New York City Hall

WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS?

"The de Blasio family will return to New York City this afternoon, and will spend their first night at Gracie Mansion," emailed a top aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday afternoon. So, Mayor de Blasio's back from Italy and sleeping at Gracie Mansion, we know that. And, we know that City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and a council delegation are en route to Taiwan, landing there in the wee hours of Monday morning, local time.

But, we don't really know where Governor Andrew Cuomo is.

That's not exactly true, of course, but the governor's whereabouts have been a source of speculation as he has not made a public appearance since The New York Times published revelations of his office's interference in the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption this past Wednesday. According to reports, the governor will be in Buffalo on Monday talking job creation.

This week we're looking to see not just where the governor is, but what, if anything, he has to say about Moreland. It seems the governor's strategy thus far has been to stay out of public, let the 13-page response that the governor's office sent to The Times speak for itself, and send out a whole bunch of press releases about non-Moreland topics (a whopping 22 releases from Wednesday to Friday of last week). Also keep an eye out for Moreland-related news not from the governor, but from other investigators and commentators - of the journalist, legislator, candidate, and prosecutor varieties. The governor's opponents remain active - see below for more detail.

We're also watching for word from Mayor de Blasio about what his next, post-trip moves are - including his latest thoughts on the death of Eric Garner, which occurred in police custody just before de Blasio left for Italy, leading the mayor to delay his departure a day. One New York City Council Member has made clear his intentions to propose relevant legislation. And, word from the office of Public Advocate Tish James is that this week she will extend her push for videorecording of all police encounters.

And, campaign season is in full gear as more and more endorsements are made (the Amsterdam News and the Stonewall Democratic Club recently endorsed in several races, to name two major organizations), so we're watching campaign news this week - Tuesday is six weeks from primary day! On the campaign front, aside from campaigning, candidates are spending time, energy, and money this week fighting challenges to their petition signatures or residency statuses to ensure that they are actually on the ballot come September 9th - notable among these challenges are those against the residency qualifications of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout and against 79th Assembly District candidate Michael Blake.

Another thing to keep in mind: New Yorkers have until the end of the month (Thursday) to give feedback to the City's Vision Zero initiative on dangerous intersections and other hotspots of traffic danger via an interactive map.

With the City Council's speaker and delegation in Taiwan, there are no official council committee or full-body meetings this week. Many council members will, of course, be active in their districts. No council committee meetings are scheduled until August 18th as of now - and the August full-body Stated Meeting is set for Thursday, August 21st.

The run of the week in more detail:

Monday
Speaker Mark-Viverito and the council delegation land in Taiwan early Monday morning and have two public events scheduled Monday afternoon, according to the speaker's public schedule: they will meet with Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation and then tour Beitou Taipei Public Library. The council delegation includes members Mark-Viverito, Peter Koo, Robert Cornegy, Julissa Ferreras, Vinny Gentile, and Vanessa Gibson, along with staff member Erica Gonzalez and a security detail. The council members will be abroad until Saturday and are there to meet with leaders in high tech industries, learn from Taiwain's renowned sanitation systems, discuss civic engagement through technology, and consider ways to strengthen ties between New York City and Taiwan.

Mayor de Blasio has no public events scheduled for Monday.

But, union allies of the mayor will be taking notice on Monday, as families organized by Campbell Brown's education-related advocacy group will file a lawsuit in Albany court aimed at taking down teacher tenure in New York. Per The Daily News, "seven families will charge that their children are underserved in schools due to incompetent teachers — who only kept their jobs because of tenure rules that violate the kids' constitutional right to a sound education. The suit is backed by the politically connected journalist-turned-education advocate Campbell Brown."

According to Stephen Miller of StreetsBlogNYC, Council Member Stephen Levin and Transportation Alternatives will be holding an event on Monday morning to discuss the G train shutdown, which just began and is slated to last five weeks.

Per City & State NY, elected officials including Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Rep. Grace Meng and Rep. Elliot Engel will hold a press conference on Monday at 12:30 p.m. with Jewish leaders "to show support for Israel's right to defend itself, Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, Manhattan." New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer will be speaking.

On Monday, the Samuel Field Y will host a Women's Economic Summit. The event, which will feature Congressional Reps. Steve Israel and Grace Meng, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Assembly Member Nily Rozic, will include input and questions from Brooklyn Queens NOW, Center for the Women of New York, Sanctuary for Families, and the Korean American Family Service Center. The Summit will include discussions concerning a range of financial topics.

On Monday at 5:30 p.m., the Contracts Committee of the Panel for Educational Policy, which consists of 13 appointed members and the Chancellor, will hold its second meeting of the month at the Tweed Courthouse building, main headquarters of the Department of Education.

And on Monday evening, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams hosts a Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Series night at Wingate Park, and at which Comptroller Stringer will give remarks.

Tuesday
It's six weeks until primary day! Get up to speed on the 2014 New York State elections through our Gotham Gazette Elections Center.

Council Member Corey Johnson will hold a participatory budgeting (PB) information session for his council district on Tuesday. The session, which is Johnson's second PB informational event, will provide residents of the district with information concerning the new process and its allowing them to decide how to spend roughly $1 million in discretionary funds. Read more about the City Council's expanded PB.

On Tuesday night, City & State NY will host its State of Brooklyn Reception at the Brooklyn Historical Society. The event "will play host to Brooklyn lawmakers, leaders in public policy, business and the media" and include interviews with Brooklyn Borough President Adams, Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, and others.

Wednesday
On Wednesday, there will be a public meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy, which consists of 13 appointed members and the Chancellor.

Marsha Michael, a candidate running to replace disgraced former assembly member Eric Stevenson in the 79th Assembly District, will host a campaign fundraiser on Wednesday evening.

Also on Wednesday evening, The St. John's Office of Community Relations will be sponsoring the 16th Annual Great Lawn Summer Concert in Queens on Wednesday night. The event will feature Willie Martinez, La Familia Sextet, and members of the Queens Symphony Orchestra, as well as a performance from Queens Borough President Melinda Katz.

On Wednesday evening, Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino will be in Suffolk County at the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge in Lindenhurst from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Thursday
Council Member Helen Rosenthal and Community Board 7 will host a "Public Meeting for the West End Corridor" on Thursday night. The meeting will include a presentation from the New York City Department of Transportation to the Transportation Committee of Community Board 7 for the redesign of 35-block portion of West End Avenue. The new design is a response to the traffic pattern problems that surfaced after two pedestrian deaths in the neighborhood in recent months.

Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins will hold a campaign organizing conference call on Thursday. Additionaly, Hawkins tells Gotham Gazette that he is planning a significant campaign schedule in New York City for the week of August 3rd.

On Thursday evening, the Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP) will host a public forum to discuss policing in New York City. The event, Broken Windows Policing: A True Tale of Two Cities, will be moderated by Jeffrion Aubry, Speaker Pro Tempore of the State Assembly. It will include a panel discussion of the changing NYPD practices under Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton, and "will focus on this Administration's 'broken windows' policing." Panelists will include Robert Gangi, president of PROP, Linda Sarsour of Arab American Association of NY, Professor Alex Vitale of Brooklyn College, among others.

Also on Thursday, Astorino will be in Suffolk County at East by Northeast in Montauk from 6 to 8 p.m.

Friday and the weekend
It's the summer - and Friday is August 1st(!) - so of course Friday and the weekend are sparse - but if you have intel on events, please let us know!

Here's one: On Saturday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will open a multi-media exhibit: Bringing the World to the Fair: The Port Authority's Role — Trade, Travel and Tourism in Queens, the Region and the World. The exhibit, which will be at the Queens Botanical Garden is part of a series of 2014 events celebrating the 1964 and 1939 World's Fairs.

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Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? Email Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

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by Kristen Meriwether and Ben Max in New York City and David King in Albany
@GothamGazette

(photo: @NYGovCuomo)

On Wednesday night more than one hundred members of the Stonewall Democratic Club, the city's first and largest LGBT Democratic organization, gathered to endorse a slate of statewide candidates. The club delivered two clear messages: Gov. Andrew Cuomo has their support and members of the Independent Democratic Conference, or IDC, do not.

Cuomo's likely primary opponent, Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout, showed up personally to ask the club for its endorsement and while she enjoyed some support in the room many members wondered why they would switch allegiances when Cuomo has delivered on a number of major LGBT issues.

The morning of the endorsement, the Cuomo administration announced the creation of a statewide taskforce to better collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity in an effort to improve services to LGBT New Yorkers. On June 29, Pride Day, the Cuomo administration announced its "Bending The Curve" three-point program to end AIDS in New York. Arguably Cuomo's biggest achievement thus far as governor was shepherding a same-sex marriage bill through the state Senate in 2011, where it had failed before, and into law.

These achievements and others were fresh on the minds of many a Stonewall member Wednesday night. Teachout looked to take advantage of fresh revelations reported by The New York Times on Cuomo's manipulation of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption, but she faced questions about what she had done for the LGBT community. "In the next few days he has an obligation to the people of New York to explain what happened," Teachout said of Cuomo and Moreland. "To share the e-mails, to say what he knew and when he knew it. And he has a chance to come clean, and a chance to come clean at this moment even if he failed to clean up Albany."

Club members had other things on their minds. "We have a lot of straight allies who were advocating for marriage, I didn't hear your voice come up once," said one club member who detailed Cuomo's AIDS efforts and gender task force . "So why should we fire somebody with his LGBT record?"

Teachout responded by invoking Cuomo's alliance with Senate Republicans and his failure on ethics initiatives. "The core, root problem here is we have a governor who is serving presidential ambitions and serving his wealthy donors, and not serving the core traditional Democratic values that I share," Teachout said to some applause.

Both state Senator Daniel Squadron and Assembly Member Matthew Titone addressed the crowd on Cuomo's behalf and listed his liberal bona fides.

Eunic Ortiz, president of the Stonewall Democrats, said the following day by phone that there was a sense among members that Teachout wasn't connected on important LGBT issues. "People remember who was there on big issues and they remember if you weren't," said Ortiz.

Cuomo faced a stiffer challenge in securing endorsements from other city-based LGBT clubs earlier this year. The Jim Owles club, which touts itself as a citywide club, endorsed Teachout quickly after she began her campaign. The LAMBDA Independent Democrats of Brooklyn had an intense debate where members were called from their homes because the vote was so close. Stonewall does not disclose vote totals, it is unclear by what margin Cuomo took the endorsement.

For some members of LGBT Democratic clubs, what Cuomo hasn't done on their issues combined with his right-leaning fiscal policy is enough for them to support someone else. For years the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act (GENDA) has passed in the Assembly and been buried in the Senate. LGBT advocates would have liked seeing Cuomo push the Senate Republicans he partnered with to bring the issue to a vote. The fact that he succeeded where others failed on marriage equality indicates to them that he simply wasn't committed to the issue.

Allen Roskoff, president of the Jim Owles club, has said it would be "condescending and demeaning" to base support on the issue of same-sex marriage alone.

"The governor has expressed support for both bills and he remains committed to supporting both bills through passage in the legislature," Cuomo campaign spokesman Peter Kauffman told Gotham Gazette when asked about Cuomo's backing of GENDA and a bill to ban gay conversion therapy for people 18-years-old and under.

The board of the Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats (GLID) voted unanimously earlier this year to back Cuomo. Club president Julian Kline said the club is still energized by Cuomo's success on marriage equality and looks forward to his future accomplishments. "Since our endorsement, our members' views of the governor have definitely been validated, with his announcement during Gay Pride for an unprecedented and ambitious plan to greatly reduce the AIDS epidemic in New York State," said Kline. "Also since our endorsement, Governor Cuomo has committed to seeing the Senate IDC and Democrats work together for a more productive majority - a move that will clearly help advance the legislative process for GENDA and conversion therapy."

When it comes to the IDC, Stonewall showed its disappointment with the breakaway Democrats by endorsing two primary challengers to IDC members. Stonewall delivered an endorsement to insurgent candidate John Liu, former New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate, who is challenging IDC Sen. Tony Avella for his Queens seat. Avella abruptly left the Senate Democratic conference earlier this year to caucus with the Independent Democrats. The two groups have since decided to work together after elections in the fall, but Liu has maintained his challenge to Avella and has outraised Avella by a significant margin, while also collecting many union, club, and other endorsements. Many Democrats say that Liu's campaign is sending a clear message to Avella. One Senate Democrat said, "We are sending a message that you don't just walk away from the conference without even a courtesy call to the leader."

Liu addressed Stonewall after thunderous applause to his introduction. "I'm running for the state Senate in Northeast Queens against somebody who was elected as a Democrat but has voted for the Republican leadership, thus, stymying some very progressive legislation that if the Democrats had control would have passed a long time ago," Liu said before expressing his support for GENDA. Liu said he almost wished that marriage equality had not been passed so that, "I could vote for it once I get there."

Avella was not in attendance.

Stonewall also endorsed former city council member Oliver Koppell in his challenge to IDC head Sen. Jeff Klein. Klein, who was in attendance on Wednesday night, faced hostile questioning from the Stonewall crowd, with one member asking, "Although you're running as a Democrat, you're caucusing with Republicans, you're the reason Dean Skelos and not a Democrat is running the conference in the Senate. Because of you GENDA won't come up for a vote. Why the [expletive] should a Democratic club endorse someone like you who is keeping the Republicans in power in the Senate?"

"You are forgetting your history, sir," Klein shot back, insisting that the IDC had helped bring stability back to the Senate.

The exchange got testy and when Klein faced a question on GENDA from former Stonewall president Melissa Sklarz, Klein blamed the Democrats for not having enough votes.

And, Stonewall endorsed in the race between incumbent Bronx Democratic Sen. Gustavo Rivera and City Council Member Fernando Cabrera. The race is particularly important to LGBT clubs because Cabrera has supported anti-gay groups, has strong conservative ties, and appears to have had major fundraising help from Klein, although Klein has distanced himself from Cabrera.

Rivera has donated $250 from his campaign funds to Stonewall Democrats and $500 to the Jim Owles club.

Roskoff said that his Jim Owles club formed because it has different priorities than Stonewall and declined to comment on their endorsements.

One major difference between Stonewall and Jim Owles is that the Owles Club makes independent expenditures on behalf of candidates - mailing their endorsements to residents across the city. Roskoff told Gotham Gazette that the club will likely mail on behalf of Liu and Rivera this year. The club has not met to decide exactly which races they will mail in or how much they will spend.

Stonewall's endorsement doesn't come without perks, as members routinely get involved in races that are important to them. Ortiz said that the group has not yet decided which races they will target. However, it is expected the group will be active in the race between Rivera and Cabrera as well as the Klein-Koppell race.

"I think it is telling that our members chose to endorse against IDC members who they perceive as responsible for blocking progress on the issues that are important to us, like GENDA," said Ortiz. "They backed a candidate in the governor who they felt had tried to move those issues and who will move forward on them in the future."

[More on the race for New York Governor]

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by David King & Karina Shakarian, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing
@KatShakarian
@GothamGazette

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{ga=dking}

City Council Member Rory Lancman, of Queens (William Alatriste)

"We're introducing both," Council Member Rory Lancman said by phone Friday morning of two bills aimed at stopping the use of chokeholds by members of the NYPD.

After outlining the proposals in an op-ed for New York Law Journal, Lancman said that legislative requests have been put in on the bills that would make the use of chokeholds illegal in New York City and create a "new municipal offense of criminally negligent infliction of physical injury." This means that Council bill drafters will work on the language of the bills, including through dialogue with Lancman's office and assessments of any concerns around constitutionality, conflict with state law, and perspectives of other experts and affected parties. Lancman said that he is not sure the bills will be ready by the Council's next full-body stated meeting in August: "These are complicated legal issues," he said, "we must get it right, if we don't we aren't moving the ball forward."

Lancman, who is a trained attorney and has practiced law for years, also said Friday that he is looking at introducing a third chokehold-related bill and that he expects to "see a whole series of bills that council members put in."

"After Vanessa [Gibson, the council's public safety committee chair] holds hearings, I'd be surprised if there weren't a whole package of bills introduced," he explained.

The third bill Lancman plans to file a drafting request for is modeled after a Los Angeles law "related to reporting requirements." This bill will require greater detail from the NYPD regarding physical interactions with people officers arrest, Lancman said. "LA has a more detailed, more helpful reporting scheme for its police department, which allows policymakers to track use of force incidents better."

Lancman said he always views the introduction of a bill as "the start of a conversation" and noted that he expects that with ongoing discussions with council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, additional council members, and other stakeholders, the bills he's proposing will be worked into effective law. Those other stakeholders, Lancman said, will include the NYPD and law enforcement unions, New Yorkers who have been affected by chokeholds, and advocacy groups.

The Garner Case
Of course, it is the death of Eric Garner that has spurred renewed scrutiny of the use of chokeholds by the NYPD - a practice which has been banned for over twenty years. In the case of the officers involved in Garner's death, which occurred during an arrest where a chokehold was used, Lancman expects legal action.

"I would be surprised if charges were not filed [against the officer] based on my review of the video and Commissioner Bratton's conclusion that a prohibited chokehold was used," Lancman said.

He added, "I'm not a cheerleader for prosecuting people, I'm just analyzing what I've seen and what I understand the law to be."

Lancman hopes that what he is offering through his article, which not only discusses planned legislation, but analysis of legal precedent around chokehold cases, will help the Staten Island district attorney's office in its investigation of the Garner case.

On the subject of other officers and EMTs on the scene where Garner died, Lancman said, "Everybody involved in the arrest has potential exposure to criminal liability. The criminal law doesn't penalize chokeholds per se, but rather the excessive use of force. Where the hammer might fall on individual officers, I can't predict, as you radiate outward from the officer who used the chokehold. But, I would think everyone on the scene there should probably get a lawyer, figuratively speaking."

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by Ben Max, Executive Editor, Gotham Gazette
@TweetBenMax
@GothamGazette

A march after Eric Garner's death (photo: @NationalAction)

The tragic death of Eric Garner, 43, while being arrested on Staten Island last Thursday has led to renewed scrutiny on the use of chokeholds by members of the NYPD. While chokeholds have been fully banned by the NYPD since 1993, one was used on Garner by police officer Daniel Pantaleo during the altercation that led to Garner's death. As questions are raised about charges that might be brought against Pantaleo, New York City Council Member Rory Lancman is offering his proposal for what the Council should do to close gaps between the NYPD ban on chokeholds and New York law.

In an op-ed published today in New York Law Journal, Lancman, an attorney and former member of the state Assembly, and his counsel Daniel Pearlstein offer two ways in which the City Council could pass legislation aimed at both further discouraging the use of chokeholds by police officers and civilians and making prosecution of those who use them more likely and potent. The authors were spurred, they write, by the "operational failure" of the NYPD to stamp out chokeholds twenty-plus years after their ban and the "legal system's failure to effectively deter chokeholds."

The first suggestion by Lancman and Pearlstein is for the City Council to simply write a local law that prohibits the use of chokeholds. Base the law on the NYPD's internal rules which ban chokeholds altogether, and make their use a misdemeanor offense, the two write. Currently, even a recently enacted (2010) state law aimed at preventing and criminalizing chokeholds "requires proof of intent to obstruct breathing or blood circulation."

Lancman and Pearlstein's second suggestion is "broader," the authors write, as it is for the Council to close a loophole in state law by creating a "new municipal offense of criminally negligent infliction of physical injury." According to Lancman and Pearlstein, this would give prosecutors "a new tool" to deter the use of chokeholds and other restraints that put people at great risk of harm, including death. As is, state law "fails to capture the unacceptably risky and unpredictably harmful consequences of submitting someone to a chokehold."

[Related: Lancman on Chokeholds, NYPD: Going to see 'whole series of bills']

To arrive at their proposal, Lancman and Perlstein trace the history of major chokehold-related cases in New York over the past thirty years as well as relevant aspects of NYPD protocol and New York law. Of special focus is the 1994 case wherein Anthony Baez was choked to death by police officer Francis Livoti in the Bronx. Lancman and Perlstein offer that the Livoti case offers a challenging "road map" for the Staten Island district attorney in his investigation of Garner's death.

Analyzing legal precedent around the use of chokeholds and anticipating charges against Pantaleo being filed, Lancman and Perlstein identify key places by which the NYPD patrol guide, state law, and federal law do not align. They then offer ways in which the City Council can legislate to bridge those gaps and thus, they argue, decrease the likelihood that chokeholds will be used and that those who use them and cause serious injury or death will go without sufficient punishment.

In the aftermath of Garner's death, police commissioner Bill Bratton has promised to review NYPD training around how officers take people into custody. While local investigations into the circumstances of Garner's death and the actions of police officers and EMTs on the scene are ongoing - it also appears evident that a federal probe into Garner's death is likely.

A husband and father of six, Eric Garner was laid to rest on Wednesday evening during an emotional and charged ceremony on Staten Island.

[Related: Lancman on Chokeholds, NYPD: Going to see 'whole series of bills']

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by Ben Max, Executive Editor, Gotham Gazette
@TweetBenMax
@GothamGazette

Gov. Cuomo used campaign funds to buy Super Bowl tickets (photo: Julio Cortez/AP)

The results of New York State's lax campaign finance restrictions and dreary enforcement by the state Board of Elections (BOE) were on full display last week thanks to campaign filings that show lawmakers continuing to use their collected campaign funds to pay for expensive legal defenses, visits to tanning salons, and lavish trips to swanky restaurants and exclusive clubs.

Perhaps most striking, lawmakers spent over $300,000 in campaign cash on their legal defenses over the last six months, according to filings with the BOE. Those looking to clean up Albany, good government groups and certain legislators not prone to such expenses among them, are continually frustrated by the limited restrictions on non-campaign-related expenditures, as well as BOE's minimal enforcement of those rules.

The state BOE issues opinions on what campaign cash can be spent on and while it has ruled in individual cases that spending on legal defense and personal items are not acceptable it has not shown motivation to regularly enforce its rulings. In certain cases, like Opinion 87-1 from July 29, 1987, the BOE's logic seems to be that the only viable expenditure of campaign funds for legal expenses is to keep a candidate on the ballot - not to protect a candidate from criminal charges or to pay fines.

But the BOE has a long history of not acting on even the most egregious violations of campaign finance law. "The law certainly should be clear as the board has a decent track record of making clear what is permissible use in the '80s - they just haven't touched on it recently," said Bill Mahoney of New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). "They have shown no will to enforce their own findings."

Rachael Fauss, director of public policy for Citizens Union, another good government group, says that enforcement is the biggest issue. "Even with the opinions that are on the books there simply isn't any enforcement," she said.

State Senator Brad Hoylman of Manhattan, an ardent supporter of campaign finance reform, said that politicians who abuse the loopholes of the campaign finance system are more likely to need to spend campaign cash on lawyers. "The ones who take advantage of the law are the ones who will most likely use campaign funds for their legal defense," Hoylman said. "We need a ban (on personal use of campaign contributions)."

Hoylman believes the BOE needs to be overhauled. "I'd like to see wholesale reform of the Board of Elections," he said. "I don't have any confidence they have the wherewithal to enforce regulations and laws. I see it on the local level and the state level - they need help."

Both Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Assembly Member Vito Lopez spent big cash in the last six months to defend themselves in a sexual harassment case brought by former Assembly interns. Filings show Silver spent $30,000 in campaign cash on his defense, while Lopez paid his lawyers $13,500.

This isn't Silver's first time using campaign cash to defend himself. Since being elected in 1976 Silver has spent a total of $285,000 in campaign cash on legal defense according to Mahoney of NYPIRG.

Assembly Member Michael Kellner has spent nearly $20,000 of his campaign cash defending himself from sexual harassment charges since last year. 

Indicted Democratic Sens. Malcolm Smith and John Sampson have both seen their campaign coffers dwindle as legal expenses mount and they head into their reelection bids.

Those legislators' numbers pale in comparison to the real heavyweight legal spenders like former Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who spent $1,505,989 on his successful legal defense, or former Sen. Carl Kruger, who has dropped $1,761,663 to unsuccessfully defend himself from corruption charges. Despite spending all that cash and actually being behind bars, Kruger still has more cash in his campaign coffers than most Senate Democrats - according to last week's filing, his account contains $422,755.

In total, state elected officials have spent well over $7 million of campaign funds on legal fees since 2004, according to Mahoney of NYPIRG.

The lax restrictions on use of campaign funds benefits incumbents," said Mahoney. "If you can spend one night to raise $20,000 to either keep yourself in office or for personal use then why not do it?"

Recent action by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara indicates that lawmakers may have even more opportunity to spend campaign funds on their legal defenses, as it appears he is targeting the illegal use of campaign cash.

Candidates are required to report campaign expenditures over $50. According to a report by City & State NY, the now-defunct Moreland Commission on Public Corruption had decided to look into lawmakers who accrued $10,000 or more in unitemized receipts. A number of legislators either didn't report large campaign expenditures or reported lump sum, unitemized credit card payments. Bharara appears to have now picked up that trail.

New York's restrictions on personal use are so lax, though, that even Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has slammed the current campaign finance system, felt comfortable spending $2,400 of his over $35 million campaign war chest on tickets to the Super Bowl.

With Bharara picking up the pieces of an investigation started by Moreland, some of the fun may be coming to an end. Cuomo abruptly ended the commission in exchange for some legislative reforms during budget negotiations this year. Shutting down Moreland raised red flags for Bharara and his office is now investigating both the legislators who were targeted by Moreland and the commission and its relationship with Cuomo. The New York Timesreported last week that Bharara's office has subpoenaed the top aide to the executive director of the Moreland Commission to testify before a grand jury and that Cuomo's counsel has agreed to be interviewed by agents in August. The Timesreported this week that Cuomo's administration repeatedly meddled in Moreland business before the governor disbanded the commission.

The reforms Cuomo won include tweaks to the criminal code to make it easier for prosecutors to go after bribery, a new head of enforcement at the BOE named by the Governor, and a public campaign financing pilot program. Mahoney says the new enforcement position created in Cuomo's deal is impotent. "The position has very limited powers and can't act without board approval," said Mahoney. "The board has already shown that it isn't interested in approving investigations."

Meanwhile, according to sources and multiple reports, Bharara's office is investigating suspicious campaign spending by a swath of sitting legislators. So far the focus has been on Senate Republican George Maziarz of Niagara County, who abruptly announced his retirement just as feds subpoenaed one of his aides. Bharara's office is looking into a number of checks written to cash from the Maziarz campaign account, as well as thousands of dollars in purchases at Southern Living At Home, a company where Maziarz campaign treasurer Laureen Jacobs used to work.

Maziarz had been acting as though he would be seeking re-election up until the very last moment before petitions were due earlier this month. With an extraordinarily large $1.1 million campaign account for a rank-and-file legislator who never faced any stiff challenges to his seat, Maziarz could use the cash should Bharara's investigation lead to an indictment. Maziarz has insisted that he is retiring to help plan his daughter's wedding.

The Times Unionreported last week that Bharara is also looking at the campaign spending of Westchester Republican Sen. Greg Ball. Ball reportedly spent thousands in campaign cash for travel and expenses in Mexico, Florida, and New Orleans. His campaign cash went for limousines, airline tickets, a $700 hotel stay at a Hilton in Mexico, and hundreds withdrawn from an ATM in Cancun. Ball announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection. He then promptly spent $25,000 on a high profile defense attorney.

The Moreland Commission focused a great amount of attention on the failing of the State BOE and issued a report recommending a complete overhaul of the state's campaign finance system with the introduction of public financing of campaigns. That recommendation was not taken up last session - instead Cuomo cut a deal with legislators that created a pilot program for publicly-funded campaigns in this year's comptroller race.

Incumbent Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who had long called for making his office a pilot for public financing, was so displeased with the last-minute deal that he felt was incomplete and opted out.

There is one lone candidate in the state with any real restrictions on personal use of campaign cash: Republican comptroller candidate Bob Antonacci, who opted into the pilot program. Under the program, participating candidates receive matching public dollars for certain campaign contributions - but with a catch: the BOE reviews campaign expenditures to make sure they are used strictly for campaigning.

State electeds will have an increasingly regular schedule of campaign finance reporting as the elections near. There are three upcoming primary reporting dates: August 8 and 29, and September 19; and three general election filing dates: September 29, October 20, and November 27. While the filings become more frequent, other requirements don't change.

Expect more campaign finance-related drama before election day - Bharara has had great success prosecuting corruption in Albany and it appears he has a new treasure trove to explore.

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by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

Agnes Rivera of Community Voices Heard at Wednesday's press conference (William Alatriste)

NEW YORK — In the three years since being introduced in the city, participatory budgeting's popularity among both city council members and their constituents has grown. This year, 22 council members will implement the program in their districts, more than doubling the number of members who will allow their constituents to directly decide how to spend roughly $1 million in capital funding.

The process allows youth (age 16 and up) and non-citizens, groups not part of the typical voting process, to engage in their communities in ways never done before. The engagement, praised by community groups, allows residents to become more invested in how their tax dollars are being spent and neighborhoods improved.

Participatory budgeting (PB) is a transparent process from the initial meetings each cycle where the process is explained and ideas are pitched, to when ballots are cast and project winners selected. But once the ballots are cast and winning projects announced, finding out where approved projects are in the completion process is less transparent.

Because all participatory budgeting initiatives are capital projects, many involve construction of one kind or another. Some, particularly those that need design and procurement, can take years before anything is actually built. Each type of project and each agency involved has its own set of criteria and steps to getting shovels in the ground - parts of the process not regularly made public. The Parks Department, which has been ridiculed for having a particularly slow capital process, announced it would be adding project status tracking to its website this summer (as of this post, it had not been added).

The City Council launched a new participatory budgeting FAQ web page on Wednesday, but there is currently no central page on the Council website that displays a list of approved participatory budgeting projects and the status of each in the completion process.

On Wednesday when announcing the major increase in council participation in PB, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito acknowledged the lack of a tracking system as a challenge, but added it is something she wants to see to make the process more transparent.

For now, she said, it is up to individual council members to interact with agencies to ensure the money allocated is being spent properly.

On his website, Council Member Brad Lander, who along with the speaker and two other colleagues has implemented participatory budgeting since its first New York City cycle, keeps a status update of all of his district's approved projects. Lander said he keeps tabs on the projects by checking in with each agency and gives updates to the site when he has them. Lander's site and system is the exception, not the rule, though.

Technology Fix?
The Participatory Budgeting website currently has an interactive map that shows the winning projects, in addition to proposed projects that didn't make it through. Constituents unable to make the meetings in their district can propose a project and even comment on other projects.

The map was build by a local tech company, Open Plans, which has also built maps for the city's Department of Transportation. The PB map lists location, description of the project, and cost, but not a status of the project.

Frank Hebbert, director of Open Plans, said adding status information would be possible, so long as the data was provided. He said the easiest way to pull that information into the map is to have it on the City's open data portal. Hebbert suggested pulling the capital project information, such as when an agency gives approval, for all city projects, not just those funded by PB.

"Council members could use the data to find out what's going on [with their PB projects], advocates could use it, we could use it [for the map]," Hebbert said by phone Wednesday. "The same data would serve multiple uses."

Speaker Mark-Viverito said the Council has been engaging with city agencies about making that information more readily available, but conversations are ongoing.

As with most government processes, getting from the current space to the ideal situation is much more complicated than a press of the button. Processes would need to be formalized, standardized, and centralized. While not impossible, it is a big task involving many moving parts.

Up until now, the motivation to take on such a chore has not necessarily existed. But with nearly half the City Council implementing PB and ever more New Yorkers emotionally invested in capital projects in their own neighborhoods, perhaps PB will be a catalyst for further change.

***
by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwetherK

A closed Umberto's Clam House in the Bronx (photo: Elizabeth Zanghi/The Ram) 

Umberto's Clam House. Gray's Papaya. Union Square Cafe. These famous, long-established New York City businesses and many more are victims of circumstances advocates say come down to a lack of protections for commercial tenants. Given the recent focus on residential tenants and affordable housing, many don't realize the bitter plight of the city's small businesses, especially low-profile mom-and-pop type stores and restaurants.

And these establishments - the city's small businesses - are desperately looking for help.

Few New Yorkers can't name a favorite local business or neighborhood staple forced to close over the last several years. Bodegas, Korean markets, and Irish Pubs are now considered to be part of a dying breed - endangered species poached by high rents, corporate competitors, and real estate development deals. Large swaths of commercial areas have all but disappeared from Little Italy, Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. Empty storefronts litter the five boroughs, sometimes for weeks, months, even years.

Ramon Murphy, president of the Bodega Association of the United States, told the Daily News the main reason for all the small business closings "is the one-sided process of lease renewal...Landlords either do not renew them or want to raise the rent four or five times. Often, you have to give money under the table for the lease to be extended."

The Small Business Congress (SBC) wants to change the system. An umbrella organization of private small business groups advocating for policies that will best benefit its community, SBC aims "to save the pathway to social mobility for lower income families, save the character of our neighborhoods, save our art and cultural groups, save our not-for-profits and save our middle class."

SBC Executive Vice President Steven Barrison is on full alert, emailing, "We are bleeding about 800-1,000 mom and pop stores per month in NYC! Costing us tens of thousands of jobs when you consider 7-8 jobs per store and 11,000-12,000 closings a year now! The CRISIS is real and it is here right now!"

The crisis Barrison describes has been building for decades: from 2002-2012, during Mayor Michael Bloomberg's tenure, the city's Landlord and Tenant Courts issued 83,211 warrants to evict commercial tenants, according to SBC data. SBC believes for every business that fights in court, two walk away, and estimates that at least 240,000 businesses closed and between 2.5 and 2.8 million jobs were lost (gross, not net) over the combined years of the Giuliani and Bloomberg mayoralties.

Landlords evict commercial tenants for a variety of reasons. Often, tenants fall behind paying escalating rents, but don't want to walk away from their life's work. Activists say they see a growing trend by which owners move faster to evict because they want to make space available for a corporate franchise or a bank, which can and do pay substantially higher rents.

Even though thousands of new small businesses also open every year, the odds are against their success and many close within the same year they open. Sung Soo Kim, who is president of the Korean-American Small Business Service Center (KASBSC) and has been called the godfather of New York's small business community, explains the significant obstacles against success, chief among them being high rents and operating costs. With the city's small businesses providing the large majority of jobs for New Yorkers - and establishing a gateway to the middle class, especially for immigrants and in ethnic communities - many, including Kim, wonder why little has been done by city government in the last twenty years to stem the tide of business closings, particularly of long-standing, neighborhood establishments.

"It's a crisis," agreed Ron Shiffman, founder of the Pratt Center for Community Development. "There's a dramatic impact on neighborhoods, especially on lower income folks [who rely on] inexpensive stores and culture, who get priced out," Shiffman said, referring to gentrification. Shiffman says the importance of neighborhood small businesses is that they "hire locally, they contract out services, their purchases are local. A dollar recovered in the local community [means] far more than it does [from] corporations."

The city's small business community is looking to its local government to act before entrepreneurship is further stifled and every mom-and-pop store is replaced by a corporate chain, making "family business" an oxymoron.

Government Action
On June 26th of this year, New York City Council Member Annabel Palma, of the Bronx, re-submitted the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA), which is considered by many to be the key antidote to mass closings. The bill, which is co-sponsored by Council Members Rodriguez, Chin, Gentile and Rose, states it would "amend the administrative code of the city...in relation to creating a small business lease program for establishing an environment for fair negotiations in the commercial lease renewal process."

While this is the first time Palma is the prime sponsor, the legislation has existed over the course of a myriad of previous sponsors and several council speakers.

Supporters say the legislation equalizes the relationship between commercial tenants and landlords to allow for fairer lease negotiations, in part by strengthening tenant protections. When an agreement is unreachable, a mediator or arbitrator would be enlisted at the parties' expense - there would be no government involvement or cost. Those behind the bill emphasize it is not commercial rent control.

"Every week I hear about another small business closing its doors because the rents are no longer affordable," Palma said in a recent statement. "I know that communities grow and change, and rental markets heat up...But there needs to be some protections for the small businesses that give character and life and jobs to these communities...That's why I have always supported the lease renewal bill."

There is, of course, another side to the issue. "The legislation represents an unconstitutional intrusion on the use and disposition of private property," said Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, about SBJSA.

SBC legal counsel Sherri Donovan argues, though, that "There is an entire line of U.S. Supreme Court cases that permit local authorities to enact legislation and rules as long as there is a rational basis." The SBJSA is reasonable, she said, because it promotes arbitration, which is used in "every sphere" of business. "It's not like we are taking property away from owners," Donovan said of the SBJSA.

The De Blasio Administration
There was great optimism in the small business community when Mayor Bill de Blasio was first elected. Finally, it was thought, there would be a substantive policy change after the Giuliani and Bloomberg years. De Blasio's mentor, former Mayor David Dinkins, was considered a true ally, having created the first-ever Interagency Task Force on Small Businesses. According to SBC's Barrison, the Dinkins Task Force (later disbanded by Giuliani) was successful because it included participation from all sectors and "every ethnic group," allowing business owners to work directly with city agencies.

Moreover, when de Blasio was in the City Council, he was a sponsor and vocal advocate of the SBJSA, backing it as a means to bring greater economic equality.

In a letter to de Blasio's transition team with recommendations for his then to-be-determined Commissioner of Small Business Services (SBS), the SBC wrote the selection was essential to stemming the tide of small business closings and the related job losses. SBC urged the next commissioner must have "the courage to stand up for small business owners and be a strong voice for them."

A major point of contention for SBC - particularly during Bloomberg's tenure - was that no senior official at SBS had direct experience owning or running a small business, coming instead from either big business or government. Currently, the deputy commissioner in charge of workforce development, who has had that title since 2013, previously owned two small businesses.

Quenia Abreu, president of the New York Women's Chamber of Commerce, said she wants SBS to hire as permanent staff or consultants "people who have owned small businesses so they know the tribulations and challenges."

Ultimately, de Blasio selected Maria Torres-Springer, a former executive vice president and chief of staff at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC). Torres-Springer, who is of Filipino descent, also worked for the non-profit Local Initiatives Support Corporation and for Friends of the High Line.

Merideth Weber, director of communications at SBS said there are other ways of getting experience relevant to running SBS, arguing, "It's not necessary to have experience of a small business" and that bringing in multiple perspectives to SBS is important.

Gotham Gazette asked both Torres-Springer and Weber of SBS, a representative of NYCEDC, and the mayor's press office about specific programs in existence or being planned with a focus on job retention, especially through keeping small businesses open throughout the city.

Mayoral press secretary Phil Walzak emailed to reiterate key pieces of de Blasio's mayoral platform: "From cutting burdensome fines and helping...navigate regulatory rules to providing assistance in developing a business plan," Walzak wrote, "the City is dedicated to helping small businesses start, operate, and grow."

Earlier this month, the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) announced more than 20 reforms the administration hopes will lighten the financial burden on the city's small businesses. Designed to "bring much-needed relief" by reducing the number and cost of fines, improve transparency, and even provide inspections in a prefered language, DCA commissioner Julie Menin said the agency is "committed to making our operations fairer, simpler and less onerous on law-abiding businesses." And in de Blasio's new budget, the City plans to collect eight percent less in total fine revenue over fiscal year 2015 than it collected in 2012: $789 million, down from $859 million.

For her part, Torres-Springer listed SBS' pro bono legal assistance to help with lease renewals, loans, training programs, workshops, and initiatives available to startups. According to Weber, SBS helped nearly 7,000 new businesses that opened in 2013, and NYC Business Solutions assisted 8,700 businesses with more than 13,300 free services.

"All of our services are to help businesses grow and operate," Torres-Springer said. "So in that way, a lot of programs, if not all, are to help businesses not close down."

She added that upon her taking the helm of SBS, she sees an opportunity to reassess what SBS does, better understand the reasons for business closures, and examine specific interventions that might be helpful.

Steve Null, founder of the Coalition for Fair Business Rents, doesn't see the same picture the City sees. Null asked how it could be possible that the singular city agency (SBS) tasked with helping small businesses has no job retention goals for the city's biggest employment generator. "Or even a single business program or initiative to save a single small business or a single job?" he added, expressing years of frustration.

Advocates like Null point to the number one issue facing small business owners: rent, and ask what will be done by the City to ensure more small businesses can afford the space they inhabit - with the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (SBJSA) pointed to time and again.

Adding to the skepticism, advocates say, is that Torres-Springer is a veteran of Bloomberg's EDC, an agency they believe either ignored or actively worked against their interests. SBC virtually begged the mayor not to choose someone who previously worked for this kind of entity. "(We) will not gain such an advocate from people who remained silent for over 20 years or people who never once advocated for the small business owners," SBC's transition letter to Mayor-elect de Blasio reads.

At the press conference announcing Torres-Springer in January, Mayor de Blasio said, "As Commissioner of Small Business Services, she will establish a new revolving loan fund to help local businesses grow, expand outreach to immigrant-owned businesses, and help launch new economic development hubs in underserved communities." De Blasio promised that under Torres-Springer's leadership, the City will deepen "our outreach to immigrant entrepreneurs long overlooked by City Hall...We will lift up every community. This will be one community. This will be one city, where everyone rises together."

While Torres-Springer has only been on the job a few short months, starting in late March, frustration with SBS remains high and advocates are waiting to see the different approach promised by de Blasio. Kim was the first and last chair of the Small Business Task Force, and believes SBS hides behind "useless programs and bureaucratic organizations controlled by special interests." The Korean-American Small Business Service Center (KASBSC), which Kim runs, is the oldest small business service center in the city. Over the past decade, SBS has never contacted KASBSC or similar organizations about the mass closings and the increasing extortion of immigrant owners, Kim said.

Not everyone is critical or skeptical of the selection of Torres-Springer. Former Brooklyn Council Member David Yassky, who chaired the Council's small business committee for four years, said of Torres-Springer, "I liked working with her. She's a terrific choice." When Yassky dealt with Torres-Springer, she was working for former Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff and EDC. "Even though we were not on the same side, [she was a] total professional, very smart. She is trouble-solving oriented," Yassky said.

Abreu, of the Women's Chamber of Commerce, said, "I love that she's a woman."

Null explained a systemic problem within SBS, in his view, is its poor staffing and leadership. "They have absolutely zero interest in solutions. If the structure [included] the right people with the right mandates, they would have solved all these problems," Null said.

One of the biggest changes is that SBS will become more collaborative, said Torres-Springer. "The vision moving forward," she said, "is for there to be a more consultative, ground-up planning process, that takes into account the needs of different stakeholders: small businesses, job seekers, community-based organizations."

She is particularly proud of work she did at EDC where she "championed personally" programs targeting immigrant entrepreneurs, the commissioner said. In May, SBS announced a new immigrant-owned business initiative funded by Citi. Community-based organizations will collaborate with the City to help immigrants "start, operate, and grow" new businesses. The program includes business education and counseling, and these services will be marketed to immigrant populations.

To which Null quipped, "Yes, phone people who have never owned or operated a small businesses to learn how to grow your business."

While there is no silver bullet answer to rampant small business closings, it's important to consider "the entire toolkit of services," Torres-Springer advised, adding that she is "optimistic" and the picture isn't quite as bleak as SBJSA advocates paint. SBS is taking the opportunity to examine the lifecycle of small businesses and ask why those which have struggled or closed have had such difficulty, she said.

One small business which successfully utilized SBS is the specialty food store Russ and Daughters on Manhattan's Lower East Side, a 100-year-old landmark. Co-owner Niki Russ Federman said SBS was "so helpful" by providing a point person to navigate through the relevant rules and regulations when the business expanded to include a cafe in a separate building. Russ and Daughters was also awarded an SBS workforce development grant, as they require a specialized kind of worker. "The skills are so unique," Russ Federman said of those required to staff her famous store, and the grant helped pay for the necessary training.

But Kim, who is also co-founder and president of the SBC, explained his members ask daily for assistance because the City only views them as "cash cows." He discussed the psychological damage and disenfranchisement that's been festering as a result, "There is a loss of pride, a loss of belonging, to be a New Yorker." In 2013 alone, 24 percent of Korean-owned businesses closed, Kim said.

And Kim doesn't buy the myriad of services and initiatives SBS promotes. "SBS programs are ridiculous and worthless to the majority of NYC hard-working immigrant owners," Kim said. "There is nothing more absurd," he added, "than a loan program to [businesses] who can't pay their rent."

The Coming Tell-Tale Months
Despite successful attempts by the real estate industry and its elected allies to kill the SBJSA in the past, there is hope the new 'progressive' City Council (and mayor) will act differently. The last time the bill had a hearing, in 2009, overseen by Yassky's committee, there were more than 30 sponsors.

The current chair of the Council's small business committee, Robert Cornegy is said to be working on legislation using subsidies to pay landlords to not rent-gouge. "The investments small business owners make in our communities are often part of the dynamic that helps to raise property values," Corney said. "I hope that we can create an effective incentive for commercial landlords that will give businesses greater predictability and allow them to benefit from the positive changes they help to create."

Cornegy is not currently a sponsor of the newly re-introduced SBJSA, which has just five sponsors, though Palma and others will surely be looking to add to that number over the summer.

There is some concern about the mayor because of his perceived inaction on small business issues while public advocate. As a candidate and thus far as mayor, de Blasio has focused on issues like access to capital and the burden of regulations, not directly on closings, sky-high rents, and extortion. Barrison said that If de Blasio thinks "that the biggest problems facing our small businesses were fines and lack of loans, he will continue the same anti-small business conservative Republican Giuliani/Bloomberg policies." The mayor's choices for SBS commissioner and the new deputy mayor for housing and economic development, Alicia Glen (a former Goldman Sachs officer, skeptics like to point out), don't bode well for change, Barrison said.

At his hearings, Yassky said he thought it was critical the City do something to fix the pervasive rent-gouging. "Not doing anything is not an option at this point," Yassky said at the time, now five years ago. "We can't allow our mom and pop businesses who create the majority of our jobs to disappear and that is what is happening."

In fact, advocates say, nothing was done and the city's small businesses have suffered. Null explained his coalition would never oppose government helping someone start a new business or access loans, that they are not opposed to SBS programs, but they feel SBS is not focused in the right direction. In the end, Null says the central problem is "the failure of not keeping successful businesses in business."

***
by Jillian Jonas for Gotham Gazette
@GothamGazette

(glad.org)

Members of the city's largest LGBT political club, The Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City, will decide on major statewide endorsements on Wednesday night. Stonewall's endorsement in the governor's race will give deeper insight into the relationship between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the progressive base.

The Jim Owles Democratic Club voted to endorse Cuomo's Democratic primary challenger Zephyr Teachout in June. LAMBDA Independent Democrats of Brooklyn had a contentious debate over choosing between Cuomo and Teachout - only narrowly endorsisng for the incumbent. Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats (GLID) endorsed Cuomo unanimously. 

Stonewall president Eunic Ortiz said she feels Cuomo has delivered major achievements for the LGBT community, but stopped short of saying her group's endorsement was in the bag for Cuomo. "It just depends who comes out that night to vote," said Ortiz. "If you have paid your dues you can vote. We could have 500 members voting, it's a possibility."

Ortiz stressed that her club allows members to vote on endorsements without the influence of the board and that all candidates are welcome to attend, or send surrogates to speak to the club about why they deserve its endorsement. Ortiz expects representatives from the Cuomo and Teachout campaigns to address members on Wednesday. Candidates vying for endorsements in legislative races are also expected to attend or send surrogates.

Political observers are struck that Cuomo, who managed to deliver the passage of marriage equality early in his term, has such a mixed relationship with the LGBT community. However, two major legislative priorities for LGBT advocates have been stalled in the state Senate for years and many see Cuomo as having given Republicans the power to control the Senate through redistricting and backroom deals - leading to limited action on a whole host of progressive legislation.

Cuomo's success on marriage equality makes the lack of a Senate vote on either the Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act or a bill to ban gay conversion therapy look to some like he is taking LGBT votes for granted.

GENDA would prohibit discrimination against a person because of their gender identity and expression. The bill has major support from civil rights groups and law enforcement heads from around the state. The Assembly has passed GENDA seven times but the Republican-controlled Senate has not allowed a vote on the bill.

The conversion therapy bill would make it illegal to try to change the sexuality of someone under the age of 18.

A number of members of GLID, LAMBDA, and Stonewall expressed concern that Cuomo has taken their support for granted and note that he has not met with the head of the state's largest LGBT advocacy group, The Empire State Pride Agenda.

Pride Agenda president Nathan Schaefer acknowledged that Cuomo has not met with him personally.

"We do desire a meeting with the governor but we have met with his associates," said Schaefer. "I have a hard time managing my own schedule, but like a lot of other groups around the state we would like to meet with him. We would like to talk to him about GENDA and our other legislative priorities," said Schaefer.

The Pride Agenda is expected to issue its own endorsement in the governor's race in the next few weeks. Schaefer said his group has been in communication with Cuomo's camp and that they are submitting a questionnaire for an endorsement. Meanwhile, the campaign of Republican candidate Rob Astorino has been in contact to say they will not be filling out a questionnaire.

Sen. Brad Hoylman of Manhattan who sponsors the conversion therapy bill said that clubs like Stonewall are a signifier for the community in that they represent the grassroots. "The grassroots are usually the most skeptical of legislative achievements - even achievements as great as marriage equality," Hoylman said. "They play the necessary role of agitator to push candidates on certain issues."

Hoylman says that the new Democratic majority in the Senate will allow Cuomo to move GENDA and other legislation important to the community. "The old coalition wasn't working for his legislative agenda," said Hoylman.

Ortiz says that the Stonewall Democrats have only grown in influence in the last decade. "The interest from candidates grows exponentially every year," she said. "The days when candidates would shun us or ask for our endorsement but hide it are long gone. Candidates want our endorsement and they want people to know about it."

Note: This article has been corrected to state that GLID endorsed Cuomo unanimously, it originally stated that GLID narrowly endorsed Cuomo. 

***
by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

Constituents cast ballots in participatory budgeting (pbnyc.org)

On Wednesday morning at 10:30, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, other council members, and advocates will gather in City Hall's red room to announce the expansion of participatory budgeting to at least 20 council districts.

Participatory budgeting, now entering its fourth year in New York City, will see implementation double, up from ten council districts the previous cycle, eight the second year, and four the initial year. This rapid increase in city electeds allocating $1-2 million in capital funding to community decision-making reflects the successes council members have seen in directly engaging their constituents in the budgeting process and empowering them to take ownership of bettering their communities.

The recently passed New York City municipal ID law, set to go into effect in 2015, is another effort, along with participatory budgeting (PB), to bring more New Yorkers into civic life. The ID law could even prove to be a boon to PB involvement among community members previously hesitant to register with government entities. All district residents 16 years and older can take part in the PB process where it is being implemented, which with this year's expansion nears half the city's 51 council districts.

PB allows district constituents to propose projects and vote on how to spend roughly $1 million in discretionary funds to improve their communities. Participants need not be registered New York voters or U.S. citizens, and advocates say PB has brought many more New Yorkers into community involvement.

While the official list of council members implementing PB will not be released until Wednesday morning, several participating council members have begun holding initial information sessions in their communities and Gotham Gazette has confirmed at least 20 council members who have committed to the program for fiscal year 2015, which just began on July 1.

And, though no official report on the efficacy of PB over its first three years in New York has yet been offered, the Urban Justice Center and the Participatory Budgeting Project, the not-for-profit organization that helps facilitate the PB process, released a report on year two of PB in New York that evaluated engagement and impact.

Council Participation
Participatory budgeting in New York City began in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 with implementation by Council Members Brad Lander, (now-speaker) Melissa Mark-Viverito, Jumaane Williams, and Eric Ulrich. In FY2013, the four pioneers were joined by colleagues Dan Halloran, Mark Weprin, Stephen Levin, David Greenfield.

Then, while the FY2014 PB process was happening, so were the 2013 city elections. Nine council members originally committed to PB in FY2014, with eight of them seeing the process through, and Carlos Menchaca taking over for Sara Gonzalez in council district 38 after he defeated the incumbent in the Democratic primary and went on to take the seat. Menchaca was one of many candidates in 2013 who pledged to PBNYC that they would implement the program if (re)elected.

Newly elected Council Member Ben Kallos, who had also made such a pledge, joined the nine other districts with his own truncated PB process after taking office in January of 2014, making for ten total participating districts in FY2014.

The ten districts were those represented by repeaters Lander, Mark-Viverito, Williams, Ulrich, Weprin, Levin, Greenfield; and first-timers Kallos, Gonzalez (replaced by Menchaca), and Donovan Richards.

Now, as the FY2015 process is underway, Gotham Gazette has confirmed that the ten council districts in which council members dedicated funds to PB last year will again run the program, while at least nine other council members have committed to initiate the process. These new confirmations include Council Members Corey Johnson, Helen Rosenthal, Mark Levine, Andrew Cohen, Ritchie Torres, Jimmy Van Bramer, Daneek Miller, Antonio Reynoso, and Mark Treyger.

Four other council members had pledged to The Participatory Budgeting Project that they would participate. The names of Council Members Chaim Deutsch, Inez Barron, Dan Garodnick and Laurie Cumbo were listed in a September press release from PBNYC, the Project's NYC branch. Inquiries to the offices of the Council Members Deutsch, Barron, and Cumbo have not been returned.

More clarity will be gained on Wednesday morning. There is, of course, the possibility that more than 20 council members will be implementing PB in FY2015. A higher number is more likely if Speaker Mark-Viverito has decided to dedicate greater council staff and/or funds to support PB. The speaker's office did not return multiple requests for comment.

The PB Process & Increased Community Input
PB's growth can largely be attributed to Mark-Viverito's early involvement, the community groups involved with PB, and the successes seen in the neighborhoods in which PB has been implemented. While PB funds are for capital work only and can often go to seemingly mundane projects, those chosen often relate directly to neighborhood quality of life issues. Over the past two years in New York City, PB has led to funding for expanded sidewalks for pedestrians, increased security in libraries, computers for schools, and much more.

Pam Jennings, Project Coordinator for the Participatory Budgeting Project, observes that the projects proposed through PB tend to better address community needs.

"We've seen projects that get implemented in areas where there's higher need in the community compared to in the past when it was just the council member deciding on their own," Jennings said in an interview.

In 2013, Brooklyn Council Member Brad Lander (D-39) oversaw the repaving of pothole-plagued 50th Street between Fort Hamilton Parkway and 13th Avenue. The project, costing $150,000 and greatly easing traffic on the congested roadway, was entirely initiated by constituents through the PB process and completed just over a year after it was chosen for funding. Lander is one of the only council members with a dedicated web page to tracking approved projects in his district.

After a council member decides that his or her district will be home to PB and sets aside $1-2 million in capital funds to do so, the PB process has four stages that take months of planning and dedication from the community - and the council member's staff.

Information sessions for PB start in the summer, almost immediately after a new budget is passed. Here council members spread the word and educate constituents about the process. Newly-elected Council Member Johnson, representing District 3 in Manhattan, and incumbent Council Member Van Bramer, of District 26 in Queens, are two of the many council members that have already begun holding information sessions.

District residents then come together in the fall to brainstorm ideas for capital projects that will help their communities. Capital projects are intended to better the district's infrastructure and make it a better place to live. Projects can range from park renovations to new handicap-accessible ramps to updated technology in schools.

Next, brainstormed ideas are developed and defined by cost estimates, timelines, and projections. Steering committees, made up of constituents, guide this research and compilation process. Then the projects go to a vote.

The top projects get funded - with the number of winning projects varying. Projects become earmarked within the council members' discretionary funds in the completed budget that the mayor signs into law for the following the fiscal year.

The Participatory Budgeting Project and Community Voices Heard (CVH), a grassroots community development group, come together to provide structure for the process that spans almost the entire fiscal year. The two groups conduct outreach to get residents involved, and provide materials to take the creative process through the stages.

Sondra Youdelman, Executive Director of CVH, lauds how PB creates new space for all residents to engage in the budgeting process, especially groups that have typically been marginalized.

"Relationships across constituents and residents in communities that may never interact with one another start to get built across boundaries of neighborhoods, across boundaries that are traditionally established of class, of race, of culture...and people come together for the greater good of the community," Youdelman said in an interview.

According to PBNYC, in 2014 nearly 17,000 people came out to vote on how to spend approximately $14 million in discretionary funds allocated by their council members.

However, there are inherent challenges to eliciting engagement and ensuring projects enhance communities to help the most people, and help those that are most in need, Youdelman said. It can be a question of whether to pursue, for example, more streetlights and security in NYCHA developments or new turf fields at high schools. Like any other democratic process, these decisions can come down to get out the vote efforts.

Finite staff and resources limit the capacity of nonprofit organizations, but constituent steering committees are coming up with creative ways to tackle these challenges.

"Almost like the spicy spectrum on a menu where you have an extra logo that says 'Hey, look this is a spicy thing,'" the ballot might begin to highlight projects "that really advance equity in the neighborhood, allowing individuals to decide whether they want to choose that or not," Youdelman said.

Mark-Viverito, a pioneer of PB in 2011, is now in the position of leadership where she can dedicate greater resources for PB along the lines of central staffing and accountability measures.

Tracking PB Progress
While a list of funded projects is available to the public on the PBNYC website, a clear, systematic tracking system for the status of projects does not exist. Certain council members, such as Lander, have chosen to post results on their own web pages, indicating where in the process approved projects may be.

The delayed gratification here can be challenging, Youdelman said. "It can be hard because there's a lag time between when you make a decision and when you start seeing the results," she said.

But once constituents see projects come to life, she said, it "inspires people to both understand and respect what the city government and the public sector really bring to our communities."

Note: This article has been corrected to state that Council Member Garodnick is not participating in PB, it orgininally stated that he was participating.

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by Nicola Licata, Gotham Gazette
@GothamGazette

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week:

Mayor Bill de Blasio is in Italy this week, where he kicked off his family trip that will mix business and pleasure on Sunday in Rome. De Blasio met with Roman Mayor Ignazio Marino on Sunday and his Monday includes meetings with "the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin...Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini at the Farnesina, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs" and "former Integration Minister Cécile Kyenge in Rome," according to his public schedule. New York City-based journalists in Italy reporting on the de Blasio family's trip include NY1's Grace Rauh and Juan Manual Benitez, The New York Times' Michael Grynbaum, The Daily News' Jennifer Fermino, and The Wall Street Journal's Michael Howard Saul.

De Blasio delayed his departure for Italy one day after the death of Eric Garner, a Staten Island resident, during an altercation with the NYPD. This week will surely include more fallout from Garner's death, which occurred after a chokehold was used on him - a practice which has been banned internally by the NYPD.

Also key this week is more on the electoral front, as attention on the upcoming elections will continue to mount as legislating has slowed or stopped in the City and Albany, respectively, and politicos nearly shift fully into campaign mode for the summer leading up to the September 9th primary and Novemeber 5th general elections.

Last week featured news of which 2014 candidates for state-wide and state-level elected offices filed the requisite petition signatures to make the ballot and what candidates' campaign fundraising numbers look like (investigate those filings here). This week, candidates continue to campaign and fund-raise, with the primary just seven weeks from Tuesday July 22nd.

On Monday, Siena will release a new poll on the statewide races for governor, attorney general, and comptroller; and several of the most important issues to voters, including fracking and common core.

There is governing happening, though: on Thursday, the New York City Council will meet for its lone full-body State meeting of the month. There are a few other council hearings this week. See below for details.

And, as always, there are several interesting one-off events and conferences this week to check out.

The run of the week in more detail:

Monday
The aforementioned Siena poll should be the talk of the town on Monday - along with further fallout from the death of Eric Garner and reports from the mayor's trip to Italy.

On Monday at the City Council, there are meetings of the Subcommittees on Zoning and Franchises; Landmarks, Public Siting, and Maritime Uses; and Planning, Dispositions, and Concessions. 

Tuesday
On Tuesday, the City Council's government operations committee, chaired by Council Member Ben Kallos, will hold the second hearing for two bills: one on publishing the city record online and the other on the online publication of city laws. Counsel to the Mayor, Maya Wiley, testified at the last hearing on these bills, expressing mild opposition. It is unclear if she will be testifying again.

Other council committee meetings on Tuesday include the Committees on Rules, Priveleges, and Elections; Land Use; Mental Health, Developmenta Disability, Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Disability Services; and Immigration.

The mental health committee, chaired by Council Member Corey Johnson, will be looking at "Increasing the maximum income level qualifying for exemption from rent increases granted to certain persons with disabilities."

The rules committee, chaired by Council Member Brad Lander, will meet to consider several recommended appointments by Mayor de Blasio to the City Planning Commission and one nominee to the Landmarks Preservation Committee.

And immigration, chaired by Council Member Carlos Menchaca, will meet regarding a "Resolution urging the President of the United States to include comprehensive immigration reform, and issues of importance to African immigrants and the African Diaspora, on the agenda for the 2014 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit."

On Tuesday evening, Democratic Leadership for the 21 Century (DL21C) holds its summer bash: "Join us for drinks, dancing, and mingling with fellow politicos from across New York and the nation. You'll be joined by local, state and federal elected officials, as well as civic leaders and special guests. This is the best political party of the summer and you don't miss out."

Wednesday
Crain's New York hosts a conference, "The Business of Taxis: Innovating an Industry," on Wednesday morning at John Jay College of Criminal Justice: "The yellow taxi is a New York City institution. However, the NYC of today has opened its arms to other avenues of private transportation, but not without a fight. There are a myriad of upstarts, including the city-sanctioned green cabs, e-hail apps and other car services, and the taxi establishment is not happy about it. Are these disruptors simply stepping in where taxis have historically feared to tread? What are the issues these new technologies and increasingly powerful interest groups raise in the sharing economy? And the underlying questions looms large: how do you innovate a highly regulated industry that's often resistant to change?"

On Wednesday evening, the Stonewall Democratic Club will hold it's state elections endorsement meeting. There has been some discord within the LGBT community over Gov. Andrew Cuomo's agenda and inconsistent support for the governor's re-election from LGBT clubs that have endorsed thus far. Stonewall is the largest LGBT club in New York and its vote will surely say much about the governor's standing. Meanwhile, the club will also vote on other offices that will be on the ballot this fall.

Also on Wednesday evening, it's another round of New York's "Citizens Preparedness Training Program." This one's being held at Fordham University on West 60th Street and "Sponsored by Gov. Cuomo, Congress Member Jerrold Nadler, Borough President Gale Brewer, Senator Brad Holyman, Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal, Council Member Corey Johnson, and Community Board 7."

Thursday
The City Council holds its lone July full-body Stated meeting on Thursday. Stay tuned for meeting details.

Prior to the Stated, the finance committee will meet to consider changes in designation to certain organizations receiving funding in the recently-passed fiscal year 2015 city budget, among other business.

On Thursday evening, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer hosts an Iftar dinner at The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center and "honoring Sheila Canby, Walter Edwards, and Dr. Rudina Odeh-Ramadan."

Friday and the weekend
It's the summer, so of course Friday and the weekend look light - but if you have intel on events to look for, please let us know! 

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Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? Email Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

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by Kristen Meriwether and Ben Max in New York City and David King in Albany
@GothamGazette