Speaker Quinn And The Power Of Pork

While the New York City Council (rightly so) examines Mayor Bloomberg's problem with hiring minorities, it turns out they have a few in-house problems to fix themselves. The just-passed budget has approximately $50 million in pork-barrel spending that Speaker Quinn has the power to dole out to the other fifty Council Members. With power like that, you'd think an investigation would be warranted.

Oh wait, there is one:

Christine C. Quinn, the speaker of the New York City Council, has hired a criminal defense lawyer to represent her in federal and city investigations into Council spending practices, an aide said on Friday.

The move comes a week after disclosures that Ms. Quinn’s office had appropriated millions of dollars to organizations that do not exist, instead routing the money to organizations favored by individual council members.

The lawyer retained by Ms. Quinn, Lee S. Richards III, a former federal prosecutor, will be paid with city funds, as will Sullivan & Cromwell, a firm that the Council has hired to assist in responding to the investigations.

Asked why the speaker felt she needed her own lawyer, Jamie McShane, a Quinn spokesman, said in an e-mail message that the lawyer would assist “the speaker in her cooperation” with inquiries by the city’s Department of Investigation and the United States attorney’s office.

The only problem is that nothing is being done about it (this article referenced above is more than two years old), and the idleness of the U.S. Attorney's Office allows the problem to continue. While she has taken action to clean up the worst abuses of the infamous slush funds, clearly this year's budget shows New York City has a long way to go.

N.Y. City Council Progressive Caucus Proposes Another Way To Budget

Speaker Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg had no trouble berating Albany for failing to deliver an on time budget yesterday, without owning up to their mess right here at home. While Bloomberg and the Council cannot pass the city's budget until the state finishes their business, a blueprint for how the New York City treats its people is developed beforehand. Unfortunately being the out of touch billionaire that Bloomberg is, the burden of spending cuts are being planned to placed on the working and middle classes. The newly created Progressive Caucus within the Council however, is proposing a different way.

From The Daily Politics:

Ten of the 12 members of the City Council’s new Progressive Caucus held a tax-the-rich press conference shortly after Mayor Bloomberg gave his private budget briefing this morning to elected officials.

Their theme: Everybody’s being asked to sacrifice -- except the fat cats of Wall Street and well-off New Yorkers. They called for higher tax hikes on Wall Street profits and on New Yorkers earning above $500,000 a year.[...]

Lander said the speaker was aware of the press conference, but deflected a question on whether she approved: “You’d have to ask her,” he said.

I think we know the answer to that question. When faced with a decision to favor the upper class or the rest of us, she always goes with the upper crust. Even when she does talk about something promising, nothing ever gets done in the end. In fact, these are the types that generally get her assistance. Many residents noticed this last year, as the powerful speaker, thought to have a crushing re-election effort, barely took half the votes and came away weak in the process.

What needs to happen in order for this caucus to make real reform and good progressive policy....is to elect more of them that will endorse a platform that takes the very wealthy off the pedestal that Bloomberg and Quinn have placed them on.

Note: I served as Yetta Kurland's Field Director in 2009.

Bloomberg And Quinn Team Up To Bailout Developers

A match made in heaven.

When Michael Bloomberg found Christine Quinn as Speaker of the City Council, there was no limit to how much love wealthy developers could see. In the building boom the city had seen during the last few years, huge developments were green-lighted and long-term residents were screwed by the lack of planning for schools and infrastructure. Now that the economy has soured, beautiful brand-new and expensive apartments are sitting empty and the developers that had them built are not seeing any returns on their investments. How could they solve this problem? Easy, have New York City bail them out under the guise of affordable housing.

Of course, this is really what it is all about:

Deputy Mayor Slush Fund Queen Christine C. Quinn and king Michael R. Bloomberg today announced a $20 million commitment to fund a pilot program that will turn unsold condominiums, market-rate rental buildings and stalled construction sites into affordable housing opportunities for moderate and middle-income families.

First, that the city will overpay for the condos, making this into a developer bailout program.

And second, that too much scarce affordable housing funding will be diverted from the low-income people who need assistance most to higher-income people who can afford the subisidized condos.

Even if the condos are rented to homelessness, the city is paying about 2,700 a month for each apartment such as in Crown Heights luxury condos. What an ineffective use of scarce resources when 2,700 dollars can house more than one family. This plan is to bail out Bloomberg's rich friends.

Ain't that nice?

Is this the type of tactic that makes people approve of Bloomberg?

I get that the people at Related, Vornado and Tishman-Speyer want to re-elect the mayor. The wealthy have a friend in Mr. Bloomberg, he is of course, one of their own. Yet for the vast majority of us who aren't millionaires, it is time for a change so that our money does not go to waste on bailouts like this.

Gotbaum Accuses Quinn Of Political Payback For Opposing Term Limit Extension

Three cheers for Betsy Gotbaum this morning, when she proudly stood in front of City Hall and lambasted Speaker Christine Quinn for not restoring funding cuts to the Public Advocate's office. Gotbaum, with just a few months left in office, pulled no punches and accused the Speaker of withholding funds for the city's watchdog office because Gotbaum opposed Quinn's push to extend term limits from eight to twelve years.

NYC Council Hands Out Nearly $50 Million In Pork

Times are tough, the Mayor and Council tell us we must skimp and save to weather the economic storm. They're doing that by increasing the sales tax, cutting city services and of course, pulling in almost a billion in fines. However, despite preaching to New Yorkers about fiscal responsibility, the Council is terrible practicing what they legislate for the rest of us. Thanks to Quinn's "reforms" concerning city spending after she was caught in a slush-fund scandal, we get a whole 24 hours to see what they are going to spend on member items. The possibility that this so-called transparency will do anything to combat their wasteful spending is slim to none.

From The NY Daily News:

The funds are disbursed by Council members to several thousand nonprofit and charitable groups that defenders say will help a wide variety of needy constituency groups.

But it also lets Council members - most of whom are running for third terms because they and Mayor Bloomberg lifted the prior two-term limit - boast they've brought home the bacon.

In a public disclosure on Thursday fraught with missteps, Council aides said the new pork pie is to be spent as follows:

$17.7 million dispensed by the individual 51 Council members, with some members getting to dole out bigger slices because they chair major committees or hold leadership posts;

$17.9 million dispensed through Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan);

$7.7 million equally divided among the 51 members to give to youth-service groups;

Another $5.5 million to be disbursed by the members to senior citizen groups.

Quinn of course gets the largest piece of the pie and from that, a tremendous amount of influence with specific groups that are essential for her to hold onto power. It is incredibly unethical, should be criminal, yet she continues to do so because that is the name of the game in New York City. Nearly two years after the scandal broke concerning the secret slush fund, there still has been no accountability for the Speaker's actions and she continues to (falsely) claim that everything has been addressed and resolved. Of course, it hasn't it because the political will to take out Quinn from within is simply not there, especially with that smile of hers.

Bloomberg's Billions And The Budget Are Tools For His Re-election

As has been argued before, there is more to Bloomberg's campaign strategy than simply inundating mailboxes and television commercials with his deceiving messages. With yesterday's $59.4 billion dollar budget deal, it seems that the Mayor, and his Deputy Mayor ally Chris Quinn is getting his ducks in a row to win over key constituencies while leaving the door open to cut more programs once the election is over.

From PolitickerNY:

Michael Bloomberg and the City Council agreed on a $59.4 billion City budget deal that squashes the mayor’s plan to shutter sixteen fire companies, maintains current six-day services at libraries, prevents layoffs of child welfare workers, and trims by an unspecified margin the number of layoffs planned for other city workers.

“This is basically, as Chris said, preserving services,” Bloomberg said, referring to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, during an event with the Council in the City Hall rotunda this evening. “I don’t think there is any major cut that is going to really hurt anybody.”

But advocates gathered around City Hall quietly muttered to themselves and reporters the fear that whatever was placed into the budget could be stripped after the November elections, when Bloomberg and a majority of the Council are expected to be re-elected.

“This may not be the last word on this year’s budget,” said Bloomberg, referring to projections that the national and local economies were projected to grow slightly in the months ahead.

Bloomberg is going to do whatever it takes to win this election, already showing that he's willing to spend tens of millions to convince New Yorkers to re-elect him. The latest polls show him ahead by 22 points or more but people are starting to get tired of all the advertising. Bloomberg has many smart minds on his team and they most certainly realize all of this. So blitzing the Internet, the postal service and the airwaves is not enough for Bloomberg's ambitions. Making deals with unions and holding off on cuts in services goes a lot further with people than any ad.

The important thing for voters to realize is that the programs saved today may not be around come mid-November. The key is to look at what Bloomberg has done over the last seven years, not in the last few weeks.

Bloomberg And Quinn Extend Tax Breaks To Corporate America

While Bloomberg's campaign sends out gobs of propaganda and Christine Quinn gets in front of the camera (or at a podium for a large rally) to secure the support of the voters, what they are doing in the Council is far more important to the future of our city. In the last few years, corporate America has used NYC as their base of operations as they pilfered the foundations of the American economy. So how do the two of the most powerful political actors in the city wish to treat corporations?

From The Village Voice:

You might think that the middle of a recession spawned by massive corporate malfeasance wouldn't be the best time to propose a giant tax break for corporations. But then, if you're Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn, you might not. Crain's reports today that the dynamic duo of City Hall has begun a major push to cut taxes for city corporations by $2.7 billion over the next decade, a gift that could eventually be worth more than half a billion dollars a year to city businesses.

What's at stake here is something called the "single-sales factor," a tax provision that went into effect at the state level this year. Under city law (and the old state law), corporations with interstate operations pay New York taxes based on a formula factoring in their local payroll, local sales, and how property they own here; the new rule would base it on sales alone. "Switching to a Single Sales Factor," said Quinn in a statement, "will encourage more companies to create jobs here and lead to greater diversification of our economy."

Simplified taxes, more jobs — sounds great, right? Except that, as "Big-Box Swindle" author Stacy Mitchell has noted, single-sales factor is actually a loophole that large corporations have been increasingly agitating for to save them bucketloads of dough. Since states can only tax companies with a physical presence in the state, switching to a sales-only tax means, writes Mitchell, that "for companies that have factories or offices in only a handful of states, but sales everywhere, the result of this change is that a large share of their profit becomes 'nowhere' income — income that isn't taxed by any state."

As the Voice points out, experts have already debunked this "job creation" tactic as a way to solely increase the profits of corporations that have been taking advantage of us for decades. If there is any real reason why Quinn and Bloomberg support this, it is for campaign donations and helping the people of his class, respectively.

So it is safe to say that Quinn and Bloomberg care about helping wealthy corporations. Yet corporations, aside from individuals that run them and profit off of them, do not vote. Beyond the efforts of unending campaign literature in our mailboxes and strongly-worded stump speeches that this City Hall duo make, when it comes to economic policy, their actions show how they feel about the rest of us. From that, New Yorkers are going to have to make a choice in the city elections if we want politicians who are going to stand up for corporations that have put us in the dire straits we are now stuck in.

More To Quinn Than Her Smile

This mini-documentary by Donny Moss (YouTube has a ten minute limit) comprehensively covers Speaker Christine Quinn in a way that few have done before. We all remember her tainted by the slush fund scandal, but nothing ever came of it. It wasn't too long ago that gay men were being falsely arrested by vice-cops and Quinn was nowhere to be seen. And don't get me started on term limits. There are many issues that Quinn will not bring up to support her candidacy for a third term, but Donny Moss does.



Update [6/9 12pm]: Unfortunately, it seems that Robert Pinter has something to say about his unwilling participation in the documentary. While it blows a hole in that part of the argument against Quinn, the rest of it still stands.

Santa Has Nothing On The NY City Council

Once a year, depending on whether you were naughty or nice, Santa comes to bestow presents on millions of children. His red suit is always clean and the reindeer are strong enough for the long haul, but he's never given us a campaign finance statement to show how he pays for it all. Down here in New York however, a paper trail exists for many City Council members that show that their "gifting" to special interest groups is rewarded with campaign contributions.

From The NY Daily News:

- City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) earmarked $150,000 for the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, whose board chairman raised at least $10,900 for her abortive mayoral campaign.

- City Councilmen Bill de Blasio and David Yassky, both Brooklyn Democrats, were co-sponsors of $145,000 for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy for the past two fiscal years. Board members and the nonprofit's director raised $16,150 for de Blasio and $22,700 for Yassky in the same period.

- City Councilwoman Jessica Lappin (D-Manhattan) sponsored $15,000 for the private Gillen Brewer School on the upper East Side. Members of the school’s board contributed or raised $11,875 for her campaign.

- Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Brooklyn) collected 758 contributions for his $157,392 campaign fund - 23 came from employees of 12 organizations that raked in $113,000 in tax dollars he sponsored.

- Councilman John Liu (D-Queens) sponsored or co-sponsored $37,500 in Council funds for the Chinese-American Planning Council. He picked up $9,713 in checks from employees, board members and their spouses (up to $20,213 with matching funds).

It all adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from groups that got millions in taxpayer cash - more than $200,000 in contributions, or up to $467,000 with public matching dollars.

And those are just a few examples of this, as the Daily News calls it, being Santa with tips. Of course, none of the legislators mentioned would ever admit to engaging in quid pro quo, but every one of their advisers can quickly claim it is all legal. The fact that it is legal is the problem and especially that this activity is encouraged. Currently led by Christine Quinn, the ability to hand out and push other Council members for lulus is a tremendous exercise of power (not to mention the whole slush fund thing). She is supposed to be the example for the other fifty members and her actions dictate a less than reputable manner of behavior. So it shouldn't be too surprising that so many Council members think it is acceptable to play Santa while accepting handouts from the same people they give funding to.

Quinn's Hollow Support For NYC's Parents

This week we saw two large demonstrations made up of parents who are sick and tired of the way Mayor Bloomberg has run the city's schools. While Joel Klein is spinning up in Albany trying to keep mayoral control as is, down here people are pissed off that their preschoolers have been kicked out of day care and into overcrowded city schools or they have kindergarten-age kids who have been placed on wait-lists to attend public school. Each scenario is a testament to how Bloomberg has failed the city's children and instead of trying to remedy the problem, he mocks the parents' complaints.

With all of that, I was surprised to see Council Speaker Christine Quinn show up at one of the events to speak:

Christine Quinn, the City Council speaker and usually an ally of Bloomberg’s, said that all the major players need to come together and honestly assess the number of seats needed and then figure out how to create them. “It’s later than it should be, but it’s not September,” she said.

The paragraph seems to imply that Quinn is on the side of the parents, but that is hardly the case. Quinn is pretty much a solid ally of Bloomberg and when it comes to mayoral control and its' side-effects, she's completely on board for all the damage that's been done. She supports mayoral control and wants to continue it. She's also given her full support to developers who build and build yet does not require them or the city to increase classroom capability in order to handle the influx of school children.

Being in front of the camera and being mentioned by a newspaper or two for showing up may look great, but having her in office doesn't do those parents any favors.

Quinn Gives A Weak Excuse For Not Endorsing A Democrat

Speaker Quinn is continuing to take heat for not getting behind her own party in this year's mayoral election. Her close ties with the Mayor have been scrutinized and many have seen it as an attempt to get in Bloomberg's best graces so that she can be the front-runner in 2013 (if Bloomberg steps aside that is). She's been asked before to endorse the Democrat, whomever that is, but again, she just can't seem to do it.

From PolitickerNY:

Quinn said, “Once the Democratic primary is over and we know who’s running on what lines and where, I will pick the person, if I make an endorsement. If I make an endorsement I will choose the person I believe is best for the city. I am not prepared to say that will absolutely be the Democratic candidate—the Democratic primary winner.”

Basically she skirts the question to support the Democrat, not which Democrat.

Like the rest of the city, but perhaps even more so, the third district is heavily Democratic and is starting to pay close attention to Quinn, her record and most importantly, her challengers. One of them, Yetta Kurland, has already picked up several endorsements, most notably from the NY Blade. Quinn might expect it to be easy going as she is the all-powerful Speaker, but your base can't just be at City Hall come election day. Not even Bloomberg's millions can save her there.

Chris Quinn Still Will Not Support A Dem Vs. Bloomberg

Where Mayor Bloomberg goes, Chris Quinn is soon to follow. Except on a few occasions, the Speaker has done all she can and then some for our plutocratic mayor. If one didn't believe of the connection before October of last year, they got it when she forced passage of the controversial term limits extension bill. And now thanks to that bill, Quinn is running for a third term...in a very Democratic district I might add (not that there are many Republican districts in the city).

So naturally, the smart move for a Democrat like Chris Quinn aiming to be re-elected would be to support the Democrat in the race. I know she has her squabbles with one candidate and Council Member Tony Avella, but whether it is him or Thompson that emerge from September's primary, she should stand with her party on this crucial matter. Unfortunately, Quinn is a bit more politically calculating than that.

At the Downtown Independent Democrats meeting this week Quinn was asked if she'd support the Democrat, whomever that may be. Her answer? That it was too early to make a decision on who to support and that eventually she'd go with the best candidate. Of course, she didn't specify which party that "best candidate" would come from.

Dissatisfaction in the third district has been growing in the face of Quinn's close ties with Bloomberg. This position isn't going to win her any favor in the community that has a list of grievances with the mayor. Whether it be term limits, development or vice-squads, the district wants change and Quinn has become a part of the status quo.

Quinn And Avella Get "Perfect Attendance" But Quinn Deserves An Asterisk

This morning, before the dire M.T.A. news crowded everything out, it was reported that out of fifty-one Council Members, only two, Tony Avella and Chris Quinn, had perfect attendance. Now attendance is an ambiguous term. In this context, it refers to actual votes.

From The NY Daily News:

Only two members had 100% records - Tony Avella (D-Queens) and Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan).

Avella, the Council's maverick and underdog candidate for mayor, made it to all 135 of his assigned meetings and sessions.

Quinn attends full sessions only - and those committee meetings where she wants to spotlight an issue. She attended 38 meetings and sessions.

Council posts are technically part-time, although only a few members hold other jobs.

For part-time jobs, all CM's make very nice money and then some when they awarded the sweetest "lulus." Quinn of course gets the biggest stipend as she is Council Speaker, but that is beside the point.

Quinn has attended all full sessions, but when the serious issues are up for debate, she is nowhere to be found, especially during the short public comment periods that she allows for. Case in point, during the term limits extension Quinn was the guiding force for ramming the bill through the Council, but she was absent when voters came to voice their opposition to the bill. So while this set of criteria gives Quinn an A+, when it truly matters her grade drops to something like a D-.

"Go Magazine" Adds Their Name To Yetta Kurland's Endorsement List

Christine Quinn has been trying her hardest to look like a tough, independent Council Speaker lately. Her decision to skip the St. Patrick's Day parade yesterday and lobby Albany for education dollars was made to look good for the press. Ever since she helped pass the term limits extension bill, she's tried to look like the reformer she once was. Unfortunately for Quinn, many in the 3rd Council District see otherwise and understand that it is time for a change in representation. The NY Blade certainly saw through Quinn's populist facade by endorsing Yetta Kurland and now so does Go Magazine:

Previously, under the term limits twice approved by the city’s voters, elected officials could only serve two consecutive terms in an office. But thanks to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s controversial proposal to extend term limits, which the City Council passed in the fall, he and many other powerful incumbents will be asking New Yorkers once again to re-elect them to their seats.

That turn of events is just one reason why it is time for the city’s residents to look carefully, and consider a new candidate unencumbered by tired old debates, someone who boldly presents ideas for the future.

Yetta Kurland is that candidate for City Council District 3. A resident of the district for nearly 15 years, she understands the issues facing the community she aspires to represent. “I have fought my whole life to work to empower those around me to be able to be themselves and to express themselves, and I will continue to do so as the next City Council Member for the West Village, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen,” says Kurland. She may be a newcomer to elected office, but she is no stranger to the political life of New York City, and to urgent items on the agenda, such as civil rights, education and development.

While Quinn may be sitting pretty now as the all-powerful Speaker of the Council, the people of her district are not. Quinn has angered many New Yorkers by selfishly backing Bloomberg's term limit extension legislation. For that, we already have two major community publications calling for Quinn to be voted out and replaced by someone that truly cares for the district and not the real estate and development industries that wish to reshape it.

Yassky Caught With Hand In DiBrienza's Filthy Cookie Jar

The story that has come out concerning ex-Councilman and current Council candidate Steve DiBrienza has the guy in so much hot water, he may just cut his candidacy short. DiBrienza's dubious non-profit did not only help DiBrienza, his wife and his former staffers though. It turns out with all that money coming from the city (see: taxpayer expense) it wasn't only him that was cashing in. Quinn's knowledge of the matter seems likely, but what about current City Councilman and NYC Comptroller candidate David Yassky?

From The Daily Gotham:

The Brooklyn Paper has picked up on this Yassky-DiBrienza connection, though they discuss Yassky giving $15,000, probably a more accurate figure. But they also pinpoint the reason for Yassky's pandering to DiBrienza with taxpayer money: payback for an endorsement. From the Brooklyn Paper:

Councilman David Yassky (D–Brooklyn Heights), for example, requested $15,000 for DiBrienza’s group right after DiBrienza endorsed him for Congress in 2006.

Yassky told The Brooklyn Paper that this out-of-district donation to DiBrienza’s group was not a kickback or a quid-pro-quo, but voters will certainly raise their eyebrows.

Now Yassky funneled city money to DiBrienza right after DiBrienza endorsed him for his failed bid for Congress in 2006. Yet it isn't payback, according to Yassky. Problem is, this isn't the only time something like this happened. I wrote back in 2006 about another case of Yassky proposing city money right after getting an endorsement.

Now why in the hell would New Yorkers want a comptroller like that? Now I know the definition of comptroller but with Yassky's record (also see: term limits), putting him in that position makes absolutely no sense. Yassky has shown himself to be just as tainted as the rest of Quinn's ethically-questionable brood...and deserves neither Council nor Comptroller seat.

Quinn Considers Going Back On Income Tax Adjustments For The Rich

Last month when Speaker Quinn gave her State of the City address, many were surprised by her sudden willingness to take on the Mayor. I for one was thrilled to see her think about average New Yorkers and help pay for our deficits by taxing the rich instead of always taking from the poor (as Bloomberg has...or more appropriately, driving them out of the city). Of course, she had no problem going around the voters' will last year and extending term limits so that Bloomberg and herself could run for another term, so my trust in her leadership abilities was beyond shattered. So when she hedged on her idea to increase taxes on the rich yesterday, it wasn't too suprising.

From PolitickerNY:

Asked about the prospective of a perfect storm of taxation on upper-income New Yorkers, Ms. Quinn seemed at least willing to entertain the possibility of altering her plan.

“We are going to follow after the state to see what the state does,” she said. “I think that, although I very clearly believe that those who make more have to help out at times like this, we still have to be mindful of a piling-on effect, and even for a multimillionaire, there is some point at which, with A, B, C tax increase, tax increase D will be too many.”

So is she backing off her plan already, should the state adopt a new tax increase?

No, she said. “We just have to see what happens.”

That means she's still on the right side of the issue, but her slight waver is troublesome from a politician such as herself. After slush-fund scandals and the term limits fiasco, her credibility is shot. I certainly hope she comes through on this small city tax hike for the wealthiest among us, but it isn't set in stone.

NY Blade Goes For Yetta!

For some reason or another, I missed a very important piece of news on Friday. The New York Blade has already made an endorsement in the city elections this fall. Perhaps it was the desire to be at the end of the week (as I already am for the end of this one) but I'm glad a friend had forwarded it along. Yetta Kurland added the prominent GLBT paper to her list of endorsements in the race to unseat Speaker Christine Quinn. Yetta wants to change things up in the Council, and the Blade can clearly see it...and wants to see it happen.

From The NY Blade:

Kurland has been a civil rights attorney the past decade, which has given her experience empowering people. She is an impassioned teacher who has worked as an adjunct professor at New York University; she also opened an alternative language center, and she’s been the vice president of the Stonewall Democrats.

Currently, District 3 is represented by Christine Quinn, who is openly gay and is the City Council speaker. Quinn is likely to seek reelection, which is possible since the council, with the backing of Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg, extended term limits for this election (Kurland opposed the extension without a referendum).

“I have respect for Christine Quinn and honor her contributions to our community,” Kurland told us. “But it’s time for change in this city, and the term limits issue typified that. I think I offer a chance to restore the voice of our community to city government and to be able to stand up for those too often ignored by those in power.” We agree.

The Blade also notes her advocacy in education reform, GLBT issues, her career as a civil rights attorney and her passion to be a voice for the community. The paper is absolutely right in their assertion about Yetta. Currently District 3 is represented by the Speaker of the Council and while that may be considered a boon for her constituents, the damage she has done to the city by being at the Mayor's side in the last few years is too much to bear. That slush fund scandal didn't help matters either. Basically, when the powerful stop responding to the people that they are supposed to represent, it's time to make a change. Yetta Kurland is that change.

Praises For Quinn Start Showing Up As She Stands Up To Bloomberg

Adam Lisberg of the NY Daily News was singing praises for Speaker Quinn this weekend after watching her stand up to the Mayor over the last couple of months. Indeed, Quinn has been on the more progressive side of issues while the Mayor sits comfortably where he is on the Upper East Side (my apologies to Upper East Siders who disagree with the Mayor). It really is almost as if she has changed from the willing ally back when she passed the term limits extension through in October.

From The NY Daily News:

Now that she's not running for Mayor Bloomberg's job, Christine Quinn has turned into his best opponent.

The City Council speaker stood up last week to back a detailed plan for a half-millionaire's tax that she said would help the poorest New Yorkers - while conspicuously spurning Bloomberg's plan to raise the sales tax on everyone.

A week earlier, Quinn used her State of the City speech to push high-tech government initiatives that should have been thought of by the guy who set up 311 - like creating one online application for all new city businesses, merging back office operations and selling .nyc as an Internet address.

That came a day after she led the Council in overriding Bloomberg's veto of a bill easing residency requirements on DC37 members. They differed only on technical points, granted, but a veto is a veto.

And it was the Friday before Christmas that the Bloomberg administration caved in to Quinn's push to junk a $117 million plan to revamp the city's senior centers.

All great things I agree, as Lisberg dutifully notes them down in the article. He then lauds her style for not talking up these issues in her State of the City address because, "That's not her style." Meh. Mr. Lisberg you have got to be kidding me here. Look, it is great that she's acting like the progressive that she once was, or still is deep down inside.

The issue for her critics though, such as I and those in the Council that opposed her bid to screw the voters and extend term limits so that she and the Mayor could run again is simply unforgivable. This isn't a single-issue, anti-Quinn campaign though, it is a matter of credibility and seeing those that have it. Disrespecting the voters who instituted term limits twice goes to the very heart of having good leadership in the city. Bloomberg, by the way he went about that extension (such as waiting for enough time to pass so that he could claim there wasn't enough time to send the question to the voters again) shows that he simply wanted to hold onto his power. Quinn could have stood up to him then, but she didn't and neither did the 28 other CMs that she helped vote the way of the Mayor and their own self-interest (especially those who were in their second terms).

As to the question of having a powerful Mayor with a worthy opponent, why doesn't those in the media such as Mr. Lisberg wonder about respecting New Yorkers and letting them have a Mayor and Council that actually reflect their views and opinions, and not just the billionaires who lust for power and their "deputies" that wish to have the same some day.

Koch Sides With Quinn On Increasing Taxes For The Wealthy

Former Mayor Ed Koch and I probably don't agree on many issues but we both Speaker Quinn's bid to raise city income tax on the wealthiest of our inhabitants. I also don't agree with Quinn very often, but that's besides the point. What we have now is a financial crisis that hasn't been seen in a long time and we need to do something concrete about it. Creating a tiered system is definitely a part of a comprehensive plan.

From The Daily Politics:

Koch was on hand at City Hall yesterday for Council Speaker Christine Quinn's State of the City address, during which she proposed a three-tiered plan that would increase taxes on the city's wealthier residents, starting with those who earn $297,000.

"I always believed that rich people should pay more, and I'm one of them," Koch told the DN's Frank Lombardi after Quinn's speech.

He disagreed with Bloomberg's claim that rich people would move out of the city if made to pay higher taxes, saying:

"Not me! And I believe the city is so extraordinary and the dollars that you're talking about by comparison is so miniscule that it would not have such an effect.

Koch sees through that tired argument that rich people would move out of the city. Plenty of locales have tiered systems and the wealthy don't leave those communities simply for having to pay a higher tax rate. There is more to the question of desirability of living in cities than just their tax rates. New York has a lot to offer and as a result, it takes a lot to keep it going. Especially in hard times, we need to pull together and not leave the poor out in the cold, or play on the fears of people by threatening to leave altogether.

Quinn's Millionaire Tax???

Speaker Christine Quinn proposed a millionaire's tax for the city yesterday, now this is shocking news. Why, the idea almost sounds as progressive as Senator Schneiderman's proposal to institute a fair tax for the entire state. Raising rates on the wealthy would raise a ton of cash that the rich can afford a lot easier than the poor can handle cuts to essential services. And of course, having the Speaker spearheading this gives it tremendous weight.

From The NY Daily News:

In another one of her rare breaks with Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is poised to propose a three-tiered tax increase on New Yorkers earning more than $300,000 a year while also eliminating the PIT for low and moderate-income households.

Quinn will unveil what her office is calling a "forward-thinking" and "progressive" plan at her annual State of the City address tomorrow.

Under the plan, the PIT on pre-tax income of between $297,000 and $532,000 would jump from 3.683 percent to 4.25 percent, resulting in a typical tax increase of $374. For households earning $532,000 to $1.2 million, the bump would be to 4.45 percent ($5,571, on average), and $1.2 million and above would pay 4.65 percent ($19,066).

Overall, according to Quinn's office, 96 percent of taxpayers won't see any change in their bills at all.

The increase would bring in $1 billion worth of new revenue, which would be used to pay for the proposed tax cuts (which are also being pushed by Councilman David Yassky and the Drum Major Institute) and also eliminate the sales tax increase the mayor included in his FY2010 budget.

Malcolm Smith should see that the idea of a fair tax is a popular idea and a smart one as well in these troubled times. If Bloomberg-lackey Christine Quinn can muster the guts to introduce this legislation in the city, perhaps he can quit uttering right-wing talking points about the issue and jump on board with 18 of his fellow Senators to get the ball rolling for the entirety of New York.

Oh and of course Quinn will not only have to make sure it gets passed in the City Council, but with a veto-proof majority as well. Mayor Bloomberg in no way wants to raise his own taxes (and that of his elite class) so that we can keep more city programs on-line. To get this to the people will take a lot of fighting and knowing Bloomberg, things can get nasty. I can't say I'm a supporter of Quinn (her history is far too tainted) but I do support her on this.