Political seasons come and go; some call them “silly season(s)”, some call them other names. Some of the terms I won’t repeat here on this ‘family’ blog site/lol. I don’t call them anything other than what they are (and I will keep that a secret). I just try to have a lil fun during the stressful times, that’s all. You’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself folks: otherwise you will lose it. So; now that I am trying to juggle between running for the city council and blogging about things political in New York (and some other places sometimes), I keep getting my sanity tested near everyday.

Firstly; my diminutive manager is a lil tyrant. Secondly; her band of female deputies, plus the other females on the team (“the solid-rock score”) are probably just as tyrannical -but not as Napoleonic. I have twenty people on my core team -plus a bunch of others on the periphery- and you know what: they are all political experts now. They all try to tell me what not to do: every second, every minute, and every hour of the day or night. One of my senior advisors told me to bring in just one person for that role; I did. I brought in a power-hitter from Brooklyn’s rough and tumble world of politics: Ms. Nancy Ramos. Now I have another woman to slap me around as I go on this journey. Ms. Ramos comes with a big political reputation. She can manage a campaign with her eyes half-closed.

As you are probably observing, I don’t write here much anymore. I am under orders, or I may get my hands broken/lol. But next week when my manager goes on vacation, I will try to keep some of you (my fans) happy, by dropping a column or two -to catch up on things political (especially in Brooklyn). I have a lot to tell you folks.

Anyway, I want to tell you about a political event that’s coming up, since I am hoping to see some of you there. I am formally endorsing Norman Siegel at the first Bar-B-Q of the political season. Hopefully he will cross-endorse me at the same event. If he doesn’t, then that’s fine too: my endorsement of him came with no strings attached and with no pre-conditions whatsoever.

This is the event, over the fold:  read more »

Since I have gotten so many calls for a platform; and since many of you want to get my rationale for running; and since many of you have been using my lack of a public platform, as a basis for withholding your support (and money/lol) for my campaign for the New York City Council (District#40); I have decided to submit a first draft on some of the issues I feel strongly about. Do note that is not the finished product. Note also that I have deliberately withheld some aspects of my platform for some personal and minor tactical reasons.

I haven’t talked about my view on term limits in the platform because I have written extensively about it. I am a supporter of term limits for ALL electeds (federal, state, city/local). I believe that the voters have spoken twice on the issue. If the immoral extension passed by some cowardly council members last year isn’t overturned by the courts soon, then we have to take it to referendum for the ratification of a 12 year (3 terms) limit in the next council (2010). We must also put into law that the methodology for overturning term limits in future has to be referendum (plebiscite).

I am also totally opposed to any tolls on the East River crossings. I am for total scrutiny of the composition of the various statutory boards and commissions that make hard decisions which impact the lives of city residents. Many of these entities must be brought into the reality of the 21st century. They must become more inclusive and diverse. Too many boards, commissions and agencies -controlled by the governor, mayor, speaker or city council- lack racial, gender, ethnic, and nationalistic diversity. This is shameful. The MTA is a good starting place. We need to revamp that board immediately; then follow up with the Rent Commission/Board next. The make-up (composition) of these boards/comisisons must reflect the diversity of this international city.

Anyway, without much further ado, let me present you with my inchoate platform. Do comment. I expect (and intend) to do some revisions before the election.  read more »

And so the field narrows: The New York Times reports that Congressman Weiner (D-NY-09) is "stepping back" from the Mayoral race.

“More and more, it’s looking like this is not a fight that Weiner wants to take on,” said Scott Levenson, a Democratic political consultant who is not aligned with any campaign this year.

In a letter to about 1,300 campaign supporters, Mr. Weiner, who has already raised about $6.6 million for the race, said he would make up his mind at the end of May, three months before the primary. At that time, he wrote, he would “look at the lay of the land again and try to determine the best political course.”

If he stays out, Democrats will have - barring the entry of other contestants - a one-person primary. There are advantages and disadvantages to the absence of a competitive race: on the plus side, there won't be the usual acrimonious divisions (cf. Green versus Ferrer), on the minus, the lack of a primary means that a campaign's operations won't be tested before November.

This comes from a district I am not so familiar with so have so far stayed neutral on. I know Rock Hackshaw has been critical of Al Vann (the incumbent) and that Vann was part of the Bloomberg Putsch. Saquan Jones is one of several primary opponents for the 36th district and has sent the following call for debates to all the primary candidates:

During my pursuit for Brooklyn’s 36th District City Council Seat, I have experienced a number of twists and turns, but the one constant I have come to realize is that there are still GOOD PEOPLE out there. Regardless of presentation…good people listen, regardless of strife…good people still create opportunities and regardless of conditions…good people persevere. Recently, I started the door-to-door portion of my campaign and during this process; I have been embraced with open arms, so I will add another facet:

GOOD PEOPLE DESERVE GREAT LEADERSHIP  read more »

Now that the 2008 Elections is blessedly over, it's time to move forward. A good part of that move forward is the fight against Mayor Bloomberg's despotic (and probably unconstitutional) Power grab.

The attraction of a third Bloomberg term - never mind that third terms historically haven't worked out so well, cf. Mayors LaGuardia (died), John Lindsay Robert Wagner (fixed!) and Ed Koch - is assumed to lie in what is being sold as his managerial competence and wall Street background in the midst of a Wall Street crisis. Why on earth it would occur to anyone to pick a Wall Street high-flyer to fix a mess caused by other Wall Street high-flyers eludes me, but there's that trusty old sense of logic that really has no place in politics again.

In terms of managerial competence, however, there are very solid arguments to make against a third Bloomberg administration. Consider the World Trade Center.

Over seven years after the attack, there is no new World Trade Center. The new Path station is a shambles, plagued by cost overruns and design changes. It is years from completion. The overall master plan for the site has been revised more times than the mayor has hairs on his head (a shrinking number to be sure, but we're talking about revisions to the biggest urban renewal project in the country). The time tables keep on being revised, and always further out. The memorial? Non-existent, and don't expect it to be built until 2011. What has been built on the site is 7 World Trade, notable for one reason: it was the one part of the rebuilding effort that the Bloomberg administration played no role in.

Meanwhile, rescue workers at the site, the same people we all applauded as they traveled down to the pit, are the victim of, to use the proper term, Bush EPA lies, with increasing rates of sickness. Has the mayor sued? No, of course not. Adults near the site on 9/11 are twice as likely as the general population to develop asthma.

The list of failures, of lost opportunities and tragic human impact goes on and on. And apparently, we need four more years of this, according to some worthless human beings (using the term loosely) on the City Council, and a bunch of billionaires who know better than we do what we need in our government.

Update: Dan Jacoby emails that Fiorello LaGuardia didn't die in office. True enough, but it's commonly assumed that the stress of the office contributed to his death.  read more »