Shafran not conceding to Vallone

From the Daily News:

City Council hopefuls Paul Vallone and Austin Shafran are separated by just 144 votes in a Democratic Primary race that is still too close to call.

The two are leading a five-candidate battle for a shot at the northeastern Queens seat currently held by disgraced Republican City Councilman Dan Halloran.

Vallone, the son of former speaker Peter Vallone and the brother of City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., claimed victory Tuesday night when unofficial tallies showed he had 2,723 votes. But Shafran, with 2,579 votes, refused to concede until the voting machines are checked and paper ballots counted, a process that begins on Monday.

“Protecting voting rights is the foundation of our democracy so we will use every legal option possible to ensure every vote is fully and fairly counted,” he said Wednesday.

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2013 Primary election results

Good morning! I hope you all are happy waking up in a City that soundly rejected Christine Quinn last night. She came in with 15% of the vote. Bye-bye, Bloomberg lite!

The likely winner without a runoff is Bill DeBlasio. As of last night, he had 40.2% of the vote, with Bill Thompson coming in at 26%. Whether or not there is a runoff, however, let me point out once again that the political careers of Christine Quinn, John Liu and Anthony Weiner are DONE.

Scott Stringer bested Eliot Spitzer in the Comptroller's race and Letitia James and Daniel Squadron will go head to head in a runoff for Public Advocate.

Locally, Melinda Katz soundly defeated Peter Vallone, Jr. and even with the 9% or so of the vote that Tony Avella allegedly took away from Vallone, he still would not have beaten her. So much for Italian power.

In district 19, The latest numbers are Paul Vallone 2,723 votes to Austin Shafran's 2,579 votes with 98% of precincts reporting. Neither Huffington Post nor NY1 has called it for Vallone, although he claimed victory. So, in November, it MAY be Vallone and Republican Dennis Saffran. Will Saffran win because most Dems picked anybody but Vallone? Time will tell. (Apologies for previous mistake. Shafran got WFP endorsement, but NOT their line. He is challenging the election results.)

In the 22nd CD, Costa Constantinides handily beat John Ciafone.

In the 24th CD, Rory Lancman creamed Andrea Veras.

In the 27th CD, it's still a race between Daneek Miller (3,756) and Clyde Vanel (3,360) with 98% reporting.

In the 28th CD, Ruben Wills beat Hettie Powell.

In the 31st CD, Donovan Richards beat Michael Duncan.

And in the 32nd CD, Lew Simon beat William Ruiz.

Also, thankfully, in the 34th CD, which covers mostly Bushwick but half of Ridgewood, Antonio Reynoso sent Vito Lopez packing once and for all.

Sadly, because we are a one-party town run by a political machine, there were no primaries in the 20th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 26th, 29th or 30th districts and all incumbents ran unopposed.

In kind of a surprise, in Brooklyn, 23-year incumbent DA Charles Hynes was defeated by challenger Kenneth Thompson.

UPDATE:

Tony Nunziato and Phil Ragusa were also reelected as GOP state committeemen.

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19th CD parishioner lists given to pro-Vallone PAC

The mailers get even more interesting. The Catholic Citizens Committee PAC somehow got hold of parishioner lists from the churches within the 19th CD and sent out 2 mailers to those folks: one for Peter Vallone and one for Paul Vallone.

The Catholic church is prohibited from making endorsements, so I suppose they formed a PAC to get around that.

And they wonder why people don't go to church the way they used to. The unholy alliances must stop.

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Just when you thought they couldn't stoop any lower...

Jobs for NY is now using dead children to scare families into voting for Paul Vallone.

Jobs? New York? Won't find them here.

There's no shame at all in NYC politics these days.

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Lots of outside money in council and mayoral races

From the NY Times:

With little more than a week to go before the Democratic primary for New York mayor, outside groups have poured $3 million into supporting and opposing their preferred candidates, according to the most current figures through Sunday.

The effect of those expenditures is being closely watched, because this is the first citywide election in which outside groups, like corporations and unions, have had an opportunity to spend unlimited amounts on campaigns in the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case.

And with the majority of candidates abiding by tight spending caps in exchange for participating in the city’s matching-fund program, any significant outside financing, especially for political ads and mailings, could make a difference.

In the race for mayor, for instance, all the major Democratic contenders are participating in the program, which allows the campaigns to spend $6.7 million in the primary.

So far, William C. Thompson Jr., a former city comptroller, has benefited from $1.55 million in outside money, making him the biggest beneficiary, by far, of such support, according to detailed records cataloged by the city’s Campaign Finance Board. Much of the money has been spent on palm cards, radio commercials and mailers, thanks to a group affiliated with the United Federation of Teachers, which has endorsed Mr. Thompson.

New York City is Not for Sale, a group of animal-rights activists and others who are vehemently opposed to the candidacy of Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, have spent $774,000. They were the first outside groups to spend money on a television commercial criticizing a candidate, and many political analysts say their relentless campaign has hurt Ms. Quinn.

Ms. Quinn, in fact, is the only mayoral candidate who has been the target of outside spending.

Some of that opposition, however, may have been blunted by $657,000 from outside groups that support Ms. Quinn. Of that amount, about $610,000 has been spent on English and Spanish-language materials by a group connected with the Hotel Trades Council, which has endorsed Ms. Quinn.

Locally, we have this:

Jobs for New York, Inc.: independent expenditures of $7,755 since 8/5 opposing Chrissy Vosckerichian @electchrissy #FilingDay

— NYC Campaign Finance (@NYCCFB) September 1, 2013

Jobs for New York, Inc.: independent expenditures of $21,003 since 8/5 opposing Austin Shafran @Austin4Council #FilingDay

— NYC Campaign Finance (@NYCCFB) September 1, 2013

Jobs for New York, Inc.: independent expenditures of $16,238 since 8/5 opposing Paul Graziano @PaulGraziano19 #FilingDay

— NYC Campaign Finance (@NYCCFB) September 1, 2013

Jobs for New York, Inc.: independent expenditures of $105,885 since 8/5 supporting Paul Vallone@PaulVallone #FilingDay

— NYC Campaign Finance (@NYCCFB) September 1, 2013

Jobs for New York, Inc.: independent expenditures of $5,251 on 8/31 opposing John Ciafone #DailyFiling - http://t.co/icfNwiAo21

— NYC Campaign Finance (@NYCCFB) September 2, 2013

Jobs for New York, Inc.: independent expenditures of $24,999 since 8/5 supporting Costa Constantinides @VoteCosta #FilingDay

— NYC Campaign Finance (@NYCCFB) September 1, 2013

Planned Parenthood of NYC Political Cmte: ind expenditures of $3,895 since 8/5 supporting Melinda Katz @MelindaKatz #FilingDay

— NYC Campaign Finance (@NYCCFB) September 1, 2013

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Paul Vallone's many faux pas on citywide TV

The entire debate is on NY1 and apparently no password is needed to see it.

At 24 seconds into the 2nd segment:

Chrissy:

As we all know, Jobs For New York has endorsed you and your campaign. And they also have spent over $100K to falsely attack your opponents. Now, you and I have always talked, and you have stated publicly that you were against negative campaigning, and it's something that you would not condone. However, your spokesperson has said that you were happy and willing to accept help from anyone that was willing to give it to you. So, my question is why have you never publicly denounced the attacks, and why did you not ask Jobs For New York to stop the negative attacks on your behalf because you do not condone them?

Vallone:

Well one of the things that Chrissy and I agree on is running a positive campaign is paramount and is something that's respected and needed in our district. And one of our important messages is always to say is outside expenditures should be banned across the board. Not just any one organization - all of them. Local races should remain local. Period. What are you responsible for these days? The campaign you lead and the positive message you send out. In 2009, my first campaign, and again now in 2013, our message has never been about the other candidates - publicly at debates, publicly here, you never go after candidates. It's not what the people deserve. So my campaign is a positive message, and any outside groups should be banned from being involved in any of our local races, period.

[Basically, he refused to denounce Jobs For New York.]
Graziano:

Since you haven't denounced what Jobs For New York has done, I'm going to take a different approach, which is that you talk about community and unity as part of the main thrust of your campaign, how does that reconcile with the votes you have done at Community Board 7 - for example, when you backed Gambino crime family associates for the White House to build construction against the wishes of the community in Whitestone and the neighbors?

Vallone:

It's interesting when you can speak for Community Board 7 when you don't sit on Community Board 7. Community Board 7 overwhelmingly approved the project that Mr. Graziano is referring to. It was a manufacturing block and it was a project that everyone who was there approved. And typical to Mr. Graziano's demeanor is to come in at the last minute and cause strife. So unlike campaigns that try to segregate the community, we unite the community. And that's what leadership should do. You should talk to the community board, talk to the elected officials, not stand on the corner screaming about a story that no one wants to listen to. So if that's the approach that certain campaigns want to take, then let them take that. We are proud to work together with the community board, because we have 2 in our district - Community Board 7 and Community Board 11 and those are the areas that take control for the zoning, the elected official. For someone to say that they are single-handedly responsible for that, speaks volumes about that person.

[Graziano never said he spoke for Community Board 7, he said that the community of Whitestone was against the White House rezoning, which is proven by the above link. Paul Vallone dodged the question, but apparently got his issue confused with the Waterpointe rezoning (a contaminated Whitestone site) that his family's lobbying firm pushed for, because the White House area is not the least bit industrial.]
Duane:

As you know, I have pledged that I will be a full-time council member. Would you pledge to give up your law practice and be a full-time council member as well?

Vallone:

I will absolutely, if honored by the people of the district, be a full-time council member. That's what you have to be. That's what my father was. That's what my brother was and if I have that honor to represent the district, that's what I will do. I think that's critical, and I think that's one of the things John has pointed out over the campaign, and has Austin, to make sure 100% commitment to the City Council. That's what the people deserve in our district and that's what I pledge.

[Interesting, considering that at every debate, he refused to say he would be a full-time council member. Also interesting is that his brother, Peter, is featured as a member of the Vallone law practice, proving that he's not actually a full-time council member. Whoops!]

Shafran:

Overdevelopment from the real estate industry is one of the biggest threats to our neighborhood. Now Paul, you are a registered lobbyist for a firm that received $2.5M last year selling access to city government, for, among others, the real estate industry. You've received approximately $85K in contributions throughout your runs for the city council from the real estate industry, and as Chrissy pointed out, the biggest NYC developers have created a superPAC that spent over $250K on you and your campaign. Now we have a public finance campaign system that was put in place and which we are all a part of, that is supposed to root out the influence of special interest spending and you've taken $95K in public matching funds from that system. So my question for you is, on behalf of the taxpayers of our community, can we have our money back?

Vallone:

Well, all of the money the candidates receive are governed by the NYC Campaign Finance Board. And all of us have received the matching funds. And every one of our contributions I'm very proud of. When you spend a lifetime in the community, such as I have, you have a family in the community, small business in the community, you make a lot of friends in the community. And those are the connections and those are the people that are working with our campaign. So any type of receipt for any type of contribution to our campaign has been public. And any idea that that is somehow being kept from the people of the district is insane. In fact, what does our practice do? We're a small practice - a law firm that was started by my grandfather 80 years ago. And we do elder law and we do work in the community. That's what our community does. That's what we do.

[So Paul Vallone, of the Astoria Vallones, wants us to think that he is a lifelong resident of northeastern Queens? Wow. There's nothing he won't lie about, is there?]

Shafran:

Actually, I'm talking about the firm with which you are a registered lobbyist that made $2.5M last year selling access to city government.

Vallone:

When you are a lawyer and you provide legal services, and if a client comes to you and they also need consulting services, you must register with the City of New York.

Shafran:

So you are a registered lobbyist?

Vallone:

My father is one of the most distinguished members of the city, and he has a consulting firm. If a client comes to us and they need legal services, and they also need consulting services, by law, you must register as a lobbyist. That is what I have done. That is what the law requires and - going back to John's question - the minute that this district is honored and privileged to vote me into City Hall, all of that will end because our job will be 100% for City Council.

[WOW! Someone thinks rather highly of himself and his family!]
Shafran:

So, I do take that to mean that you are a registered lobbyist and we all know that. This campaign has been hijacked by outside spending.

[Then it becomes a free-for-all.]
At 8:24 in the second segment, Errol Louis steps in:

Louis:

If the questions you've heard so far have not been clear, let me try to focus them for you. They're saying, and we have seen, there's a lot of money that has been spent by this group, Jobs For New York. They don't talk about jobs, they don't even talk about New York. They have made personal attacks on all of your opponents. You've said earlier tonight that you don't like that sort of a theme, they would like you to say publicly that you would like them to stop doing it in the last week.

Shafran:

Which other candidates have done throughout the city.

Graziano:

Correct.

Vallone:

I started the night off by saying across the board - no outside expenditures from any group. I'm taking it beyond one group to all the groups. And if that's an answer the candidates don't like, they're just going to have to live with it.

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Strange days, indeed!

From NY1:

More negative campaign mail, this one’s out of Queens. Here’s a picture of Dan Halloran getting hauled off. He’s part, of course, of a corruption inquiry. He’s been arrested. “Our community has suffered enough.” You flip it on the other side – “Paul Graziano would be another embarrassment to our community.” Now let’s be clear, folks: Paul Graziano has absolutely nothing to do with Dan Halloran, with the corruption inquiry, or anything involving legal wrongdoing. So this is a pure slam. It’s put out, by the way, by Jobs For New York, Inc. and I should note that it says absolutely nothing about jobs or anything else positive. I thought you should see that.
_______________________________________________________________

The following was sent to Congressmember Meng, Senator Stavisky, Assemblymember Braunstein, Assemblymember Kim and Councilmember Weprin and cc'd to the five District 19 Council candidates:

During the course of the City Council Race in District 19, Jobs for New York has sent a series of "hit pieces" against three of the candidates for the benefit of Paul Vallone. The mailers are paid for by Jobs for New York and upon information and belief, were designed, printed and distributed by Parkside. All legally done and done in the name of politics for the good of the county machine and to promote and theoretically ensure the election of a candidate who will serve the interests of his benefactors, the Real Estate Board of New York.

That legally a candidate can have no connection to the sponsor of such correspondence is a convenient legal fiction enacted into law by the very people it serves to protect. Such politics benefits no one but the County machine and candidates who are willing to sell their offices to the highest bidder at the expense of their communities.

Jobs for New York has thrown down the gauntlet of negative campaigning with a level of vengeance that is beyond comprehension in a local race. The lies, innuendo, out of context quotes and literally inflammatory graphics should be as deplorable to any sitting politician or candidate as they are to me and members of the 19th Council District. They should especially be deplorable to a candidate who continually touts integrity, family values and his Christian church as his hallmarks.

That you all endorsed and continue to support the Vallone candidacy without reservation speaks volumes about your desire to remain in the good graces of the county machine and uncontrolled future benefactors and very little about your actual support of this or any other endorsed candidate. However, there comes a time in human events, including political campaigns, when courage, integrity, decency and standing up against what is wrong separates the public servants from the hacks.

This campaign tactic is one of those watershed events. All of you are current office holders who have either the power to introduce legislation to take back total control of your campaigns and to disallow such spending and return the political process to the constituents you claim to serve or to influence colleagues who have such power. The" poor little candidate" who cannot stop a big bad entity from spewing unwanted campaign literature throughout your districts doesn't play well. It is time to take responsibility for your campaigns and to be accountable to your constituents for what is put out in your names.

This may turn out to be one of those issues which empowers voters to say "NO" at the polls to candidates who support negative independent expenditures, who refuse to take accountability for their campaigns and who are willing by extension to sell their offices. The beginning of such a movement in District 19 may have been the joining of five civic associations in common voice against the practice though the civics themselves support different candidates.

It is unfortunate for the political process, the integrity of your offices and your standing in the community that none of you have publicly repudiated this practice.

Rhea O'Gorman
Station Road Civic Association
______________________________________________________________

And finally, residents of the 19th Council District received this call last night:

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Paul Vallone says he would favor legislation that bans election spending by PACs

But has no problem benefiting from such spending now...

Why won't he denounce the mailers put out by Jobs For New York/Parkside if he, as the county candidate, had nothing to do with them? (As if County and Parkside aren't thick as thieves.)

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District 19 residents revolt against Vallone tactics, but he won't stop

At noon yesterday, 4 out of the 5 Democratic candidates for City Council gathered near the Bayside LIRR station with State Senator Tony Avella to call Paul Vallone and Jobs for New York on the carpet for the attack mailers against his opponents. This "anybody but Vallone" moment was brought to you by Bayside Patch.

UPDATE: Here's video:



At least one candidate has struck back with his own mailer explaining who Vallone is loyal to. Shafran's piece is the first, but likely not the last.




This was the scene outside the Bay Terrace Commmunity Alliance's Candidates' Night last night:










Yet Vallone and Jobs for New York (REBNY and Parkside) won't stop the repetitive hit pieces.
I like the new spelling of "embarrassment", myself.


Since when are there only 4 options? Why is he omitting John Duane, the only current candidate to have actually served in office previously?

Now, check out what a candidate in the 35th Council District in Brooklyn said about Jobs For New York endorsing her:

...the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts founder wants voters to know she did not ask for the PAC's support, nor does she want it.

Cumbo said she has asked Jobs for New York to "immediately discontinue spending any independent funds in support of [her] campaign."

"Now, some of my supporters are beginning to question my integrity and are asking themselves if I am a development candidate, easily bought and sold. I am not."

"This is horrible," Cumbo added. "Their so-called support of my campaign has done more harm than good in the community."

If Paul Vallone was smart, he would be taking the same position. But instead he claims he has no control over what Jobs For New York is doing, and won't denounce their tactics. I guess their money is just too good for him to pass up, especially since he blew most of his coin on lame expenses before petitioning was over and now has less cash on hand to spend within the limit than any other candidate.

This is the same guy who puts his banners on the construction fences of teardowns and then poses in front of them. No wonder REBNY loves him.

Looks like Coach Paul really "screwed the pooch" on this one. (Poor doggie.)

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Vallone supporters now using violent imagery against Graziano

Goodness, now we're setting other candidates on fire, Mr. Vallone?

How many times can you send out different versions of the same hit piece?

I suppose desperate candidates call for desperate measures. This is obviously a stock photo of a "family" nowhere near Queens.

So much for the "family man" Mr. Vallone purports himself to be.

Tony Avella, Chrissy Voskerichian, Paul Graziano, Austin Shafran and John Duane will be denouncing these mailers today at 12 noon at the Bayside LIRR station.

Even the Daily News has noticed. And instead of manning up, Paul Vallone denies any knowledge of the smear campaign:

“Anybody who thinks Paul Vallone’s politics and policies will be affected by a piece of mail clearly does not know him,” he said.

What? How about denouncing the mailer? Obviously, Paul Vallone isn't man enough to do that.

And FYI, from Crains:

The City Council's Progressive Caucus fired a warning shot at the Real Estate Board of New York Monday in the form of a legislative proposal to severely limit the real estate industry's ability to spend money on political campaigns.

The council should seek to close the "LLC loophole" in state campaign finance law that allows many real estate corporations to give $150,000 to independent expenditures like REBNY's "Jobs for New York" political action committee, according to a memo from Councilman Brad Lander obtained by The Insider.

Mr. Lander, who co-chairs the council's Progressive Caucus, is unlikely to find much support for his bill during an election year, with more than half of the council up for re-election and several of the Democrats running for mayor benefiting from independent expenditures on their behalf.

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2nd hit piece from developer PAC targets Graziano

Racial strife? Paul Graziano is not the one going around telling whites to vote for him to prevent one of the Asian candidates from getting the seat (there are no Asian candidates). That would be Paul Vallone. BTW, the "inflammatory nonsense" refers to Graziano's statement during a 2001 debate vs. John Liu where he pointed out that Liu's campaign contributions were not reflective of the racial makeup of the district at the time.

All people in the district have been saying today is how cowardly and desperate Paul Vallone is to send out a mailer like this under "Jobs For New York" instead of under the name of his own campaign.

Someone is VERY afraid.

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Hit piece sent out by Vallone supporters

The FBI didn't exactly arrest these two for betraying Queens, but whatever.
While not untrue, these 2 candidates were never implicated in any wrongdoing. This hit piece had to have come from either John Duane, Paul Graziano or Paul Vallone. Of course, it doesn't identify on which candidate's behalf it was sent.

Jobs for New York is the Real Estate Board of New York's PAC. Jobs4NY endorsed Paul Vallone.
When you have skeletons in your closet, such as being poker buddies with one of the accused, you might want to think twice about giving your blessing to literature such as this.

By the way, Paul Vallone gave one excuse to the organizers of Monday night's Bayside Historical Society event: "A client of mine passed away, and I am helping with funeral arrangements." And another excuse to the Queens Courier: "He was comforting the family of his 'good friend and mentor' Judge Joseph Risi, who had just passed away, a campaign spokesperson said."

The judge actually passed away on Saturday and his son is an attorney and likely does not require the legal services of Mr. Vallone.

Whoops.

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Paul Vallone a no show at preservation debate

At #CD19 forum in Bay Terrace. Told @PaulVallone will not be in attendance. Tonight's topics: overdevelopment and preservation.

— Phil Corso (@philcorso) August 19, 2013

Henry Euler says @PaulVallone missed forum because a client of his passed away, he is helping with funeral arrangements. #CD19

— Phil Corso (@philcorso) August 19, 2013

It was very convenient for Mr. Vallone's client to expire right before he was scheduled to participate in a debate about preservation and development. Interestingly, he had been seen an hour before the debate campaigning at Bay Terrace. This is the second personal conflict that Mr. Vallone has had after agreeing to attend a candidates' night.

Should he be elected, he'll probably end up on this list.

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Soccer club chooses its candidates

"A 501c3 cannot participate in the political process

To whit:

7.25.3.3.4 (02-23-1999)
Express Powers that Cause Failure of Organizational Test
Directly or indirectly to participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office (Reg. 1.501(c)(3)–1 (b)(3)(ii));

This is a clear violation of their ability as a 501c3

Regards,
Look Out Queens"

Interesting.  You'd think their legal counsel would  have advised them against doing this.

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Pro-development PAC endorses Paul Vallone

From the NY Times:

A group of real estate executives and corporate leaders, bracing for the departure of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, plans to spend up to $10 million to make sure the City Council elected this fall is friendly to business.

The organization, made up of real estate developers, property owners, banks, insurance companies, investment firms and others, has established a political action committee to direct donations to back candidates in both parties who support pro-development policies.

Called Jobs for New York, the PAC represents an aggressive new involvement in New York’s heavily regulated city elections by a major independent expenditure group. The PAC also has the support of several unions whose fortunes are tied to construction, including those representing carpenters and laborers known as mason tenders.

The effort is focused exclusively on Council races, in part because members tend to have great sway over development in their districts, but also because of the uncertainty surrounding the topsy-turvy mayoral campaign.

During his tenure, the mayor has championed a pro-development agenda, pushing dozens of rezoning measures through the Council while investing billions of dollars to nurture commercial development and affordable housing — sometimes over the objections of neighborhood residents.

The PAC effort is being spearheaded by the Real Estate Board of New York, which includes some of the most influential figures and families in the industry, including Larry A. Silverstein, the developer of the World Trade Center, Richard S. LeFrak, Daniel R. Tishman, the Speyers and the Rudins.

In an interview, Steven Spinola, the president of the real estate board, called Mr. Bloomberg’s time in City Hall a “wonderful era” and said his organization’s PAC intended to support candidates who would advance a pro-jobs, pro-development agenda similar to Mr. Bloomberg’s.

From The Real Deal:

A mere seven real estate firms — including Brookfield Office Properties, the Durst Organization and Jack Resnick & Company — donated more than half of the $5.26 million raised so far by a new political action committee backed by the Real Estate Board of New York, a review of state records by The Real Deal reveals.

Some 113 companies or individuals affiliated with 18 well-known city developers made the contributions to the PAC, called Jobs For New York, which was created to advance a pro-growth political agenda for the city, according to records filed this week with the New York State Board of Elections.

Jobs for New York has reportedly said that unions were also supporting the cause, but the donor list did not reveal any as of the latest filing in July.

Real estate firms have long fretted that once the pro-development Mayor Michael Bloomberg is out of office, a new mayor and City Council could turn away from his agenda and raise the cost of doing business in the city.

JOBS 4 NY has thus far sent out 3 mailers on behalf of Paul Vallone, none of which have to do with development, and all of which hide who they are:







The above mailer is about public safety, not development.



When you attended private school and send your kids to one as well, it's best not to try to pass yourself off as some kind of public education expert. Especially when you crib your policy positions from your opponent.



Creating good jobs, building more affordable housing and strengthening the middle class? Is that what they have been doing all these years as they destroyed jobs by pushing for conversion of M-zoned properties to residential, flooded once-affordable neighborhoods with luxury condos and chased the middle class out of NYC?  Oh, and they're also anti-landmarking. (Good luck, Broadway-Flushing.)

Vote Vallone!

Now this here is interesting. From Crains:

Austin Shafran is charging his main Democratic primary opponent, Paul Vallone, with illegally coordinating with the Jobs for New York PAC, as well as improperly reporting campaign expenditures for office rent and the purchase of voter files.

Mr. Shafran's campaign filed three complaints with the city's Campaign Finance Board, two last week and one on Monday. In the complaints, they argue that Mr. Vallone's alleged campaign finance violations should make him ineligible for public matching funds.

The charge of collusion between Mr. Vallone's campaign and the PAC is, on the surface, fairly minor, but it could be difficult for Mr. Vallone to disprove. Campaign literature paid for by Jobs for New York touting Mr. Vallone are shown to include a yellow Post-It-style sticky note with Mr. Vallone's electronic signature reading, "Sorry I missed you today, Paul," indicating the individual delivering the flier was not able to personally deliver it to a resident of the address where it was left. Identical sticky notes, which were purchased by Mr. Vallone's campaign, were affixed to the candidate's own mailers, according to photographs included in the complaints to the finance board.

The presence of the sticky notes on both Mr. Vallone's and the Jobs for New York mailers indicates that canvassers for both operations are coordinating their efforts, Mr. Shafran's campaign claims.

The more serious complaints charge that Mr. Vallone failed to adequately bill his campaign for office rent and the purchase of voter ID files. Since January, Mr. Vallone has reported spending $500 a month on office rent for his campaign, which Mr. Shafran claims is far below the market value for similar offices in the same Bayside building. Mr. Vallone's campaign, which is housed in the law firm he shares with his brother and father, would have to be a mere 127 square feet to be commensurate with the amount of money Mr. Vallone is paying in rent, Mr. Shafran claims.

In the complaint, Mr. Shafran's campaign also points out that Mr. Vallone has failed to report the purchase of a voter database that must have been necessary for canvassing and petitioning operations. While they admit there is "no direct evidence" to support this theory, Mr. Shafran's campaign notes that Mr. Vallone has been sharing "human resources" with his brother's borough president campaign, and presumes that they may be sharing voter files as well, which would be improper if the costs were not also shared.

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Paul Vallone plans to use Independence line as a bartering tool

Remember the revelation that Paul Vallone's name is on a list of potential judges even though he alleges that he's been focused since 2009 on running for City Council? Well, as expected, the judgeship is plan B. As per Crains:

If Mr. Vallone wins a hotly contested Democratic primary in September, the Independence Party ballot line would be a major leg up in a battle against Mr. Saffran, as Republicans often rely on votes from the Independence line in Democrat-heavy New York City. But if Mr. Vallone does not win the Democratic primary, his presence on the Independence line in November could split Democratic votes between his supporters and those of the Democratic nominee. Mr. Vallone's main opponent in the race appears to be former Empire State Development spokesman Austin Shafran, who has lined up the bulk of the labor support in the race, as well as the Working Families Party endorsement.

As an attorney who has been a member of the New York bar association since 1992, if Mr. Vallone lost the Democratic primary, he could be nominated for a judgeship and cede the ballot line in the council race to the Democratic nominee. Asked if Mr. Vallone would definitely run on the Independence line in November, a campaign spokesman answered obliquely.

"When Paul Vallone wins the Democratic Primary in September, he will occupy both the Democratic and Independence Party lines in November," the spokesman said.

The Independence Line almost always goes to the Republican in the race. Last time Dennis Saffran ran, he got their endorsement, so it doesn't make sense that they wouldn't give it to him this time. Therefore, Joe Crowley must have made a deal with the Party. As he made a deal with the Vallones. Let's not forget that the GOP was once considering giving Paul Vallone their line and he was once considering accepting it.

Best quote ever: “Paul is really like a kindred spirit,” said Halloran.

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NYC Council Watch is watching Paul Vallone

From NYC Council Watch:

Paul Vallone’s bio on the Sacco & Fillas website notes that Vallone & Vallone “can get you through the door from staff to principal,” and indicates the real value of the Vallone name: influence. Indeed, the actual family business since Peter Vallone the Elder left politics has been lobbying city government on behalf of a variety of clients through the firm Constantinople & Vallone.

Paul Vallone doesn’t say it anywhere in his campaign information, but he is officially registered as a Constantinople & Vallone lobbyist, along with his father and his brother Perry. A number of Paul Vallone’s major campaign contributors are among his lobbying clients. For instance, Deborah Gaslow of Boca Raton contributed the maximum $2,750 to the campaign. Ms. Gaslow is the wife of Peter Gaslow, owner of furniture maker Empire Office, which has paid Constantinople & Vallone $40,000 over the last 18 months.

The owner and senior employees of Mega Contracting have donated more than $3,000 to the campaigns of both Paul and Peter Vallone, Jr., while Mega Contracting has paid Constantinople & Vallone $240,000 in fees since 2010. Mega Contracting, incidentally, has been awarded contracts for the construction and rehabbing of a number of municipal projects, including NYCHA houses, MTA station upgrades, and work on schools, police precincts and city hospitals.

So Paul Vallone has represented these folks as a lobbyist, and hopes to continue to represent his former clients when he takes office. Seems like putting the cart before the horse, doesn’t it? The usual trajectory of a political career is first to be a public servant and eat bread from the sweat of one’s brow, and then after a time to leave office and cash in as a lobbyist. Paul Vallone is reversing the typical course of a political career, starting out as a lobbyist, and then seeking elected office! It looks as though the revolving door revolves both ways.

Well this contradicts Paul Vallone's assertion that he was never a lobbyist, doesn't it?

Let's recall the last time he ran for office:

If this sounds like the same evasive answer he made back in June of this year, you're right. Except the second time he didn't accuse audience members of being related to Jerry Iannece.

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Graziano and Avella survive Vallone challenges

Much to the chagrin of the Vallones, there will, in fact, be 2 candidates with Italian surnames in the Democratic primaries for Queens Borough President and City Council District 19.

Desperate candidates often have their minions file petition challenges, deny that they did and then don't follow through. That's what both Vallone Brothers did.

Then there's this from Crains:

In the race to be the next Queens borough president, Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. is running in a Democratic primary that will almost certainly determine who wins the seat in the heavily Democratic borough. Nonetheless, Mr. Vallone decided to seek the support and ballot line of the New York Conservative Party for his candidacy—a ballot line that would only hypothetically help him in what's expected to be an uncompetitive November general election—and submitted nominating petitions for the ballot line, city Board of Elections records show.

In the end, the Conservative Party's ballot line almost certainly won't be going to Mr. Vallone because of a petition snafu, according to his campaign: On the party's nominating petitions for Mr. Vallone, his work address was improperly listed, instead of his home address.

Correction: he wasn't looking for hypothetical help.  He was looking for a way to run in November in case he loses the Democratic primary.  Karma's a bitch, ain't it?

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Nervous Vallones challenge opponents' petitions

Paul Vallone was the only CD 19 candidate to challenge his opponents' petitions - he sent party man John Dorsa after Graziano, Voskerichian, Shafran and Duane. None of the other candidates challenged Vallone's or each other's petitions.

Someone is very nervous.

Then we have his big brother...

From the Politicker:

State Senator Tony Avella is accusing Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., a rival in the race for Queens borough president, of repeatedly "bullying" and "threatening" him in a push to get him to drop his bid.

"Personally, I think he's a bully and a coward and afraid of having me on the ballot," Mr. Avella told Politicker today, claiming Mr. Vallone has tried several times over the course of the election to get him to leave the race. "Let the chips fall where they may."

Mr. Avella and his campaign claim that a Vallone staffer called Mr. Avella twice yesterday to try to make a deal with the senator to duck out of the contest. According to sources in the Avella camp, the staffer called in the late afternoon to offer Mr. Avella an ultimatum: Leave the race or be kicked off the ballot.

"They said, 'We're at the BOE looking at your petitions, we see lots of problems. We can make you waste your money,'" the source said. "They wanted to make a deal, but Tony wouldn't talk to Peter."

A general objection was filed today against Mr. Avella's petitions from a woman named Rebecca Piniero, who is unaffiliated with the Vallone campaign.

But the Vallone campaign vehemently denied any threats had been made.

People unaffiliated with campaigns file objections all the time, don't they?

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