David Weprin, right, calculates his strategy for next year’s comptroller race (Page 14), former Rep. Steve Solarz updates his New York contacts (Page 18)
Vol. 3, No. 4
www.cityhallnews.com
September 2008
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
and OEM Commissioner Joseph Bruno, left, explains how the city got safer since Sept. 11 (Page 39).
SEPTEMBER 2008
The Stragglers Still undecided about 2009, Markowitz, Liu and Stringer keep everyone on pins and needles BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS n a sunny September afternoon, the five borough presidents met at the venerable Brooklyn eatery Junior’s for their bi-annual meeting. On the table, among the onion rolls and bowls of pickles, was a typed agenda provided for each president by host Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (D). Number three: “a discussion about term limits.” Markowitz ripped into term limits, calling them unnecessary and undemocratic. That is perhaps an understandable sentiment from a man who will be forced out of his job next year if the current term limits stay in place. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (D), who has the option of running for re-election next year, took a more measured approach, calling for an open debate. Both men are thought to be considering a run for different offices next year— Markowitz for mayor, Stringer for public advocate. Both have yet to make a commitment. Their tablemates, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall (D) and Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro (Con.), both seem content to serve out the rest of their terms and ride off into the sunset. Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión (D), meanwhile, is running hard, after surprising many late last year by starting a run for comptroller instead of mayor. Most term-limited officials have already made a commitment or hinted at one, coalescing behind one of the three citywide races, the borough president races or a stab at state office. Stringer and Markowitz, together with Council Member John Liu (D-Queens), who has been vigorously raising money for an as-of-yet-unannounced race next year, are the stragglers of city politics—the three elected officials who could run for any citywide office next year, but have so far kept everyone guessing. Whether they are simply undecided or are just waiting for the maximum possible impact for an announcement, Markowitz, Stringer and Liu are each taking their time, which is having far-reaching implications for all three citywide races—mayor, comptroller and public advocate—as well as for dozens of other elected officials who are waiting before making their own moves. “These people represent difficulties for everybody else,” said veteran Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf. “Term limits, it appears, will remain in place. Therefore, the musical chairs will not go to their ultimate end until those three people make some decisions.” Liu has both the comptroller and public advocate candidates fairly nervous. As the city’s first Asian-American elected official, he has a large base of supporters with a proven willingness to bankroll his next career move, though the loss of close ally Ellen Young in the Sept. 9 Assembly primary raises some questions about his
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borough presidents looked on. “I want to make sure I’m in excellent health and excellent spirits.” According to some political experts, the real wild card in 2009 is Stringer, who was sitting to Markowitz’s right at Junior’s. The Manhattan borough president is “off cycle,” meaning he will complete his first term next year and can run for reelection if he so chooses. And yet Stringer continues to raise money for 2009, and has spoken privately about his interest in the public advocate’s race. In July, Stringer reported over $1.2 million in donations, collecting them at the borough-wide limit. If Marty Markowitz, John Liu and Scott Stringer are biding their time he runs citywide, he will for 2009, leaving everyone guessing what their plans might be. immediately be able to call on his donor base to contribute up to $2,000 clout. He reported having raised over $3 million last more each, which could be an important and fast boost. Mercurio said there is no downside to Stringer’s apJuly, making him one of the better funded candidates in proach. He could run for re-election, but if the polling 2009. “Anyone who discounts him is a fool,” Sheinkopf shows he is in good shape citywide, he could run for said of Liu. “He has money, he’s fresh, he’s new, he’s public advocate. The real downside is for the other canAsian in a city with an increasing Asian face. So when didates in the race looking for support from the city’s he makes his decision, it will set off a different kind of big-dollar donors, Mercurio added. “Some of the bigger donors might hold off on making scramble.” Scott Levenson, a Democratic political consultant, donations to a candidate because they think someone predicted that despite Liu’s silence, the announced can- they’re closer to might be running for the same office,” didates for those races should already be moving for- Mercurio said. While Stringer weighs his options, other Manhattan ward with their plans. “They’ll keep their mind’s eye on significant players Democrats, like Council members Dan Garodnick, Jesentering the field,” Levenson said, “but they just cannot sica Lappin and Robert Jackson and state officials like Sen. Tom Duane, are left wondering whether there will proceed on these hypotheticals.” With two fellow Queens Council members—Melinda be a race for borough president next year. Some privateKatz and David Weprin—already in the comptroller’s ly grumble about Stringer’s hesitancy. They are loosing race, Liu may decide to run for public advocate, pitting precious fundraising minutes and running out of time to him against civil rights attorney Norman Siegel and an- put together campaign apparatuses. For Garodnick and Lappin, who have other Queens Democrat, been mentioned as Eric Gioia. He might also potential candidates decide to drop down to for Council speaker the Queens borough presnext year, the winident race, which would dow to decide what force him to return some to focus on is closof the contributions he ing. has received at the higher Evan Stavisky, a consultant for the Parkside Group citywide limit. Whichever race he enters, if he chooses one, Liu will have a serious impact, most political ob- who has worked with Stringer in the past, had a somewhat elaborate metaphor to describe the situation of servers agree. Markowitz has a very different set of possibilities to those elected officials who are waiting for Stringer’s consider. He has not been actively raising money and his move. “People are out there, working hard, trying to run for “Markowitz for New York” committee shows this, having only half a million dollars in July, significantly less than borough president. But in the end they may not have a most other citywide candidates. While he has consis- clear shot at it. It’s kind of like you’re playing pool and the tently polled ahead of all the other mayoral candidates, 8-ball is between you and the hole,” Stavisky said. “You some observers say his flirtations with running appear have to bank it off the bumper. Scott Stringer’s candidacy for public advocate is the bumper that you have to hit.” to be just that. At Junior’s, Stringer gave his stock answer about hav“This has more the hallmarks of a candidate who’s in to stop other candidates from rising,” said Joseph Mer- ing the best job in city government already. “I am more concerned right now with doing the job I curio, a political consultant for both Republicans and have than a potential job I want,” he said. Democrats. Asked whether that means he is having his Junior’s At Junior’s, Markowitz described his hesitancy to jump into the mayor’s race as the result of some serious cheesecake and eating it too, Stringer was more direct in his reply. soul searching. “No comment,” he said. “It’s a decision that impacts me personally, healthwise and professionally,” Markowitz said as the other ahawkins@cityhallnews.com SCOTT WILLIAMS
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“These people represent difficulties for everybody else.”—Hank Sheinkopf.
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SEPTEMBER 2008
OVER AND OUT:
Primary Losers
WHEN BROOKLYN BOROUGH President Marty Markowitz pulled up in his SUV, the puff in his cheeks and the water in his eyes as he shook hands said it all. Martin Connor’s campaign picked a noisy bar on the edge of Alphabet City convenient to the different parts of the district for the primary night party. But no one thought to check if the televisions inside got New York 1. So while some supporters sat inside drinking, State Sens. Jeff Klein and Diane Savino and Democratic Senate strategist Doug Forand paced up and down the block, checking Blackberries, sending text messages, making phone calls, smoking cigarettes. They got some results for the Connor race, amid all the other news coming in from elsewhere around the city and state, though nothing conclusive. But Markowitz knew. Then they all knew. Inside, over the music, a group of people sang happy birthday. Outside, apart from the cheers coming out of the sports bar across the street, the procession of politicians grew more and more somber. Anyone who has been to a shiva would recognize the scene. Though there were some discarded flyers on the sidewalk up the street from both campaigns and a Daniel Squadron sign stapled around a lamppost a block away, most of the people walking down Houston Street had no idea who the politicians were, or what was upsetting them. One took a guess. “Palin’s just a distraction,” one man said, turning around as he walked. “Don’t worry, we’re going to win.”
Next to Dessert Case, Newell Explains Failing to Give Silver Just Desserts AT A RESTAURANT in Little Italy with pictures of Frank Sinatra and Robert De Niro hanging on the walls, the somewhat out-of-place-looking Paul Newell announced to an eclectic group of supporters late Tuesday night that he failed in his long-shot bid to take down Albany fixture Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. After several pleasantries about how his campaign won a moral victory of sorts by making Silver face a primary challenger for the first time in 20 years in the state’s 64th district, Newell thanked campaign manager Evan Hutchinson at Vincent’s Restaurant on Mott Street. “He took me from a campaign literally run from under my bed to being endorsed by the New York Times,” Newell said as he stood next to the circulating dessert case. Until May, when he moved into a rented office, Newell did in fact run his campaign from a desk underneath his loft bed in a crowded Chinatown apartment he shared with three roommates. Since then, he gained the endorsement of the Times, Daily News and the Post. But in the end, they earned him just 23 percent of the vote. Luke Henry, the third challenger, got just 9 percent. Newell acknowledged his father for making the first donation to his campaign. Roger Newell and his wife gave the maximum contribution of $3,800 each. “I thought he was crazy when he told me what he wanted to do,” Roger Newell said, before standing up to lead a rendition of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” in his son’s honor. —Matt Townsend
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Connor’s staff began to appear. Some grumbled about Connor’s campaign—complaints about how lightly he approached the challenge at first, how terrible the campaign operation was. Though they never would have admitted it an hour or two before, some in the crowd began to say they knew this was coming for weeks. Connor materialized up the block with his wife. He never called Squadron to concede, but from the hugs he gave Markowitz and State Sen. Tom Duane, he left little question that he knew the race was done. He called everyone into the bar. Finally, the banging overhead music was turned off, and the bar cleared of people not associated with the campaign. “I guess I’m supposed to say something,” Connor said. “As part of my philosophy, I didn’t prepare for this.” He thanked all his supporters, painting himself as the underdog in the race who never got a fair break, and did little to reach out to or congratulate Squadron. The speech, which began quietly, reached a crescendo as Connor gathered emotion. Thanking Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Comptroller Bill Thompson, he jabbed his finger in the air and yelled, thanking “the top two Democrats in New York City,” a reference to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (Ind.) endorsement of Squadron. “The reality of this election is that it was tough, a lot of money was spent on the other side, the campaigning started nearly a year ago and I kept doing my job in Albany,” Connor continued. “The fact of the matter is, whoever thought they could take on Mike Bloomberg and Chuck Schumer and only lose by eight and a half percent? No one else ever did that. Not one of them at a time.” The pool game at the back of the bar continued as Connor blamed the results on a changing district. “As I walked through those projects, walked through Chinatown, and people came up and hugged me and knew me, I thought, ‘These are the people I’ve served for 30 years,’” he said. “Didn’t get the same reception from the gentry who moved in three or four years ago. They have a different way of seeing the world.” He thanked especially his wife Christine, with whom
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE
Railing Against Squadron Until the End, Connor Concedes Loss Most Supporters Saw Coming
Marty Connor hugs his wife, Christine, after conceding the race which ended his 30-year career. he campaigned the day before at the St. George subway station. A few days earlier, he said, she had noted that she had never known him as anything but a state senator—their first conversation was at the St. George subway station 30 years ago, where she had joined him to campaign in his special election campaign. Later, with a line of people in tears waiting to wish him well, he dismissed the idea that he would run again. “That’s really hard to imagine,” he said. “Why would I do that? I haven’t had a day of vacation in years.” —Edward-Isaac Dovere
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Stewarts Bows Out, Unbowed by Loss “I HAVE A lot of baggage, brothers and sisters,” City Council Member Kendall Stewart said shortly after taking the microphone to address the 40 people sitting quietly at his Café Omar, the restaurant he owns in Flatbush. The St. Vincent native and former podiatrist received a paltry 13 percent of the votes for State Senate, compared to the incumbent Kevin Parker’s 47 percent and fellow Council Member Simcha Felder’s 41 percent. “I am not going to tell you I am happy,” Stewart said. “But I am not ashamed. We ran a clean campaign.” There were things his opposition did that he could not even tell the audience, he said, and then proceeded to list a few, including that his opposition had been accusing him of taking city money to build a mansion in the Caribbean. “I wish that was true,” Stewart said. Stewart got outspent 10-1 and 5-1, respectively. He said he did not receive more contributions because of negative publicity—a reference to the indictment and arrest of two of his former aides for embezzling funds from a nonprofit program that was supposed to tutor public school children. “Why the long faces?” said Mike Roberts, Stewart’s
campaign manager, as he moved through the dejected crowd. “You win some and you lose some.” The restaurant was one-fifth full with supporters, the majority with thick Caribbean accents, wearing white T-shirts with a picture of a stern-looking Stewart at a lectern in front of an American flag. While Parker had the support of the Democratic establishment and Felder received a strong endorsement from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Stewart received virtually no endorsements, as the swirl of controversy hung like a weight around his neck for the campaign. Stewart pledged to keep working on behalf of the community in the time he has left in the City Council, but didn’t address what he would do after that time. “It’s not a political defeat. It’s the beginning of an understanding,” said Robert Joseph, Jr., a friend who grew up with Stewart. “In the ocean of oceans that New York City is, one man from a small island made his mark.” Stewart finished his remarks, defiant until the end. “Just remember,” he said, “I’m not sad.” —Joshua Cinelli
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SEPTEMBER 2008
Primary Losers
ANDREW J. HAWKINS
OVER AND OUT:
Kevin Powell and his supporters accepted his congressional loss with applause and plans to run again.
Vowing to Run Again, Powell Calls Campaign a Testament to Power of Youth THE AIR INSIDE Fort Greene’s Five Spot Soul Food Restaurant smelled of macaroni and cheese and fried chicken. A handful of supporters of Congressional candidate Kevin Powell milled around, chatting nervously and drinking brightly colored cocktails from tall, thin glasses. Every so often, they would squint up at the television, trying to read the primary results scrolling across the bottom of the screen. “Have you spoken to anyone who has a sense of which way it’s going to go?” a woman in a Powell T-shirt
said into her phone. Under the glow of red and orange frosted lights, supporters of the Real World star turned hip-hop journalist debated their candidate’s chances of unseating 13-term incumbent Rep. Edolphus Towns. Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” began wailing on the sound system as the tension in the restaurant mounted. “There’s been a lot of change,” the woman on the phone said. “There are different kinds of people in the neighborhood, and those kind of people vote for Kevin.”
Sitting at the bar, Cobble Hill resident Steve Abel spoke about volunteering to hand out literature at polling stations in Bed-Stuy earlier in the day. He liked Powell’s authenticity, he said, but realized there was a slim chance for victory. “Sometimes it takes a couple times before you get all the elements right,” he said sagely. At 9:43, the results had Towns at 59 percent and Powell at 40. “Damn that’s close!” someone shouted from the end of the bar. At 9:46, Towns was up by 30 points. Phones lit up across the restaurant as distressed faces fell into hands and smiles turned to frowns. At 10:17, NY1 called the race for Towns. The Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly” playing in the restaurant seemed to accentuate the defeat. Powell’s entourage began to arrive, exchanging hugs and defiant handshakes with the supporters in the restaurant. One young man in a dark suit and bow tie, when asked how he was doing, summed up the general mood. “Chillin’, man,” he said, smiling. “Disappointed, but— eh, shit happens.” About 30 minutes later, Powell arrived to warm applause. His speech was bold and unfettered, never betraying any disappointment. This is not a defeat, he said, echoing concession speeches across the city that night. “This is a victory, because we got to the finish line,” he said. His speech touched on the need to transcend racism, in both the white and black communities, about how incumbents need to be shaken out of their stupors every now and then, about how young people are poised to change the nation in November. Powell cast himself and his supporters as a David in the fight against Goliath and compared his campaign to the campaigns of Robert F. Kennedy, Shirley Chisholm and Barack Obama. “There’s no way I’m ever gonna shut my mouth,” he said. “That’s why I’m running for Congress again in 2010.” —Andrew J. Hawkins
Felder Jokes About Loss, Looks Seriously at Future Campaigns HOPES RAN HIGH at 9:30 p.m. as volunteers from the Simcha Felder campaign streamed into the Palace Grill on Avenue J in Midwood. Picking from a spread of fried chicken, onion rings, egg rolls, sushi and salad, bleary-eyed workers in yellow Felder T-shirts told of the promising response they had received on the streets of the 21st Senatorial district. “A lot of people were very welcoming and accepted what we had to say,” said Patricia Clark, a field captain for one of Felder’s street teams. Bruce Rudolph, a poll watcher for the campaign, reported encouraging numbers from his polling place: roughly 200 for Felder, 40 for incumbent State Sen. Kevin Parker and single digits for fellow challenger Council Member Kendall Stewart. By 10:30 p.m., though, the sound of clicking Blackberrys reached critical mass and the news of Parker’s decisive
Council Memeber Simcha Felder, with former Bloomberg aide Patrick Brennan, who consulted on the closing weeks of Felder’s State Senate campaign. victory spread throughout the room. While long faces and several tears marked the news of Felder’s defeat, the one cheerful presence in the room was that of the candidate himself. As Felder arrived, he shook nearly every hand
between the door and the podium, smiling and joking with distraught volunteers. In a short concession speech, characteristically punctuated with several jokes, Felder thanked God along with a slew of campaign workers.
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“You went out to do the work despite the fact that you knew me, which is a great accomplishment,” Felder joked. At one point in the speech, his cell phone rang. “I think that’s Senator Parker calling to concede. I can’t talk to him right now,” he said. Felder, who is up against term limits next year and had mulled a bid for comptroller, indicated he would be running for another elected office soon, warning staffers not to steal the furniture from campaign headquarters. But he would not say which office it would be. Several campaign volunteers speculated that Brooklyn Borough President would be a good fit for Felder, due to the diverse turnout that the campaign generated, as well as the fundraising advantages that come with the office. When the subject of term limits was raised, Felder declined to comment specifically, but welcomed the debate. “It should be something that the mayor and the Council look into together,” Felder said. —David Giambusso
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SEPTEMBER 2008
For Cash-Strapped NYCHA, Solution is Close to Home Selling unused land to private developers could generate millions to close budget gap
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n August, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (D) issued a report detailing how much unused New York City Housing Authority-owned land in Manhattan could be sold to private developers. In Manhattan alone, he found that NYCHA, which manages almost 200,000 units, owns 30.5 million square feet of unused development rights—or “more than 11 Empire State Buildings” in volume— according to the report. If NYCHA sells development rights to private companies, developers can build on site or on adjacent properties. The capital produced could be used for a number of short- or long-term goals like closing the budget gap or building more affordable housing. For Stringer, the danger for those in NYCHA housing would be that decisions on how to use capital would be made without a public review process. “Tenants need to be aware and should fight to have a role in planning with NYCHA,” Stringer said. Facing a near $200 million budget deficit, the NYCHA is implementing a myriad of ways to plug the gap, including budget cuts, layoffs and closing community centers. The largest cause of the deficit is chronic under-funding by the federal government, which will reimburse NYCHA 82 cents on the dollar in fiscal year 2009. And though an increase in federal funding looks dim for now, NYCHA could continue to take advantage of its unused development rights to fix the budget or build new housing. On the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYCHA is planning to sell off excessive development rights for two mixed-income residential apartment buildings on two pieces of land, an empty lot and basketball court, to Atlantic Development Group for $10 million. “It’s going to help bring more affordable housing, it’s going to bring in more revenue,” said Howard Marder, communications director for NYCHA. “Revenue from sales will be used to maintain public housing.” Though Stringer said that the Harborview Terrace sale was not a model for the type of review process for selling development rights he favors, Marder said that NYCHA receives public input, consults with elected officials and gets approval from the federal Housing and Urban Development department. To generate the highest amount of revenue in selling unused development rights, Steve Spinola, president of the
Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), suggested that NYCHA and the city’s planning commission create a larger site to which air rights (the space above a property) could be transferred. “You wouldn’t be putting all of the unused air rights into one development,” Spinola said. “That would make the air rights more valuable.” In Manhattan, land is snatched up and used to build market-rate condominiums next to public housing. Depending on the area and zoning regulations, space could be bought for several hundred dollars a square foot, according to Gerard Longo, a developer and president of Brooklynbased Madison Estates and Properties. Even in outer boroughs, particularly Brooklyn, developers could find customers for apartment units built next to NYCHA land, he said. “We’ve commonly seen $1 million housing next to affordable housing,” said Longo, who develops in Manhattan and Brooklyn. “Look at Coney Island. Right
they keep coming,” said Floyd of private developers. “Where do you stop?” New developments on currently unused land adjacent to public housing would lead to less open space and burden the neighborhood’s infrastructure, Floyd argued. “Right now you have overcrowding in the area as it is,” Floyd said. “How much more are we going to build there?” At an August 13 public NYCHA hearing on the 2009 annual agency plan, State Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), rebuked the selling of the authority’s property to private developers because there would be potential to create market-rate apartments. “Using those developments for uniquely low-income and affordable units would be a proper use of the land and property development rights.” As for the public review process Stringer’s report lauds, Parker said there is a risk that a decision on property sold would not be binding and ultimately left to the “binding devices of the mayor.” Council Member Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn), however, sees the potential monetary gain as an alternative to raising rents for families in public housing or closing vital senior centers. Though Barron understood that NYCHA’s development rights may need to be sold to build capital, ideally, the state and federal government should fund the housing authority. “It’s a shame and a disgrace,” Barron said. “You’re forcing NYCHA and others into desperate means in order to balance their budget.” drivoli@cityhallnews.com
“We’ve commonly seen $1 million housing next to affordable housing,” said Gerard Longo, president of Brooklyn New York M.L.S. “Look at Coney Island. Right now you have Thor Equities there, and you have housing projects.” now you have Thor Equities there, and you have housing projects.” Housing advocates like Greg Floyd, president of the Teamsters Local 237, feel that any attempt to sell development rights smacks of privatization, or the beginning of the end, to public housing. “Once they get their foot in the door,
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Unexpected Farewells
Martin Connor (D-Brooklyn/Manhattan) and Efrain González, Jr., both pictured here in what may be their last-ever moments on the floor as senators during the August 28 special session, had nearly 50 years between them going into their upset primary losses.
BARRY SLOAN
BY DAN RIVOLI
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SEPTEMBER 2008
CITY HALL
Sick of Two-Party System, SI Health Care Exec Prescribes Voting Independent Third parties look to take advantage of roller coaster campaign to replace Fossella in Congress BY DAN RIVOLI
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s Staten Island’s Republican Party scrambled to pick a candidate to replace Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn), the Independence Party of New York faced similar problems. Each promising Republican who interviewed with the Independence Party’s Staten Island candidate screening committee balked at running for Congress. When the GOP threw support to Metropolitan Transporation Authority board member Frank Powers, the Independence Party decided to field one of its own: health care executive Carmine Morano, better known to borough politicos as the father of the Independence Party’s candidate screening committee chair, Frank Morano. Though Morano is a party stalwart, he is a political neophyte, with a background in health care—he sold his insurance company, PerfectHealth, to the Health Insurance Plan of New York (HIP) in 2006. He often talks about this experience on the campaign trail, where he is looking to exploit a fractured GOP, as well as a base of Democrats torn between 2006 Congressional nominee Steve Harrison and Council Member Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island). “Having been an expert in the field, I can go to Washington,” Morano said, “and
“A lot of people have said ‘You have a great opportunity to be an underdog victor,’” said Carmine Morano. have input on the health care of the country and how it’s going to be financed in the future.” Morano had originally collected enough petition signatures from registered Republicans to qualify for a primary, under the impression that Staten Island Republicans would grant him a Wilson-
Pakula certificate. GOP county chair John Friscia denied there had ever been an agreement, however, and Morano was left with only the Independence line. He then mounted a write-in campaign in the primary, but the results of the lastditch effort barely registered at the polls. Former Assembly Member Robert Straniere (R-Staten Island) emerged as the winner of the primary, but party infighting has left most people skeptical of his chances against McMahon. Morano is reveling in the breakdown. “It couldn’t be better in terms of potential support for my candidacy and my party,” Morano said. “A lot of people have said ‘You have a great opportunity to be an underdog victor.’” Paul Atanasio, a retired Brooklyn banker, is also running in the race, on the Conservative line. Unlike Morano, Atanasio waited until after the GOP primary to begin his campaign. The party, which boasts 5,319 registered voters, has had success in the past on Staten Island—Borough President James Molinaro, after all, won in 2001 as a GOP-endorsed Conservative. But Molinaro believes that an independent candidate without major party support cannot win, even in this race, with Straniere being attacked by his own base. “The minor parties, either they help
you or are insignificant,” Molinaro said. But though Molinaro is vice chair of the borough’s Conservative Party, he threw his support to McMahon and tried unsuccessfully to get the state Conservative Party to follow suit. The local Independence Party, which has 9,204 members in the district, often cross-endorses, rather than fielding candidates of its own, though party stalwart Anita Lerman ran a primary against Fossella in 2006. He won, and netted 3,667 votes from his spot on Row C that November. Republican candidates in Staten Island have rarely run on only their party line. The younger Morano, who oversaw the endorsement decision, is confident that his father’s candidacy will show the major parties the Independence Party’s strength in borough politics, and encourage them to court their cross-endorsement in the future. On the other hand, if the parties cannot unite after the primary, he said his father could cobble together a coalition of disenfranchised Republicans and Democrats. “For an Independent to win this seat,” the younger Morano said, “would be the coup de grâce and a fitting end to this crazy election.” drivoli@cityhallnews.com
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SEPTEMBER 2008
CITY HALL
In Search of Influence, Freelancers Union Dips Toe into Politics Dispensing nonprofit status to allow lobbying, group forms PAC, begins contacting candidates
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n a recent August evening, over 200 or so freelancers mingled at the White Rabbit, a trendy bar off Houston Street—photographers, writers, temps, graphic designers and other members of the growing Freelancers Union, which had organized the event. With down tempo electronica playing over the stereo system, the freelancers mingled, sipping early-evening cocktails and trading tips on landing the next freelance gig. Most seemed unaware of the doughy, 60-something Jewish man standing quietly in the back of the room. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) had only a few moments to enjoy his anonymity. Shortly after his arrival, Sara Horowitz, the executive director of the Freelancers Union, sidled up next to Silver, microphone in hand. After hushing the crowd, Horowitz asked anyone who received health insurance through the Freelancers Union to raise their hands. Over three-fourths of the room did. Horowitz smiled. “It would be safe to say that that health insurance came to you because of the early help from Assemblyman Silver,” she said. After the event, Silver, who was instrumental in helping the group get its start over 10 years ago, said he welcomed the freelancers’ support, which came amid a primary challenge from two candidates who tried to paint him as out of touch with the neighborhood—just as they welcomed his. “Some people tend to think that one good turn deserves another,” Silver said wryly. But in order to play even a small role in New York’s exclusive and expensive political scene, the union will have to go further than just aligning itself with Silver. To that end, the group has begun to shore up its political influence, recently forming a political action committee and switching its not-for-profit status to allow for lobbying and electioneering. The freelancers are taking their first steps into the political arena, said Horowitz, a labor attorney with a background in union organizing. And not a moment too soon, she added. “Independent workers are in the growth part of our economy,” Horowitz said a few days later, sitting in the E OF T Freelancers Union’s neat, orangeA trimmed offices in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn. “If we don’t start investing in this part of the workforce, it will be to our own detriment.” Horowitz cited a recent report from the city comptroller’s office, which found that of the 700,000 new jobs created last year, two-thirds were freelance or independent workers. Given those numbers, the state needs to update several key labor practices, like the Unincorporated Business Tax and unemployment benefits, to better meet the needs of this growing sector of the workforce. “What’s really important is looking at how people are working, what our economic development goals are and that we make sure that, even in times that are tough, we don’t inadvertently cut off our nose to spite our face,” Horowitz said. Horowitz founded Working Today, the parent organization of the Freelancers Union, in 1995 as a means
The union is also calling on the New York State Department of Labor to offer more services for independent workers. The current unemployment system needs to be updated to allow freelancers to file wage-an-hour claims if their employers fail to pay them. But the road ahead will be difficult, Horowitz admitted, especially as the state’s economic outlook worsens. “It’s going to be difficult to start talking about updating something if that involves revenue,” she said. That is why the Freelancers Union will need powerful allies as it goes forward. Silver, for example, was chosen because of his early support for the union and for his background in insurance. Deciding who else to support through the union’s new PAC (which to date has not reported any donations) may prove difficult, Horowitz said. Politicians are not always what they seem. “I would say people who often think they’re on the cutting edge are often inherently conservative,” she said. “It’s not always who you think.” Horowitz said she and others at the union have had discussions with Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) and Comptroller William Thompson (D), both of whom are running for mayor, and Council Member David Yassky (D-Brooklyn), who is running for comptroller, as well as several other potential candidates for 2009 Freelancers are beginning to step into the political arena, she declined to name. The union is currently searching for a said Freelancers Union Executive Director Sara Horowitz, political director to manage its policy agenda and not a moment too soon. and is in the process of putting together an to help independent workers find affordable insurance executive committee to handle political endorsements. “Our coming-out party is probably going to be the plans. Today, the non-profit organization is comprised of 55,000 members statewide and almost 80,000 nation- mayor’s race,” she said. “I think it will be the first time wide. Membership is free, though the union generates that independent workers are really going to matter.” Edward Ott, executive director of the New York its operating costs—around $10 million last year—from fees acquired from selecting insurance plans for its Central Labor Council, said he admires the Freelancers Union and what it has been able to accomplish quickly members. A labor attorney with a background in union since coming onto the scene. Horowitz, he said, is one organizing, Horowitz said the idea to grow of the smartest people in the state when it comes to TH the group’s political chops has been there insurance. The group will earn its place alongside other larger, from the very beginning. “We needed to build a model on the better financed unions, as long as it sticks to its core ground of showing what a new union issues, Ott added. Horowitz agreed, saying she does not view the union’s would be and how it would organize itself,” she said. “And in building those legislative goals as a zero-sum gain. “I really see this as part of a social movement,” she models, we then would have something to say in the policy debate about how the next said, “talking about how we go back to a time where we were concerned about making the city livable and safety net needs to be built.” Building that safety net will require the affordable and still dynamic and innovative.” But freelancers by nature are independently minded. Freelancers Union to adopt a multifaceted political agenda, touching on important issues, from insurance to Regardless of whom the union chooses to endorse this year and next, there is no guarantee all its members will unemployment to taxes. By most estimates, there are over a million indepen- follow lock-step. Standing in the White Rabbit with a glass of wine in dent workers in New York. With that in mind, Horowitz said the politically emboldened union will begin to lob- her hand, Abbe Eckstein, a freelance art director and by state and local officials to revise the Unincorporated design manager who has been a union member for five years, said she had mixed feelings about Silver in parBusiness Tax (UBT) to exempt freelance workers. (At the White Rabbit, Horowitz’s mention of the UBT ticular. “Everybody does,” Eckstein said, gesturing to her fellow elicited a chorus of “boo’s” from the gathered freelancers—the kind of response one might have expected from freelancers. “After all, he killed the commuter tax.” that crowd had the bartender just shouted “last call.”) ahawkins@cityhallnews.com
ANDREW SCHWARTZ
BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS
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SEPTEMBER 2008
For Weprin, Experience Counts in Comptroller Race Finance Committee chair stakes his candidacy on background in and out of office BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS ouncil Member David Weprin (D-Queens) is planning on selling himself in next year’s race for city comptroller as the candidate with the most experience. That could prove a double-edged sword. With term limits forcing him out of office next year, Weprin said being elected city comptroller would be the next step in continuing his dedication to public service. More importantly, he said, being comptroller would let him leverage his decades of experience, both in government and in the private sector. But with the City Council slush fund scandal, which unfurled under his watch as chair of the Finance Committee, and the disclosure last year that he still pulls in major dollars in outside income as an investment banker, Weprin may find himself defending his experience even as he touts is. “In tough economic times with volatile markets, you want to trust the office of comptroller to someone that’s not going to need on-the-job experience,” said the Council member with the distinctive mustache, hunched over a cup of coffee at a diner around the corner from 250 Broadway. Weprin’s efforts to portray himself as the candidate of experience comes at a time when, with now less than a year before the primary election, each of the five Democratic candidates are beginning to hone their images, assuming the various roles that they hope will give them an edge in what is shaping up to be a crowded and expensive race. Council Member Melinda Katz (Queens) is positioning herself as the front-runner, while Council Member David Yassky (Brooklyn) is adopting the activist mantle. Assembly Member James Brennan (Brooklyn) is playing up his underdog candidacy. And Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión is the best funded candidate so far. Council Member John Liu (DQueens), with his $3 million war chest, is thought to be considering the race as well. After raising over $300,000 and spending over $100,000 during the last cycle, Weprin has almost $1.6 million in campaign cash on hand, putting him squarely in the middle of the other candidates in terms of funds raised. But while the other candidates may have more money, he argues, none have the financial chops to match his. “The fact is that I’ve had such an extensive private sector career,” he said. “Most of them have just had government careers.” To that end, Weprin’s campaign website is loaded with background material, recounting his tenure as Deputy Superintendent of Banks under Gov. Mario Cuomo (D), his time on Wall Street during the late ’80s and early ’90s, and his chairmanship of the Council’s finance committee. That experience should be enough to convince voters, he said, especially in a race that few New Yorkers know much about. Most voters focus solely on the mayor’s race, some political experts say, while the other races usually fall by the wayside. Weprin hopes that despite the low recognition for the comptroller’s race, his qualifications will still stand out. “I think I probably have more relevant experience for that job than we’ve seen in candidates for that office in a long time,” he said. As one of two (and potentially three) Queens candidates in the race, Weprin also said he hopes ethnicity
ANDREW SCHWARTZ
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Council Member David Weprin’s decades of experience in the private sector and in government could prove a double-edged sword in his campaign for comptroller. and geographic concerns will be less of a factor than they usually are in New York elections. But the borough he represents may prove less of a liability than the committee he oversees. The Council slush fund scandal cast a spotlight on Weprin’s chairmanship of the Finance Committee. Initially, he deflected the blame to the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget. Today, Weprin lays responsibility for the scandal on past Council speakers. “That’s something that never came to my committee,” he said. “The media can do what they want, but I think a year from now, I don’t think it will be an issue.” Weprin also came under fire last year when it was revealed he was earning more than $100,000 in outside income as an investment banker and attorney while serving on the Council. He continues to hold that job. But Weprin contends that voters will view his experience working in finance as a window into how he would wield the office of the comptroller. And while his campaign website is fairly short on details as to what kind of comptroller he would be, Weprin offered some specifics sitting at the diner. If elected, he said, he would reevaluate the city’s investments to ensure diversity and protect against dips in the market. As one of the main trustees of the city’s multi-billion dollar pension fund, Weprin said he would seek out new investments to increase returns and bolster the economy.
“I would try to expand into private equity firms, hedge funds, real estate, corporate,” he said. “A balanced portfolio that still has a significant percentage of equities.” Weprin said he would continue Comptroller William Thompson’s (D) efforts to prohibit businesses from discriminating against gay and lesbian employees, but would break with Thompson by supporting the divestment of pension money from companies that do business with countries like Iran, North Korea and Sudan. (Thompson has favored a policy of engagement, not divestment.) Since deciding to run in 2006, Weprin has courted the support of unions, PACs, financial firms and long-time, small-dollar donors. He has also used his family’s political clout to raise cash outside the city, receiving donations from supporters in Long Island, Buffalo and Washington, D.C. But differentiating himself from some prospective candidates next year, Weprin said he is not running for comptroller just because he needs a job. Wall Street paid him far more than he gets paid as an elected official, he said, though he neglected to mention the income he still earns from his outside job. He simply has what the job requires, he says, and is willing to stake his political future on those skills. Normally a serious and eventoned man, Weprin says he gets worked up over concepts like pension investment and multi-billion dollar debt issuance. That also, he insisted, is what makes being comptroller right for him. “It may sound to the average voter like boring stuff,” he said. “But to someone who’s lived and breathed Wall Street for so long, I find it very exciting.” ahawkins@cityhallnews.com
“I think I probably have more relevant experience for that job than we’ve seen in candidates for that office in a long time,” David Weprin said, discussing his run for comptroller.
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SEPTEMBER 2008
After 17 Years on Staff, Ron Davis Graduates to Communications Director for UFT
ANDREW SCHWARTZ
With Weingarten in dual roles and ’09 elections looming, assumes major responsibilities
Ron Davis plans to exercise his philosophy of bringing people to the table, rather than fighting from afar. BY MICHELLE FRIEDMAN
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on Davis seems well-adjusted to the rapid pace with which he enters his office. Davis, who has just been appointed the new communications director for the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), after 17 years of rising through the ranks, barely has time to take off his jacket, let alone sit down, before an anonymous voice from the hall informs him that he is needed in Washington, D.C., the next day for a meeting with Randi Weingarten at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) headquarters. “It’s exciting and challenging,” he said of his increased responsibilities as Weingarten transitions to become the dual AFT/UFT president over the summer. “I have to work with her staff at the AFT headquarters in terms of figuring out what our message is and what our position should be on different issues—not just locally, but nationally.” This presents a unique challenge when national issues, like school vouchers and merit pay, afford little relevance to New York educators; and, conversely, keeping Weingarten informed on strictly local matters. The key, says Davis, is developing a cohesive message on both fronts. Always diplomatic, Davis approaches all topics with an air of genuine optimism, careful not to rule anything, or anyone, out before exhausting all possible options. “If it doesn’t work, let’s fix it,” is a constant refrain. This holds true in the way he sees his role advising the process for the coveted endorsements the UFT will dole out in next year’s elections. This year, the union made the controversial move of endorsing two Republicans, Queens State Sens. Frank Padavan and Serphin Maltese, amidst the heated battle for the majority in the chamber. Both have consistently supported the union, and Maltese was the Senate sponsor of the ultimately unsuccessful 55/25 early-retirement bill that would have allowed civilian city employees, including teachers, to retroactively opt into an early-retirement plan with increased pension contributions. The union is mostly keeping its options open for next year, though it has made one choice already in
the unusually early endorsement of Danny Dromm, the middle school teacher and UFT chapter leader who is running to succeed term-limited Council Member Helen Sears (D-Queens) next year. Despite his deep involvement in the local political process these days, Davis started out life far from New York. A graduate of a school system that was segregated through his sophomore year of high school in Fordyce, Arkansas, he received a full scholarship to Harvard for college and graduated as senior class president. A career in journalism followed, but when an offer to be press secretary at the Department of Investigation coincided with his father’s increased need for medical treatment as a result of Alzheimer’s disease in 1987, Davis accepted to help pay for the medical bills. Two years later, David Dinkins became mayor, bringing his own staff with him. Although he received several offers, Davis took a position as a staff writer at the UFT, where he remained over the last 17 years, turning down other opportunities because he continued to be a strong believer in the union. “I haven’t found anything better than this particular cause, so I’m sticking with it,” he said. While adjusting to his promotion and Weingarten’s new role as the president of two unions comes with more travel, more collaboration, more issues to address and certainly more time, it also affords Davis the chance to bring UFT concerns to the front of the national consciousness. “We don’t look at this as daunting, we view this as an opportunity to do something bold and different, to try and make a difference,” he says of his shared perspective with Weingarten. And he expects that they will continue to try to make that difference locally going into next year’s elections. Looking ahead, he promised to consider all contenders interested in an endorsement come next fall, though Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) may have a head start in earning an endorsement for the mayoral race. When questioned, Davis calls her “a champion of education,” who played a vital role in securing budget restorations for schools. Speculation aside, he insists that it is “too soon to say right now,” and that decisions will be made after candidates are officially announced. But, perhaps surprisingly given the sometimes tense relations between the UFT and the Department of Education (DoE), he speaks somewhat approvingly of Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. He does, however, have his criticisms, especially of what he sees as the administration’s incorrect tendency to approach the school system as a business model. But before that contention can sink in, he quickly adds that he sees his role as helping the teacher’s union work with the DoE to find solutions, not points of argument—because as Davis sees things, though he will fight relentlessly if necessary, he believes the best way to get results is through conversation. “We believe our elected officials, each and every one of them, to be reasonable people and open to negotiation,” he said. And while he knows not everyone will agree with him, he will, at the very least, make them continue to listen to what he and the teachers have to say. Direct letters to the editor to editor@cityhallnews.com
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Ed Schwarz From: Manhattan Party: Youth International Job experience: King of Israel #1 campaign promise: “I have the trump card to balance the budget. I own basically all of Judea.”
Not Your Parents’ Yippie
I
n 1967, activist Abbie Hoffman formed the Youth International Party. The members were called Yippies. In 2008, Ed Schwarz stumbled upon this now defunct relic of the radical ’60s and is using the name and logo to run for president. Donning the party label, Schwarz admits, is purely superficial. He has little interest in advancing the anti-authoritarian fights of Hoffman, the Yippies or anything from the ’60s. He was not involved in any of those movements—after all, on Dec. 31, 1969, he was still just nine years old. “I came across an abandoned party that was useful for me to take,” he said. To Schwarz, the Youth International Party was a husk that he is using to advance his presidential ambitions. Schwarz campaigns around Manhattan’s Lower East Side with a motley gang of supporters. They throw events called “happynings” and put up small, hand-written flyers promoting his website, copsbeatmeup.com. He is running a write-in campaign because he cannot raise the money to get ballot access or enough signatures. That goal was the only reason he decided to run under the Youth International Party in the first place. If being president does not work out for him, he has a fallback plan: being the King of Israel. Speaking via payphone, he explained the rationale for his right to inherit the kingdom of Israel: “They hold up the Bible as their mandate for Jewish rule on the Holy Land, correct? Well, that mandate makes me the ultimate high supreme court over what goes down over there.” Schwarz memorized the Biblical references he considers proof of this mandate—Nehemiah 7: 5, and 61-34, for one—and has a scanned copy of his birth certificate from Beth Israel Hospital, which is adorned with a gold Star of David with Hebrew letters. The power that comes with being the King of Israel is integral to his candidacy and platform. On ending the fighting over territory between Jews and Palestinians: “There would be no more discussion about Israel. I own it.” On closing the federal deficit: “I can sell off all synagogues. I can take money from Jews I deem not worthy of it. I’m practically giving Americans money.” On the Jews in America? “I’m going after those who are criminals who happen to be Jewish,” Schwarz said. “There are other criminals who aren’t Jewish, but I’m not their king.” —Dan Rivoli
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SEPTEMBER 2008
CITY HALL
Solarz Shines On, Consulting for International Clients in Washington Former congressman boosts Taiwanese democracy and travels to Middle East with Jimmy Carter BY SUSAN CAMPRIELLO
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hile in Congress, Stephen Solarz spoke out against the totalitarian government in Taiwan and supported opposition movements and outspoken critics. Nearly two decades have passed since redistricting ended his Congressional career, but Taiwan remains a prime concern of his at Solarz Associates, the consulting firm in Washington, D.C., that he runs. He said he is currently helping Taiwan forge relationships in Washington—though the specifics of what kind of assistance, he would not reveal. He did, however, claim an active role in helping transform a dictatorship there into a democracy. During his time in elected office representing Brooklyn in the Assembly for six years and in the House for 18, Solarz faced criticism while in Congress for being too focused on world affairs. But years later, he uses the relationships he formed to help American companies in business ventures overseas to lead a firm which develops investment and contract negotiation strategies for American companies seeking projects abroad. His client roster includes people from Kyrgyzstan, northern Iraq, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Philippines, Australia and India, he said. Also, as a founding board member of
nti-war Pennsylvania state legislators frustrated by the federal government’s inability to withdraw troops from Iraq are trying to use their state powers to bring members of the National Guard back home. The legislation, which encourages Gov. Edward Rendell (D) to withdraw the Pennsylvania National Guard from Iraq, reasons that the goals set out in the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution (AUMF) have been met, and that the president can only keep guard members in Iraq to meet the AUMF benchmarks. That includes defending the United States from threats posed by Iraq and enforcing all United Nations Security Council resolutions about Iraq. Proponents of the bill hope to prevent further troop deployments. In September, Pennsylvania will send an additional 4,000 guard members to Iraq. The bill emphasizes the need for the Pennsylvania National Guard to assist locally. “We must empower our governor to take back control of the Pennsylvania National Guard and restore Pennsylvania’s ability to defend and protect our citizens at home,” said Pennsylvania
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Rep. Stephen Solarz with Bill Clinton at the People’s Firehouse, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and today, as the head of Solarz Associates. the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organization involved in conflict resolution around the world, in April he accompanied former President Jimmy Carter to the Middle East to meet with the kings of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the presidents of Egypt, Syria and Israel, as well as other leaders.
ELSEWHERE Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
State Legislators Attack National Guard Deployment By Michael Szeto
State Senator Jim Ferlo (D), the bill’s chief sponsor. Ferlo cites the Iowa floods in early June as the kind of disaster the National Guard is meant to assist with, and which he fears might strike an unprepared Pennsylvania. However, after the September deployment, Pennsylvania will be left with at least 13,000 guardsmen— enough to respond to emergencies, according to Kevin Cramsey, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veteran Affairs. States can also utilize the Emergency Management Assistance Compact that provides interstate assistance, including National Guard units, during emergencies. In a way, the legislation is no more than
“I thought this would be a good opportunity to meet with some of the key leaders in the region in order to get a better sense of the prospects for peace,” he said. He came away from the trip feeling that an agreement between Israel and Syria was a very real possibility, he said, and
a political statement. Even if the governor accepts the bill’s recommendation, a 1990 Supreme Court decision, Perpich v. Department of Defense, constitutionally bars governors from making military decisions. “You can’t have people going home in the middle of an operation. You can’t have 50 governors making operation decisions,” said Gene Fidell, a military law expert at Yale Law School. The bill is part of a larger antiwar movement that seeks to stop future troop deployments and bring back currently deployed troops. Versions of the bill have been introduced in New Jersey, Vermont and Rhode Island and grassroots efforts exist in California and New York, which has 2,200 National Guard members in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, New York is one of 26 states with a state defense force that consists of 700 voluntary members who are not deployed overseas. Instead, they are used for state and local emergencies. “Most of the National Guard call-ups are very small and don’t make up the entire force,” said Eric Durr, director of public affairs for the New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs. “We have enough people to handle any emergency that we’re likely to have.”
that optimism was strengthened when, just days after the trip ended, Israel and Syria commenced negotiations mediated by Turkey. Solarz lives outside Washington, but spends 12 weeks every year with his wife, Nora, in their villa in Turkey overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. But if not for all the business he has to conduct in Washington, he insisted, he would move back to New York. “I like the excitement in New York, the cultural life,” he said. He said he has warm memories of serving the constituents he represented in the Assembly and from his Congressional district, which was redrawn shortly before Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn/Manhattan/Queens) defeated him in the 1992 primary. Solarz said friends in New York keep him up to date on city politics. But though he has been following the emerging race to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.) and is familiar with the expected major Democratic candidates, “nobody’s asked me for an endorsement,” he said. The discussion of next year’s race brought up memories for him of what he misses most about the city’s political scene: winning elections. “That was always nice,” he said.
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Some of the larger call-ups include a 1998 ice storm in the North Country, which drew on 5,000 members, and the Sept. 11 attacks, when 2,500 were used to assist in the aftermath. Most emergencies have required much smaller response forces, meaning the 14,000 National Guard members left in New York should leave the state more than prepared for whatever unexpected situations arise. Nonetheless, there are many who believe the full force needs to be returned from overseas. “The excess should not be sent to Iraq,” said State Sen. Bill Perkins (DManhattan), an opponent of the war who plans to introduce a bill similar to the Pennsylvania measure next session. “The more that we have, the less of a burden it is on the others. I don’t think we can have too much.” Perkins may run into legislative obstacles, particularly if Republicans retain control of the Senate. State Sen. Vincent Leibell (R-Putnam/Westchester/ Dutchess), chair of the Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs committee, does not believe the Legislature has any jurisdiction in the area. “It’s important for the federal government to make these determinations as to when troops should be brought home,” Leibell said.
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SEPTEMBER 2008
www.cityhallnews.com
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York There is no word that has been used more in politics this year than “change.” With that in mind, in compiling our third annual list of Rising Stars, we looked to highlight 40 new up-and-coming forces in city politics and government who had not been featured on either previous list. That is no knock against the people who have appeared on previous lists, many of whom continue their meteoric rises through the echelons of power, whether in elected office or appointed positions. This certainly goes for the many elected officials who were on previous lists—people like Dan Garodnick, Eric Gioia, Mike Gianaris, Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Joel Rivera, who are all still under 40 and still full of promise to continue on the rise. But in this watershed year in national politics and with an even greater revolution in city politics on the horizon for 2009, we set out to create an entirely new group of Rising Stars. The rest of the criteria, however, remained the same. Based on the nominations that flooded in, our editorial board chose this year’s list based on a decision of who had had the most impressive accomplishments over the past year and who seemed to have the most promising things ahead for them in the year to come and beyond. Not surprisingly, many of those picked are people for whom this year has already been transformative, and will likely continue to be, and many as well are people for whom next year is sure to be a busy one. Decisions were made solely on the merit of the nominees themselves and their personal accomplishments in their positions. This is an impressive group: 40 young leaders from across the city working in government, politics and advocacy and truly shaping the present and future of New York. We asked them about how they had gotten to where they are, what motivates them, what they feel distinguishes them. We asked them about their passions, their interests, their goals—in the long term, and in the next five years. Then we asked them to pick karaoke songs which they felt personify them. The first hundred or so nominations for this year’s list arrived within a week of when we published last year’s. We expect the same to happen this year, and invite the phone calls and emails telling us who we might have missed. Looking back over the 2006 and 2007 Rising Stars, we were gratified to see how often our instincts were correct: many of those featured have already risen to new heights or seem set to in next year’s elections. The 2008 Rising Stars featured over the next 12 pages easily stand up next to those who have come before, and truly help make up the next generation of political leaders of New York.
Profiles by Rachel Breitman, James Caldwell, Edward-Isaac Dovere, Sal Gentile, Andrew J. Hawkins and Dan Rivoli. Photos by Andrew Schwartz.
CITY HALL
CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Deb Solomon Finance director, Michael McMahon for Congress
Age
Karaoke Song:
25
“Don’t Stop Believing,” by Journey
When Council Member Mike McMahon (D-Staten Island) announced his bid for Congress on May 29, he only had three months to raise enough money to get his campaign together. He was able to do that—his first filing showed he raised $500,000 in a month—thanks in large part to his finance director, Deb Solomon. After his announcement, Solomon immediately set up about 20 low-dollar house party fundraisers. Though McMahon is included in the national Democratic Party’s Red-to-Blue program, which drew national attention and money to his campaign, his war chest was flush with small donations from the district. If McMahon prevails in November, Solomon plans to stay on his team. The Long Island native has already moved to Staten Island and adapted to her new home. “The people are overwhelmingly warm and friendly,” she said. “And you can’t complain about all the great pizza places.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I worked for a New York member of Congress. It definitely prepared me for this position.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I would be working as a fundraiser for a nonprofit. Something that interests me a lot is working with the pro-Israel community.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Executive director of a nonprofit.”
Cas Holloway Chief of Staff, Deputy Mayor for Administration Ed Skyler; Special Advisor to the Mayor
Age
Karaoke Song:
34
“My Way,” by Frank Sinatra
Hailing originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia, and after attending Harvard, Cas Holloway got his introduction to New York City through its parks—and its parks policy. Working in the marketing office and then as chief of staff to then-Commissioner Henry Stern at the Parks Department, he met his future boss, Ed Skyler. Holloway ventured to Chicago for law school, and went onto a clerkship under Dennis Jacobs, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, with whom he has formed a close personal friendship (Jacobs recently presided over his wedding). When Skyler was promoted to deputy mayor in 2005, he offered Holloway an opportunity he suspected might come along some day, though not so soon: the chance to return to city government. But, as the mayor likes to remind him, time is ticking: he has just over 500 days left. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I’ve always conceived of my career as having a strong involvement in the public sector, in government—but also not limiting myself to that sphere, because I think it’s tremendously important to have balance.” If you weren’t in politics, what would you be doing? “My identical twin brother is a screenwriter in Los Angeles. … In an alternate universe, I definitely could have gravitated towards writing, either on that side of things—fiction, screenwriting—or journalism, a more creative application of my skills.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I could see myself being a prosecutor or in the public sector, or being in private law practice.”
Jordana Ingber works in message development. Her clients include corporations and campaigns. Her employer Vice President, Sheinkopf Communications does political work, and she is, at least marginally, political. But ask her what she really loves about her job, and she Age Karaoke Song: answers as bluntly as the plainspoken guru for whom she “Gangster Paradise,” by Coolio works. “It’s the going to war,” she said. “It’s fighting a battle for something you feel invested in and, hopefully, and oftentimes, you believe in.” Her passion, in college and after, was never really politics. She has always been much more interested in crisis communications. But it is the intense speed of working with Hank Sheinkopf which drives her in her capacity as his “one-woman media production wing.” Most recently, she produced ads for a presidential race in the Dominican Republican, though she does not speak Spanish herself. “That was slightly confusing,” she said, “but rewarding.” She added: “How many 25-year-olds can say that they produced media for a presidential candidate in a foreign nation?”
Jordana Ingber
25
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I did intern for Hank, so it’s technically how I ended up here.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d be an overqualified trophy wife.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Mrs. George Clooney.”
Greg Bell
Greg Bell had his first taste of New York City politics as an intern in Charlie Rangel’s office on 125th Speechwriter, New York City Street at 21 years old. Years later, the Upper West Side Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. native finagled his way onto William Thompson’s 2005 campaign as a press aide. The author of In the Black: the Age Karaoke Song: History of African Americans onWall Street, which he pub“Touch the Sky,” by Kanye West lished at just 25 years old, the young wordsmith found he could mix his passions for writing and economics. He continued to weave history into literature as a contributor to The African American National Biography and African American Lives. Now his daily writing focuses on more prosaic matters, from balancing the city’s budget to economic development in underserved communities. But while he is interested in being involved in his current boss’s political future, he expects to stay behind the scenes himself, he said, though he has considered one day following in the footsteps of his father, Travers Bell, who ran Daniels & Bell, the first black-owned member firm on Wall Street, by working at the stock exchange.
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “It’s a challenge to get people to understand how business can work for them. That’s my challenge.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I thought about being a journalist. I think there is something about the immediacy of working on daily papers. Maybe I have a little Bob Woodward in me.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Member of the New York Stock Exchange.”
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CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Joshua Vlasto Press Secretary, Sen. Charles Schumer
Nazli Parvizi
Nazli Parvizi never really imagined herself working in public policy. After Commissioner, Community Assistance Unit graduating with a degree in anthropology from Barnard, she took a job at the Social Age Karaoke Song: Science Research Council, an academic “In the spirit of public service, I would think tank. never subject the world to my voice.” “When I got to the think tank, it was a wonderful job—but of course it was academic and didn’t pay much,” she said. “And I noticed that we were getting amazing dignitaries and some of the best academics from around the world, and feeding them these bad midtown sandwiches.” The situation was unacceptable to Parvizi, a well-practiced chef who started cooking at age 14 to support herself. She asked the council’s director if she could supply the food and soon founded her own catering business, a venture that survives today (though she no longer works there). She has since moved from food to public policy, working as the director of the mayor’s Volunteer Center and, now, as the commissioner of the Community Assistance Unit. She relishes the ground-level work. “Academics is not for me. I need to be more hands-on,” she said of her work with the city’s diverse ethnic communities. “I’m not interested in writing a book about it. I’m interested in offering them solutions.”
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Going from the Volunteer Center to the CAU gave me an understanding of how to deal with different communities and people of all walks of life.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “Public health.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “It’s going to say Nazli Parvizi. My titles and jobs have never made me who I am.”
Age
Karaoke Song:
26
“Thunder Road,” by Bruce Springsteen
While many in politics can only claim to have public service in their blood, Joshua Vlasto can actually prove it. Vlasto’s father was former Gov. Hugh Carey’s press secretary and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum’s (D) communications director, while his mother worked for both Carey and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. “I come from a long line where the in-house religion was New York politics,” he said. Naturally, Vlasto ended up in Sen. Charles Schumer’s (D) office as an assistant to the legislative director right out of college, he said. And like most current and former Schumer aides, Vlasto’s opinion of Schumer is anything but subtle. “He’s the best,” he said. “He is the best at everything.” During his four years working for the senior senator, Vlasto said he is most proud of his efforts to win federal benefits for the families of the two auxiliary police officers killed in Greenwich Village last year. Shining a spotlight on the issue, Vlasto said, proved to be the best way to get results. But while a host of Schumer veterans have gone on to make it big in politics, Vlasto said he is only focused on next Sunday’s press conference. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I’ve had five different jobs working for Chuck. Each one has built on the other because he values hard work, and every day I try to work as hard as possible.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “The clean-up hitter for the New York Mets.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Mayor of Maui.”
Jim Quent Deputy Chief of Staff, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
Age
36
Karaoke Song: “Still Rock n’ Roll to Me,” by Billy Joel
Jim Quent is a self-described behind-the-scenes kind of guy. As Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s (D-Manhattan) deputy chief of staff, Quent is often out of the limelight, helping develop Silver’s policy positions behind closed doors. But Quent got his start not as a backroom fixer, but as an elected official. As a student at SUNY-Albany, Quent was elected to student government, eventually rising to vice chair. Quent parlayed his love for politics into a job as a legislative assistant in the Assembly. Before joining Silver’s staff, Quent made the rounds as a legislative researcher, a coordinator, a communications staffer and a lobbyist. He also worked for Thomas DiNapoli’s 2001 Nassau county executive campaign and Carl McCall’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign. The differences between student government and state government are stark, he said. “You’re worried about parking spaces when you’re at student council,” he said, unlike state government, where “you’re worried about creating new classrooms and jobs and giving people health coverage.” Quent declined to name a specific accomplishment he was proud of while working for Silver, saying everything the speaker accomplishes is a product of a team effort. “It’s not about personal accomplishments for me,” he said. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Every job I’ve had has culminated in this job I have now. I’ve worn a lot of hats in the position I’m in.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d probably be in some type of financial position. The world of finance and business.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I would like it to say something about making a difference.”
CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
John Raskin Community Organizer, Housing Conservation Coordinators; Board of Directors member, ACT NOW
Age
Karaoke Song:
27
“Don’t Turn Around,” by Ace of Base
By day, John Raskin is a community organizer for Housing Conservation Coordinators, a non-profit affordable housing advocacy group. By night (and weekends), he and the rest of the people in ACT NOW canvass and make phone calls on behalf of Democratic candidates throughout the state and country. Though he stressed the nonpartisan nature of his housing advocacy, Raskin, a Manhattanite on the West Side, was pushed to publicly condemn national GOP figures who mocked Sen. Barack Obama’s (D) time as a community organizer during the Republican National Convention. He has since started a blog detailing the responsibilities of community organizers. Even before his profession was attacked in front of the national media, Raskin often found partisan politics seeping into his advocacy, as he feels Democrats more often support similar issues as Housing Conservation Coordinators. “If I’m successful in the partisan stuff,” Raskin said, “it makes my day job easier.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “We’re building on previous successes.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d probably be writing. I don’t get to write in this job and it’s something I miss.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “John Raskin, experienced organizer.”
Austin Shafran Director of Political and Governmental Affairs, Sheinkopf Communications
Age
Karaoke Song:
27
“American Pie,” by Don McLean
With a boss like the oft-quoted Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, Austin Shafran is on the fast track to learning how to get his message heard in the city’s political arena. Recently, he has been using that training to generate attention for efforts to get more federal funding for the city’s Housing Authority. The issue is deeply important to his clients in the labor movement, but Shafran said his own personal interest in it also drives him. “I can go to sleep and think I did a little something to change it,” Shafran said. He said his advocacy as a political consultant is an extension of what he did as a legislative aide to Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens) and director of communications for Council Member David Weprin (D-Queens). Only a year into his consulting position at Sheinkopf Communications, Shafran is becoming his own brand as a political commentator for News 12 and a columnist at the Queens Courier. With a background in the public and private sector, Shafran said he can see his career progress in either world, “wherever I think I can help the most people.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “The combativeness of City Hall prepared me for the life of a political consultant.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “Definitely playing for the Yankees.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “The most important thing: my name.”
Shula Warren
In 2003, out of college and out of a job, Shula Warren read a speech
Chief of Staff, Council Member Gale Brewer that had been delivered by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich in
which he stressed volunteering as a great way to get started in any field. After reflecting on Reich’s thoughts, Warren called the offices of Sena“Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” by tors Charles Schumer (D) and Hillary Clinton (D). McFadden and Whitehead The next day, Schumer’s office called back. She joined the New York City staff first as a volunteer, eventually working her way to scheduling the senator’s events. When an opening as Gale Brewer’s scheduler opened, she applied and was hired. She was promoted to several positions before becoming Brewer’s chief of staff, the six-staffer, 25-summer intern group known as the Brew Crew. With Brewer co-chairing the Council’s Manhattan delegation, there are even more personalities for Warren to wrangle, especially around budget time. Having studied diplomacy in college helps, she said. “All the positions for Gale’s office, I had to draw upon my interest in diplomacy and my skills in consensus building,” Warren said. “I like to think it’s really one and the same, just different locations.”
Age
Karaoke Song:
27
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “The various roles I’ve filled in Gale’s office and learning from her example have reinforced for me how good policy cannot be created in a vacuum.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “Food-travel writer. To understand people’s relationship with food, you have to go to where they are.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I’d be really fortunate to stay in my position now.”
Daniel Squadron Democratic Nominee for State Senate, 21st District
Age
Karaoke Song:
28
“The Gambler,” by Kenny Rogers
Daniel Squadron, whose State Senate bid was endorsed by some of the biggest bold-faced names in the state, may very well be one of the most exciting new faces in New York politics. But his idea of a good time sounds like a bummer. The day Squadron turned 10, in 1989, was the day the Berlin Wall fell. It is one of the first memories he has of
being riveted by a political event. “I remember at the time being incredibly moved,” he said. “I made everyone watch it while we had birthday cake.” Squadron grew up in a thoroughly political family. His father, Howard Squadron, was an influential New York attorney and political heavyweight, friendly with mayoral and presidential administrations. “Government and politics were part of life,” he said of his family. They were “considered to be a real priority.” He majored in American Studies at Yale, and worked for Andrew Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaign. He then went on to work for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D), and like so many of the senator’s disciples, has gone on to carve out his own political career—with high-profile support from Schumer, among others. Now that his wide-margin upset is complete, and he has toppled one of Albany’s most entrenched incumbents, Squadron is focused on setting an agenda for his first term. “First thing is to sit down with folks across the community,” he said, “and work out a few priorities for the coming years.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I learned a lot about how to be an active representative, and about issues like education and the life of the city.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I guess I’d be writing about it. It’s hard for me to imagine not being involved in some way. I owned a bar and restaurant for a year, with I think the greatest cheeseburger in the city.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Hopefully, ‘State Senator for the 21st State Senate district.’”
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CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Robin Chappelle Director of Community Affairs, Sen. Hillary Clinton
Anthony Como
Anthony Como needed just a few more credits to graduate with a major in political science from Queens College, so an advisor Age Karaoke Song: suggested an internship. After a few interviews, Como was invited to work at the office “New York, New York,” of State Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Queens). by Frank Sinatra Within six months, Maltese offered Como a full-time position on his staff. Eventually, he became Maltese’s chief of staff. The experience was inspirational and taught him a love for public service, Como said. But this year is when things began to really move. He won the special election to replace disgraced Council Member Dennis Gallagher, narrowly defeating Democrat Elizabeth Crowley. This November, Como will face Crowley again—and, if he wins, possibly in another rematch next year, too. When he is in need of advice, Como continues to turn to Maltese, who is facing his own close race this year. “I make no qualms about it,” Como said of his fellow Queens Republican. “He’s been like a second father.”
Age
Karaoke Song:
32
“Just a Girl,” by No Doubt
City Council Member
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Being a former prosecutor and chief counsel to the senator taught me how to best deliver—and know—what my district needs and how to provide for them. I’ve been in public service all my life.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “If it wasn’t for politics, I’d still be a prosecutor. Being a prosecutor in the Queens County D.A.’s office—it’s one of the best offices I’ve ever worked for. He’s a great D.A. Love the camaraderie. Love the feel of the public service aspect.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Hopefully, it’ll still say ‘Councilman.’”
Though there was not much need to win over support for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D) presidential campaign on her home turf, as Clinton’s state political director, Robin Chappelle was charged with holding everything together even as Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D) surged in popularity in the presidential primaries. Winning the New York primary was never really in question, but mobilizing Clinton’s many local supporters to help out in the other primaries took some work. Chappelle organized phone banks calling other voters throughout the state, as well as bus trips to Ohio and Texas. She also coordinated the trips many of the local elected officials and other political activists took to other states, to knock on doors and campaign on Clinton’s behalf, keeping careful records all along. “We know exactly what everybody did,” she joked. Chappelle took some time off after the end of the primaries, but returned to New York splitting her time between Clinton’s political office, which she continues to staff in these quieter times, and Clinton’s government office, where she is the director of community affairs. The task right now, she said, is keeping up the energy and visibility even without a campaign to motivate them. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “The key to each of those jobs was really making contacts and building those relationships.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d probably be a marine biologist. I love the ocean.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Probably chief of staff of something.”
Camille Rivera Assistant Political Director, SEIU Local 32BJ
Age
Karaoke Song:
29
“Danny California,” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Coming from a family of nurses, Camille Rivera was a pre-med student at Queens College. Then, coming out of a biology class one day, she stopped at a table the New York Public Interest Group (NYPIRG) had set up for voter registration and political advocacy. She took some fliers and went to a general interest meeting. “At that meeting, I realized that politics and becoming a community organizer was my path,” Rivera said. “That’s what I needed to do with my life.” In 2000, she began doing community organizing with NYPIRG on homeless outreach and higher education issues, eventually becoming chair of the state board in 2001. She also worked extensively on the organization’s public health campaign to amend Local Law 1, making landlords more accountable in protecting tenants from lead paint, which she felt was ravaging poor communities throughout the city. After leaving NYPIRG in 2004 and interested in getting involved with something larger, Rivera went to SEIU’s Local 32BJ, the country’s largest property service workers union. She decided that union work was most effective for the policy goals she wanted to achieve. “We feel that government doesn’t work for us,” she said, “and, to me, labor has been the only place where I feel that it really has worked.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I’m a big sponge. I’m always learning. I take everything that I learn and try to go on to the next campaign with those things.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d probably be a nurse or a doctor, or I’d be in Africa somewhere building houses.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “‘Camille Rivera: A Work In Progress’”
CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Emma Wolfe Election Campaigns Director, Working Families Party
Age Age
28 29
Karaoke Song: “On the Road Again,” by Willie Nelson
Emma Wolfe has been seeing more of New York than she had originally imagined when she first took her job with the Working Families Party. From helping flip a GOP-held seat in Long Island by assisting State Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Nassau) to heading up the get-out-thevote effort for State Sen. Darrel Aubertine’s (D-Oswego/Jefferson/St. Lawrence) surprise victory, Wolfe has traversed the state. Wolfe and the Working Families Party went three for three on primary day, helping Joe Mesi grab the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring Mary Lou Rath (R-Erie/Genesee). Joining the Working Families Party allowed her to use her skills as a community organizer on labor issues and campaigns that she felt were important, Wolfe said. “Working Families Party is the best of both worlds,” she said. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “They really prepared me well in terms of knowing the institutions that play an important role in campaigns.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “My whole family are artists. So I feel like, even though I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, I would be doing something to support that world.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Emma Wolfe, Working Families Party (you can find us on Row B).”
Julie Greenberg Senior Vice President, Kasirer Consulting
Age
Karaoke Song:
38
“Groove Is in the Heart,” by Deee-Lite
Julie Greenberg’s parents dabbled in local politics when she was young, and at the dinner table, she said, the focus was always on politics. Or, more specifically, “how to keep the Democrats in office.” That fighting, partisan spirit led her to Albany, where she worked on legislative policy issues in Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s office right out of college and then as then-Assembly Member Scott Stringer’s chief of staff. For the last six years she has been at Kasirer Consulting. Her ability to navigate the maze of bureaucracy, and her knowledge of how politicians think, helps her clients get what they want. The environment at Kasirer is “very intense and fast-paced,” she added, much like a political campaign. Despite the similarities, Greenberg says she cannot see herself returning to politics. “So many people have asked me that over the years,” she said. “I don’t really foresee myself doing that.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “It’s just developing relationships and networking, and one just kind of led to the other. Serendipitous.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “Maybe if someone would pay me to go travel around the world, I would take that job in a second.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Julie Greenberg, World Traveler.”
John Lisyanskiy
John Lisyanskiy works for Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), worked for Gifford Miller (D-Manhattan) and began his career as a legislative assistant for Peter Vallone, Sr. (D-Queens). Age Karaoke Song: But though Quinn is set to be forced out of office by “Yesterday,” by The Beatles term limits next year, Lisyanskiy hopes to continue his streak of relationships with Council speakers. But this time, he wants to have a different role, casting a vote for Quinn’s successor as a Council member himself, not as an aide. Lisyankskiy, a Russian-born émigré, is one of three candidates vying to succeed Council Member Domenic Recchia (D) in this south Brooklyn district. Throughout his time in the Council, Lisyanskiy has strengthened his ties to the Russian community, organizing an annual Council event, the Russian American Heritage and Culture Celebration, and brought Russian dignitaries, immigrants and other elected officials to the Council. Lisuyanskiy’s time as an aide to three speakers, he said, makes him the most qualified person to win the seat. “On the outside, you can’t always learn this stuff,” he said. “It’s one thing when you’re truly and internally involved.”
Executive Assistant, Legislative Counsel to Speaker Christine Quinn; Candidate, 47th Council district
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “It’s the commitment and ability to work with colleagues and form this alliance.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I would see myself at a nonprofit.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I truly hope it says ‘Councilman.’”
Justin Krebs
In 2003, as the United States headed into a war in Iraq, Justin Krebs looked at his friends and saw people angry about politics but too busy to Age Karaoke Song: engage in the debate. He realized he needed a way “Fight for Your Right to Party,” to make politics part of people’s everyday lives. by the Beastie Boys What started as small get-togethers in a Hell’s Kitchen bar five years ago became politically-themed social gatherings all over the country, hosting movie screenings, craft fairs, bicycle outings and comedy nights. Krebs modeled his community organizing on the union movement from the 1950s and old-style New York City Democratic clubs with a modern twist from the social scientist Robert Putnum, author of Bowling Alone. “Right now I think it is important to build progressive infrastructure,” he said. “The movement was weakened by getting behind candidates and then being left with nothing if they lost.”
Founder and Executive Director, Living Liberally.
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I see how what I have done and the people I have worked with all building together for an identity, less around issues and more about helping craft and further the culture of proudly being a liberal.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I still have the idea of going for being a writer, or researcher, or a journalist, but I am less and less inclined to do it full-time, but to make it all a smart part of my life.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I would like to help Living Liberally to grow to be in every community in America, and help make the word ‘liberal’ a positive word again.”
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CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Cleon Edwards Deputy State Director, Sen. Hillary Clinton
Years ago, while working her way through law school, Grace Meng was certain that Asian-Americans still had a Democratic nominee, 22nd Assembly District ways to go before breaking into New York politics. This was before John Liu became Age Karaoke Song: the first Asian-American elected to City “Dancing Queen,” by ABBA Council, and her father, Jimmy Meng, became the first elected to state government. After her father’s election, Meng said she became convinced that not only had Asian-Americans finally come of age politically, but that her calling was to follow in her father’s footsteps. This year, she succeeded, defeating Assembly Member Ellen Yo (D-Queens) in the Democratic primary. Her election in November is all but certain. At a younger age, Meng held a congressional internship in Washington and worked as a law clerk for former Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D). Later she helped found Friends of the Community Unite Serve, a community organization in Queens. In 2006, Meng ran against Young in an election to succeed her father, but dropped out after Young challenged her residency. This year, the results were more to her liking, with a surprisingly large margin of victory in the Sept. 9 primary. Meng said she is consistently amazed by the rich diversity in Flushing, which has led her to align herself with a slate of candidates that reflects the community’s many ethnic groups. But though she will be the second Asian-American woman expected to be elected to New York state government, Meng said her goal is to represent all ethnicities in Flushing.
Grace Meng
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I think it gave me the experience and knowledge of why it’s important to be in this position and, hopefully, to hold public office.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I would be an attorney in a non21profit organization to help disadvantaged individuals.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Hopefully, ‘State Assemblywoman.’”
Age
Karaoke Song:
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“Smooth Operator,” by Sade
Growing up with a mother who was a nurse and a father who worked in the sanitation department, Cleon Edwards had an acute awareness of the kind of problems faced by working class families. As one of the few students who went to LaGuardia Community College right out of high school instead of attending classes in between shifts on blue-collar jobs, this was intensified, as he came to have as friends people facing the same struggle his parents did. A college internship in the office of then-Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins (D) led to the first of many jobs in and around government. Then a few years ago came the call from Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D) office, asking him if he was interested in a job. “I thought that was one of the dumbest questions I’d ever been asked,” Edwards said. “The opportunity to jump back into an arena I’ve always had a passion for and do it for someone like Senator Clinton was amazing.” Not only has he worked in public service his whole career so far, but he has politics in his personal life as well: his new bride, with whom he just returned from Maui, is deputy counsel to the finance division of the City Council. “This government stuff,” Edwards joked, “is sort of who I am.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Each experience, I was able to benefit from folks who where there, who took an interest, saw some potential.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d have loved to be playing with the Yankees—second base, preferably, even though I do like Cano.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “My only objective is to continue to feel motivated by whatever it is that I’m doing and to continue to feel that the effort that I’ve put forth on a daily basis is something that’s being valued by the folks that are closest to me.”
Justin Lapatine Senior Vice President, Global Strategy Group
Age
Karaoke Song:
35
“All I Really Need,” by Raffi
Justin Lapatine initially planned a life confined to the ivory tower, pursuing a PhD in political science at Columbia University. He soon realized, however, that the environs of academic life were not for him. “Trying to explain politics in a theory that covers 1,000 years of history requires you to take out all the color and all the fun and all the flavor that I think all of us that are involved in politics love and are addicted to,” he said. After a brief stint as a partner in a New York City culture and society website—the site quickly “flamed out” in 2000, when the dot-com bubble burst, he said—his addiction led him back to politics, when a friend invited him to join the Gore-Lieberman campaign. Despite that race’s disappointing end for him, the campaign nevertheless reminded him of why he wanted to be in politics in the first place. He went on to work as an opposition researcher for Mark Green’s mayoral campaign in 2001, where he helped dig up dirt on Michael Bloomberg with a team that included future Bloomberg press secretary Stu Loeser. That experience catapulted him into public affairs, which eventually led him to Global Strategy. There, he has helped the company evolve from a research firm for politicians and interest groups into a broader public affairs firm. That task pales in comparison to his current challenge: getting some sleep, while taking care of his three-year-old and four-month-old children. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “There’s nothing more important in politics than two things: One is the relationships that you build. ... And two: People recognize folks who get things done.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d probably be a freelance travel writer, never seeing the inside of an office.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “President, GSG Bali.”
CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Sandra Ung Legislative Assistant, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Comptroller William Thompson
Age
Karaoke Song:
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“I Will Stand By You,” by the Pretenders.
After graduating from Columbia Law School, Sandra Ung, a native of Cambodia who grew up in Flushing, worked as a staff attorney to Sanctuary for Families and as an associate at Dorsey & Whitney. She became the chief of staff to then-Assembly Member Jimmy Meng (D-Queens), the first Asian-American elected to the Legislature. When Meng retired after one term in 2006, Ung took the opportunity to apply her knowledge of Albany’s protocol on a city level. While working for Comptroller Bill Thompson (D), Ung has continued her outreach to the Asian-American community, particularly looking at state and federal bills that can affect the city. She is also a board member of the Asian American Bar Association of New York. And a run for office herself is a possibility for the future. “Through working in state and city government, running for office—especially coming from an Asian-American background,” she said, “is definitely good for the community.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “My past jobs helped me meet different types of people I needed to meet to do this.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I would still be in my former job, in legal services for people who can’t afford it.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “It could be the city seal. It could be executive director of a nonprofit.”
Julissa Ferreras Chief of Staff, Council Member Hiram Monserrate; Candidate, 21st Council district
Age
Karaoke Song:
31
“I Will Survive,” by Gloria Gaynor
Julissa Ferreras’ political career has been a series of serendipitous coincidences, grassroots initiatives and the occasional omen. She was born on Election Day 1976, the day her outgoing Assembly Member, Ivan Lafayette (D-Queens), was first elected. “And he retires in the year that, hopefully, I’ll be going to office,” she said, referring to 2009, when she expects to run in and win the special election which will likely be held to replace her current boss, Council Member Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens), who is himself running unopposed for State Senate. Ferreras has been a community organizer for most of her professional life. At 19, she ran a beacon school in Queens. In 2001, she managed Monserrate’s first Council campaign. In 2005, she took a two-year leave from her job in Monserrate’s Council office to work as the director of civic education of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. She traveled around the country, helping Latinos become American citizens and getting them registered to vote. The experience, she said, was eye-opening. “I learned that Latinos, like any other Americans—we have the same issues,” she said. “We all want better education for our children. We want quality of life. We want public safety, health care that’s affordable—that people can reach out and achieve their goals.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “They’ve all involved the community, so they’ve been my stepping stones to where I am now.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I would be teaching math. I love math.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras.”
Jean Kim
Eleven years ago, Jean Kim arrived in New York from Columbus, Ohio, with two suitcases and a background Government Affairs Specialist, TLM Associates in broadcast journalism from Ohio State University. Following her interest in politics, she bounced from Age Karaoke Song: managing then-Assembly Member Barry Grodenchik’s “Don’t Stop Thinking About campaign in Flushing to working as an immigrants’ Tomorrow” by Fleetwood Mac rights coordinator at the AFL-CIO, to being an advisor in Diane Savino’s 2004 State Senate campaign and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2005 re-election campaign. Along the way, Kim found her own identity. “Being Korean and female, people in the community look to me as somewhat of a trailblazer,” she said. She looked to another trailblazer, Council Member John Liu (D-Queens) and followed his lead. Over the past two years, working as a lobbyist, she has shared her accrued political wisdom with companies like Zipcar and nonprofits like the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy.
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “My skill set comes from my experience running campaigns in every single borough in the city. It taught me to understand the issues and players in New York City.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “Once upon a time I thought maybe I would be a journalist.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I would never say ‘never,’ but I have no immediate plans to run. I want to stay involved in politics and use my PR and managerial skills.” Though a regulatory lawyer by profession, Julie Menin said this by no means confines her to the inner corridors of bureauChair, Community Board 1 cracy. She relishes the opportunity to analyze even the knottiest political issues as she takes them apart and reassembles them at Age Karaoke Song: the ground level, where they resonate in people’s lives. “Brown Eyed Girl,” by Van Morrison As the chair of Manhattan’s Community Board 1 since 2005, she has had a role in some of the city’s most important public policy debates centered on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, and has been intimately involved in the revitalization of the downtown community through non-profits such as Wall Street Rising, of which she is founder and president. In 2007, she penned an op-ed for the Huffington Post titled “Do we need more women in politics?” She was not being entirely rhetorical. Menin is seen as one of the leading contenders to succeed Council Member Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan), who is set to come up against term limits next year. “I spend a lot of time already at the City Council,” she said. “That’s something I’m seriously looking at.”
Julie Menin
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Being trained as a regulatory lawyer, and having a strong interest in government—how government works, how government can make peoples’ lives better—was perfect training.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I always thought, when I was in college, I would go into academia and teach at the college level, particularly in political science.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Well, I hope it would say that I’m serving in some respect in public service, whether that’s continuing serving on these boards, or whether it’s actually holding elected office.”
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CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Tyquana Henderson President, Connective Strategies; Field Director, Rep. Edolphus Towns Growing up, Bethany Jankunis was not particularly political. She certainly never fashioned herself a candidate for Chief of Staff, Assembly Member Deborah Glick elected office. “Not in a million years,” she said. “My Age Karaoke Song: brother growing up always wanted to “Kick,” by INXS work in politics, and I thought, ‘Eh, politics, I don’t know the difference between a Democrat and a Republican, a donkey and an elephant.’ I just wasn’t interested.” Now, Jankunis—a former policy analyst in the city comptroller’s office, and current chief of staff to Assembly Member Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan)—finds herself giving serious thought to the idea of running for office herself. “It’s a definite possibility,” she said. “I would love to basically do what I’m doing, but at a higher level.” Jankunis started her career in social work, interning at a Head Start program in college and majoring in psychology. At the comptroller’s office, she specialized in children’s and family issues. “I kind of thought, well, it’s great to be an advocate and push more stuff,” she said, “but I could be on the other side of the desk, and I could be making the decision to actually help allocate more money for these things.”
Bethany Jankunis
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I think my job with the comptroller helped me get some great policy training, sharpened my writing skills and my ability to interact with diverse constituencies.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “There’s a part of me that always wanted to be a news reporter.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Chief of Staff—in general, but for something other than where I currently am.”
Age
Karaoke Song:
30
“Fire and Desire,” by Rick James and Tina Marie
When she was 14 years old, Tyquana Henderson started a protest march following the Rodney King verdict, which inadvertently began her political career. When the marchers reached the local police precinct, they found that rather than arresting them, the police had called Council Member Thomas White, Jr. (D-Queens) to mediate. “He said that the only way to change the system is to learn the system,” Henderson recalled. Two months later, White opened a district office around the corner from Henderson’s home. She began to intern there after school. At 15, she was doing casework, covering community board meetings and had a business card with the seal of New York. By 18, she was White’s legislative aide at City Hall. Several major campaign positions followed, but she eventually landed at Yoswein New York. But after five years there, Henderson last year founded Connective Strategies, a political consulting firm, and recently returned to the political fray as field director for Rep. Edolphus Towns’s re-election campaign. Although the thought of elected office has crossed her mind now and then, Henderson said she is most at home behind the scenes. “The power is not in being the elected official,” she said, “the power is in making the elected official.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Everything I’ve done has been a building block. I’ve never taken a step backwards.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d probably be an accountant, because that’s what my first degree is in. I maintained a tax business in college to keep food on the table.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “President, Connective Strategies.”
Walter Swett Executive Director, Rep. Charles Rangel’s campaign
Age
Karaoke Song:
35
“Fever,” by Elvis Presley
While attending Bard College, Walter Swett wished President Bill Clinton luck on his re-election campaign as he swept through town. Swett remembered that Clinton gave him that “hypnotic Clinton look” and said, “I can do it, but I need your help.” Since that encounter, Swett has dedicated his professional life to helping Democratic congressional candidates get elected, starting with volunteering on the campaign of Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-Ulster/ Orange/Sullivan) in 1995. Swett came to New York in 1999 to pursue a career in politics. His first gig in the city was as campaign finance director for Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan), putting him in charge of fundraising for Rangel’s re-election committee and his National Leadership PAC. Even as Rangel has come under some fire of late, through the PAC, Swett is helping raise thousands of dollars for Democratic candidates nationwide, including four in New York, much of which came via through Rangel’s annual Tavern on the Green birthday party. In what spare time he has, Swett has also helped organize a bi-monthly series of breakfast forums at Junior’s, bringing together a small group of young Brooklynites to meet with elected officials, candidates and other community leaders to debate and discuss issues of local concern. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I try to do whatever I can to help as many campaigns as possible with Congressman Rangel so we can really give people that boost.” If you were not working in politics what would you be doing? “I would be coordinating movie premieres.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “It’ll just have my name. No title and no affiliation. Just a cell phone number and an e-mail address. Flexibility.”
CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Hildy Kuryk Senior Tri-state Finance Adviser, Sen. Barack Obama presidential campaign Matthew Silverstein’s choice of a karaoke song is not just a favorite tune. It is a camPresident, New York State Young Democrats paign theme. “For a long time, the Young Democrats had been in a downturn,” he said. “It was beAge Karaoke Song: coming uncool and not sexy to be a member “SexyBack,” by Justin Timberlake of the Young Democrats.” So when Silverstein, the president of the Queens County Young Democrats, ran for president of the statewide organization, he borrowed a popular refrain coined by Justin Timberlake to reinforce his message: “I’m bringing sexy back.” Literally. Since he began his term in May, Silverstein has sought to make the Young Democrats as much a social group as a political one. Coupled with the explosion in political interest among young voters this election, Silverstein hopes his theme will revamp a once-lifeless organization. He has focused much of his first three months in office on channeling that unbridled enthusiasm into a coherent chapter-building strategy. He is also putting the Young Democrats to work to help elect more Democrats to Congress and take the State Senate majority. As for his own political future, Silverstein certainly has plans. “I really have always felt, from a very young age, that I was meant to help people and really serve the public,” he said. “Some time down the road, I probably would run for something.”
Matthew Silverstein
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I would say that, for me, it’s been a continuous road, a path that I’m on, and it’s been one step after another, and each one has been a learning experience.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d probably be working as a teacher. My entire family’s all educators and all teachers.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Maybe ‘Council member?’”
Age
Karaoke Song:
30
“Sweet Caroline,” by Neil Diamond
For Hildy Kuryk, the Democratic National Convention in August was more than just a series of cocktail parties and occasions to mingle with the political class. It was the culmination of nearly two years of work. “It was such an overwhelming trip,” she said. “To see him accept the nomination from remembering, in January of ’07, you know, how much has gone into this from where we started. We were obviously huge underdogs, and so it was a real gamble.” That gamble has, to say the least, paid off for Kuryk, who has been with Sen. Barack Obama from the start, fundraising in what was largely seen as unfriendly territory. “Senator Clinton, obviously, and as expected, had a majority of the political and Democratic support here,” she said, “so we really had to go out and find new pockets of support for Senator Obama.” She was led to that task by way of other, less successful campaigns. She worked for Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt’s (D) presidential campaign in 2004, and then for former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle (D). There, she made a number of valuable connections, including with Steve Hildebrand, who was also working for Daschle at the time, and is now Obama’s deputy national campaign director. “He said, ‘I think I’m going to go work for Senator Obama,’” Kuryk recalled. “‘I think you should check it out.’” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I was lucky enough to work with people who went to go on and work with Senator Obama.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I was reading somewhere about people who are food stylists. When you do photo shoots for food magazines, they put the food together. I’m like, how fun would that be?” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Chief of Staff to Councilman Jarrod Bernstein.”
Tiffany Raspberry Vice President, Wolfblock Public Strategies, LLC
Age
Karaoke Song:
30
“Raspberry Beret,” by Prince
Tiffany Raspberry got her first exposure to politics as a teenager when, at 16, she was selected to serve as a student member of the New York City Board of Education. At the time, only one student per year served as a member, and the experience of attending Board of Education meetings had a strong impression on Raspberry. Raspberry, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, began her political career in Washington, D.C., as a legislative assistant to Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens/Bronx). There she was introduced to the world of lobbying and lobbyists, she said—something she would draw on later in her career. Her time in Washington also illustrated the importance of working politically on the local level, Raspberry said, and she eventually returned to New York and began work in City Council—first as a policy analyst for the Education Committee and then as chief of staff to Council Member Domenic Recchia (D-Brooklyn). The journey to lobbying from there was a short one for Raspberry. Prior to her current position at Wolfblock Public Strategies, she served as vice president of the Parkside Group, where she brought her experience in politics to bear working on the firm’s political campaigns and clientele. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I’ve been very fortunate in all of my positions to stand out for whatever reason, and I’ve always tried to maintain my integrity.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I think I would have followed the path of many of my friends and gone to law school.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I don’t know, but, whatever it says, it will be new and exciting.”
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CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Elizabeth Caputo Chair, DL21C; Founder, Campaign Source
Age
Karaoke Song:
35
“Don’t Stop Believing,” by Journey
After graduating from Harvard in 1994 and taking a job as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, Elizabeth Caputo returned to her alma matter to earn a business degree. Then she made a decision not many people with a Harvard MBA make: instead of going to Wall Street, she chose the public sector. After being involved in the 2002 New York gubernatorial race, Caputo went to work for Caroline Kennedy at the New York City Department of Education, focusing on an initiative to more soundly involve the private sector in public projects. In 2004, she was General Wesley Clark’s political director and then served as a consultant to the Democratic National Committee. But her background as a financial analyst has driven Caputo’s public career. In particular, her political work has focused on bringing fiscal discipline to the often freewheeling spending of Democratic campaigns. “Democrats in particular don’t think about those things,” Caputo said. “They tend to just spend, spend, spend.” In 2005, Caputo founded Campaign Source, a company that provides budgeting and infrastructure strategies to Democratic campaigns. By cutting costs on things like office supplies and travel arrangements, campaigns can free up valuable cash to put toward extra polls or television ads, Caputo said. “It’s really not rocket science—but in the end it helps win races,” she said. As chair of DL21C, Caputo has focused on encouraging more young New Yorkers to enter politics, in particular by securing presidential candidates and other national figures to speak to the group. With substantial experience as an organizer under her belt, Caputo said she wanted to see elected office in her future. “I’ve spent my time helping other people get on their way in politics, and I feel like I’m going to do that myself,” she said. “You’ll hopefully be hearing about me.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “The great thing about politics is that the friendships that you make and the people you meet along the way always end up leading to good things.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I would love to work in the front office of the Indianapolis Colts, or organize a Super Bowl.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I don’t know, but I definitely know it will be something good.”
Miosotis Muñoz
Tracing the beginning of her career in advocacy and politics, Miosotis Muñoz says it all began through a job in social services at Alianza Dominicana almost 10 years ago. In the years since, she has become a well-known name in the New York Dominican political world. Age Karaoke Song: Muñoz was the Latino liaison for Manhattan Borough Presidents Ruth “Wind Beneath My Wings,” by Bette Midler Messinger (D) and C. Virginia Fields and the district manager to the Puerto Rican-heavy Manhattan Community Board 11. Her skills at bringing in Dominicans to the political fold caught the attention of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan), whose Harlem district includes sizable Latino communities. She worked as a community representative for him and helped organize political events, like his first-ever all-Latino fundraiser. With the consulting business she has started since, Muñoz has developed a list of clients—both candidates and businesses—looking for help with community outreach. In this year’s presidential election, Muñoz set her sites on the national stage, joining Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s (D) presidential campaign as a member of the campaign’s National Latino Leadership Council. As part of that role, she organized voter outreach in north Harlem, the home turf of Rangel, her former boss. Ultimately, Clinton won the majority of votes in the Congressional district, but Obama was able to secure three out of the six delegates. “Here I was, ‘If Obama loses, I’ll have to move back to the Dominican Republic,’” Muñoz joked about taking on Rangel. Now she is looking ahead to other options for herself: a position in a possible Obama administration or running for office herself are tempting ideas.
President, M. Muñoz & Associates; Member, Sen. Barack Obama National Latino Leadership Council
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “It’s been my training ground. Managing relationships and beginning to cultivate them.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I would probably be an attorney. That’s another way to be able to advocate on behalf of people.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Hopefully, I would go from Washington Heights to Washington, D.C.”
CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Michael Cusick Assembly Member
Age
Karaoke Song:
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“Paradise City,” by Guns N’ Roses
When Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) announced he would not run for re-election because of a DWI and a love child from an extra-martial affair, Assembly Member Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island) was immediately on the short list of Democratic candidates. Though Cusick, who represents a swing mid-borough district, decided not to just hours before the party’s nominating convention, speculation of what seat he will run for next did not end. The possibility of a Council run or a campaign for borough president have both been floated. The son of a state Supreme Court judge and an active member of the New York Young Democrats, he was raised in a political environment. Now, with the almost complete turnover in Staten Island’s Albany delegation over the past four years, Cusick, despite his own brief time in the Legislature, has already become the senior member from the borough. And though there may not be any power in being dean of the delegation, Cusick said the informal title means something to him. “I do take pride in my new role,” Cusick said. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “My past jobs with Schumer and Vitaliano’s office prepared me for campaigning and legislative work.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “Some sort of public service. I would love to think I could be a professional basketball player but I lack the speed.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “It’s going to say ‘Hard Worker.’”
Kay Sarlin Vice President, Glover Park Group
Age
Karaoke Song:
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“The Gambler,” by Kenny Rogers
Kay Sarlin has helped produce soundtracks for movies like Varsity Blues, and worked as an assistant to a producer on the children’s movie Clockstoppers. She has worked for State Senate candidates, coordinated forums with presidential candidates, served as Department of Transportation press secretary and survived four months as Rep. Anthony Weiner’s chief of staff. None of that, however, will likely top her most dazzling achievement: partying with Bono. As a vice president at the Glover Park Group, Sarlin helped plan the New York premier—and, perhaps more impressively, the after-party—of U2’s 2008 concert movie U2 3D. “The best part of consulting is that you get to do a little bit of everything,” she said. Sarlin first pursued a journalism degree at Columbia University, but her enrollment there coincided with the Sept. 11 attacks. Covering the city’s recovery inspired her to work inside government rather than write about it. She has since worked in the press offices of the Union Square Business Improvement District and the Department of Transportation, as well as in publishing, marketing and soundtrack production at MTV. Her latest project: writing a children’s book with her brother, a reporter at the New York Sun. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “All of these jobs involved working with a lot of different types of people and project management skills that have really come in use.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I think I would be working on a documentary movie, working on a radio documentary, or writing.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Chief of Staff to Parks Commissioner Warner Johnston.”
Evan Thies
Evan Thies has pioneered a fairly unconventional job-hunting strategy: show up at the office of the person you want to work for and ask if you can help. He did that on the day Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) opened her central New York office in 2001, and Age Karaoke Song: was told to start by unpacking some boxes. He quickly moved “Ain’t No Sunshine,” up to answering phones, and was soon handling upstate press for by Bill Withers Clinton. This was a natural if somewhat unorthodox progression for Thies, who started out as a reporter in Washington, D.C., where he discovered—only after doggedly pursuing a career in political journalism that involved founding his own high school newspaper—that he “wanted to be on the other side.” He did not have the patience to be a journalist, especially in a city like New York, where he has come to love the immediacy of the political process. These days, though, he has one idea in mind, aside from his day job in media relations at BerlinRosen: running for the seat of his former boss, Council Member David Yassky, who will be forced out by term limits next year.
Associate, BerlinRosen; Candidate, 33rd Council district
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I have had the good fortune of, in each one of my jobs in government, working for someone or groups of people that allowed me to learn as I worked.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I joke when I’m doing campaign events that I pretty much have to be in government, because I’m not so good at anything else. So I’m kind of stuck, which is why I’m running so hard.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “The Honorable Evan Thies, Council Member for the 33rd district.”
Tyson Pratcher
Tyson Pratcher’s political involvement started in the hallway of a law firm he was working at for a brief time after Assistant Comptroller, New York State law school, when Pratcher ran into someone who started Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli asking him what he wanted to do. “We were having a conversation, and he asked me what I Age Karaoke Song: was interested in and I said politics, and I gave him this long “A Change is Gonna Come,” rant,” Pratcher recalled. “And he said, ‘Wear a suit to work by Sam Cooke tomorrow.’ I had never met him before.” The mystery acquaintance turned out to be Charlie King, the Democratic politician who, at the time, was working to get Bill Clinton re-elected. He brought Pratcher to a Clinton-Gore fundraiser and soon introduced him to the election-year swirl of fundraisers and campaign events. Pratcher went on to manage King’s campaign for lieutenant governor in 2002, and later worked for three years as Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D) deputy state director. After working in politics, public policy and finance, he said being an assistant comptroller enables him to put his three leading passions together. He does not anticipate having to pick one passion over the other in whatever comes next. “I am 100-percent certain I will be back in politics fairly soon,” he said, adding that he would continue to pull double duty: “When I leave here, I’m certain I’m going back to Wall Street.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I never really planned out what the next job was going to be. I kind of took the job that was in front of me and did as good a job as I could with it.” If you were not working in politics what would you be doing? “I’d probably be a high school football coach. I coach a little league team up in Harlem.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I’ll probably be back on Wall Street, so hopefully it’ll say managing director, president or CEO, one of those.”
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CITY HALL
SEPTEMBER 2008
Lilliam Perez District Office Director, State Sen. Eric Schneiderman
Adam Rich
Adam Rich has ventured to some of the world’s most far-flung destinations, from the ashrams of India to the villages of Tibet. A bike trip he had planned through China quickly unfolded into a sprawling, Age Karaoke Song: “Living for the City,” by Stevie Wonder nomadic journey across Asia and the Middle East, from India, which he said was the most eye-opening stop on his year-long trek, to Syria—one of the few places on Earth where Western commodities such as Coca-Cola have yet to make major inroads. After serving as an aide to the Wisconsin State Senate majority leader, Rich moved onto the Council of State Governments, writing articles on public policy that tried to tease the human narrative out of otherwise knotty political issues.Those passions for storytelling and public policy have remained crucial to his current job as a lobbyist for Claudia Wagner LLC, where he works mostly with cultural institutions and non-profits. Rich has also just started at New York Law School this month, where he hopes to solidify what for him has always been a belief (idealistic, he admits) in the power of government, reaching back to the day in fourth grade when he had to stand in for Geraldine Ferraro in a debate—though not in costume.
Senior Government Relations Advisor, Law Offices of Claudia Wagner LLC
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Almost not at all, because I didn’t meet people necessarily that connected me. They’ve all been completely disconnected, as far as people and leads.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I’d definitely be a musician. That’s a huge passion: I write songs and I sing and I play keyboards. My band recently broke up, but I’ve performed a lot in clubs around the city.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “J.D., or Esquire, I guess.”
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Karaoke Song:
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“Hero,” by Mariah Carey
In 2000, she was part of the coordinating committee for the national conference of Dominicans 2000, an educational program established in 1996 to assist immigrant youth. The keynote speech was delivered by then-First Lady Hillary Clinton. Perez, who was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the Bronx, said she left the conference realizing the political influence of New York’s Dominican community did not match its sizeable population. “Since then, I have been very involved in empowering Dominicans, not just to become elected officials, but to be part of the political process,” she said. In 2002, when Eric Schneiderman’s Senate district was redrawn to include a large Dominican population, he hired her to help him connect with the new parts of the district in the Dominican neighborhoods of Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. As head of Schneiderman’s district office, Perez said she is fully concentrated on assisting Democrats in winning back a majority in the State Senate in Albany. As for her own political future, a possible City Council run in 2009 has crossed her mind. “I believe that the right people need to put in those petitions, and if I’m picked I will be very blessed,” she said. “But right now it’s not a priority.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I am where I am because I have a great family, I have great friends and I have a community that is struggling.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I can see myself running a nonprofit for young people or immigrants, but I love my political grassroots work.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “Senator Lilliam Perez—I’m just kidding.”
Dana Weisberg Associate at Park Strategies, assistant to former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato
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Karaoke Song:
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“Love Shack,” by the B-52’s
Dana Weisberg knows a few things about managing oversized personalities. Prior to becoming former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato’s (R) assistant, Weisberg interned for former Republican Rep. Ben Gilman, former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) and the late Tim Russert. But Weisberg said that D’Amato, whom she has worked for since graduating from Siena College, is without a doubt her biggest political influence. She admires D’Amato’s work ethic—and has come to appreciate, as well, his sometimes unorthodox turns of phrase. “I learned more curse words than my Catholic mother would have thought possible in a lifetime,” Weisberg said. But while assisting D’Amato in his post-Senate days is a full-time job, Weisberg has still found time to network with other young New Yorkers interested in politics. Other young Republicans can be hard to find in the Democratic confines of New York, Weisberg said, which led her and Lisa Black, a staffer for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau), to begin organizing several happy hour events around the city. Weisberg is interested in running for office herself someday. But first, she said, she and her fiancé need to decide where to buy their first home. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I worked for three of the most powerful men in all spectrums and policy— but nothing could prepare me for working for Alfonse.” If you were not working in politics, what would you be doing? “I would probably be a high school government teacher.” Five years from now, what is it going to say on your business card? “I’m hoping I’m still working for Park Strategies—but I hope at that time we still have a Republican majority [in the Senate].”
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ARTS AND CULTURAL FUNDING
Remembering Our Cultural Groups, Investing in Our City’s Future BY COUNCIL MEMBER DOMENIC RECCHIA, JR.
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ur city’s cultural institutions play a vital role in the city’s economy and identity. That’s why this year’s budget process was so hard. As chairman of the Committee for Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations, I fought to retain funding for cultural groups. Unfortunately, the city’s uncertain financial future meant making difficult decisions. We did have several victories. For example, we saved six-day library service for New Yorkers who can’t get to our city’s libraries during the week because of work or school. On the other hand, I was disappointed that nearly $4 million in security funding slated for museums, theaters and other institutions had to be cut. Our country’s economy is struggling, and it appears that the coming years will be tough. Teachers, first responders and other necessary government services must remain funded, but we can’t forget our cultural groups. Without them, New York would be a vastly different place. Tourism is one of the biggest parts of the city’s economic engine. Last year, more than 46 million people from around
the country and the world came here, and not just for the pizza. They came to see our museums, concerts and plays. Creativity itself is also a cog in the engine—everything from the non-profit art sector supported by the city, to architecture, design and commercial theater. Speaking of theater, the big Broadway shows are just as important as the ones put on in smaller theaters. The actors appearing in the large productions got their start in the Off Broadway playhouses, many of which need city funds to survive. There’s also retention to take into consideration. Cities around the country and around the world are actively encouraging the arts and offering incentives to creative people. We can’t risk losing the next Robert DeNiro, Billie Holiday, Arthur Miller, Woody Allen, Jennifer Lopez, Jerry Seinfeld, Frank McCourt or Norman Rockwell—past or present New Yorkers, all of them—to another city. Most importantly, New York has a unique identity that gave birth to a number of cultural movements. The Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s introduced African-American art and literature to the world. This city also saw the mainstreaming of abstract expressionism in the 1950s and the creation of the punk rock music scene in the 1970s. That’s to name just a
few of the movements that went on to influence a wide spectrum of music, art and literature. With these things in mind, we have to keep cultural institutions toward the top of our list as we address the budget next year and the years beyond. Besides funding for cultural groups, we should always fight to retain funding for the arts in schools, and we should encourage our children to be active participants in the city’s culture. You never know
where the seeds for the next big cultural movement are going to be planted. We also need to find creative solutions to budget shortfalls. For instance, the Department of Homeland Security should help us replenish the security funding that was lost this year. It’s in their interest, and the interest of all of us, to provide protection to museums and theaters that could prove to be appealing targets. We also need to explore and encourage public/private partnerships, which have a long history of success. Michelangelo didn’t paint the Sistine Chapel out of his own pocket. He had a patron. New York has long been on the cutting edge of art, music, literature and theater, because we create an environment where those things can be nurtured and encouraged. Without that encouragement, we risk losing important components of our economy, but worse than that, we risk losing the very thing that makes New York the greatest city in the world: the creativity and cultural movements that bring it to life.
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Domenic Recchia, a Democrat representing parts of Brooklyn, is chair of the Council Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations Committee.
Sustaining and Enriching the City Through the Arts BY COMMISSIONER KATE LEVIN
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he Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) has long been the major funder of cultural capital projects in New York City. We provide support for equipment, infrastructure, renovations and expansions to a broad array of cultural nonprofit organizations. We know this is a smart investment for the city. The Alliance for the Arts has released studies that quantify the multibillion dollar economic impact of capital funding—and strong cultural organizations contribute to the city’s identity and quality of life for all New Yorkers. DCA’s portfolio is as diverse as the field we serve. We support organizations large and small (more than half of our program grantees have budgets of less than $250,000), from every borough, in every creative discipline. Ten years ago, DCA supported capital projects at 53 organizations. Today, thanks to the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg in partnership with our elected officials, our portfolio has grown to $1 billion in funding for projects at more than 200 organizations across the five boroughs—and we have doubled our capital investment in boroughs other than Manhattan. These are economically challenging times, but our capital support represents an extraordinary commitment
to sustaining the city’s dynamic cultural community over the long term. We prioritize projects that foster public safety, security and access. We also support initiatives that address critical issues for the creative sector. For instance, we are tackling the need for affordable artist workspace through projects like new studio spaces in the Bronx River Arts Center and new rehearsal facilities on the Fourth Arts Block at E. 4th St. in Manhattan. DCA’s capital program helps sustain the city’s vibrant cultural districts. From Museum Mile to Long Island City, the city’s creative communities often flourish in critical mass, and DCA capital investments help them expand their audi-
ences. In downtown Brooklyn, after two decades of investment from both the public and private sectors, more than forty arts organizations, including the Mark Morris Dance Group, Bang on a Can, Creative Outlet Dance, Urban Bush Women and MoCADA, together with the landmark Brooklyn Academy of Music, contribute to the Fort Greene neighborhood’s cultural identity. Local businesses and other arts organizations are often the beneficiaries. Our capital program also helps nurture design innovation. For example, DCA was one of the first to embrace green technologies, like LED lighting systems at the New 42nd St. Duke Studios, which will lower operating costs and reduce emissions. The planted green roof and water recycling system at the Queens Botanical Garden Visitors Center made it the City’s first LEED Platinum building. Successful capital projects help organizations expand their artistry and attract new audiences. And because DCA encourages public-private partnerships, organizations necessarily enhance their private fundraising, contributing to their long-term sustainability. For example, the Museum of the City of New York’s new gallery and curatorial center has created 26,000 square feet of space to enhance public access and preserve the Museum’s
historic collection. Thanks to strong commitment from the organization’s leadership, DCA support is also catalyzing a multi-million dollar private funding campaign to ensure the institution’s long-term organizational sustainability. Through economic cycles, the city remains one of the more stable sources of funding for the field. I’m particularly looking forward to the opening of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum this month. The Museum and DCA persevered through a decade of planning that included two major economic downturns, escalating construction material costs and the challenges of introducing new green strategies and raising significant private funding. The extraordinary new facility features a bold design by Rafael Viñoly and all-new arts, science and environmental exhibits for children and families from the local Crown Heights community and beyond. These are tough economic times for the entire nonprofit sector, and there are difficult funding decisions to be made. However, working together with elected officials, the cultural community and private funders, we remain committed to nurturing, sustaining and investing in New York City’s cultural infrastructure.
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Kate Levin is the commissioner of the City Department of Cultural Affairs.
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ARTS AND CULTURAL FUNDING
More Arts Funding Would Enhance Our Lives and Our Pocketbooks BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER JONATHAN BING e all know that in the complicated world in which we live, the arts play an important part in all of our lives. Arts and cultural performances serve as a place to take our minds off our day-to-day activities as well as a reminder of our shared history. What is not always appreciated, however, is what the arts mean to the economies of New York City and New York State. Over 8 percent of jobs in New York City are in creative industries, and these professions are growing at twice the rate of non-creative professions. Large public art installations such as “The Gates” generated an estimated economic impact of $254 million, with “New York City Waterfalls” expected to generate $55 million. In fact, the combined economic impact of just two 2007 exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in my district was $377 million in spending by regional, national and foreign tourists, with a direct tax benefit to the city and state from out-of-town visitors totaling $37.7 million. Throughout this state, cultural offerings and jobs have provided economic benefits to communities where other sectors of the economy have been struggling. As the representative for Manhat-
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tan’s Museum Mile and a member of the Assembly Tourism, Arts and Sports Development Committee, I have secured over $2 million in capital funding for East Side cultural organizations because of what they mean to my constituents and visitors to the city. Despite extended growth in cultural sectors of this State’s economy, funding for the New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA) has remained stagnant— and has actually decreased over the past
two decades, when adjusted for inflation, from $3.03 per capita funding in 1990 to $2.54 in 2008. Though resources have been limited, NYSCA grants have been the lifeline for dozens of cultural institutions around this State, including $3.35 million in funding in 2007 for the Capital Region, $1.17 million for the Mohawk Valley, $2.29 million for the Finger Lakes, $1.90 million for the Southern Tier and $2.68 million for Western New York. During the 2008 session, the New York State Assembly, as it has several times before, passed my legislation, A. 272-A, to create a voluntary check-off on state personal income tax returns for NYSCA. The Senate Majority has never permitted the bill to come up for a vote. This bill would provide an easy way for New York State taxpayers to support the arts as part of their tax payments without making addi-
tional demands on state funds, and I hope that the Senate will pass the bill in 2009. It was our arts and cultural establishments that kept New York’s tourism and economy afloat during lean economic times in this decade, and it is our duty to respect their impact by providing them with the government funds that they deserve. Failure to increase funding for NYSCA and New York City cultural organizations will have a devastating effect upon these institutions, as well as many related or dependent businesses and employees. The arts are a wonderful gift to people of all ages and backgrounds that truly enhance our lives—and our communities’ pocketbooks.
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Jonathan Bing, a Democrat representing parts of Manhattan, serves on the Assembly Tourism, Arts and Sports Development Committee.
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EDITORIAL Term Limits Must Stay, Self-Serving Politicians Must Go www.cityhallnews.com President/CEO: Tom Allon tallon@manhattanmedia.com
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en confronting their mortality have been known to do silly things in middle age—buy expensive motorcycles, explore the comforts of women other than their wives, invest in sad and unconvincing hair plugs. Now city politicians confronting their electoral mortality are about to do something just as silly: attempt to argue that when New Yorkers voted in term limits in 1993 and then reaffirmed their choice in 1996, they were confused, or at least unclear, about the number of terms involved. This is an offensively cynical approach to New Yorkers and democracy, and has to stop. Voters have been known to change their minds over time, and elected officials should certainly be open to rethinking laws which have proven wrong or problematic in implementation. The 18th Amendment, creating Prohibition, after all, only lasted 14 years before the 21st Amendment washed it away. But the members of Congress who reversed course were not just desperate for a drink. (Well, some of them might have been.) They were responding to an outcry from Americans who had not anticipated just how unhappy they would be with the imposition on their civil liberties and underestimated the rampant crime which would sprout up around bootlegging. Prohibition did not work, so Prohibition had to go. Those in city government now clamoring for a change in term limits likewise argue that they are responding to unintended consequences: restricting city officials to just eight years in office has forced them to politick prematurely and keeps them from accumulating the expertise they need to do their jobs best. Voters may have wanted term limits 15 years ago, and then again 12 years ago, the argument goes, but they were wrong,
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they did not understand what limits would really do to the city once in place. Term limits are not working—insist some of the very people whose jobs are on the line and owe the openings in the seats they occupy to the 2001 term limits purge—so term limits have to go. In a city where incumbents faced real challenges for any of the citywide races in 2005, or where more than two members of the City Council had to worry about re-election in either the primary or
having the current Council members and citywide officials continue in office past next year, they should make it on specific grounds. What precisely would the Council and the citywide officials be able to accomplish if granted the ability to run for an additional term or two? And which laws or actions that they have taken over the last seven years will they admit were not up to par because they lacked the expertise to handle them properly? Instead, there should be a movement
What precisely would the Council and the citywide officials be able to accomplish if granted the ability to run for an additional term or two? general elections that year, term limits might not make sense. In New York City, they are essential to keeping up the activity and dynamism of the city government. But too many people in city government seem to feel otherwise. Keep term limits if we must, they say, but stretch the allowed time in office to 12 years—at least until late 2012, when, presumably, these same people would argue that the limits need to then be extended to four terms. That, they argue, would make municipal government function better. Given that the new agitation did not begin until late summer, there was not time to put a new Charter revision referendum on the ballot for voters this year, before the ’09 elections (oops!). That leaves the elected officials in charge of deciding whether they will grant themselves four more years through legislative fiat. This sounds a whole lot like a self-serving, egotistic ploy by those facing their own extinction. But if there really is a case to be made that extending term limits would improve city government and that
within the Council to finalize the debate on term limits once and for all. And while they are doing so, Council members and Mayor Michael Bloomberg should consider adding in some additional provisions to make city elections more competitive, like reducing the length of Council terms to two years while keeping the limit at eight years in office, and eliminating matching funds for incumbents seeking re-election. That is the kind of re-examination of the system that the city actually needs—not the current kind of monkey business. Next year, term limits will boot out some elected officials who are mediocre at best, but will also remove some very talented and excellent people from office. That is the price we pay for having term limits. But the benefit is a better democracy—the worst form of government, as Winston Churchill said, except for all the others. The question city officials now have to answer is whether they believe in democracy, or whether they are just politicians thirsty for another drink.
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OP-ED
Halt the Growing Menace of Standardized Tests in City Schools BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER MARK WEPRIN s a legislator and a father of two New York City public school students, I am deeply troubled by the news that public school students who are not yet five years old will be required to sit for exams that can last up to 90 minutes. The plan is educationally inappropriate and completely insensitive to the social and developmental characteristics of young children. Test-focused learning environments have already saddled thousands of older children; to impose the same burden on kindergarteners is unconscionable. Even worse, James S. Liebman, the Department of Education’s accountability officer, has acknowledged that the results
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from the new K-2 tests might soon factor into the school grading system. Such a move would only bring to K-2 classrooms a problem that already plagues grades 3-12: an emphasis on test preparation over real learning that stems from the pressure on teachers to produce acceptable test results at any cost. Lower-grade students have made significant progress in recent years, due in large part to State-funded pre-K programs and the reduced class size initiative. The DoE’s testing expansion plan threatens to obliterate the recent gains by bringing the reign of testing terror and the toxic environment it creates into every classroom in the city. Because of a combination of State tests that were implemented to comply with George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind
Law (NCLB) and DoE’s own extensive testing regimen, city students often take more than a dozen standardized tests each year. But the real crime taking place in our schools is that teachers, having been told that test results matter above all else, are forced to spend countless hours on mindless test-preparation exercises that lack any meaningful connection to the content knowledge today’s students will need to compete in a global economy. The emphasis on testing is turning our schools into test-preparation factories that neglect physical education, art, music and science in favor of rote test-preparation drills. New York City’s children are going to school in the cultural capital of the world, yet they have few opportunities for exploring the rich art, music and civic
experiences that the city offers. Our Information Age society demands an understanding of world affairs, analytical skills, technological savvy, maturity and poise. Standardized test preparation does nothing to foster those valuable attributes and abilities. Today’s classrooms rarely devote time to current events, yet we expect the next generation to understand an ever-changing world and to grapple with the weighty issues of our era. Education should help our children to become informed citizens, dynamic leaders and well-rounded individuals—not test-taking robots.
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Mark Weprin is a Democrat representing parts of Queens in the Assembly.
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OP-ED
Are Our Students Learning? Depends on Whom You Ask BY COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES VACCA n the weeks and months ahead, New York City will experience one of the most heated debates about the future of our schools we’ve seen in years. But as educators, parents and government officials set out to grade the city’s school system under mayoral control, we shouldn’t be surprised if all the numbers don’t add up. That’s because despite the steady stream of test score announcements and progress reports we’ve seen since the Department of Education (DoE) was created in 2002, there has been no independent entity analyzing that data and presenting an impartial picture of how our schools are performing, both individually and as a whole. The problem is hardly academic—at stake is the central question of whether our children are receiving a better education. Take test scores: in 2007, the DoE
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touted fourth- and eighth-grade state math scores that showed a 28-percent improvement over 2003 scores. Yet federal National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores, considered by many to be the most reliable indicator of progress, showed only mild upticks in fourth-grade scores and no gain for eighth-graders. That’s not to say math instruction hasn’t improved since 2003— it’s just to say that without an independent monitor making sense of this discrepancy, taking the DoE’s claim at face value is an act of faith. Confusion also exists on an individualschool basis, as the DoE has begun releasing progress reports for its schools, from the “quality reviews” conducted by
an outside consulting firm to the controversial letter-graded report cards. Unfortunately, the two measures aren’t always in synch. According to The New York Times, of the 52 schools graded “F”
Proponents argued that once the mayor took responsibility for the school system, parents— and voters—would finally have someone to blame, or praise, for the state of our schools. this year, more than half had been deemed “proficient” just months earlier in their quality reviews, while seven were dubbed “well-developed”—the highest ranking. What a surprise for parents who heed-
Eliminate Professional Certification to Rebuild the DoB BY COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES ODDO rofessional certification is a failure. City Council members know it and, more importantly, everyday New Yorkers know it. It is incumbent upon us to reverse course and eliminate the program. The Independent Budget Office (IBO), in a study I requested, has provided us with a blueprint on how to make that a reality. IBO’s study found that the cost of eliminating this controversial program would be $7.5 million annually, while the cost to eliminate it for one-, two-, or three-family homes would be $2.9 million annually. The bulk of the cost would be hiring a sufficient number of qualified inspectors— boots on the ground—to review every plan. I say this would be money well spent and that we should focus our attention on incrementally eliminating this program in three years with clear benchmarks. It is incumbent that the Council and the Administration set the wheels in motion
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ed the quality reviews only to later learn that they had sent their children to failing schools. And for principals whose brief celebrations gave way to the fear of losing their jobs. Proponents of New York’s current system will say we already have an independent analytical body in the recently formed Research Alliance for New York City Schools, a partnership of business leaders and education experts modeled off the respected Consortium on Chicago School Research. The problem is that while many talented men and women sit on the Alliance’s board, nearly all of them are stakeholders in the school system, from the DoE’s chancellor to the teachers union president, meaning that all have an interest in making that system look good. That’s hardly impartiality. Accountability was the watchword when the State Legislature authorized mayoral control in 2002. Proponents argued that once the mayor took responsibility for the school system, parents—and voters—would finally have someone to blame, or praise, for the state of our schools. But true accountability requires reliable data, and any system where the person being judged controls and presents the evidence is destined to stir doubts. Ultimately, the Legislature will have final say over whether to renew mayoral control, which is due to expire next June. But before my colleagues in Albany get bogged down in the finer points of centralization vs. local control, of checks and balances and parental input, they should pay special attention to the need for an independent monitor capable of dispassionately analyzing data, thoroughly critiquing policies and providing an apolitical picture of the state of education in our city. Whether those responsibilities fall to a new group akin to the Chicago Consortium, or to an existing body like the city’s already-respected Independent Budget Office, the lesson of the past six years is clear: until we can start trusting the data, we’ll never really know how well this current system is working— and, more importantly, we’ll never know if our children are getting the top-tier education they deserve. And after all, isn’t that why we’re having this discussion in the first place?
prior to the end of our respective terms in less than 500 days. Back in 1995, at the program’s inception, the idea of professional certification looked like a good one. After all, “time is money” and it made sense to cut out the bureaucracy by permitting professional architects and engineers to certify that their plans were in compliance with all applicable laws. Of course, that assumed that the promised “carrot” and “stick” both existed. The stick was supposed to be random audits of a certain percentage of professionally certified jobs to help ensure compliance. Unfortunately, the stick was mostly a paper tiger and, until recently, a sufficient number of jobs were never audited to ensure the program’s integrity. Through the years, my colleagues in the City Council and I have seen that many of the most problematic projects in our districts were those that were professionally certified. We have all received phone calls from civic leaders and ordinary New Yorkers describing the disastrous impact this program has had on our communities. Ultimately, the Professional Certification program is a financial crutch and a shortcut we can no longer afford. The reality is that we will never get the Department of Buildings that we want and need without investing the money to eliminate this failed program. Critics might argue that we cannot afford to eliminate the program during these tough financial times. I understand this line of argument and I sympathize with it, but we must keep in mind that we can either spend the money on the front
end by hiring sufficient qualified and trained inspectors to examine every plan before problems arise, or we can spend the money later on in the process ensuring that problematic professionally certified jobs are corrected. Either way, the money will be spent. I believe it makes more sense to take the appropriate steps to ensure that problems do not arise in the first place, and the best way of doing that is by devising a plan to phase out professional certification. Professional certification was created in 1995 prior to the technological innovations that have so revolutionized the operations of DoB. DoB’s Buildings Information System (BIS) has proven to be one of the most useful and most essential tools in city government. My office utilizes this system on a daily basis. Technology has been and will be the salvation for DoB—and I believe the technology exists to review every plan efficiently. I have full confidence that Commissioner LiMandri could make it work if he’s provided with the resources to do so. George Bernard Shaw once said, “No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious.” We have debated the issue of professional certification and we have tinkered around its edges while keeping it intact. At all times, however, the answer has been obvious. Let’s chalk up professional certification as the failed program it is and begin anew.
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James Oddo, a Republican representing parts of Staten Island, is the minority leader of the City Council.
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James Vacca, a Democrat representing parts of the Bronx in the Council, is a co-chair of the City Council’s Working Group on Mayoral Control and School Governance.
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SEPTEMBER 2008
What Happens When You Don’t Yet Know You Won
“It’s over,” one Squadron supporter declared confidently after doing the math. “We got a winner,” another cheered. Sure enough, they did, and by 10:20 pm Squadron had arrived to declare victory. Squadron rattled off an extensive list of thank-you’s, and spoke most notably of his impressive get-out-thevote effort, engineered by several unions and the Working Families Party. “It could have been borough-wide, it could have been citywide,” he said, perhaps foreshadowing what may well be an ascendant career. He then thanked the many aides and volunteers he had brought with him from previous campaigns, such as Andrew Cuomo’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign. “It was a little weird to have one of us on the posters,” he said. Though several congratulatory calls came in for Squadron over the course of the night, one did not: Connor did not call to concede.
Cuomo’s New Deputy Speaking at an Upper West Side community partnership initiative forum Aug. 20, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo introduced his “newest deputy attorney
Power Lunch, Hold the Power
DANIEL S. BURNSTEIN
As the results of the Sept. 9 primary began to trickle in shortly after 9 p.m., not much was capable of cutting through the revelry at a primary night party for Daniel Squadron—not even the announcement that he had won. Screens mounted throughout the ballroom at the Grand Harmony Restaurant in Lower Manhattan displayed the results as they came in, but just a few blocks away, at the party for Sen. Martin Connor, the results were already clear: Squadron had won. That bit of news failed to make its way to the Squadron party in real time. Despite the fact that news outlets and Connor supporters had called the race by just before 10 p.m., supporters waiting for Squadron’s arrival were still trying to figure out whether he had definitely won. Even campaign aides working the party were first told of the results by a reporter, and scrambled to find out where Squadron was. In the meantime, the math started to become clear, as revelers tried—beers in hand—to crunch the numbers, unaware that tearful hugs were already being exchanged at the Connor party.
CITY HALL
Marty Markowitz hosted his fellow borough presidents for lunch at Junior’s on Sept. 8 for their semi-annual meeting, where they discussed a wide-range of issues. Topics included : term limits, the city budget, mayoral control of schools and budget cuts at the Department for the Aging. general”: Meghan Cahill, a high school junior who was finishing up her time as Attorney General for the Day. The experience was a prize in a charity raffle at the Upper East Side’s Convent of the Sacred Heart School. Though a school employee won the prize, Cahill was given the honor in recognition of her work as president of the mock trial team. Introducing her to the crowd, Cuomo said she had kept busy. “She sued 47 people in one day—she leaves, I clean up the mess,” Cuomo joked to the crowd. “Story of my life.” Cahill was the first student to be Attorney General for the Day. “I hope you had a good day,” Cuomo said to her afterwards. “Did you have a good day?” Cahill laughed, blushed, and said she had. “She said she doesn’t want to have anything to do with politics anymore,” Cuomo joked. Cuomo deflected a question from one reporter about whether he might be interested in one day running for president. “You don’t like what I’m doing as attorney general?” he joked. “You want me to move on?”
a two-day time span, with two boroughwide hearings the first day and three the second, in an effort to “consolidate the opposition.” Advocates and parents fear that the CFE funds are not being spent as intended to help the most at-risk students, but are instead being used to fill the budget gap. The DoE did not return several calls requesting a comment.
Bill Clinton to Answer Y Former President Bill Clinton (D) will speak at a forum titled “The Business of Giving in the 21st Century,” at the 92nd Street Y on Sunday, Sept. 28. He will talk with Matthew Bishop of The Economist about his Clinton Global Initiative, and the role corporate investors play in global philanthropy. by Edward-Isaac Dovere, Michelle Friedman and Sal Gentile
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Zen Bloomberg
Hearings on Deaf Ears, Jackson Charges After two rounds of Contract for Excellence hearings held throughout the five boroughs this summer, the final Department of Education proposal for the funds is expected to pass later this month. However, critics claim that no public feedback is incorporated in the proposal. “I think it was a formality,” said Council Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) regarding the hearings, adding that they are mandatory for the city to receive the funds. He also noted that the second round of hearings occurred with little notice over
ANDREW SCHWARTZ
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg gets a touch-up in between takes for a public service announcement for a cancer telethon filmed in front of the Brooklyn Bridge.
CITY HALL
www.cityhallnews.com
SEPTEMBER 2008
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: Emergency Response Time
DANIEL S. BURNSTEIN
CH: How do other cities get information from New York about emergency preparedness plans? JB: We’re bringing out to them what we’ve been doing. For example, I have presented to them the coastal storm plan. We have provided them some parts of our own plan so they can be assisted in doing their own work. We have talked a lot about how we have been taking the CERT program from this miniscule program to a huge program now in New York City; what we’re doing in preparedness education; how we measure preparedness. We do our own polling—as well as polls done nationally—to see if people are prepared or not. Try to figure what works, what message makes people take that step.
“I’m an optimist, 100 percent,” said Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Bruno. uring the Sept. 11 attacks, the Office of Emergency Management, located in 7 World Trade Center, was destroyed. On the seventh anniversary of the attacks, much has changed for the office: new technology, a tight coordination with other agencies and extensive planning, all overseen by Commissioner Joseph Bruno, who took over at the office in 2004. In the office’s stately Brooklyn command center, Bruno spoke about tactical improvements, how he influences the federal government’s disaster response and his general outlook on life as the man charged with keeping the city prepared for the worst. What follows is an edited transcript.
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City Hall: How has the Office of Emergency Management changed since the Sept. 11 attacks? Joseph Bruno: I came in at 2004. Clearly some of the things that occurred, we did not have a backup site on Sept. 11. We lost our entire office with everything in it. Today, we have a full back-up, hot sights. We are in a much better position. The staff has grown to now well beyond what we had. I don’t know what the staffing was at that time, but I knew when I came in, it was like 80 people. We are close to 200 people. It’s doubled in size. We have a great focus now on planning. We put a lot more people into that area, certainly planning in a more operational way. CH: How is progress measured? JB: We look at the number of incidents we responded to. Are we responding to more or less incidents? Are we monitoring more or less incidents? Are we picking up what’s happening in the city? So that’s one way; another might be in the area of, for example, preparedness education. We would look at how many presentations we made, how many people have we touched in preparedness education. Those are two areas that we would monitor out on. And we have, for example, the addition of new CERTs [Community Emergency Response Teams]. We have gone from, when I came in 2004, we had seven teams. We now have 63 teams. So that’s kind of another
indicator of how we changed. These are citizen volunteers who have already been doing good things, who have stepped up now to be transit CERT teams, who come out to incidents and assist. For example, in Long Island City, when we had the blackout, they were there feeding people, and we had the crane accident, they were there helping people in their apartments to get out valuables. CH: OEM has assisted with post-disaster relief in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 South Asian tsunami. What has the office learned in dealing with these natural disasters? JB: When we see major incidents like the tsunami or like a major coast storm occurs in the United States, it tells us that you cannot just say, “Well, you need a lot of sheltering.” So if we see something coming 10 days out, we’ll start opening up shelters. Well, you’ve got to know where the shelters are. You have to have keys to the shelters. You have to have food in those shelters. You
CH: How much time is invested in offensive measures instead of defensive ones? JB: On the larger scale, we have a mitigation plan. And the mayor’s doing a lot of this on his sustainable plan program, the PlaNYC program. And that’s to start looking at more long-term sewage treatment along waterways, start taking the power that runs us and raise it up high enough so that if we have some flood it doesn’t knock them out. Back-up generation for hospitals. So that’s mitigation. We are looking more and more through those types of activity. CH: What is the office’s relationship with the federal government? JB: We are very, very close and very involved in the federal government’s business. Because we are such a big city, we may need the support of the federal government at some point. So in order for us to get that, we have to engage them in every way possible. I mentioned earlier, one thing we have tried to do is make them more operational in their view. Federal government doesn’t always see itself as being operational, but the fact of the matter is, in Katrina, that’s what they had to do. They had to become operational. And because they didn’t see themselves like that, they had difficulty doing that. Our job is to ensure they see the needs of New York. For example, in the area of post-disaster housing, I want them to understand that the solutions they have to create have to be a menu of solutions: one for rural areas, which they are pretty good at, one for less rural areas that are somewhat dense, which they are not so bad at, and one for dense areas like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Newark, the places that are at risk for certain types of disasters.
“You have to plan operationally. And that’s what we are telling the federal government to do more and more of. We say to them, ‘We need as much operational planning, as much as possible.’” have to have people to manage those shelters. You need security systems in those built to make sure people are safe when they’re in there, whatever they have to bring into the shelters—safe. You need to have all the steps in place long before. You cannot plan on this “concept” of operations. You have to plan operationally. And that’s what we are telling the federal government to do more and more of. We say to them, “We need as much operational planning, as much as possible. You need to help us be operational in local and state government.”
CH: How does 311 interact with the OEM? JB: We are providing information to 311 regularly. Secondly, 311 oftentimes will get info on a problem before anyone else gets it. The public starts calling 311 saying, “I’m seeing no lights on this block. In fact, I’m seeing no lights 20 blocks around.” And when that happens we are getting from them information, “OEM, we’re getting these calls, check it out.” CH: Are you an optimist or a pessimist? JB: I’m an optimist, 100 percent. We have solved so many problems here in the four and a half years I’ve been here. And I have such great people here. I’m very optimistic of what we can do in the city in general and what we can do in this office. —Dan Rivoli drivoli@cityhallnews.com
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