I got a check for $400 from Mike Bloomberg yesterday. He's so thoughtful! It came right in the nick of time, too: all those start of the month bills were piling up. What timing.

What timing, indeed. The general election is one month away, and it's not like that good-for-nothing Freedy Ferrer can afford to cut a check that fat for every voter. However, unlike last year's property tax rebate, this check wasn't signed by the Mayor. City ethics rules prevent a candidate's name from appearing in a high profile city-funded mailing such as this within 90 days of the election.

It's a nice nod to ethics, but how are the last 90 days supposed to counter-balance an entire term spent plastering the incumbent's name and face all over government funded mailings, tv ads and billboards? All politicians do this. George Pataki can be heard extolling the beauty of New York in tourism ads, and crowing about health care for tots in PSA's. In the town of Hempstead (where, yes, I have been spending an awful lot of time), the blasted name Kate Murray is ubiquitous. Her ads are everywhere. Her name appears on every town building, van, pamphlet - you name it. Seniors, got a problem? Call Kate Murray's senior hotline.

The spoils of office have been exploited since the earliest days of cities and party politics. Tammany Hall hacks famously gave out free turkeys at Thanksgiving to maintain the loyal votes of poor voters. So why mask it with this veneer of fairness in the very late days of the election campaign? Just put the mayor's name and face at the top of the ballot, along with a special message from him saying "these elections are the city's way of thanking you for keeping New York City strong during difficult times."

Alternatively, we can ban elected officials from appearing in taxpayer financed advertisements and mailings. In fact, let's ban anyone with a remote chance of running for office from appearing in these materials. I nominate convicted felons and undocumented immigrants' to be the city's new spokespeople. If this is too controversial, perhaps we could arrange for an anthropomorphic cartoon puppy, or perhaps a reanimated dead celebrity?

www.shaunrichman.org