FORUM
NY’S 13TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Organized by:

Democracy for NYC • Stonewall Democratic Club,
Three Parks Democratic Club • Village Reform Democrats, truth 13

Vito Fossella, New York City’s only Republican member of Congress, has been a rubber-stamp for the Bush-Cheney White House. The NYC progressive community is determined to replace Fossella, and two Democratic candidates are running against him.

Join us for a candidate forum
to discuss issues of importance to the people of the 13th CD and the entire city.

April 15, 2008
6:30 PM

Lafayette Grill and Bar 54 Franklin Street

Take the N,R,Q,6, C and A trains to Canal Street
or the 1 train to Franklin Street.

Both Democratic candidates have been invited to attend:

Steven Harrison Dominic Recchia

(As of April 10, Steven Harrison has confirmed his attendance. Councilmember Recchia has not yet confirmed his attendance.)

The 13th Congressional District covers Staten Island and part of southwest Brooklyn. This event is being held in Manhattan to make it possible for many people to attend.

We can defeat Vito Fossella!!!

The Drum Major Institute's meeting at Baruch College yesterday was important and remarkable as much for who was there as for what was said. Three elected officials who may run for Mayor in 2009 spoke and gave those of us in the audience a side-by-side view of them as policy makers as well as campaigners. While there's a lot of substance to write about the meeting, mayoral electoral politics was on the minds of many. Diane Cardwell's NY Times article also focused on the men who would be Mayor My post on the substance will follow later today.

NYC Comptroller William C. Thompson, Congress Member Anthony Weiner and Bronx Borough President Adolpho Carrion spoke and worked the room which was filled with lobbyists, consultants, non-profit executives and policy-junkies like me. What I saw surprised me.

Judging only by their focus and remarks Monday Comptroller Thompson and Bronx Beep Carrion do not intend to run against Mayor Bloomberg's record. This was a surprise to me, since of late, a firestorm of criticism against the Mayor has been burning over Mr. Bloomberg's education policies and practices. Indeed Mr. Thompson has sometimes been one of those setting the anti-Bloomberg fire alight.

Listening yesterday, however, the only potential candidate who clearly articulated a progressive platform against Mr. Bloomberg's record was Congress Member Weiner. As in his previous run for Mayor, Mr. Weiner was focused, smart and informed. On a panel with Council Member John Liu and Carrion, Weiner wit sparkled. On health care for employees of small business, for example, Weiner proposed that NYC bring the cost down by forming a small-business buyers' cooperative. It's well known that those entities able to deliver big pools of insured people (Big Corporations, NYC) get better insurance for lower prices. It's not the best solution (single payer, universal health insurance, as I see it), but its better than what we have now for small business. Carrion and Lu were skeptical and critical without any thought out reasons. I guess I'm also a fan of Mr. Weiner's Schumer-style sharpness and repartee.

New York State Assemblyman and Staten Island Democratic Party chair John Lavelle died 10:20 pm in Richmond University Medical Center last night from stroke related complications . He would have turned 58 on Friday.

Lavelle suffered the stroke shortly after midnight last Friday morning in the bathroom of popular Staten Island Democrat hang out Jody's Club Forrest, just after addressing the Young Democrats of Richmond County.

Lavelle, a former Met Life executive, became party chair in 1999 and was elected to the Assembly in 2000. He is also a former president of the borough's most progressive Democratic political club, Staten Island Democratic Association (SIDA), which I belong to.

He is survived by sons, John, Christopher, and Daniel and three grandchildren.

The wake will be at Harmon's Funeral Home, 571 Forest Avenue, Saturday, 7:00 - 9:00 P.M., and Sunday, 2:00 - 4:00 and 7:00 - 9:00 P.M. The funeral will be Monday at 10:00 A.M. at St. Peter's Church, 53 St. Mark's Place.

One of Lavelle's kidneys was used to save someone else's life just before his death.

Concern about issues such as poverty and civil rights fueled his political activism.  read more »

I've been involved to a limited degree with Manny Innamorato's special election campaign to fill Andrew Lanza's usually empty Southshore/Mid-Island council seat (Marchi's successor and Titone's State Senate opponent had the worst attendance in the Council)against State Assemblyman Vincent Ignizio, a Vito protege.

Manny, the head of IT for the City of Yonkers (Talk about bad commutes), held a fundraiser last night on the Island. Steve, Janele and most Staten Island Democratic officeholders, activists and operatives were there.

Daniel is right, that a win here would help Democrats win other races in the forgotten borough (Although I appreciate Daniel not forgetting us). Ignizio, who ran unopposed for his Assembly spot, is being groomed to eventually succeed Fossella. Iggy defeated Manny for the Assembly seat in 04. Beating him in the council race will dampen his ambition and possibly give a Southshore Democrat the courage to oppose him when he runs for reelection to Albany.

The Council district is slightly more Democratic than that of the all Republican dominated Southshore Assembly because it includes New Springville which is mixed (New Springville became slightly less Democratic two days after election day when my wife and myself moved to the Northshore.)Manny should do better than he did against Iggy for City Hall than for Albany just based on that.  read more »

I am both a big fan and a big critic of the progressive grassroots. I think at their best, it is the progressive grassroots that can bring out the best in American government. And this recent election showed the worth of such grassroots movements like Act Blue, Progressive Majority and MoveOn.org. But one of my main criticisms of the progressive grassroots is their lack of unity and ability to stick it out for the long haul.

Chris Owens, a favorite grassroots progressive in Brooklyn and favorite bugbear of City Councilman David Yassky, is doing his best to make the grassroots in Brooklyn both more unified and more effective with a new initiative (and organizing base for future campaigns) called New Brooklyn Leadership.

What could bring together Michael Bouldin, Daily Gotham coiner of the term "Green tools of the right" and members of the Green Party?

Chris Owens can do it.

Last night was Chris' thank you party for those who helped him in his recent run for Congress, and his announcement of the New Brooklyn Leadership movement.

At its root, this is an attempt to keep together the very active, very dedicated grassroots coalition that rallied around Chris Owens' candidacy and to hone that coalition into a more effective and lasting tool. And it was a good start. Members of both IND and CBID were there, representing the area's two best known "reform Democratic" clubs. Members of the Green Party were there, including former Brooklyn BP candidate Gloria Mattera. Daily Gotham's own anti-Green enthusiast Michael Bouldin was there. Members of Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn were there. Bigwigs from New Democratic Majority were there. It was, in short, a pretty good cross section of the recent Norm Seigel (2005) and Chris Owens (2006) campaigns and probably the most active participants in Brooklyn's sometimes thin grassroots. There were over 100 people in the room at one time, and people were coming and going, indicating that many more were probably there at some time or another.  read more »