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MONEY IN THE 76TH
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A former Department of Buildings official is returning to head the agency tasked with insuring the safety and proper use of the 975,000 buildings spread across New York. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Rick Chandler’s appointment. Former Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri retired last winter. Chandler is a professional engineer. He currently runs the daily operations of the physical facilities at city-run Hunter College in Manhattan. He formerly was the Department of Buildings’ borough commissioner for Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. He also was an assistant commissioner in the city’s Department of Homeless Services.
BY DANIEL FITZSIMMONS
LAWSUIT: MEDICAID HOME CARE CUTS UNJUST
FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE COURTHOUSE EDUCATION California court ruling results in New York lawsuit over teacher tenure, with more legal battles to come BY MARY NEWMAN
Gus Christensen
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2014
OURTOWNNY.COM
OFFICIAL RETURNS TO HEAD CITY BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT
State Assembly candidates reveal war chests -- and personal loans -- in latest filings
Christensen, a former executive at JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, said he’s just playing it safe with his loan. “There’s a finite amount of money that makes sense for anyone to spend on this race,” said Christensen. “I’m not going to put a lot more
24 In Brief
POLITICS
UPPER EAST SIDE With less than 50 days before the Democratic primary, candidates in the 76th Assembly District race have revealed how much their campaigns have raised so far this year -- and some would appear to be more invested than others. Three of the Democratic candidates have put a combined $400,000 into their own campaigns in the form of loans, according to filings with the state Board of Elections. The recent July filing reveals that Ed Hartzog, a lawyer and Community Board 8 member, loaned his campaign $70,000 of his own money, while David Menegon, a Xerox executive and Army veteran, put up $85,000. The majority of the loan money in the campaign comes from exWall Streeter Gus Christensen, who, according to a filing earlier this year, cut his campaign a $250,000 check. The other two candidates include Democrat Rebecca Seawright and Republican David Garland, neither of whom put any significant amount of their own money in the race. As for his $85,000 loan, Menegon said voters in the district want to support a candidate who actually has a shot of getting elected, and the efficacy of his candidacy is tied in part to the amount of money he has to spend on his campaign. “I loaned the campaign to get over that first hurdle,” said Menegon. “People know that, ‘wow, Dave’s serious. He has the money to run a successful campaign.’ If you don’t have that, people will make other choices.” Menegon currently has $124,000 on hand, and said he’s the “one candidate who has a proven track record of results.” Those results, according to Menegon, include the successful management of a $1 billion economic development and infrastructure budget while serving on reconstruction projects in Iraq. “I’m able to roll my sleeves up and get people to work together who are not predisposed to do so and solve problems in the community,” he said.
WEEK OF JULY
The tenure wars are coming to New York. Since a California judge ruled last month that several teacher tenure, dismissal and layoff laws were unconstitutional, it has sparked a new national debate over tenure in New York City, where 11 students have filed a class-action lawsuit in state Supreme Court. The issue goes to the heart of the debate in the city over public versus charter school education, carrying with it all the emotions that have framed that discus-
sion. On the one hand are public school and teacherunion advocates, who say that added pressures from tougher testing and teacher evaluations have made the need for tenure more urgent than ever. “Tenure is useful for the protection of teachers,” said Erin Farmer, a graduate student at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Farmer said tenure is necessary for “committed classroom teachers to do their jobs without the fear of losing it over pedagogical decisions they may make.” The most recent lawsuit in the city was filed on behalf of 11 students, and more expected to be added soon. The basic argument is that tenure hurts stu-
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A lawsuit accuses New York State health officials of cutting or denying Medicaid home care services to disabled and chronically ill people without proper notice. The federal class action suit was filed in Manhattan by the New York Legal Assistance Group on behalf of tens of thousands of disabled Medicaid beneficiaries. It names the state commissioners of the health department and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. The agencies said the state doesn’t comment on pending litigation. The New York Times says the lawsuit represents a challenge to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ambitious Medicaid overhaul designed to save money and improve coordination of care. The overhaul shifted $6 million in public spending on long-term services to private managed care companies that are paid a fixed sum for each enrollee.