Recently saw a reasonably good rundown of the race for Brooklyn's 33rd City Council District in City Hall News. Now there is a particular reporter for City Hall News who I plan on never quoting because I have learned from my wife that he is a little weasel who believes it is his job to sneak into private meetings and quote people without permission, and that little weasel will never get a link from me (not that he cares, most likely). But the author of this article is not that little weasel so I am willing to post about it.

The interesting thing about the race for this district, currently Yassky's seat, is just how it pits some real nasty characters against reasonably clean candidates.

Now there are two candidates who I am sure expected to be frontrunners...but they aren't. I am of the impression that Jo Anne Simon is currently the frontrunner in almost every way, though in a 6-way race that may change. I will discuss Jo Anne later. First I want to discuss the two who surely expected frontrunner status but who are just as surely lagging.  read more »

David Yassky currently seems the most targeted of the Bloomberg 29 (personally I would like to see Recchia and Quinn get more heat for their ass kissing of Tsar Bloomberg). I already posted a statement from Ken Diamondstone criticizing Yassky and making it pretty clear Diamondstone was still planning on running for the 33rd City Council seat, even if Yassky is still hanging on.

Now Jo Anne Simon, another declared candidate in the 33rd race, has issued a statement:

Should term limits be extended? Are two terms simply insufficient for the executive and the legislature to accomplish what each does best? Is the current financial crisis truly that rarest of situations where the law should be set aside to effectuate a result propounded by one person (the mayor) but likely to benefit several incumbent interests, such as city council members (who had the up or down vote), borough presidents and other, city-wide elected officials?

New Yorkers differ about the answers.  read more »

I assume from this statement that Ken Diamondstone plans to challenge Yassky for the 33rd City Council seat. Here is Ken's statement:

Brooklyn Council Candidate Ken Diamondstone's Statement on David Yassky's "Yes" Vote on a Legislative Change to Term Limits

COUNCILMAN DAVID YASSKY BETRAYS VOTERS

On October 23rd, David Yassky finally revealed what many who live in the 33rd Council District suspected all along. By voting "yes" on a legislative change to the term limits law, Yassky has once again demonstrated that while he plays at being a progressive working for the people, the real reason he is in office is to serve his own self-interest.

These past few weeks have been the most disgraceful chapter in Yassky's seven years in office. His alleged indecision on extending term limits made it clear that David Yassky lacks both courage and conviction. He didn't have the guts to stand before the residents of the 33rd Council District to admit his plan to sell them out, so he could treat himself to four more years of the same at City Hall.  read more »

Alrighty then: Per Azi, Ken Diamondstone has thrown his hat and not insubstantial personal resources into the ring for the 33rd City, currently represented by one David Yassky.

When he ran for State Senate in 2006, Diamondstone was seeking to represent a district that covers lower Manhattan and portions of Brooklyn. Diamondstone lost the Manhattan portion of the district to Connor by 2,163 votes, but he carried the Brooklyn portion by 1,384 votes.

The 33rd Council district overlaps with that area of Brooklyn.

Already in that City Council race are Yassky’s former aide Evan Thies, Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s chief of staff Stephen Levin [Ed. note TDG: No Effing Way], Democratic district leader and attorney Jo Anne Simon, and chair of the Sierra Club’s political committee in New York City, Ken Baer.  read more »