DE BLASIO'S SECRET DEAL, OR NOT Councilman Bill de Blasio swears he never tried to hide that he's been on the payroll of the presidential candidate he's been talking up since last June, John Edwards. But the New York Observer considered the discovery surprising enough to put it in the second paragraph of a 1,700-word front-page profile of the Park Slope politician. And in the third paragraph. And the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh paragraphs.

Still, de Blasio put on a brave face, saying he wasn't upset at the article. He even refrained from rebutting criticism from his rival, Councilman Lew Fidler, who told the Observer de Blasio's $6,000-a-month gig "doesn't look right." "He has a right to his opinion," de Blasio said.

And Fidler's opinion is: "If my endorsement means anything, then I shouldn't be being paid. And if I am being paid, it should be a big headline." Meaning de Blasio should disclose to people he's wooing that he's an employee of Edwards, not just an endorser, said Fidler, who's backing John Kerry. "A lot of people were very surprised to hear he was being paid," Fidler said. "I was flabbergasted." Fidler said that in 1996, when he was only a Democratic district leader, he turned down a lucrative offer to run a campaign for surrogate judge because it felt wrong.

De Blasio said he readily told people who inquired, which is not the same as volunteering the it-something de Blasio didn't feel was necessary. "Anyone who asked I would of course readily explain the situation," de Blasio said. "It was filed with the FEC, so anyone could have looked it up." True, but we don't imagine most people, when asked by de Blasio to support Edwards, went poring through FEC records or asked de Blasio, "Are you on his payroll?"

That's because no one expects elected officials who endorse candidates to also be paid cash by them. In fact, de Blasio's case is the first we've heard of. We never thought to ask if de Blasio were being paid. Nor did his opponent in the 2003 election, Gloria Mattera, who made de Blasio's alliance with Edwards a focus of her campaign. During that race, de Blasio's people downplayed his role on the Edwards campaign, calling it an "advisory role," not a managerial one. The councilman himself called it a "decidedly part-time job" last year. Who would have guessed it carried a $72,000 annual salary?

In a phone interview February 29, de Blasio told us he did not seek a salaried position, but that Edwards's people suggested it. "I never raised the concept," said de Blasio, a campaign operative before his election in 2001. Nor did money come up when he met with John Kerry and Kerry's campaign chairman. De Blasio said he picked Edwards simply because "I decided that Edwards was the better candidate."

BOYLAND BOTCHES FILING Councilwoman Tracy Boyland's first Federal Election Commission filing shows she raised $106,301 last year to challenge her former boss, Rep. Major Owens, but there's a problem: about two-thirds of it came from corporations, including developers, property management firms, and non-profits. That's a no-no under federal law. The campaign refunded $5,500, meaning Team Boyland realized that churches (among others on her donor list) can't give to federal campaigns. But apparently the team missed the paragraph in the FEC publication "Federal Election Campaign Laws" that says, "It is unlawful for any bank, or any corporation…to make a contribution or expenditure in connection with any election to any political office, or in connection with any primary election…"

We can see how a single paragraph in a 227-page manual can slip by, but Team Boyland (that's what the Boylands like to call themselves) should have realized something was wrong when they filled out the FEC's "Detailed Summary Page" form. That's where contribution totals are listed by category. There is no place to list corporate contributions-only those from individuals, political party committees, and PACs. So Team Boyland engaged in some creative math, filling out the form thusly: Contributions From Individuals (itemized): $29,301; (unitemized) $0. Total: $72,400. If Tracy Boyland thinks $29,301 plus $0 equals $72,400, she's ready to balance the federal budget, eh?

Moreover, many of the "individuals" listed as donors were clearly not individuals, unless you know anybody named "Local 137," "Sigma Contracting, Inc.," "Full Spectrum," "Ocean Hill Developers," "4502 Park Ave, LLC," or "Katz 2003," to cite just a few. Uh, Tracy, the form asks for "Full Name (Last, First, Middle Initial)." That's a clue that the FEC was looking for people, not companies. Yet Boyland just goes right on listing "individuals" such as $100 donor "Friends of Loren Bailey [sic] 2003" (this is the campaign fund of Loren Baily-Schiffman, a Civil Court judge looking to move up to Supreme who could use the help of Boyland's brother, Assemblyman William Boyland Jr., a Democratic district leader).

It's obvious that Tracy Boyland-a former Brownsville public school teacher and tutor with a master's in education-didn't hire a pro to prepare her filings, which were scribbled by treasurer Sabrina Postles and delivered without even a postmark, though the FEC requires electronic filing.

In fact, she didn't hire anyone-she listed no 2003 payments to Postles, her custodian of records Ruby Boyland, or anyone else. Another curiosity is why so many developers from New Jersey, Long Island, and other locales far from Brooklyn would give thousands to Boyland. Could it be they have business with the state that could be aided by Boyland's brother or Assemblyman Clarence Norman, who is close to their father, former Assemblyman Frank Boyland?

We sent a request for an explanation to the fax number Boyland reported to the FEC, but it was just a full voice-mail box. Our e-mail to Boyland wasn't returned by press time.

TOWNS FLUNKS ENVIRO TEST The only low grade among Brooklyn Democrats on the latest League of Conservation Voters scorecard belonged to Rep. Ed Towns, who got a 65. Rep. Major Owens earned a perfect score of 100, while Reps. Anthony Weiner, Nydia Velazquez, and Jerry Nadler all got a 95. Rep. Vito Fossella was given a 10, tied with three other Republicans for the lowest score in New York state for the 108th Congress.

The scores were based on 19 votes bills, including on the energy bill, which was counted twice because it was "so environmentally harmful," by the LCV. Towns voted against the environmentalists on that one and three others. He also missed two votes, which were counted as negatives. Towns's two absences were more than the rest of the delegation combined (Fossella had the other one). Towns also had the lowest LCV score among Brooklyn Democrats for the previous two Congresses.

HAITI RALLY SPURS TIFF A rally for Haiti that police moved from Grand Army Plaza to a street in Prospect Heights sparked a testy exchange between Chris Owens and former City Council candidate Tony Herbert on a local listserv. After residents complained of the loudness of the February 28 rally, Herbert chimed in, "Congressman [Major] Owens was on the microphone and soon followed by Councilwoman Tish James screaming in support of the issue…Let us ask both of them why they did not hold the rally in front of their homes."

Chris Owens, Major's son, shot back, "You know, Tony Herbert, that is just plain low…There is nothing wrong with letting the Congressman and the Councilmember know that residents had a problem with the event and that we would all appreciate more sensible approaches to the use of street closings, sound systems, etc... But don't try to make it look like elected officials representing constituents were responsible for the irresponsible behavior of the event sponsors!"

Replied Herbert, "They jumped up on that truck for one reason and one reason only, to be heard and seen as in support of and concerned about what was happening in Haiti, when they should have been just as concerned about the number of people they have inconvenienced here today...I have a neighbor with a newborn baby in my building and the noise totally agitated the child, one block away." Later, Owens wrote that he informed his father of the complaints. He reported, "The Congressman stated that he was sorry about the excessive noise and that he was not happy with NYPD because, according to what he was told by organizers, it was NYPD that rerouted the march and the location for the final rally."

DAVIS ON THE ARENA PLAN Former City Council candidate Geoffrey Davis thinks opponents of Bruce Ratner's arena-housing-office complex are at best misguided and at worst hypocritical. "How unfair it is to speak about the residents in Prospect Heights who will be displaced, perhaps, if the arena comes," since the same community leaders "did not make any major noise when residents in the Walt Whitman, Ingersoll, and Ebbets Field projects were concerned about being displaced and gentrification," Davis said. "We have to fight displacement across the board, not just for a particular small section of the community."

He added, "Ratner and the community leaders should sit down, rather than barking and using extortion tactics and threatening because that gets absolutely nowhere. If we sit down like professionals, we can work things out." Davis is trying to return to political viability after his disastrous attempt to win the seat vacated when his brother, James Davis, was murdered in July 2003. He disappeared briefly after losing the election to Tish James but has since been attending local meetings. "I'm up and roaring. Ready to work," he said. "I had to get myself together, emotionally and mentally, prior to getting back out there…I'm a community activist, a community leader. I'm going to bring the voiceless voices to the forefront." His organization is called DTTS, Inc., for "Dedicated To The Struggle."

JOHN JAY AND THE D.A. RACE One of potential Brooklyn district attorney candidate Mark Peters's most touted accomplishments as president of Community School Board 15 was the replacement of John Jay High School with a smaller middle school/high school combination that was supposed to attract Park Slope kids.

But according to Bob Bell, a former colleague of Peters on the school board, Park Slope parents are still largely unwilling to send their kids there, though it's in the heart of the neighborhood at 7th Avenue and 4th Street. "They set it up as a Park Slope school and it ended up not being a Park Slope school," said Bell. "Because of the unruly elements in the building, most Park Slope parents wouldn't send their kids there. A Midwood or a Murrow it ain't. They restructured but kept the population pretty much the same."

Peters, who left the school board in 2001 and thus can't be blamed for the new school's difficulties since then, took issue with Bell's statement. "John Jay was never intended to be a Park Slope school," Peters said. "It was always intended to be a school serving the needs of all the students of District 15, which is a much larger group than Park Slope." He added, "A lot of people, myself included, spent a lot of time trying to revitalize John Jay several years ago. I think everybody should be proud of the fact that lots of different constituencies…got together and said, We're not satisfied with the status quo."

Bell, incidentally, was the lone conservative and Republican on the otherwise liberal, Democratic school board. Would he vote for Peters to be D.A.? "I wouldn't vote for him just because he and I have vastly different approaches," Bell said. "But as far as his integrity, I think he has a lot of integrity. I think he's extremely competent, although I'm not sure I agree with what he achieves by being competent."

Since his school board tenure in the mid 1990s, Bell has tired of being a conservative activist in the liberal bastion of Park Slope, and now devotes much of his spare time to whitewater kayaking in Pennsylvania. Peters was chief of state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's Public Integrity unit for three years before taking a law firm job in mid January.

MORE ON MARGARITA During a recent stump speech defending the Brooklyn political machine's handling of Supreme Court nominations, Assemblyman Clarence Norman was asked about Civil Court Judge Margarita Lopez Torres, whose bid for elevation to Supreme has been stymied by Norman. The assemblyman replied that Lopez Torres "tried to take over our 1997 judicial convention," a reference to her dalliance with a slate of insurgent candidates put up by Norman's late rival, Assemblyman Tony Genovesi.

An incredulous Susan Loeb, the former Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats president, then asked, "Could you tell us exactly how she tried to take over our judicial convention?" "She was going to allow her name to be placed in nomination" on Genovesi's rebel slate, Norman answered.

This was just fodder for Loeb and her accomplice, Democratic district leader Alan Fleishman, who continued grilling Norman. "Don't you think it's ridiculous to punish someone whose name was not placed in nomination?" he asked. "And isn't it selective to punish her" and not others who supported the Genovesi slate, including Rep. Ed Towns, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, and Councilman Lew Fidler? Norman never explained why Lopez Torres was singled out for retribution, according to Loeb and Fleishman.

Contact Brooklyn Politics at (718) 399-3693.

Borough Politics Archive

2004
March 1 column.
February 23 column.
February 16 column.
February 9 column.
February 2 column.
January 26 column.
January 19 column.
January 12 column.
January 5 column.

2003
December 29 column.
December 22 column.
December 15 column.
December 8 column.
December 1 column.
November 24 column.
November 17 column.
November 10 column.
November 3 column.
October 27 column.
October 20 column.
October 13 column.
October 6 column.
September 29 column.
September 22 column.
September 15 column.
September 8 column.
September 1 column.
August 25 column.
August 18 column.
August 18 column.
August 11 column.
August 4 column.
July 21 column.
July 14 column.
July 7 column.
June 30 column.
June 23 column.
June 16 column.
June 9 column.
June 2 column.
May 26 column.
May 19 column.
May 12 column.
May 5 column.
April 28 column.
April 21 column.
April 14 column.
April 7 column.
March 31 column.
March 24 column.
March 10 column.
March 3 column.
February 24 column.
February 17 column.
February 10 column.
February 3 column.
January 27 column.
January 20 column.
January 13 column.
January 6 column.

2002
December 30 column.
December 23 column.
December 16 column.
December 9 column.
December 2 column.
Novemer 25 column.
Novemer 18 column.
November 11 column.
November 4 column.
October 28 column.
October 21 column.
October 14 column.
October 7 column.
September 30 column.
September 23 column.
September 16 column.
September 9 column.
September 2 column.
August 26 column.
August 19 column.
August 12 column.
August 5 column.
July 29 column.
July 22 column.
July 8 column.
July 1 column.
June 17 column.
June 10 column.
June 3 column.
May 27 column.
May 20 column.
May 13 column.
May 6 column.
April 29 column.
April 22 column.
April 15 column.
April 8 column.
April 1 column.
March 25 column.
March 18 column.
March 11 column.
March 4 column.
February 25 column.
February 18 column.
February 11 column.
February 4 column.
January 28 column.
January 21 column.
January 7 column.

2001
December 10 column.
December 3 column.
November 19 column.
November 12 column.
November 5 column.
October 22 column.
October 1 column.
September 6 column.
September 4 column.
August 30 column.
July 23 column.
July 2 column.
June 25 column.
June 11 column.
May 28 column.
May 21 column.
May 14 column.
May 7 column.
April 30 column.
April 23 column.
April 9 column.
April 2 column.
March 26 column.
March 19 column.
March 12 column.
March 5 column.
February 26 column.
February 19 column.
February 12 column.
February 5 column.
January 29 column.
January 22 column.
January 15 column.
January 8 column.
January 1 column.

2000
December 25 column.
December 18 column.
December 11 column.
December 4 column.
November 27 column.
November 20 column.
November 13 column.
November 6 column.
October 30 column.
October 23 column.
October 16 column.
October 9 column.
October 2 column.
September 25 column.
September 18 column.
September 11 column.
September 4 column.
August 28 column.
August 21 column.
August 7 column.
July 31 column.
July 24 column.
July 17 column.
July 10 column.
June 26 column.
June 19 column.
June 12 column.
May 15 column.
May 8 column.
April 24 column.
April 10 column.
March 13 column.
March 7 column.
February 21 column.
February 14 column.
February 7 column.
January 31 column.
January 24 column.
January 17 column.

1999
December 16 column.
December 9 column.
December 2 column.
November 25 column.
November 18 column.
November 11 column.
November 4 column.