NY AG and New Disclosure Rules

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is holding public hearings on new disclosure rules for nonprofits engaging in politics. It's the first of four hearings that will occur throughout the state, followed by Albany, Buffalo and Long Island, to allow members of the public to comment on new regulations in person.

Schneiderman wants to require that nonprofits, including 501(c)(4) organizations registered with the state, report how much of their expenditures go toward federal, state, and local campaigns.

Groups that spend at least $10,000 to influence elections in the state must file itemized schedules of expenses and contributions, and groups that spend $25,000 or more must disclose that information for every contribution over $100.

"This would bring new transparency in city and state elections, anytime there’s over $10,000 spent," said a Schneiderman spokesman.

Mayoral hopefuls Christine Quinn, Bill de Blasio, and Bill Thompson are expected to share their thoughts at the first hearing.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Mayor's Race for 2013 Begins

The road to City Hall is starting to get crowded.

"My wish for 2013 is that we elect a successor to this administration that is even better than what we've done," Bloomberg said.

The primary is currently scheduled for September but could be pushed up to June.

It now seems certain that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's successor will be chosen in a competitive General Election in November.

The most recent possible candidate is the former Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman, Republican Joe Lhota, who has not officially declared his intentions. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is poised to be a force in the race. Lhota was a top aid to Giuliani. He appears ready to promote his campaign.

Then again, neither have many of the other likely candidates for City Hall.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Democrat, is raising money for an expected run. So is Democrat Bill de Blasio, the City's Public Advocate. City Comptroller John Liu, a Democrat, is also expected to make a bid despite a campaign fundraising scandal. Bill Thompson is the only prominent Democrat to go public with his plans. He did so shortly after losing his challenge to Mayor Bloomberg in 2009.

Mayor Bloomberg is close with Quinn, but he is not offering any endorsements just yet.

There are other Republicans who may be running. Newspaper publisher Tom Allon switched parties to run on the GOP line. So did Doe Fund president George McDonald.

John Catsimatidis, the billionaire supermarket owner, is weighing a Republican bid, and former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion and State Senator Malcolm Smith are in the mix as well. They would need approval, Wilson Pakula, from the Republican leader's to get on the line. They would also need this approval to run on any of the minor party's line.

A Wilson Pakula is an authorization given by a political party to a candidate for public office in the State of New York which allows a candidate not registered with that party to run as its candidate in a given election.

The name refers to the Wilson Pakula Act of 1947, authored by state senator Irwin Pakula and then-assemblyman (and future governor) Malcolm Wilson, which forbids candidates from receiving the nomination of a political party if they are not registered as a member of that party, unless they receive permission to enter the primary from party officials representing a majority of the vote in the jurisdiction.

It all adds up to a lot of potential candidates who have their eye on City Hall.

Update
New York City mayoral hopeful Adolfo Carrión Jr. is a leading contender for the Independence Party nomination, a ballot line that once helped boost Mayor Michael Bloomberg into City Hall.

"The leadership feels very positive about his candidacy, the fact that he's an independent, his message of nonpartisanship," party strategist Jacqueline Salit said Thursday. "The response to him has been very strong."

Ms. Salit stressed, however, that a formal vote hasn't been taken by the party's executive committee and that Mr. Carrión is still meeting with officials. A vote could come within weeks.

I will be part of the selection process.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Public Advocate and City Council Redistricting Maps

New York City Public Advocate, Bill de Blasio, and 2013 Mayoral candidate is stepping into the City Council redistricting mess, proposing new regulations to get the process sunlit.

“We just witnessed a district being redrawn to pave the way for a serial sexual harasser to stay in elected office. That’s just wrong,” said de Blasio of the current uproar over the Districting Commission's new maps -- which for now, unless they get pulled back, drawn again and resubmitted, as Council Speaker Chris Quinn wants -- clear a possible way for Assemblyman Vito Lopez to get to City Hall.

De Blasio's legislation would require:

* Publicly documenting all phone conversations, in-person meetings and written communications from elected or party officials, and their staff or agents, to Districting Commission members and staff;

* Logging all communications to Commission members and Commission staff, including the date, participants in the discussion, and a one-sentence description of the subject matter and specific districts that were discussed;

* Publishing all logged communication and documentation on the New York City Districting Commission website.

De Blasio's proposal has the backing of Common Cause/New York Executive Director Susan Lerner, who said in a statement, “Redistricting is about assuring fair and competitive elections for the voters, not an easy path to victory for politicians. Unfortunately, the process is constantly being corrupted by self-serving interests which make a mockery of our democracy. The public deserves a full and open accounting of the facts which determine our political representation."

As mentioned earlier, the Commission -- which has been widely reported to have nudged the lines to help Lopez at the request of his ally, Councilman Erik Dilan -- says on first blush it appears it has the power to withdraw its proposal and submit a new one. However that impression may be fairly new.

The process to withdraw and redo the maps has not been worked out yet or been determined the Charter allows this type of action.

UPDATE

The city’s Districting Commission will meet this morning, 12/4/2012, to formally withdraw the new City Council maps it presented last month creating a new district seemingly tailored for a Vito Lopez candidacy. The meeting was called in response to Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s demand on Thursday that the body alter its proposed council lines so Lopez, now an assemblyman, stays in his current 37th District. The 15-member body will then vote on whether to hold another round of public hearings on the new lines it intends to draw. The council must ultimately approve the new district lines. It must then send the maps to the US Justice Department for a final green light.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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