge,� he said. “Big opportunities.

Big opportunities.� eidovere@cityhallnews.com

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City Hall wins top prizes 20

OCTOBER 2008

CITY HALL

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CITY HALL

www.cityhallnews.com He took a break from this opinion in the summer of 2005, endorsing former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, after reaching what he said was the determination that Ferrer “could do a different job, and in some ways a better job.�

Nonetheless, Thompson carefully avoided criticizing Bloomberg, and quickly returned to backing the mayor once the votes had been counted. This could put Thompson in an awkward position if he does indeed face Bloomberg next November: even if he can brag about a highperforming diversified pension portfolio, he will have a hard enough time arguing that he can be a better fiscal manager than the billionaire ex-businessman. But claiming that Bloomberg after the first, more controversial and difficult term was fine, but Bloomberg after two terms is not will be a hard case to make. To do this, Thompson will have to simultaneously

OCTOBER 2008

21

candidate for re-election next year. That will mean big trouble for him and the other candidates who had been counting on an open race. Thompson’s ’09 campaign was never a shoo-in—most people thought he lacked the fire in the belly and a clear message.

That was in a race without Bloomberg. In Thomas a race with Bloomberg, the rationale behind his candidacy gets even moreDiNapoli muddled.

His opposition to the termkeeps limits change his eye may have finally given him his voice, for on the economy. in the themes of his populist attack on the mayor’s proposed move, the faint strains of an attack on the mayor are beginning to take shape.

To start, he argues that the term limits reversal erodes a prime Bloomberg strength: the mayor’s casting himself as the anti-politician who does what he must in the service of the city without paying attention to the usual political considerations.

Continuing the streak of -N the past three years since ,NQD launching in June 2006, City Hall has once again been ★ THE STATE SENATE★ recognized by the New York 3 Press Association for the best coverage of local government Springfield produced a among all non-daily publicapresidential candidate— could Albany? tions in the state to recognize Experts rate the 3 top contenders. work published during 2008.

Page 10 “This paper is dynamic,� the judges wrote, “interesting and fun,� adding that stories were “both compelling and informative� and “addictive.�

City Hall also picked up awards for photography, front page design and overall design excellence.

Contest results were announced at the annual New York Press Association contest in Saratoga Springs on April 3-4.

City Hall sister publication The Capitol , also won top prizes in local government reporting and coverage of elections, as well as its own design awards. The judges’ take on The Capitol was simple: “Thorough. Covered a lot of angles and the best overview of a historic political shift in the state Capitol.� ews.com

www.cityhalln

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New York Next, the special pull-out section on what the economic crisis will mean for the future of the city begins after page 18.

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here was his father on Jan. 2, 2002, swearing him in as comptroller and saying how much he was looking forward to administering a different oath in eight years. (“I’m glad he didn’t say four years,� Michael Bloomberg was heard saying amid the laughter.)

There was David Dinkins all but endorsing him at a Harlem lunch Sept. 18, there was the economic turmoil making him a prime interview subject, just as a mayoral campaign in which his fiscal credentials would be central was just starting to take shape. There was the hot dog vendor at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge in late September who called out a simple question: “Hey, you going to be the next mayor or what?� His response: “Working on it.�

The moment was coming together. Bill Thompson was ready. The political world was ready. After most of a decade as the mayor-in-waiting and after passing on a 2005 run, he was finally set to come off the bench. “As you get closer to the campaign, the prospects become more real,� Thompson said that day, before walking out onto the bridge. “I don’t know that four years ago or three years ago I couldn’t see myself as mayor of New York. But we are getting closer.�

Then there was Oct. 2, when the mayor, the man he wants to succeed, the man he had for so long been looking to run to succeed, reversed course. The second mayor to see term limits closing out his time in office became the second mayor to look for a way to beat back the law.

Thompson has responded by swinging hard. Not known for being the most forceful or vicious speaker—he tends to refer to himself as “you� in conversation (as in, “you have been serving as the comptroller,� or “you look at the economic situation�) and often proceeds through thoughts by asking long rhetorical questions and then answering them quickly with a “yes� or “no�—he has slammed Bloomberg’s “attempt to suspend democracy,� in every interview he has given, as a “self-serving� “backroom deal.�

He stepped up the rhetoric about his own political future as well. While just days before he was still shrugging off official talk of running for mayor, Bloomberg forced his hand. “I am running for mayor,� Thompson started repeating over and over again. “I am running for mayor.�

Until then, Thompson had been insisting that making just this kind of declarative statement about his intentions for next year would make doing his job as comptroller more difficult and restrict the kind of events he was able to do with his government staff. So this was news—expected news, relatively insignificant news in comparison to the larger earthquake still shaking the local political world, much less surprising news than his September wedding announced on Page Six or his never-announced move out of the family home in Bedford-Stuyvesant for a shared brownstone in Harlem.

But it was news nonetheless. Bill Thompson is done waiting‌ probably. he last time Thompson was faced with the prospect of running against Bloomberg, in 2005, he took a pass.

The prospect of running against an incumbent who was both popular and pouring so much money into his campaign that he could drive television advertising rates up for everyone else by so significantly reducing the supply of airtime, proved far less enticing than an essentially free ride to a second term as comptroller.

But speaking several days before Bloomberg’s intentions to run again in 2009 became clear, he insisted that the root of the decision had not been these pragmatic concerns. “It was always a question of ‘How is Mike doing?’� Thompson said, arguing that there had been a significant value to the city in their collaboration, and that the attention Bloomberg gave to his advice made him feel comfortable opting out of the race. “It was never whether or not I wanted to run for mayor,� Thompson said. “I thought it was in the city’s best interests that Mike Bloomberg succeeds. And if you go back to 2002, even the beginning of 2004, there were people who didn’t think he did. I thought he was moving the city in the right direction.�

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton (who has endorsed Aborn) to the NYPD in the 1990s, Aborn argues that he has the unmatched credibility with both police and lawmakers necessary to make the changes he seeks. “Nobody else in this race has come close to combining policy ideas, converting them into action, and actually implementing these things,� he said.

First and foremost for him, Aborn said, would be programs to reduce the number of children in the criminal justice system.

Aborn said he would use the job to pursue innovative intervention, arguing that the now mainstream acceptance of drug treatment programs as alternatives to incarceration is the kind of evolution he wants to spur in conversations about mental health, domestic violence and illegal guns.

As the three careen toward September, all along wondering if Bloomberg administration criminal justice coordinator John Feinblatt will indeed make the race—and what the entry of an openly gay candidate who would carry at least an implicit mayoral imprimatur—their campaign teams are trying desperately to map out strategies to win. With 35 years passed since the last one, no one quite knows how an open race for Manhattan district attorney will work. The 2005 borough president’s race is not much help, given how much less DA elections tend to be driven by political factors like geographic bases and union support.

Neither is looking to the rest of the city: though Staten Island had an open race in

argue against the death penalty, which while not applicable under state law, can be pursued by the four United States attorneys with jurisdiction in New York.

Camp made his first foray into politics in 2007 in the special Assembly election against Micah Kellner (DManhattan) that June. But while Camp barely cracked 35 percent in that race, he picked up the endorsement of Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) and The New York Times, while raising $130,000. He believes he would be able to exhibit similar strength that could counter the heavy Democratic voter registration edge in Manhattan.

What Camp will apparently not have to worry about is a primary. Rumors had been circulating in Republican circles that Chauncy Parker was eyeing the race, but Parker— under whom, as it happens, Camp worked for a year when Parker was Gov. George Pataki’s (R) director of criminal justice—will not be a candidate.

Parker directed calls to Erin Mulvey, the spokesperson at the New York Drug Enforcement Administration, where Parker now works. “It’s an honor to even be considered, but at this time, he’s not running,� she said. And according to some GOP observers, a strong run, even if unsuccessful, could position Camp as a potential candidate for attorney general in 2010.

Camp said his only concern was what he could do with the district attorney’s office and whether he could get elected this year, when there will be an open race and Bloomberg at the top of the ticket. “This is a real chance of being the Manhattan DA. It’s better than winning the lottery for me,� he said. “It may be an uphill battle, but why would I not look at such an opportunity?� —EIRD

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attack some parts of the Bloomberg record while taking credit for the parts he has collaborated on and supported.

Plus, there are those billions. “Dollar-wise, you can’t compete. But there are other components of elections than just dollars,� Thompson said the day after the prospect of running against Bloomberg became clear, his SUV winding through midtown traffic back to the comptroller’s office at the Municipal Building. “I think you�—he—�should be able to make a case to the voters of New York City.�

On the seat next to him was a printout of the Quinnipiac poll released that morning, showing that the mayor’s approval rating stood at 75 percent, up slightly from other recent ratings. Though the same poll registered strong support for the idea of term limits, and 56 percent opposition to the idea of extending the allowed time in office to 12 years, this was down 9 percentage points from a poll on the same question done in July.

Facing Bloomberg in a potential matchup, Thompson scored a paltry 8 percent, compared with 13 percent in a field without the mayor. At the moment, New Yorkers are not, apparently, hungering for Thompson to be mayor, while 51 percent were eager to see Bloomberg continue on the job.

Making an argument about Bloomberg “breaking faith with the people of New York City,� as Thompson referred to the push for a third term, would not seem to be enough, especially with an electorate that watched Bloomberg brush past the technicalities of the campaign finance system in 2001 and 2005 without much complaint.

Thompson expects the Council to pass Bloomberg’s bill and let the mayor be a

When Bloomberg huffed that, “This is not the time for politics,� in response to a question after announcing his term limit reversal, the reporters in the Blue Room were not the only ones laughing.

To Thompson, it was “100 percent a political decision.� More than that, he said, the move begged the question of how much else belied the carefully tailored Bloomberg apolitical image. “I haven’t usually questioned Mike’s motives. But there are some things that have occurred recently that you have to take half a step back and at least rethink things,� he said. “The term limit move on his part, I think that looking at dollars that were given from the mayor’s office in different ways to those who had supported him in the last election—that was obviously political. So I don’t know that Mike is as non-political as he had been before.�

That explains, Thompson charged, Bloomberg’s comments that the problems which have engulfed Wall Street are more severe for the city than the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center. “In an economic sense, it was relatively easy to pull together. ‌ The problem we have today is something very different.

The problem we have today is a lack of conviction. It’s a crisis of confidence,�

Bloomberg said at the press conference announcing his bid for a third term. “Today people are worried about their homes, about their jobs. They don’t have a clear answer about how they can work their ways out of this. I think it’s a much more difficult situation; it’s going to take a lot longer.�

Thompson said the mayor is choosing to view things somewhat backward.

Marc Molinaro, Jack Quinn and Rob Walker hit the road.

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Joseph Addabbo gets ready to run for Senate.

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JULY 2008

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APRIL 13, 2009

CITY HALL

Joel Klein puts his experiment and himself on the line in the battle for city schools n Michael Bloomberg’s world, the debate about who should be in charge of the education of more than 1 million New York City school children would center less around the who and more around the education.

In our world, mayoral control of schools has always been about this mayor, the one who ran on it and rammed it through the Legislature, and the man he hired to manage it, Joel Klein.

Klein knows full well that people hate him, and that he is far from the most popular man among many parents and legislators.

But he wishes that they would just get over it.

“I would assume it not be about me at all,” shrugged Klein. “I would like it to be about the policies.”

Klein has become indistinguishable from the policies. The chancellor’s critics say he runs the city’s school system like a business, ignoring customer complaints (read: parents), shuttering franchises (schools) and openly defying the wishes of his shareholders (state legislators).

In other words, they say, Klein and his methods have become a liability for him and for the mayor.

That explains the rumor that surfaced in February that UFT head Randi Weingarten had worked out a deal with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (DManhattan) to renew mayoral control, provided Klein was fired. Weingarten denies the rumor and Bloomberg has since reaffirmed his total confidence in the chancellor.

Polls show that while no one is giving Bloomberg straight A’s for handling the schools, a majority would like him (or his successor) to keep trying. And as the debate heats up, Bloomberg and Klein (or as one critical education blogger called them, “Kleinberg”) will come increasingly under the microscope.

At this point, though, everyone pretty much agrees that mayoral control should and will be renewed. But no one seems to know how to separate the policies from the personalities.

“It shouldn’t be a referendum on the mayor, it shouldn’t be a referendum on Joel Klein,” Weingarten said, though admitting, “in effect, it does become a referendum on them, and that has made the debate far more complicated, particularly in terms of the chancellor.”

Bloomberg’s decision to run for a third term did not help the effort to divorce the policy

By Andrew J. Hawkins

CITY HALL from him and his chancellor. With Bloomberg the heavy favorite in this year’s election, legislators must confront the reality that extending mayoral control may well mean extending Klein’s control. That has produced another rumor: that the Legislature will punt on reauthorization, passing a one-year extension and then taking up the issue after voters either re-elect Bloomberg or choose someone else.

Bloomberg has said there will be “rioting in the streets” if mayoral control is not renewed. Klein says he welcomes the debate as an opportunity to discuss how to improve.

“I mean, this is education, man!” Klein says with a knowing smirk. “This is controversial!”

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17

communities. There is arguably nothing that typifies mayoral control of schools more than the DOE’s power to unilaterally close schools.)

Ultimately, the DOE backed off, keeping the schools open, and the suit was dropped. Nonetheless, several key lawmakers have said they intend to change the law to increase responsiveness to parents. As with all the changes being proposed, Klein is nervous that they go too far. The more lawmakers tweak the structure of mayoral control, he says, the less power he will have to make the type of top-down reforms DOE has been bragging about in its push to reauthorize the law.

“We don’t have a vote on every policy and every issue,” Klein says. “If we did, we’d have stalemate.”

At stake are the types of “big changes” Klein regularly brings up in testimony and in meetings with legislators: an end to social promotion, the creation of a report card system for schools, an increase in teacher salaries, cash incentives to encourage better student performance, merit pay for teachers, the dismantling of community districts and an explosion of new charter schools.

“Even critics of mayoral control will argue that in New York it’s been more possible to institute changes,” said Jeffrey Henig, a professor of public policy and education at Columbia’s Teachers College. “There have been fewer veto points, fewer groups able to block ideas.”

There is no consensus on how effective many of these changes have been.

Critics point to the school bus re-route fiasco of 2007 and the cell phone ban as examples of the kind of bad changes that result when there is no input from parents and the community. Some say social promotion still exists, given that a majority of eighth graders struggle to meet state standards in reading and math even though they usually move on to the next grade anyway.

The multiple reorganizations of DOE bureaucracy, changing everything from budget planning to monitoring medical vaccinations, have caused constant griping as well.

For all of Klein’s insistences that he is striving to work together, those who work with him say that is hardly the case.

“The people involved on a day-to-day basis, whether it’s parents or teachers, don’t feel soft and fuzzy about Joel,” said Weingarten. “They feel he doesn’t listen and that it’s his way or the highway.”

Angry protests about racial integration in the late ’60s, however, spurred the Legislature to decentralize the school system, eliminating most of the mayor’s role and putting policymaking power in the hands of the board.

Then, in response to the petty corruption, patronage and incompetence of the independent Board of Education—and Bloomberg’s intensive lobbying—the Legislature handed the power back to the mayor in 2003.

Now the dilemma is how to integrate elements of the old system, like responsive and engaged district superintendents, less boosterism and more transparency from the Department of Education, into the new system without diluting the mayor’s control of the schools.

“I mean, this is education, man!” Klein says with a smirk. “This is controversial!”

DANIEL S. BURNSTEIN

K

M

ayoral control in New York is nothing new. During the city’s first experiment with centralized school governance between 1873 and 1969, the mayor appointed each member of the central Board of Education, then would step aside and allow the schools to operate independently from the municipal government.

That may include giving parents more of a voice. In late March, for example, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the teachers union sued the DOE for closing struggling schools in Harlem and Brooklyn without notifying the local Community Education Council. (In the past, the DOE has defended its right to open and close schools as a way to better serve families in those

lein has a mostly thankless job. Education stirs up passions more than any other subject, more than transportation, taxes, term limits or rent. No matter how well Klein performs, there will always be those who demand he be dismissed.

There is also his persona as an uncaring technocrat, accurate or not, that complicates things.

But he does not always use that persona. Speaking at a PTA breakfast in Coney Island, for example, Klein forgoes the microphone, walking between the tables of middle-aged women, taking every question (though evading some answers).

“If there are ways you think we can do things better,” he says above the big hairdos and clinking coffee cups.

“I want to hear from you.”

This Klein is not the one who gets tagged for being indifferent to parental needs and concerns.

In front of an East New York middle school auditorium full of starry-eyed charter school teachers, Klein adopts another persona as he preaches his message to the faithful.

“There are political forces that will fight against a

lot of what you do,” he says to the hundreds of young teachers, some with tattoos and brightly colored hair, that fill the room. “You have got to become soldiers in this battle.”

They cheer him. For a moment, he is less the bald, slightly nebbishy schools administrator and more Bruce Springsteen.

At an event in mid-March to promote charter schools, the persona shifts again: Enthusiastic and emboldened, Klein is also chastising to the mostly supportive 6,000 parents and children mobbing the Harlem Armory.

“I want to take a second, I know so far it’s been noisy, but let’s hold the noise for just a second,” he pleaded, sounding like a principal wearily attempting to quiet an assembly of noisy sixth graders.

“Every charter school student stand up!” he yelled, trying to rouse the crowd.

Most ignored the request.

Klein proceeded as if they had not.

“This is our future,” he said.

PTAs and other parent groups, which are some of Klein’s most vocal critics, are fearful of what they see as an attempt by charter schools to bulldoze their way into what would otherwise be public-school space.

Charter proponents bristle at the suggestion that they are “creaming” the best students from public schools, countering that what they really offer is more choice.

Plus, they say, President Barack Obama himself has expressed support for charters, holding up their proliferation in New York as a model for other cities.

Many are as skeptical of charter schools as they are of mayoral control.

Klein often finds himself defending charter schools to those parents who are still wary of these new schools.

At the same time, he tries to sell them on the successes of mayoral control.

“There is a shift and there’s no question about it,” Klein said, discussing parents’ changing attitudes to education. “And I think one group is much more into the politics.”

One-on-one, Klein loses a lot of his public bravado.

When asked about the praise heaped on him by charter school advocates and others, he mumbles selfdeprecatingly and tries to change the subject.

“If you focus on the individuals,” he says, “you get distracted.”

Before being named chancellor, Klein served at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York, where he spearheaded the antitrust case against Microsoft. His appointment in 2002 was hailed as an attempt to allow an outsider to reform the ailing school system.

Seven years later, Klein is candid about where he has gone wrong during his career.

“There are times when I have not effectively engaged

44 percent to 37 percent approval, but are still slightly better than his lowest numbers in mid-2007.

But Klein insists that things have improved.

“In the last year, my approval ratings have gone up significantly. They could always be better,” he said. “One hundred percent would be good, 110 percent would be better.”

Of course, low poll numbers do not mean mayoral control is a failure, Klein says. And besides, the numbers that do matter—graduation rate, test scores and the achievement gap between whites and minority students—prove mayoral control to be a success.

T

hose numbers, however, can be more complicated than they appear.

After his pep talk to charter school teachers in East New York, Klein cued up a data-heavy slideshow to back his claims about improving test scores and a shrinking racial achievement gap.

Laser-pointer tracing along the upward sloping lines, Klein walked the teachers through a short history of New York’s successes in improving many of the indicators by which he hopes mayoral control will be judged.

Test scores are up, Klein tells the teachers, in a similar pitch to the one he has been making to legislators. The achievement gap is narrowing, minority students are performing better than they were six years ago, class sizes are shrinking and the graduation rate—the “Holy Grail” of indicators—has improved significantly.

The public relations blitz began last summer. In June, the department announced acrossthe-board gains in reading and math for elementary and middleschool students. In July, the department released a survey showing that more than 90 percent of parents were satisfied with their children’s education. And in August, they announced that high school graduation rates had hit a new high: 55.8 percent in 2007. The rate had been below 50 percent for decades.

Then, last September, Bloomberg gave his blessing to the formation of Learn NY. Stocked with Bloomberg allies and $20 million in donations, the group is tasked with lobbying lawmakers in Albany to renew mayoral control. The group insists Bloomberg is not behind its funding.

That is not the only number in doubt as the push to renew begins in force. Klein and Bloomberg say standardized test scores have improved, for example, but Assembly Member James Brennan (DBrooklyn), a frequent critic of mayoral control, released a report saying test scores actually began rising four years before Bloomberg took office. Other indicators used by the DOE have also been questioned. Eighth graders, for instance, have made no significant progress when compared to national test scores since Bloomberg took over the schools. National scores also show little gains in narrowing the achievement gap between white and minority students.

“The people involved on a day-today basis, whether it’s parents or teachers, don’t feel soft and fuzzy about Joel,” said Weingarten.

“They feel he doesn’t listen and that it’s his way or the highway.” communities, I haven’t given people the opportunity to be heard,” Klein says. “I’m mindful of that.”

Klein is also mindful of his dismal polls numbers, which have been dropping steadily since 2003. He is not Ray Kelly, the only other member of the Bloomberg administration to routinely be the subject of polls, and who has scored consistently high.

Klein’s numbers have dipped since February, from

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APRIL 13, 2009

But when Klein is deep in his educational champion persona, all that controversy fades away.

“People can always challenge the information,” he says. “They also pick and chose the numbers.”

Klein dismisses the comparison of city scores to national ones, saying that DOE does not factor national numbers into its “accountability metric.” Compared to the state average, he says, the city outperforms almost every other school district.

The graduation rate, which has hovered barely above 50 percent during Klein’s tenure, is also a source of controversy.

Klein has stopped counting discharges—students removed from the rolls but not considered dropouts—but does count failing students who earn credit by turning in independent projects. According to the original parameters, critics say, the graduation rate has increased only 6 percent since Bloomberg took over the schools. That is about half the increase Klein regularly advertises.

DANIEL S. BURNSTEIN

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final vote on mayoral control, whatever is negotiated, is not expected until June, and perhaps not until the very end of June, when the Legislature embarks on its traditional end-of-session cram before the summer recess. But the early outlines of the deal are already beginning to come into focus.

To get to the bottom over the allegations that Klein gins up the numbers, an independent audit of DOE data may be in the works, perhaps by the Independent Budget Office or some other outside group. The Panel of Education Policy, a 13-member vestige of the old Board of Education that serves as an advisory board, also may be reworked under a revised law. (Several unions are divided on how to restructure the PEP. The UFT wants to take away the mayor’s power to appoint the majority of the panel’s members. But the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators argues that without a plurality of the appointments, as well as the power to appoint the chancellor, the mayor would not have the control over the schools he needs.)

Almost everyone wants more checks on the chancellor’s control, more transparency, more parental involvement—but few can seem to agree on what that would look like. Suggestions include an elevated role for the district superintendents, as well as new provisions to ensure Klein keeps in the loop the Community Education Councils, advisory panels made up of parents

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APRIL 13, 2009

and teachers that represent each of the 32 school districts.

During a recent Assembly hearing, Comptroller William Thompson (D), a former president of the Board of Education and a current candidate for mayor, issued a series of recommendations intended to bring greater accountability to mayoral control. He proposed splitting the responsibility of appointing members to the Panel between the mayor and the borough presidents. Education Chair Cathy Nolan (D-Queens) bubbled over with praise, effusing that “no one has come up with recommendations this well thought out.”

But several sources close to the negotiations see things differently, panning Thompson’s recommendations as “stupid” and little more than a political posture for his bid to unseat Bloomberg.

In the end, both sides of the debate need to save face. With all the grandstanding and anger surrounding mayoral control, a conclusion that satisfies every parent, teacher, union member, lawmaker and DOE employee, and that leaves Klein with enough authority to mold policy, is hard to imagine.

Two things need to happen for mayoral control to be renewed. The hardcore supporters of mayoral control—the editorial boards, Bloomberg and the various groups supporting him—have to accept that there will be significant changes, but the Legislature needs to make sure these do not eviscerate what Bloomberg and Klein have created.

“If either of these two things don’t happen,” said one source close to the negotiations, “if either the Legislature passes a bill that’s mayoral control in name only, or the folks on the other side can’t take a good deal, then we’re going to be screwed.”

Although Bloomberg has reaffirmed his total confidence in Klein, rumors continue to circulate about his inevitable dismissal. Whether he will be sacrificed

by Albany in order for mayoral control to go on remains to be seen.

Klein, for one, would like to remain chancellor so he can continue his effort to improve education in New York.

“I don’t want to overstate where we are in the process,” he said, leaning back in the light-filled conference room with heavy oak doors and shutters that people in Tweed refer to as the Bat Cave. “I don’t want to sit here and say we’ve done everything perfectly or everything about the current situation is right.”

But mayoral control has stirred the pot. The experiment deserves a chance to continue. And he deserves a chance to continue as well, he said. There are bigger things at stake.

“The core principles about mayoral responsibility and authority, I think, has enabled the mayor to do some controversial things,” Klein said, “and controversy is necessary if we’re going to change public education.” ahawkins@cityhallnews.com

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ELSEWHERE

Washington’s teachers the best-paid in the nation. But the teacher’s union is not Rhee’s only adversary. The union representing Washington police officers is demanding to know why teachers should be the only ones in Washington getting a raise this year.

But, like Klein, Rhee has enjoyed the unwavering support of the mayor in her efforts. Washington

By Julie Sobel has already seen some progress, with graduation rates on the rise in a majority of high schools. And Boston kicked off the mayoral control trend in 1992 after both President Obama and John McCain praised Rhee’s work dismal school performances led to a public referendum. As the during a presidential debate last fall, making her currently a lot first big-city mayor to take control of an urban school system, more popular than her mentor Klein.

Mayor Thomas Menino (D) in 1996 asked voters to “judge me harshly.” Voters approved mayoral control again four years later. Boston is often cited as a success story, having seen Detroit adopted mayoral control in 1999, but voters rejected gains in national math tests and the opening of nearly two the measure five years later. During that time, the state set dozen charter schools. The district was named the top city up an appointed school board with the mayor appointing a school system in the nation in 2006, winning the Broad Prize majority of its members. But the decision had come from the for Urban Education. And Menino seems to have held up to statehouse, and some complained that too many outsiders Bostonians’ judgments just fine: He has now been mayor for were making decisions. The measure was slated to be up for a 16 years, and is up for what appears to be a citywide vote every five years, leading opponents to relatively safe re-election this year. dig in their heels and to avoid making the changes work. In 2004, mayoral control was overturned, but recently Secretary Duncan has pushed for Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. (D) to take charge One of the first cities to follow Boston’s of the floundering school system. lead, Chicago faced large numbers of dropouts and low test scores when it put its school system under the control of Mayor Richard Daley (D) in 1995. While test scores have risen in Chicago since then, critics of the Philadelphia schools were plagued with low graduation program say Daley has shut too many schools down without rates and low test scores when the state took over the district input from the community. Still, Chicago is often held up in 2001. The structure in Philadelphia gives joint control to as a model for mayoral control. Arne Duncan, the Chicago the mayor and governor: The mayor appoints two members schools CEO whom Barack Obama picked as his secretary of and the governor appoints three to the panel that replaced the education, has been a major proponent of mayoral control. school board. Gains were seen under the leadership of Paul Vallas, who was the CEO of the School Reform Commission until 2007. The power to replace the schools’ chief executive Cleveland followed suit in 1998 and became the first city is held by the commission, which recently named Philadelphia whose mayor paid the political price for controlling the attorney Robert L. Archie Jr. for the top job. The state takeover schools: In 2005, Mayor Jane Campbell (D) lost her re-election aid increased significantly for the district and test scores rose bid in part because voters did not see speedy improvements significantly for fifth and eighth graders, but high school scores in the public schools under her control. At the time, the and dropout rates have been tougher to reverse. schools were suffering budget shortfalls and the system was in danger of earning an “academic emergency” rating from the Ohio Department of Education. Mayoral control has led The mayor and governor have jointly appointed the school to a series of symbolic changes, including changing the name board since the state took over Baltimore’s schools in 1997. of the district officially from the Cleveland Municipal School Baltimore’s school chief since 2007 is Andres Alonso, who District to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in order previously worked as deputy chancellor in New York City. The to attract more students, and forcing all high schoolers to school system he took over was deeply troubled, and he has wear student uniforms. since instituted several controversial reforms. Among them is the installation of metal detectors in schools and offering students money to improve their test scores. And beginning this school After being elected mayor in 2005, Antonio Villaraigosa (D) year, Alonso has made high school principals more powerful, with attempted to take control of the second-largest school district significantly increased control over financial resource allocation. in the country. The following year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed a bill that gave Villaraigosa partial control. A coalition made up of the Los Angeles teachers’ union, parents and Denver is another city that lost its school superintendent students successfully sued to stop the takeover on the grounds due to Barack Obama: When the president appointed Colorado that it took too much power away from the elected school Sen. Ken Salazar (D) as Secretary of the Interior in January, board. Villaraigosa dropped his appeal when two of his allies Michael Bennet (D)—Denver’s superintendent since 2005— were elected to the school board, giving him de facto control. was appointed to his seat. Bennet won national recognition for his handling of the controversial merit pay issue. He revised the moribund proposal by increasing salaries for incoming In Washington, D.C., Michelle Rhee, a protégé of Klein’s, teachers from $35,000 to $42,000 by rewarding teachers with is chancellor of schools under Mayor Adrian Fenty (D), who further bonuses based on student achievement or for working gained control of the schools in 2007. This is Washington’s in low-performing schools. He received high praise from many second try, after a failed attempt several years ago. Rhee is of the school district’s teachers. Obama has spoken highly of now facing down the unions, pushing for a plan that would performance pay, and Bennet was reportedly a candidate on ask teachers to take a year off from being tenured in order the short list for secretary of education. to receive a pay raise. If successful, the plan would make jsobel@manhattanmedia.com ayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) and Chancellor Joel Klein are not the only ones in the thick of experiments with mayoral control.

Cities across the country are also debating issues like transparency and community input. Some have failed already. Others are held up as models. And some, like New York, are still waiting for a final grade.

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Mixed Results for Other Cities’ Mayoral Control

Boston

Detroit

Chicago

Philadelphia

Cleveland

Baltimore

Los Angeles

Denver

Washington, D.C.

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APRIL 13, 2009

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In Duncan, a Strong Ally on Policy and Funding City reforms may likely shape national model

BY KYLA CALVERT eeks before President Barack Obama laid out his national education policy, the man tasked to carry out that vision, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, paid a visit to a charter school in Flatbush alongside Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

The symbolism was clear: Klein and Duncan are like-minded reform advocates, and now that one is leading the national effort, education policy analysts say the ties between New York’s education reform efforts and those emanating from Washington are likely to strengthen.

“The city’s strategy for school reform is pretty parallel to what Duncan did in Chicago,” said Jeffrey Henig, professor of political science and education at Columbia University’s Teachers College. “The city already has contact with him, and it easy to frame what the New York City Department

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of Education is doing in ways that will look familiar and attractive to him.”

Obama has said that the key tenets of his policy approach include revising No Child Left Behind to better gauge student improvement, providing greater access to early childhood education and higher education, recruiting new teachers and rewarding teacher performance, and creating more charter schools—all reforms being tried in New York City schools.

“It definitely seems like the administration is emphasizing ideas we are already implementing here in New York,” said Andrew Jacob, a NYC Department of Education press secretary.

If nothing else, the close ideological relationship between Duncan’s reforms as head of the Chicago Public Schools and Klein’s initiatives here could mean that a significant portion of the stimulus dollars Duncan has to spend will flow into New

CITY HALL

and too much money going into corporate coffers for accountability instruments,” said David Bloomfield, head of the educational leadership program at Brooklyn College.

One area where experts expect Duncan’s policies to bolster those already in place in New York is student and school assessment.

“If you look at New York City, you see accountability raised to the nth degree,” said Robert Tobias, director of New York University’s Center for Research on Teaching and Learning.

“Because those tests are so highstakes, we have a whole shadow testing program to prepare kids to take tests that are labeled as diagnostic tests that are said to inform instruction.

Education reform advocates Joel Klein, That has had a profound impact on Mike Bloomberg and Arne Duncan stand the city’s schools and instruction.”

While Duncan and Obama shoudler to shoulder. have repeatedly stated the kinds of reforms they seek to make in York City. Duncan announced his support for the renewal of mayoral control in New education, Tobias said how they will play out when channeled through to the local York in early April.

With Bloomberg and Klein counting on level remains difficult to predict.

But one thing is clear, he said. a powerful ally at the national level, critics “Duncan seems to place emphasis of some of the reforms they have put in on local decision making,” Tobais said. place here will likely face stronger foes.

“My concern is that there will be “I guess that is the polar opposite of too little money going into research federally determined agenda and federal and development and into instruction, accountability standards.”

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Lobbying To Change His Own Law, Sanders Wades Back Into Mayoral Control Former Assembly education chair, Klein foe, charges chancellor with “freelancing”

BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS

his former colleagues to strengthen the Panel when reauthorizing the law, granting it the power to approve construction ost people do not keep contracts, union contracts and certain copies of the mayoral control regulations that have an impact on law in their offices. citywide issues, which he said was the Steve Sanders does. original intent as written in the law.

“I wrote the law, so I know what’s in Seeing well-funded groups like Learn the law,” said Sanders, who chaired the NY, a pro-mayoral control lobbying Assembly Education Committee from organization, pushing its message on 1995 to 2005, jabbing a finger at the Albany lawmakers, the NYSSBA retained leather-bound book containing the text.

Sanders to lobby on its behalf. Having Keeping a copy nearby is handy as Sanders on its side “evens the playing Sanders levels his criticisms at how field,” said Timothy Kremer, the group’s Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has been executive director. interpreting the law.

“I don’t have that kind of money,” “There are a number of things he is said Kremer of Learn NY’s doing, in my opinion as the author reported $20 million budget. of the law, that are not authorized,” “But it is good to know that I he said. “He was freelancing, have somebody who is aware he was doing things beyond the of what the legislative intent scope that exceeded the authority was, who has contacts with we gave him.” those that will be making Now an Albany-based lobbyist, decisions in Albany, and who Sanders finds himself back in has contact with people in the middle of the highly charged New York City.” debate around renewing the law he From the beginning, Sanders helped shepherd through, which is said he suspected something set to expire June 30. was off about mayoral control.

Sitting in his office at Crane, When Klein moved to replace Vacco & Sanders, LLC, Sanders the 32 local school districts said he could have stayed on with six regional support the sidelines and watched as his centers, Sanders joined a successor, Assembly Education Steve Sanders helped write the mayoral control lawsuit against the Department Chair Catherine Nolan (D- law. Now he is lobbying on behalf of the New Queens), did her best to manage all York State School Board Association to make of Education to keep them and convened hearings about what the competing interests involved. changes.

BARRY SLOAN

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But instead, Sanders became one of those competing interests.

Late last year, Sanders was hired to lobby for the New York State School Board Association (NYSSBA), which represents over 700 school boards across the state. The New York City school board, the Panel of Education Policy, was once a member, until Klein ended that affiliation last year. NYSSBA was incensed at Klein’s decision to drop membership, especially since this fed into the group’s notion that that the chancellor was marginalizing the Panel from other state school boards.

As of now, the Panel is mainly a rubber stamp for Klein’s will. Sanders is lobbying

he called a subversion of the intent of mayoral control.

Looking at the negotiations over renewal, Sanders said he agrees with increasing transparency and accountability, and more opportunities for parents to have their voices heard.

He is also aware that the law’s many ambiguities have allowed Klein to bypass parents.

“One of the mistakes I made was that there wasn’t enough specificity,” Sanders said. “There wasn’t enough specific language diagramming what we meant.”

He did take credit for the sunset provision that is now forcing the debate about mistakes made in the first round.

But while Sanders lobbies for Sunshine Development School, Metschools Inc. and the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators in addition to NYSSBA, education is not the only thing on his mind. Duane Reade and the East River Science Park corporation (which would be within his old Assembly district on Manhattan’s East Side) are also among his clients.

While he does not have the same role he used to, he admits, he still expects his colleagues’ respect in the mayoral control negotiations.

“I see myself as a young elder statesman,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “I can opine, I can reflect, and I do.

Sometimes ad nauseum.” ahawkins@cityhallnews.com

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Comings and

Goings

Eric Sumberg,

formerly a senior associate at the Glover Park Group, was hired as communications director for State Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan).

Yasmin Cornelius is departing her job as deputy director of the

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) of New York, the country’s largest community development support organization. Cornelius ran for City Council against Inez Dickens (D-Manhattan) in 2005.

Vincent Alfonso, professor and associate dean of academic

affairs for the Fordham University Graduate School of Education, was elected president of the Community Free Democrats, a progressive grassroots Democratic political club on the Upper West Side.

Jonathan Werbell

has left the Office of the Mayor, where he served on deputy mayor of operations Ed Skyler’s staff. He is taking a position with Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Wanted:

Comings and goings and weddings, too Let City Hall and The Capitol know about all your official staff changes by e-mailing information about your staff hires, promotions and departures. We’d also like your unofficial changes such as engagements, weddings and anniversaries. Please include photographs when possible.

Please e-mail all submissions to editor@cityhallnews.com and editor@nycapitolnews.com.

April 13, 2009

An Important Message on School Governance from Your School Leaders Ernest A. Logan, President CSA

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here’s no getting away from the conversation about the NYC Public School Governance Statute, formulated in 2002 and scheduled to sunset on June 30, 2009. CSA insisted on the sunset provision in ‘02. We also jumpstarted this current conversation on governance, as early as November 2008, when we published our preliminary governance report. Since then, many other voices have joined in the conversation.

CSA continues to believe that the Mayor should maintain operational authority over our schools, but with a much stronger system of checks and balances. Many people who’ve entered the conversation agree; however, we don’t all agree on the details or even on the terminology. “Mayoral control,” for instance, is becoming a loaded term that turns the issue of governance into an issue of personalities. If we refer to “governance” instead, we’ll probably be a lot more objective.

Under Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein, the school system has seen an overall increase in accountability and a decrease in the bureaucratic dysfunction that existed under the old Board of Ed. But, with all due respect, educators, parents and all taxpayers have lost much of their ability to voice concerns about educational decisions. And the education picture isn’t as rosy as the DoE claims.

Allowing the Mayor final authority over school operations makes sense because the buck stops there. Under the old system, the buck could be passed from one person to another, the school system paralyzed, and the children shortchanged. But the best-intentioned laws never produce perfect results. Let me summarize our recommendations for improving the law.

We believe that the existing Panel for Educational Priorities must be expanded to thirteen members, with seven appointed by the Mayor, one by each Borough President and one by the City Council. The expansion would increase transparency.

This is a CSA recommendation that differs from that of the UFT, which would eliminate the Mayor’s majority on the Panel and risk returning us to the old days of buck-passing.

The duties of community superintendents – to evaluate and support the Principals – should not be delegated. Community school districts and superintendents should return to their vital role of involving local communities in schools and supporting Principals.

To ensure greater transparency, the legislature should create an Independent School Performance Data and Budget Office which would gather, analyze and report all school system data, including all DOE budgets and contracts. This would improve the accuracy and transparency of information and protect DoE from accusations of manipulating data.

Community District Education Councils (CDECs) should be strengthened and developed into true portals through which families and communities can become engaged. CDECs should advise and consent on the appointment of the school superintendent, the development of district budgets, safety plans and policies.

And, by all means, the legislature should extend the law’s sunset provision and review the law every eight years. That review still won’t make the governance law perfect, but it will be far better than it is now if the legislature puts these sharp teeth into it.

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APRIL 13, 2009

Six-Way Race to Replace Yassky Pits Reformers Against Establishment Lopez looms over race in Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg and Park Slope

BY CHRIS BRAGG hen City Council candidate Stephen Levin walked into a bingo game at the Dupont Senior Center in Greenpoint one recent evening, a roomful of old Polish ladies encircled Assembly Member Vito Lopez’s (D-Brooklyn) young chief of staff and, in the traditional custom, allowed him to kiss their hands.

Then they promised to vote for him.

Levin was led around by North Brooklyn Development Corporation head Richard Mazur, who built the low-income retirement home.

In places like this one, or in the MitchellLama buildings that house low-income Hispanics in the area, Levin frequently has such a friend to guide him.

This is one of the perks of working for Lopez, the chair of the Assembly Housing Committee and the Brooklyn Democratic Party leader.

“Vito controls everything,” said one community activist from Williamsburg.

That is more than Evan Thies has in the six-way race to replace his old boss, Council Member David Yassky (D-Brooklyn). Though Thies spent five years working for Yassky, finishing as chief of staff, Yassky is not backing his former protégé. In fact, Yassky is expected to remain neutral as he seeks Lopez’s blessing for his comptroller run, according to several people familiar with the race.

Yassky declined comment.

Thies has credibility among the young, progressive voters who have moved to Williamsburg in droves in recent years.

He helped organize a protest during the 2004 Republican Convention in which anti-war groups rappelled down the front of the Plaza Hotel and draped the building with a giant anti-Bush banner.

A police officer responding to the incident was injured on the roof of the hotel. Thies was later charged with criminal facilitation.

Thies said he had no regrets.

“The statement that we made at the RNC turned out to be prophetic,” he said.

“Anybody who takes issue with the way the government operates should make their voice heard.”

On the other side of the district, in the brownstones of Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill, a reform movement is trying

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to build support in the traditionally ur sb high-turnout area full of highly m educated voters typically averse to ia l l i machine politics.

W Jo Anne Simon, a disability rights attorney and a longtime community STATEN ISLAND activist, is seen as the strongest candidate in the Brooklyn Heights race from that area. She serves on the Democratic state committee with Lopez and has helped block several of his efforts Boerum Hill to put favored candidates into prime judgeships and plum patronage jobs.

Alan Fleishman, Simon’s fellow state committee member and one of the reformers, identified that as the source of tension between Simon and Lopez.

“We’ve agreed with him 80 percent of his death in 2006.

The followers of one of the brothers, the time. It’s the other 20 percent—when no one else ever disagrees with him—that’s Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum, who make up made him insane with us,” Fleishman about 70 percent of the Satmar community said. “If you’re absolutely not with him on in Williamsburg, have in recent years formed an alliance with Lopez, working everything, you’re his enemy.” together on the building of the massive Broadway Triangle low-income housing project. Zalman was sighted at a late February fundraiser for Levin at the Williamsburg restaurant Cono and Sons.

Followers of his brother, Rabbi Aaron, meanwhile, have begun opposing whomever Lopez backs for political office. This played out for the first time in the 2008 State Senate race between Many see the race as a bellwether over Martin Connor, who was backed by Lopez, whether the reformers continue to make and Daniel Squadron, who received much inroads in the area or whether Lopez will of the Aaron faction vote.

Complicating the situation even reassert control. Observers note that Lopez floated the names of two former further is that for the first time, one of chiefs of staff as candidates in addition to the community’s own, Isaac Abraham, is Levin, who is remaining on the job while running for City Council. Abraham said he is confident the Hasidic vote will back running.

There are signs that Lopez’s influence in him in the end.

“I’ve brought home both the bacon— the northern part of the district is waning.

In recent years, the ethnic population in and the pastrami—in the past,” he said.

Williamsburg and Greenpoint has been “I’ve been the unelected City Council diluted. Redistricting in 2003 added member for a long time.”

But others say Abraham, who for Park Slope into the southern part of the years has served as the self-appointed district.

All those factors will likely aid Simon, spokesperson for the community, has alienated himself and is unlikely to gather who is the only woman in the race.

To overcome them, Levin likely enough signatures to make the ballot.

The two other candidates in the race needs the Satmar Hasidic community in Williamsburg, who generally make up are Ken Baer, the former head of the about 20 percent of the primary vote, to New York chapter of the Sierra Club, and Ken Diamondstone, a wealthy vote in a bloc for him.

But while the Satmars once voted real estate developer. Baer ran for the monolithically, community Rabbi Moshe Assembly three times during the 1990s, Teitelbaum’s two sons have feuded since while Diamondstone has run primaries

Yassky is expected to remain neutral as he seeks Vito Lopez’s blessing for his comptroller run.

BROOKLYN

While Assembly Member Vito Lopez still exerts influence in the northern part of what is currently David Yassky’s district, a reform movement has grown from the brownstones of the district’s southern portion. for Congress, City Council and State Senate. Both are viewed to some degree as perennial candidates without as strong a chance of winning.

Diamondstone said he is running as an outsider unbeholden to anyone, whereas Simon is closely tied to Assembly Member Joan Millman (D-Brooklyn), Thies to Yassky and Levin to Lopez.

“I’ve never compromised my core values in order to try and move up the electoral ladder,” Diamondstone said.

Levin, the nephew of Michigan Sen. Carl Levin and Rep. Sander Levin, meanwhile, says his primary motivation for joining Lopez’s staff in 2007 was to help people like those inhabiting the DuPont Senior Center. He dismissed the notion that he is running as a surrogate for his boss.

“As much as I admire him and have enjoyed working for him,” Levin said of Lopez, “I am running as my own person.”

Complicating a complicated situation further: In recent weeks, unsubstantiated speculation has circulated in political circles that Yassky may abandon his comptroller bid and seek re-election. cbragg@nycapitolnews.com

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APRIL 13, 2009

The Rumors of O’Reilly’s Retirement Were Greatly Exaggerated

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

New political unit grows at Nicholas & Lence

Manhattan Republican operative Bill O’Reilly (left) here with his new colleagues at Nicholas & Lence.

BY SAL GENTILE ill O’Reilly was supposed to get out of politics.

He got hitched, became a stepfather of two young girls and had a third of his own. No longer “the swinging New York bachelor,” as he put, O’Reilly decided politics was too kinetic a business for a responsible adult to keep.

That lasted about six months.

Maybe it was the charm of the underdog campaign. Or the grit of the slash-and-burn longshot in the model of John Faso, who had hired O’Reilly for his 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

Or maybe it was just a personal favor to State Senate candidate Liz Feld, who roomed with O’Reilly’s sister in college and who first lured O’Reilly back into the fray.

The former Manhattan GOP operative left the firm that bears his name, O’Reilly Strategic Communications, last year, selling his half to longtime partner Susan Del Percio and forswearing politics. He joined the communications shop of George Lence and Cristyne Nicholas, two former Rudy Giuliani associates who ran NYC

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& Company under both Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg.

O’Reilly’s portfolio was only supposed to include corporate and nonprofit clients. Despite their connections and backgrounds, the firm had no political ones.

That did not feel quite right, said O’Reilly, a nephew of the late William F. Buckley and Sen. James Buckley (C),

Downstate Republicans continue to court him, especially now that they are looking to reshape themselves in the mold of all those practical, Manhattan conservatives whom O’Reilly toiled under for the bulk of his career. who cut his teeth decades ago as a wideeyed Republican staffer to Upper East Side Sen. Roy Goodman, back when “Manhattan Republican” was not so laughable an idea.

So O’Reilly has spearheaded an effort at Nicholas & Lence Communications to

piece together a separate political unit which is ramping up and preparing for 2010. He has plucked some new hires from the waves of GOP staffers leaving Albany. He even got his name onto the marquee, naming the new subsidiary NLO Strategies.

His first client was Feld, whom party leaders prize as one of their most promising talents. He is also working for Rob Astorino, a candidate for Westchester county executive, and Greg Camp, who raised eyebrows when he scored The New York Times endorsement in his 2007 Assembly run and is exploring a candidacy for Manhattan district attorney in the fall.

O’Reilly has won 22 races in his life— he keeps a tally, since so many people ask—and has lost plenty of others. But, perhaps out of necessity, the win-loss record is less important to O’Reilly than the profile of the candidate, the way he or she fits into the ever-shifting backdrop of New York politics.

“The whole state feels like it’s turning over,” he said, sitting at a conference table next to his 12th-floor office in the old New Yorker building in midtown. “There’s a sense, really, of urgency, that anyone who wants to be a player in the state, or has ideas for improving the state, should put them on the table.”

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The phone keeps ringing, he said.

“We find a lot of people calling us and talking to us about how they want to reshape the state,” he said. “Five or six years ago, they probably wouldn’t have thought they had that opportunity.”

The feeling that this is a formative period in New York politics, that Republicans face self-reinvention or extinction, is not only what keeps O’Reilly wired, but what keeps his business thriving as well.

“There’s a lot of rethinking, a lot of reformulation, so there’s great opportunities out there,” he said. “When that happens, it’s important to have professionals around that know how to shape and communicate messages.”

Unlike some of the firms he competes with, O’Reilly can afford to be selective.

Nicholas and Lence have made it clear that they do not want the political clients to crowd out the corporate ones, and NLO Strategies remains something of a side project for the three.

“The crux of our operation is our corporate nonprofit clients,” Lence said, adding that dabbling in politics “makes us sharper. It’s another tool in the arsenal.”

Their selectivity is also one of their main selling points to prospective clients. There are not many Republican consulting firms in downstate New York.

The few that do exist, such as Mercury Public Affairs, rely much more heavily on their political base.

“We also don’t want to be a political mill,” Nicholas said. “There are a lot of companies that have grown so large, been bought out by other larger companies, that they become political mills. And they don’t really have any understanding, really, about which candidates they’re representing.”

O’Reilly is also widely regarded as someone even reporters like to deal with—an asset for a party whose media strategy can sometimes consist of blaming, mocking or downright bullying the press.

That habit of congeniality is a product mostly of the intellectual strain O’Reilly came up from. Though he is more moderate than either of his famous uncles, O’Reilly maintains a similar allegiance to the temperament and sensibility of conservatism.

That is why he has been willing to run, and lose, so many long-shot campaigns over the years, and why downstate Republicans continue to court him, especially now that they are looking to reshape themselves in the mold of all those practical, Manhattan conservatives whom O’Reilly toiled under for the bulk of his career.

“One of the great opportunities of today is that people are saying things that maybe haven’t been said for a long time,” O’Reilly said. “Whenever there’s turnover in the political world, ideas that have maybe been suppressed bubble up, and are said. And they’re important ideas.” sgentile@cityhallnews.com

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APRIL 13, 2009

A selection from

CITY HALL

www.cityhallnews.com

Over one week, City Limits sent its team of investigative reporters to follow the life of City Council to find answers to one question:

Do they matter?

Excerpts from that report.

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

26

The City Council has passed 1,576 laws since 1990—but about a third of those laws were street renamings. When it comes to more substantive work, the Council generally approves around 60 new measures a year—although the 2005 election year was an exception.

Council Source: New York City

INCE ITS MODERN inception after the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898, the city’s legislature has been a work in progress. First it was the bicameral Municipal Assembly, then the Board of Aldermen and finally the City Council. Its membership has fluctuated over the years from 73 down to 17 and back up to, in 1991, the current tally of 51. And its powers have been altered by at least seven charter revisions. **** “Citizens take time off work to come” and testify, says Council Member Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn). When there are no Council members there, “it looks terrible.”

And it snowballs: Members who show up on time end up waiting for a quorum, so the next time, they don’t bother to be punctual either. None of this tardiness registers in the attendance records because members get credit as long as they enter the chamber at some point during the hearing; it doesn’t matter when they arrive or how long they stay.

“The real winners are those who show up an hour late and then stay five minutes,” Felder chides.

“Then you notice how few [Council members] are actually listening,” he continues. “The work people bring in here—and I do this too—BlackBerrys, forget about it, correspondence!” Some members eat during testimony. Others read the newspaper. A few chat with other members or staffers. “This is why we extended term limits?” Felder asks. **** Being late is one thing. Being late and voting “aye on all” seems like something else altogether, and that seems to happen quite often at the Council. Felder tells of a time when he sat at a hearing, signed his name to a blank

S

CITY HALL

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piece of paper, then passed it around the room. When it came back with everyone’s signatures on it, Felder wrote, “I support Simcha Felder for Speaker” at the top.

The only person who asked what he was signing was James Oddo, the Council minority leader. **** For the Council as a whole, resources are an issue.

With a budget of $52 million in fiscal 2009, it had a total staff of 379 people—compared with the 1,000 who are on the mayoral staff, not to mention the executive staffs of all the city agencies that report to Bloomberg. **** Members are faced with a stark, two-sided political reality.

One side is summed up by the advice that a former council member recalls giving to colleagues: “You can do anything you want and you will be re-elected. You can fuck this up and you will be re-elected. You can do an excellent job and you will be re-elected.” The point was dead on: Incumbent Council members have a 97 percent re-election rate.

The other side is revealed in a story Ken Fisher tells about his first year on the Council, when the city faced the need to make real budget cuts amid a slumping economy. “I had a migraine for two weeks,” Fisher says, “until I realized I didn’t have much say on it.” **** A piece of advice Robert Jackson gives new Council members is to always attend the Council speaker’s traditional pre-stated-meeting press conference. It’s handy, he says, to know what pieces of legislation the speaker is highlighting and what questions the press asks about them. What he doesn’t say but is also true is that showing up could get your face into the papers and will most likely help buttress your relationship with the speaker.

APRIL 13, 2009

27

Since Mayor Bloomberg took office in 2002, he has vetoed 52 City Council acts. The Council has overridden him 49 times. Most of the vetoes— and overrides—took place during the mayor’s first term.

ew ce: N

C City York

il

ounc

Sour

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Big Spenders

Michael McMahon* Staten Island

$9,410,464

Every year, council members allocate general discretionary funds, money targeted for youths and the elderly, and capital funding. Here are the top 10 spenders for fiscal 2009:

Rosie Mendez Manhattan

$9,401,164

Lew Fidler Brooklyn

$10,039,464 Larry Seabrook Bronx

$9,173,339 Domenic Recchia Brooklyn

$24,659,464

Inez Dickens Manhattan

$9,836,964

James Sanders Brooklyn

$8,944,964 David Weprin Queens

$18,954,464

Melissa Mark-Viverito Manhattan

$9,716,464

Jessica Lappin Manhattan

$8,368,614

*Has since left the Council for Congress. | Sources: New York City Council; Citizens Union

Go to www.citylimits.org to learn more about the City Council, and to obtain a copy of the full article

28

www.cityhallnews.com

April 13, 2009

Classifieds CITY HALL

Community Liaison for Community Boards 5 & 7

OFFICE OF MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT, SCOTT M. STRINGER responsibilities: Work in the Borough President’s Centre Street Office handling constituent and community issues; Act as an office liaison to the public while attending community meetings and events within Community Boards 5 and 7; Assist with planning and implementation of Town Hall meetings and other office-sponsored forums; and Draft testimony, correspondence, and talking points.

Qualifications: Familiarity with Manhattan communities and neighborhoods including some knowledge of the areas included in Community Boards 5 and 7; Flexibility with regard to work hours; Strong communication, interpersonal and organizational skills; Excellent written and public speaking abilities; and Ability to work well under pressure and deadlines. salary will be commensurate with experience. Interested candidates should send resume in Word or PDF format to resumes@ manhattanbp.org. NYC residency is required. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President is an EOE. Individuals with bilingual skills are encouraged to apply.

distriCt sCHEduLEr/ offiCE manaGEr

NEW YORK DEMOCRAT Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following: managing the Member’s and District Office schedule in close coordination with the DC scheduler and District Director, handling the Member’s and District staff travel arrangements, drafting Member correspondence, and general office management duties. The candidate must possess meticulous attention to detail, and the ability to organize, adapt, and problem solve in a fast-paced environment with patience, flexibility, and creativity. The candidate must also be willing to work long hours and weekends. This is not an entry level position. Candidates should submit their cover letter, resume, and two writing samples to NYDemocrat@mail. house.gov.

dirECtor, dyCd youtH ProGrams at nyCHa CEntErs

THE DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH AND COMMUNITY DEvElOPMENT saLary: $50,610 to $135,240 The Department of Youth and Community Development is seeking to hire a Director for its newly created NYCHA Center Program Unit. DYCD will contract with communitybased, non-profit organizations to offer children, youth and families a wide range of educational enrichment, recreation, cultural arts and community assistance programs during the after-school, evening, weekend hours, and during the summer.

The programs will be located at selected

NYCHA Community Centers throughout New York City, and offer activities that create opportunities for empowerment and skill building; development of sound character and positive social norms; and integration of family, school and community supports all in an environment supervised by caring adult role models.

Under the supervision of the Assistant Commissioner for Beacon and Work Readiness Programs, the Director will be responsible for providing direct oversight to ensure implementation of programmatic goals to a staff engaged in effective program management of all programmatic components. Some specific duties of the Director include: Advise the Assistant Commissioner in the development and implementation of all policies, including outcome tracking systems and attendance; Provide overall supervision to assigned staff engaged in program management/ negotiation and monitoring; Implement senior-level decisions regarding the management processes for contracts; Serve as a liaison to partnering City Agencies, community-based organizations and other program stakeholders; Represent the agency at conferences and other forums; Design and coordinate technical assistance for providers and staff; Perform related work. to ViEW tHE EntirE PostinG and LEarn morE aBout our aGEnCy Visit www.nyc. gov/dycd

dEPuty dirECtor of ExtErnaL affairs

sPECiaL assistant to tHE dEPuty BorouGH PrEsidEnt and sEnior adVisor to tHE BP

dEPuty dirECtor of BudGEts and Grants

OFFICE OF MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT, SCOTT M. STRINGER responsibilities: Assist the DBP/Senior Advisor on special projects and initiatives; Manage the DBP/Senior Advisor’s calendar of events; Handle incoming calls, place calls and communicate on behalf of the DBP/Senior Advisor; Maintain current directories of internal and external contacts; Prepare and disseminate correspondence, reports, and other documentation; Prepare check requests, expense reports, purchase orders and other internal and external forms; Perform other tasks as necessary or required.

Qualifications: Extensive experience as an Executive Assistant, or related job; Bachelor’s degree preferred; Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills; High level of commitment to promote Borough President’s mission; Ability and enthusiasm for working with staff at all levels of the organization; Individual initiative and strong motivation to complete projects and day-to-day tasks.

Interested candidates send resume in Word or PDF to resumes@manhattanbp.org.

NYC residency is required. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President is an EOE.

OFFICE OF MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT, SCOTT M. STRINGER responsibilities: Represent Borough President and communicate goals of the office with key stakeholders; Act as an intergovernmental liaison to all elected officials, government agencies on city, state, and federal level; Develop outreach strategies for office events and assist in managing large scale events; Monitor legislation, government regulations and conduct research on Borough President’s legislative priorities; and Maintain Borough President’s appointments to various boards and commissions.

Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree required; at least one year of experience with government, civic and policy/research; Knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Word required; Familiarity with policy and legislative issues facing New Yorkers, inner-workings of government and the legislative process on city, state and federal levels; Flexibility with working long work hours including weekends and evenings.

Salary will be commensurate with experience. Interested candidates send resume in Word or PDF to resumes@manhattanbp. org. NYC residency is required. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President is an EOE.

OFFICE OF MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT, SCOTT M. STRINGER responsibilities: Manage the Office’s grant programs including Borough Needs and Cultural Tourism; oordinate fiscal management of Federal and State grants; Implementation of grant performance review and follow-up programs; Write bi-monthly grants newsletter and plan events to assist non-profits; Generate new policy ideas on budgetary and financial issues; Respond to internal and external requests for information; and Support and spearhead special projects as needed.

Qualifications: Bachelor degree and at least five (5) years of experience with government, civic, policy/research or similar organizations; At least two (2) years of supervisory/management experience with proven motivational methods; Familiar with the City budgeting process and the City’s Financial Management System a plus; Possess strong research, writing, communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills; Flexibility with working long work hours.

Interested candidates send resume in Word or PDF format to resumes@manhattanbp. org. NYC residency is required. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President is an EOE.

CITY HALL

assistant to tHE dirECtor of ExtErnaL affairs

OFFICE OF MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT, SCOTT M. STRINGER responsibilities: Provide administrative support to the Director of External Affairs and the unit; Disseminate correspondences, policy reports, and other documentation to external partners and stakeholders; Assist in the administrative maintenance of all Borough President’s appointments to various boards and commissions; Maintain office-wide database; Assist in all aspects of executing large scale events, including mailing invitations and other outreach, coordinating vendors, tracking and pro-

cessing RSVPs, and assisting with day-of event needs; Assist with special projects as identified by the Director.

Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree required; at least one (1) year of related experience with government, civic, policy/research or similar organizations; Demonstrated commitment to public service with excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills; Individual initiative and strong motivation to complete projects and day-to-day tasks; Flexibility with working long work hours.

Interested candidates send resume in Word or PDF to resumes@manhattanbp.org.

NYC residency is required. The Office of the Manhattan Borough President is an EOE.

CLASSIFIED ORDER FORM

In Print and Online Ad Copy: ($30/30 words, $.65 per additional word)

Payment: Check: Credit Card: Name on Card: Expiration Date Category: q Help Wanted q Employment Wanted q Real Estate q Business Opportunity Dates to Run:

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Deadline is Friday at 5 pm.

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APRIL 13, 2009

29

To Explain City Government, Look to the Curtains Psychological study could explain performance through Red, Blue rooms

BY SAL GENTILE n the last day of January of this year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) stood at the front of the Blue Room of City Hall for a press conference about the city’s budget morass: a $4 billion deficit, filled by a variety of layoffs, taxes and federal assistance.

The mayor stood alone at a lectern and delivered the presentation using a laser pointer and a PowerPoint slide show. He spoke for more than an hour, then took questions. Onlookers described it as “professorial” and said he seemed like a CEO lecturing his board of directors.

Upstairs meanwhile, in the Council Chambers, which are, as it happens, covered in red carpeting and drapes that are just a slightly different shade than the Red Room, where the Council convenes their own press conferences, another pressing matter was on the table: whether to ban carriage horses from Central Park.

The meeting started late, and only after Council members finally agreed whether testifying citizens would have three minutes to speak or one minute to speak.

Leroy Comrie (D-Queens), who presided over the hearing, began by calling the Council the most democratic legislative body in the country. Two members took exception.

These are the two branches of government in the city, one magisterial (so some would say imperious) and the other deliberative (some would say discordant).

Perhaps the difference lies in the rooms.

A recent study by researchers at the University of British Columbia divided When they emerged, five hours after recommendations meetings, which demands participants into two different rooms to gauge how they performed on simple, the scheduled start time of the committee public meetings for any appointments to problem-solving tasks, like untangling an hearing, Lew Fidler (D-Brooklyn) allow for questioning and public input.

“The matter of the city clerk was anagram or memorizing a list of words. admonished his colleagues over the calendared at about 2:30 today for Results varied depending on the colors process.

“This is about politics and process, a meeting that was called for 10 they were exposed to during the tasks.

Blue groups were better able to create and the less said about the politics in this this morning,” he said. “There is no exigent circumstance that requires this toys from random shapes; red groups chamber the better,” he confessed. appointment be moved caught more spelling errors. today. And I have no “If the task is requiring “If the task is requiring attention question personally attention to detail, so for example to detail, so for example a memo- about the qualifications a memorization task … red color will do better than blue in helping rization task … red color will do of the nominee, but you perform,” said Juliet Zhu, better than blue in helping you he’s been acting in the role, there’s no clock one the study’s authors. “But if perform,” said Juliet Zhu, an running, and I believe the task requires creativity, for author of a recent psychological that by moving today example generating creative ideas for objects, in that situation, blue study. “But if the task requires we are if not violating color will help you do better than creativity … blue color will help the letter of this rule—I think we may be—we red.” you do better than red.” are violating the spirit To wit: At one recent Council of this rule.” meeting, members huddled at Fidler ultimately their desks for hours in a back “But I do want to say something concluded: “And for that reason I will be room, horse trading and firing shots at one another over the appointment of about the rules,” he said, proceeding voting no, and I urge my colleagues to do the city clerk, a position with no real to quote in full Council rule 10.60: the same.”

That fits with their findings, Zhu said. nominations, appointments, designations, responsibilities.

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

O

“I certainly think that environmental factors have a powerful effect on peoples’ behavior,” she explained. “Especially when you are debating, or when you are ambiguous about which side to vote, these things come to play a role.”

The mayor, meanwhile, has managed to remain above the fray, despite unhappiness over an unpopular termlimits extension and worry over a worsening fiscal crisis.

“In the current economic climate, we have no choice but to act, while fiercely protecting the quality of life that keeps New York a city where people want to live and businesses want to locate and expand,” the mayor said that same January day. “More difficult times may lie ahead but time and again, our unity, spirit and willingness to stay focused on improving this city for the next generation have brought us through every storm, of every kind.”

That goes with the findings as well, Zhu said.

“If it’s really an agenda about setting up the tone for ‘approach motivation’— that we’ll recover, that we’ll see a bright future, then I do think blue will do better than red,” she explained.

But Zhu cautioned that red can also be useful for those trying to avoid potential problems since the color triggers what psychologists call “an avoidance motivation,” which causes people to be vigilant and risk-averse.

“If you’re trying to say that the current focus is to prevent another terrorist attack,” Zhu said. “Red will probably do better.”

Or to prevent, say, a food allergy attack.

Council Member Jessica Lappin (DManhattan) sponsored a bill that would require restaurants to notify patrons of potential food allergies caused by the ingredients they use. The new regulations force restaurateurs to put a sign in the window, or on the menu.

Zhu said this type of solution is consistent with her findings. In one test, for example, she asked participants in various-colored rooms to come up with different ways to use a brick.

People in red rooms came up with what she characterized as “more mundane, sort of common uses,” such as using it to build a house. People in blue rooms came up with more “original, novel uses,” including a scratching post for an animal.

But in the Council that day, Lappin’s bill received high praise from her colleagues.

“We want to make sure,” Council Member Joel Rivera (D-Bronx) said as he presided over the meeting in the redupholstered public advocate chair, “that patrons can enjoy the satisfaction of tasting many flavors that our city has to offer.” sgentile@cityhallnews.com

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APRIL 13, 2009

CITY HALL

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Does David Yassky lean left or to the right? This brochure seems to deliver mixed coiffured messages: On one page, Yassky’s hair is parted reliably on the left. On the next, the photo image is reversed. No word yet from the candidate’s barber.

High Power Republicans Gather and Gab One of the grand traditions of New York political journalism is standing in a huddle with colleagues in the shivering cold so that questions can be shouted at someone while they walk the brief distance between a building and a waiting car.

First up: Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who (though neither a woman nor a Republican but desperately seeking the good graces of many of both for electoral purposes) emerged from the Women’s Republic Club, turned left on 51st Street, skating blithely by trailing reporters, and onto Fifth Avenue, where he paused momentarily to high-five a youngster visiting from Europe on his birthday.

seemingly unaware that tape recorders are running when he grants interviews has made him a favorite of reporters everywhere.

As the pack of hacks waited, passersby stopped and wondered who all the hubbub was about.

When the answer came back— Michael Steele—they mostly paused for a moment, shrugged their shoulders and continued on their way.

He was asked about the mayor’s ceremonious departure from the Republican Party not so many months ago.

“It always bothers me when someone leaves the party,” he said. “If you left the party, if you were in it, I would be upset.”

Green, Gassed Up, Gets Transit Advice

Next: Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who ducked into a waiting black car before ducking back out again in the direction of cameras and microphones.

He waxed philosophic about the nature of the game.

“Politics is very, very strange,” he said.

“Things can go wrong.”

Hizz(former)oner of course had his own reasons for courting local Republicans, with 2010 just around the corner.

But he shrugged off those suggestions.

“We’re talking about mayor right now,” he said in response to one question about next year. “Governor is way, way off.”

But as the day grew colder and wetter and longer, there was still no sign of the main event, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, whose remarkable ability to remain

On the trail for his comeback campaign, Mark Green often directs people to his Web site, asking them to contribute ideas in the “Voice Your Issue” section. This, he says, is similar to what he would do if he returned to the public advocate’s office, where he wants to draw on the collective knowledge and power of the whole city.

Green recently started a blog on his site as well. Some posts are rehashings of the talking points he has been honing at political clubs and forums. Some are slightly more lively, such as “You Talkin’ to Me?” from March 29: “I leave my dentist Friday intoxicated by laughing gas after a grinding 90 minute session and slowly enter the platform area of the downtown Lex Local at 59th Street. My lucky day, a train is sitting in the station and about to leave. But as I hustle toward the closing doors, the conductor beckons to me to come over. Me? Now I’ve had car drivers wave but not subway cars drivers.

So I groggily approach his window and, delaying his departure from the station, hear him say, ‘Green, ask Bloomberg how

he can urge straphangers to tell Albany that they’re mad as hell when at the same time all his appointees vote for the higher fares.’ I just did.”

been received by those who prefer Tony Danza.

Siegel Succeeds With Bellevue Base

Nothing seems too small for the Downtown Independent Democrats to squabble over these days.

Following a recent candidate forum, the 50 club members in attendance broke into an elongated, heated argument concerning whether the club’s e-mail list had been properly updated.

The argument was a small part of a months-long feud between those who support and oppose re-electing Council Member Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan) to a third term.

Downtown Independent Democrats President Sean Sweeney, the leader of the club’s anti-Gerson faction, believes Gerson is trying to stack it with his political supporters and to unseat antiGerson district leaders.

Sweeney said all the internal strife would simply motivate him more to take Gerson down.

Gerson declined to expound on the feud with Sweeney.

One of Gerson’s supporters, however, said the feud began when the councilman refused to give Sweeney’s ex-girlfriend a job interview for a position in his district office.

Sweeney, who also heads the SoHo Alliance, denied that. If any of his animosity toward Gerson is personal, Sweeney said, it is because he has his organizations’ bank accounts in mind: He claims Gerson owes the SoHo Alliance and Downtown Independent Democrats $10,000 from his first Council run, in 2001.

By Chris Bragg, Edward-Isaac Dovere and David Freedlander

Norman Siegel did not rack up many endorsements over his previous two runs for public advocate, and whether he will do any better this year remains in doubt.

But he was in friendly territory at the ultra-progressive Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats on March 26 for their forum. The last candidate in his race to speak that night, Siegel walked to the front of the room as one person in the back began to chant “Norman! Norman!

Norman!”

Siegel smiled.

“That’s one of my clients,” he joked, before beginning his remarks. “They wind up at Bellevue—I have to get them out.”

Apparently, he got enough of them out in time for the meeting. After some debate, the club voted to endorse him.

Bloomberg Picks up Light-Lover Vote Michael Bloomberg has begun his campaign for a third term by seeking out support in small corners of the city like the Bukharian Jewish Congress and the Vaad Harabonim of Flatbush Political Action Committee. Add another to the list: fans of the fashion sense of Angela of Who’s the Boss.

So said Michael Urie, star of Ugly Betty, introducing the mayor at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center on March 25.

Bloomberg used his appearance to renew his call for legalizing gay marriage. But Urie, who was the emcee of the event, was ready to heap high praise on the mayor even before that.

“He has done more for the city than Judith Light did for shoulder pads in the 1980s,” Urie said.

No word yet on how Bloomberg has

DID Divides, Reminds Gerson of IOUs

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31

: Rockefeller Reformer uring his very first legislative session in 1973, Assembly Member Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn) cast a vote against the now-infamous Rockefeller Drug Laws. Since 1992, when Lentol became chair of the Assembly’s Codes Committee, he has pushed repeatedly to reform the laws, though to little avail.

Then the deal was struck this year to include reforms as part of this year’s state budget. Speaking from the Assembly floor as the reforms were pushed through, Lentol reflected on the long-fought victory, how his experiences as an assistant district attorney shaped his outlook and an even more controversial reform he would like to see in the criminal code.

The following is an edited transcript.

D

done mostly by governors who wanted to get their agenda passed.

CH: Would these reforms have passed if they had not been part of the budget?

JL: It would have been difficult in the Senate to pass a stand-alone bill outside the budget. It might have been difficult because of the close number they have, Democrat versus Republican.

CH: You believe reforming these laws is good policy, but do you have any concerns about the timing, given that crime usually goes up during a recession?

JL: I think crime in general is going to be a problem in bad economic times.

But I don’t think there will be a spike in drugs because of it, because I don’t think that’s necessarily related to the economy. I think the crime that’s driven by the economy is the property Assembly Member Joseph Lentol, one of two members of the Assembly crimes from people that don’t have any to vote against the Rockefeller drug laws in 1973, helped lead the effort money, that don’t think they’re going to reform them. to be able to make a living.

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

City Hall: You are one of only two current members of the Assembly to vote against the original Rockefeller laws. What was the culture like back in 1973 when the laws were passed?

Joseph Lentol: I think the culture was very bad, because we had a serious drug epidemic in our city and throughout the state. At that time, I believe heroin was the drug of choice.

There were a lack of treatment programs, and the treatment programs that existed really were in their infancy. And when you think about how we deal with drugs today, they knew very little about drug addiction.

We came to learn about it and what treatment modalities were effective. We were in a climate where somebody needed to step up and do something, and Governor Rockefeller—to his credit—came up with a proposal that he imported from the Far East. He had just returned from Singapore and Japan. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was my first year in the Assembly.

CH: What did Rockefeller take from that trip?

JL: He saw the way that they dealt with the drug pusher in Singapore: that they got life. And so, his answer to the drug problem was to give everybody life. And I think he may have even suggested it for people who possessed large quantities of drugs. It wasn’t received too well, even though both houses were controlled by Republicans.

I think for many of the criminal justice experts in Albany—even for some conservative Republicans—it was a pretty wild notion.

the other criminal statutes that were on the books that I had prosecuted people on. For example, I could give a guy who’s in possession of a quantity of drugs life, and have a term of only years for somebody who commits a violent sex offense. That seemed a little wacky, and it would really throw the criminal justice system out of proportion. The more I learned about the problem, I actually believed in my years in the DA’s office that drugs were a crime that really were epidemic, because we hadn’t figured out a way to treat them. Drug offenders, if they go to jail, when they come out, they’re just going to come out and do drugs again. Because that’s what they do.

CH: So are you done reforming the state’s drug laws, or do you have more in mind?

JL: This is a major, historic reform, and almost does do what is required—and that is putting discretion for sentencing back in the hands of a judge. Now there are other things that need to be done, like the longer sentencing for A1 and A2 felonies that may be required.

There’s still longer sentences for the more severe felonies than in any state in the nation. And the weights of drugs that qualify you for a more serious crime—that is something we may want to deal with down the road.

But we have time now to deal with that.

CH: The five district attorneys from New York City recently came out against these reforms, saying they took too much power from prosecutors.

What did you make of that?

JL: It’s all a question of whose ox is being gored. And the district attorneys don’t want to give up their power. For 36 years they’ve done it their own way. To some extent, they do have a gripe. The way in which the law has been applied—it probably has been a lot of people going to drug treatment in New York City, and a lot of people going to jail upstate, by virtue of tough DAs there. That’s the way this law has grown. You don’t have the law being administered even-handedly by those controlling the process. It’s been based on geography, not the facts of each individual case.

CH: Are there other parts of the criminal code beyond drug laws where you think a philosophy of prevention, rather than punishment, could be applied?

JL: You could see it working in cases of sexual offenses, once we’ve perfected a system whereby we know there’s something that could be done to treat sex offenders—I’m not going to say right now we’ve come to a point. I can see that’s the type of crime where it’s more difficult to change the law, because drug crimes are usually victimless. And sex crimes aren’t. So, politically, it would be very hard to change a system that punishes someone for sex crimes and one that puts them into treatment.

“I didn’t really expect it to be changed in my lifetime.”

CH: When lawmakers cast their votes on the Rockefeller laws, did they realize the gravity?

JL: I think they did. We as a conference had long and hard discussions over this and believed that this was wrong. All of the Democrats that were in the minority in the Assembly voted against the bill, to a person.

CH: Did your two years working for the Brooklyn DA’s office influence your decision to vote no?

JL: I was a hard-nosed prosecutor. I don’t think that there was anybody who worked with me who thought that I was a bleeding heart when it came to criminal justice issues.

It was very tough to oppose a tough crime measure like this. But I also realized that it was really out of whack with

CH: You’re obviously happy these reforms were passed. But what did you think about their inclusion in the budget, instead of going through the normal legislative process?

JL: I actually would have preferred they didn’t go through the budget. I don’t like the idea of legislation going through the budget. But the precedent was started a long, long time ago, used most prevalently by Governor Pataki. We didn’t establish the precedent in the Legislature. It was

CH: After 36 years of failure, did you ever think you would still be in the Assembly when the Rockefeller laws were finally reformed?

JL: It’s very hard to change tough laws once they’re on the books. And, generally speaking, we’re the only country in the Western world that responds to political pressure from the newspaper and editorials that politicize the criminal justice system. Most other counties deal with it very intelligently and don’t do what we do—labeling somebody soft on crime if they don’t give out the harsher punishment. So I didn’t really expect it to be changed in my lifetime.

—Chris Bragg cbragg@cityhallnews.com

C

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