Dist 39 CITY COUNCIL RACE general discussion

More on the WFP controversy, which touches on de Blasio and Lander:

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/09/cfb-puts-the-wfp-and-its-candi.html

Here's a few paragraphs from City Hall news.

City Hall News wrote: The Campaign Finance Board has issued a statement declaring that it understands Data and Field Services to be “an arm of the Working Families Party.” As such, the board has declared that any activities done by the WFP must be reported as expenditures by the campaign, and not just those billed to the WFP’s private company. In the closing two weeks of the campaign, that could mean the campaigns racking up big costs for staff, mailers and other campaign material which they might otherwise have gotten at no cost.

The extent of the connections between the WFP and DFS were first revealed by City Hall in an ongoing series of investigative reports....

The candidates using Data and Field Services are public advocate candidate Bill de Blasio and Council candidates Debi Rose, Danny Dromm, Jimmy Van Bramer, Lynn Schulman, Jumaane Williams, S.J. Jung and Brad Lander. All have also been endorsed by the WFP.

YankeeFan wrote: i haven’t followed this race very closely. but i just got a flyer with a letter from jack carroll saying to vote for josh skaller. i trust that jack carroll knows whos best for windsor terrace. and skaller seems like a god guy in this video. so if jack carroll says vote skaller then i’m going to vote skaller

I'm curious if other people have gotten emails, calls or fliers from any friends of the candidates. I've gotten a ton from fans of Josh and a couple for Bob Zuckerman. Is this just my circle of friends?

I've had the pleasure of meeting Zuckerman, Skaller and Lander at a local meet-the-candidates event at a friend's home. My impressions:

Skaller: nice guy, but his anti-development vitriol goes nowhere with me. He kept hauling out the tired, overused cliche that new developments (and new people) destroy existing communities. To be frank, that's utter bullshit and no one who espouses this line will get my vote. As a "new person" to south slope I'd like to think that I add to my community.

Lander: again, sort of a nice guy... came off as very slick, politician-ish. When he started talking, I found that my ears shut down. He was asked about having homophobic supporters (in Boro Park) and replied with a well-thought out (read: rehearsed) but utimately convincing reply.

Zuckerman: gets my vote. Balanced, affable, normal. He wasn't pro-development (he opposed Atlantic Yards from the get go) but recognized that new development doesn't have to be a bad thing. For example, he said that the buildings on 4th Ave should have been required to have street level retail. Nice, measured responses and a realistic understanding of what a council person's focus should be.


As an aside, my favorite campaign literature comes from George Smith. I adore his tortured byline: "Moving Change Forward.... Locally FOR ALL THE PEOPLE". Brilliant.