As Steve Harrison wraps up most of the local endorsements for his run for Congress (in both Bay Ridge and Staten Island) we need to get busy fundraising for him. After all, this is the only Congressional seat in NYC filled by a Repub, a corrupt one at that...and it's about time to get rid of him. Steve is the man to do that.

Steve has also recently signed on to the "Responsible Plan for Iraq," aimed at ending our military occupation of Iraq while preserving regional stability.

Here's a Staten Island fundraiser for him:

House Party for Steve Harrison for Congress
Sun., Mar. 30, 2008; 4:00 to 6:30
Hosted by Dave Hernandez and Rich Greve
125 Roe Street, Staten Island, NY
Suggested Donation $50

And if you can't make it but still want to help, you can donate at the Daily Gotham Act Blue site.

Democratic Congressional candidates around the country - Darcy Burner, Eric Massa, Steve Harrison, Donna Edwards, and many more - are embracing the Responsible Plan, an effort to get American troops out of Iraq while preserving regional stability, United States interests and restoring American moral leadership. Every Progressive should read this document. If there is a way forward, this is it.

Here's Steve Harrison, running for Congress against Bush lap dog Vito Fossella in New York's Thirteenth District, speaking on why he was one of the ten original supporters of the Responsible Plan.

On the web: Steve Harrison for Congress
Donate: Steve Harrison's ActBlue Page

New York City has only one Republican Congressional Rep, Bush Lap Dog Vito Fossella. This guy opposes securing America's ports, flip flops on privatization of Social Security, and has voted to support Bush's Iraq quagmire at every opportunity. Fossella has voted the Bush Republican Party line more than 90% of the time. Hence his designation as Bush Lap Dog.

Here is what the NY Times had to say about Vito Fossella in 2006:

He has been a real water-carrier for the Bush administration and the Republican leadership, staunchly backing the war in Iraq while at the same time denying health benefits to National Guard and Reserve members who make up much of the American force there.

Below is a link to a story positioning Steve Harrison as the candidate of the people and Domenic Recchia as the Brooklyn machine's choice in City Hall News.

The article mentions the Daily Gotham, but the reporter didn't contact Bouldin and Mole as I suggested when he was writing the piece.

http://www.cityhallnews.com/news/128/ARTICLE/1316/2007-11-12.html

Moveon.org has a fascinating new resource, a listing of the expense of the Iraq War extrapolated out to every Congressional district in the nation.

So let's take a look at what New York City's lone republican, Vito Fossella, is costing his community (.pdf file).

The Iraq War has cost New Yorkers as a whole $40.91 billion. The cost to residents of the Thirteenth Congressional District amounts to $1.56 billion.

From the report:

What Citizens of New York's 13th District Could Have Gotten Instead:
· Health care coverage for 283,252 people—or 536,733 kids, or
· Head Start for 177,181 additional kids, or
· 18,745 new elementary school teachers, or
· 256,786 scholarships to make college more affordable, or
· Renewable electricity for 2,917,228 homes, or
· 8,857 affordable housing units, or
· 30,939 public safety officers to keep the streets safe

These numbers become more scandalous when you compare them with actual Census data. The total population of the district is estimated in 2005 at 669,362; that's $2,330 and change per person in the district. The district has only 45,471 children under five, thereby eligible for Head Start - not 177,181. It has only 257,907 housing units - not 2,917,228.

Well, that didn't take long. In the first news cycle after Steve Harrison's announcement for Congress in the Thirteenth District, Vito Fossella's lackeys are playing the cheese-eating surrender monkey card.

Harrison:

“I am running because I believe we have to build a majority of Democrats in Congress to stop this ill-conceived war,” said Harrison. “I absolutely believe the war in Iraq was wrong, and I would prefer to not even use the term war on terror.”

Fossella flack:

"Surrender Steve may be the only person left in America who doesn't believe that we're fighting a war on terrorism," Kay said after she learned of Harrison's comments.

Got that? But it gets better.

The Steve Harrison campaign just confirmed that he is indeed running for Congress.

Brooklyn attorney and 2006 NY 13 Congressional District (Staten Island and Southwest Brooklyn) Democratic Candidate Steve Harrison will formally announce his candidacy for this seat in 2008 at a 12: 30 PM August 9 press conference at Staten Island’s Arthur Von Briesen Park (foot of Bay Street at Fort Wadsworth). The press conference was originally scheduled for August 8, but was postponed out of respect to victims of the Bay Ridge tornado and Staten Island weather related damage.

Who: Brooklyn Attorney and 2006 Democratic Congressional Candidate Steve Harrison
What: Press Conference concerning 2008 NY 13 CD (Staten Island/Brooklyn) race
When: Aug 8, 2007 12:30 PM
Where: Arthur Von Briesen Park (foot of Bay Street at Fort Wadsworth), Staten Island.

Nice. Turns out I was right - Ha!

Hmmmm.

An email informs that Steve Harrison, the Democratic candidate in last year's Congressional election in the Thirteenth District, is holding a press conference tomorrow at 12:30.

Who: Brooklyn Attorney and 2006 Democratic Congressional Candidate Steve Harrison
What: Press Conference concerning 2008 NY 13 CD (Staten Island/Brooklyn) race
When: Aug 9, 2007 12:30 PM
Where: Arthur Von Briesen Park (foot of Bay Street at Fort Wadsworth), Staten Island.

You have to wonder what that's all about. Just as a refresher, Harrison lost last November to Vito Fossella, 42,739 to 55,981.

Brooklyn Attorney Steve Harrison and Staten Island educator Mark Zink will announce the forming of the non-partisan SIBRO Civic Association in a 7 PM July 18 press conference at the Staten Island South Beach Boardwalk Gazebo overlooking Southwest Brooklyn. For disclosure purposes, I'm SIBRO's acting corresponding sec.

SIBRO (Staten Island/Brooklyn) Civic Association is dedicated to narrowing the Narrows and bridging the gap between people who live on opposite sides of the bridge, focusing issues that impact Staten Island and Southwest Brooklyn residents together.

They brainstormed the idea in January 2006, before Steve ran for congress, in popular Staten Island hangout Schaffer's. Schaffer's is one of my favorite Staten Island bars because of their extensive beer selection (I'm a beer geek) although I'm always puzzled how they can close before midnight on Saturdays.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg used his first public appearance since announcing switching from the Republican Party to being an independent, a press conference celebrating the alleged success of his 311 program, to showcase his policy creativity to the media.

Bloomberg’s aware that his leaving the Republican Party would confirm to the media, his current constituents and potential presidential voters, that he’s pursuing an independent Presidential candidacy, despite saying wink, wink, I’m not running, and knew the world be watching his first appearance after making public his official political independence. This is why Bloomberg is using a press conference honoring 311, a program that he is particularly but unjustifiably proud of, as the location of his personal Presidential Debutante Ball.

Bloomberg hoped touting 311 success would perpetuate the myth that he’s a non-partisan problem solver. But the emperor has no clothes. 311 is useless.

Mayor Bloomberg won’t allow 311 operators internet access because he’s afraid they’d shop at work.

The 311 non-emergency government information system is a program Mayor Bloomberg loves to brag about, touting it as among his greatest accomplishments during the 05 campaign.

311 operators’ mission is to help citizens navigate the often confusing government agency maze. Theoretically, 311 could duplicate much of what the Public Advocate’s office is charged with doing as the people’s ombudsman. But that’s theory. In reality, 311 is not much more useful than 411 directory assistance operators, with 311 often referring callers back to the agency whose non-responsiveness or unavailability, if the problem arises after the agency is closed, prompted the 311 call to begin with. One reason for the department’s relative uselessness, is their lack of internet access.

It blows my mid, that in 2007, 14 years after the web became a mainstream information resource, that New York City won’t allow people whose primary responsibility is to provide information, internet access.

Domenic Recchia, go home.

Brooklyn City Councilman Domenic Recchia has been making the rounds on Staten Island in recent weeks. Some speculated that the Daily News Knucklehead award winner( http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2006/12/26/2006-12-26_how_stupid_can...) was visiting the forgotten borough because he was seeking citywide office. Others correctly speculated that he was contemplating running a primary against Steve Harrison for the right to attempt to unseat Vito Fossella, New York City’s only Republican member of Congress, who represents all of Staten Island and a portion of Brooklyn. Crain’s and the Staten Island Advance confirmed his potentially disastrous for those wanting to Veto Vito, ambitions.

Brooklyn attorney Harrison ran a gallant campaign last year, losing by a smaller percentage of the vote than any of Fossella’s opponents since he supplanted the Molinari dynasty in 1997. Harrison accomplished this despite being out spent 12-1 by Fossella, largely because people like Recchia, who represents a tiny portion of the Congressional District in the Council, did squat for Steve.

Harrison has not formally announced his repeat candidacy yet, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that he’s likely to run based on his ubiquitous presence on Staten Island since the election. He also couldn’t announce because of party chair John Lavelle’s death and three first quarter 2007 special elections in Staten Island.

Stonewall Dems email over announcing that the winner of yesterday's special election in Staen Island is Matt Titone. Titone will take the seat of the late John Lavelle, representing the North Shore of the borough.

The New York Times:

In a special election yesterday, Staten Islanders elected the borough’s first openly gay official by selecting Matthew Titone to a State Assembly seat on the island’s north shore...

The Staten Island race in the 61st Assembly District drew a great deal of attention because of Mr. Titone and his two rivals. The Independence Party candidate, Kelvin Alexander, would have been the borough’s first black assemblyman had he prevailed. And Rose Margarella, the Republican candidate, would have been the first of her party to be elected from this heavily Democratic district in recent history.

With 100 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Titone received 2,888 votes, Ms. Margarella 1,846 and Mr. Alexander 1,122, according to unofficial figures from the New York City Board of Elections.

The question that should be asked, however, is whether Titone will actually represent his constituents, or become yet another faceless vote drone in the Assembly.

The City Board of Elections denied Independence Party candidate to replace the late John Lavelle representing Staten Island’s North Shore in the March 27 Special Election Kelvin Alexander’s bid to place his made up Family First line (Not to be confused with Working Families which supports Democratic opponent Matt Titone ) as an additional line on the ballot. The board ruled that 611 of the petition’s 1616 signatures were invalid, leaving him short of the 1100 he needed for that additional line.

Alexander, a Staten Island Democratic County Committee member, is running on the Independence line and potentially turning a potential easy Democratic win into an opportunity for Republican Rose Margarella because the party chose Titone over him. He is undecided if he’ll fight the ruling with the state Supreme Court.

Alexander has accused any challenge of his fabricated party petition as marginalizing minority voters. I find that a stretch since he’s already on the ballot as a better known party’s candidate.

I also need to clarify that I am supporting Titone in this race. I have donated money to Titone, campaigned with Matt and have a Titone sign on my front lawn. There are some comments on the Link TextStaten Island Advance’s SIlive political forum that take out of context my initial backing of Alexander in the Daily Gotham. Although I would have voted for Alexander in the first round of voting at the County Convention had I been allowed to participate, I would have switched to Titone in subsequent rounds. Also for the SIlivers who read my blog, I was not one of the January Committee additions thought loyal to Olivari. I was told I was added in June 2006 and still haven’t been named to the Committee and thus still can not vote in County matters.

Candidates to fill the late John Lavelle’s State Assembly seat, the openly Gay Matt Titone and Kelvin Alexander, a co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care accuse each other’s campaigns of bigotry according to Saturday’s Link TextStaten Island Advance.

Democratic Candidate Titone, who lost to Andrew Lanza in a November State Senate bid, has been challenging Alexander, the Independence Party candidate (But still a member of County Democratic Committee) and Democratic Brooklyn State Senator Eric Adams ‘s chief of staff’s petition signatures. Not signatures for his Independence candidacy, but those for his made up additional line, the Family First Party (Which has nothing to do with the Working Families Party).

Alexander finished a distant fourth at the Staten Island Democratic Committee’s nominating convention, but anticipating that secured the Independence nomination and began petitioning for his made up party line before the convention.

Alexander ridiculously asserted Titone’s challenging of his Family First Party signatures, many of which were allegedly from non-registered voters and people not living in the district marginalizes blacks, while Titone counters that the word “Family” in Kelvin’s party moniker could be a homophobic code word suggesting that Matt being Gay means he’s anti-family.