Tag Archive: Paul Vallone

Apr 18 2013

Democratic Frontrunner Has Crossover Appeal

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April 18, 2013

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Paul Vallone could go on vacation for the entire summer and he’d still be the best candidate in CD19.

After Dan’s fall from grace, candidates are circling the wagons in the 19th Council District leaving some to wonder, who will run on the Republican line?

Let’s start by saying Paul Vallone is the only frontrunner for the 19th. We can argue this, sure, but let’s remember that out of all the wannabes and Johnny come lately’s, Vallone is the only democratic candidate that has been persistently volunteering and aiding the community in a variety of capacities long before this campaign even started.

You’ll see a lot of press releases flaunt: oh, this candidate did this, and oh this candidate did that, you’ll even see candidates pressing the flesh and suddenly appearing at civic meetings – most of them for the first time, except for Vallone. It’s definitely time to lay it on real thick. So it’s not surprising when even Republican leaders mention Paul’s name, mind you, to take up the line.

Before the Halloran disaster, the predominant theory was that Paul would have the best shot at defeating Halloran, if not the only democrat capable of defeating him. Plenty of people realized it long before the headlines, but now that Halloran is (potentially) gone, a few Republicans were rumored to be interested, but I don’t think any of them will pan out, especially when inside sources say they will be more than happy to welcome Vallone to take the red line.

Meanwhile as all of the other candidates struggle to play catch-up to build name recognition and a portfolio of community service, Paul Vallone has it all – even if his detractors never admit it.

Will Paul run on the Republican line? No, not likely. Rumors of Guiliani’s cousin and Alfredo Centola have also been flouted, but we don’t know anything for sure right now other than Paul Vallone still has the best shot at winning the seat, no matter who he runs against.

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Mar 14 2013

Dem Endorsement of Shafran Could Hand Election To Halloran

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March 14, 2013

Democratic Donkey

Shafran’s lack of any community service within CD19 notwithstanding, the only candidate with enough name recognition and campaign experience to beat him is Vallone.

The Barkan Report mentioned it this week that Paul Vallone and Austin Shafran are frontrunners for CD 19 and I agree, this is an absolute truth, but whispers in the air still hold that County will shy away from endorsing Paul Vallone. To do so will come with a little egg in the face.

If Shafran should face off with incumbent Dan Halloran in a general election, he’ll lose. Dan is too strong for Shafran, whom despite adequate fundraising, still needs to work on basic name recognition.

While it’s still a little too early to tell, one thing seems to go unnoticed: the organization will do what’s best for the organization and long-term planning cannot ignore the dismal prospect for democrats in a Shafran vs. Halloran general election.

Hopefully they won’t lose sight of this when it comes time to make their pick.

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Dec 12 2012

Vallone’s combined base has already grown too large for Avella to win in northeast

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December 12, 2012

In 2009 an acrimonious primary race for City Council ripped through northeast Queens like a tornado. The results give a hint where the votes will go for Borough President. To summarize a long campaign, the vote was sliced 6 ways. Paul Vallone came in third to Jerry Iannece and Kevin Kim won (later defeated by Republican Dan Halloran). But now with Iannece out of the picture, his 2,139 votes will certainly go to Paul for City Council, and they’ll go to Peter for Borough President too ensuring victory in northeast Queens.

In the past four years, Paul’s voter base has grown and been nurtured through his visibility and service to the community. In a Primary Election it’s the party loyalists that show up to cast their ballot, however in this case Paul has his own base as well as the loyalty of the party’s prime voters. The sheer number will stop any chance of Peter’s rivals winning in northeast Queens. Granted we are not talking about the average voter. These are primary voters whom will wake up on Election Day knowing who they are going to vote for and it just so happens that this time most of them will cast a ballot for ‘Vallone’ straight down the line.

In his last election Avella enjoyed the support of labor which poured in from across the state to help win in a geographic area roughly 1/8th the size of Queens. They won’t be there this time around. Avella’s main problem will be that he can’t raise enough money and that will stop most attempts to overcome the momentum of Peter’s campaign. If this was a popularity contest, Tony Avella would win in northeast Queens, after all he’s an excellent representative with name recognition. But this is not a popularity contest, this is a primary election and if you don’t have the cash to deliver a diehard base to the polls or hire enough staff, you might as well call it quits.

My second point is that longstanding resentment against Tony Avella in northeast Queens for his character assassination of former Senator Frank Padavan has left a sour note with many voters that want to see Avella out of office or possibly tarred and feathered (yes it’s that bad). It should be noted that the fickle, yet coveted Whitestone bloc will go to Paul, and thus Peter for these reasons. Clearview Gardens will also lean Vallone, so will Beechhurst, Malba, and College Point due in part to the advocacy of their respective community leaders.

Regardless of whom County may endorse, votes still win elections.

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Dec 19 2011

Where Will They Be In 2020?

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December 19, 2011

Zartan, what will be the future of these public figures?

Queens-Politics looks into the crystal ball to find out what political hopefuls and hotshots could be doing in the near future.

There is very little competitive campaign action in most parts of Queens because one party and one firm control the electoral landscape. The only exception is on the north end where a cast of ambitious characters strut their stuff and vie for the next available seat — or do what they can to get a choice candidate elected into office.

Having studied the subjects in detail, let’s examine what could probably become of them, say ten years from now.

 

 

  • Steve Behar, a former Assembly and Council candidate goes national. Fed up with the corruption in Queens County, Steve realizes he’ll never raise enough money without submitting to the lobbyists and decides never again to work in local politics. Eventually he becomes National Director for Howard Dean’s campaign in 2020. Still driving the same truck.
  • Ed Braunstein rises to Speaker of the Assembly. When Shelly finally retires, Ed asks, why did my uncles get me into this mess? Eventually he gives up civic life to open Eddy’s Irish Bistro on Bell Boulevard. He becomes happiest man in Queens. Please note it has a kosher menu.
  • Dave Fischer becomes Chief of Staff for Ed Braunstein’s successor, Terrence Park. He spends his Saturday nights studying the Rosetta Stone to learn the Korean language.
  • Ann-Margaret Carozza is still practicing law off of Bell Boulevard. She buys another mansion, this time in Westchester County.
  • The Haggerty brothers take over the Queens GOP after John does hard time. Vince Tabone moves back to Astoria to resurrect the Frank Kenna Republican Club and runs against Michael Giannaris for state Senate every two years for a decade. Loses every time.
  • City Councilman Dan Halloran becomes Congressman Dan Halloran. Dan shows up in Northern Ireland with Joe Crowley both wearing kilts to broker a peace deal. Dan and Joe win over the leadership of Sinn Féin with their karaoke duet.
  • After numerous times of being passed over, State Committee Member Matt Silverstein becomes District leader without the county nod. He opens up a political consulting firm with the elderly Corey Bearak to make a killing of the growing Asian population. To celebrate, Matt orders 10,000 balloons from Devon O’Connor.  In the year 2021, he makes a 7-figure salary and buys up an entire floor at Bay Terrace. Loses support after arguing with the Bay Club Board of Directors because they won’t let him install a Jacuzzi.
  • Elio Forcina, an attorney and Former Assembly candidate, defends Evan Stavisky, founder of the Park Side Group for his indictment of influence peddling. They become best friends and Elio soon switches parties and moves to Rockland County to live in Evan’s 200-unit coop development.
  • Evan Stavisky, having made all of the judges in Federal court, beats all 91 charges. He becomes Chief of Staff to President Andrew Cuomo and appoints Elio Forcina Ambassador to Israel and G. Gordon Liddy as Secretary of Labor.
  • Tony Avella remains State Senator for many years but gets disenfranchised with the Animal rights movement after they make fun of him for wearing leather loafers. Tony later admits independent redistricting is like beating a dead horse.
  • After losing three more races to Frank Skala for chairman of the Community Board, Jerry Iannece makes a comeback worthy of Richard Nixon. While leaving the last Community Board meeting as presiding Chair, Jerry is overheard mumbling to himself, “you’re not gonna have Jerry to kick around anymore.” Years later he becomes Queens Borough President and decides to close all the Community Boards, calling them “a giant waste of time.”
  • Debra Markell tries to stop Jerry from shutting down the Community Boards using the legal service of Councilmember Paul Vallone. Debra decides to drop the case if Jerry offers her and three family members patronage posts in Borough Hall. Afterwards, Debra donates her land to Al Centola for development of a bocce ball court. Assembly Member Terrence Park protests saying there are too many bocce ball courts for the Italians, we need more poker tables for the Koreans.
  • Warren Schreiber lobbies to have Bay Terrace become a separate city. Proposes name change to Stavisky Land.
  • After working a few years with the Queens Courier, Robert Hornak made Vicki Schneps use her connections to get him a job at Fox News. He becomes the political Joe Franklin and wins an Emmy for his round table debate with Dennis Gallagher and James McClelland.
  • City Councilmember Eric Ulrich eventually loses his seat. Realizes there are no Republicans in South Queens and moves to Whitestone. Erects marble statue in memory of Tom Ognibene at the Frank Padavan Library in Queens Village. Never quite makes it to Governor.
  • Harry Giannoulis beats federal indictments and sells his share of the Parkside Group to Austin Finan. Revenues go down 10,000%. Harry eventually repents for his high crimes against the people of New York and opens up a storefront church on Northern Boulevard in Douglaston.
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Oct 20 2011

UFT Spox Feels Optimistic About Chancellor Walcott

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October 20, 2011

I was at the Clinton Democratic Club and our guest speaker of the evening was Queens Coordinator of the UFT, Dermot Smyth who came to give an update on city schools. He gave us the straight scoop.

Budget cuts, overcrowding, increasing parental involvement, and decentralizing an out-of-touch bureaucracy at the DOE were the primary concerns amidst a room packed with civic leaders and concerned parents.

His comments give us an inside look at what the UFT has been advocating, and he makes some valid points:

 

Dermot Smyth, Queens Coordinator of the UFT addressed the Clinton Democratic Club. See what he has to say on a host of issues with this QP exclusive report.

On Overcrowding:

“In order to serve our students we need a smaller group in the classroom. We have 20,000 new students coming in and less teachers.”

On Community Outreach:

“We have to strengthen community alliances and work with parents in tandem.”

 On Mayor Bloomberg:

“We cannot allow the Mayor to play politics with our children’s education”

“Bloomberg sold to the public that he’s done a great job. He hasn’t.”

“He’s pro-education, Pro-Bloomberg”

 On Chancellor Dennis Walcott:

“We have a chance because he [Dennis] will listen, he’s changed the tone.”

“He stood with us. He talks about Dial-a-Teacher where students can call up for homework help for free.”

“Yes he has to do Bloomberg’s bidding, but I’m optimistic.”

On Former Chancellor Joel Klein:

“Disengage was Joe’s policy.”

On Priorities of Budget Cuts:

“When money has dried-up, we must protect our children -  we should do without, the city is not in as bad of a financial state as the Mayor makes it out to be. How is it fare to put kids on the pipeline?”’

On The Current Role of The DOE:

“Centralization from on high is wrong.”

 On Future Prospectus:

“More fights are down the pipeline. I rep teachers and they have already been cut to the bone”

“We need new revenue sources.”

On Role of UFT:

“We will stand with you to protect our schools.”

A Call To Action:

“We need to standup and work together with elected officials so stand with us and protect our children.”

“We have to protect our schools as a community institution.”

Outrage

Smyth answered questions from parents dissatisfied with the response of their concerns to the DOE. Joe Vaccarro, a Clinton Democratic Club Member, spoke of a personal experience trying to illicit a response from the central bureaucracy.

“We had every parent write a letter and the Mayors advance team didn’t even show up”.

With what Vaccarro believes to be a boilerplate response, 

“The Mayor told us to go to hell – in a nice way,” he said.

Smyth responded with a sense of empathy to Vaccarro’s concerns.

“The Central BOE is blamed with blanket decisions. It is not looked at from a community standpoint,” according to Smyth.

Darren Kaplan of College Point was outraged with “Phantom Busses” that due to nothing less than an out-of-touch centralized bureaucracy have become a mismanaged resource. Under the present policy, students are denied entry to near empty yellow school busses for no other reason than red tape. The situation is compounded by poor logistical planning by the DOE.

“Even if there’s only three students on the bus,” he said with emphasis,

“My kid has been denied entry, she can’t get to school. There is no junior high or high school in College Point, 194 in Whitestone — is the only one, and they can’t get to it under these conditions.”

“On the night before school started at 5:30 PM, I got a recorded voicemail from the principal: No bus service for 7th and 8th graders.”

“They suggested I give my 13 year old five bucks to take the city bus!”

This is outrageous. But luckily at the Clinton Democratic Club, I counted at least 16 civic and labor leaders. President Paul Vallone encouraged us to take the message back to our respective clubs and organizations. Dermot gave out his contact information to all of the attendees. There was also some scuttlebut about Occupy The Bus Stop at JHS 194. There was a lot of networking and our members did a great job expressing their specific concerns to Smyth who will take the message back to the UFT.

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