The Candidate from Develop Don't Destroy
Our commercial real estate reporter Matthew Schuerman passes on this little observation:
It makes sense that Bill Batson would get a lot of backing from opponents of the Atlantic Yards development. (He's been one of the project's most outspoken critics during his run for a seat in the assembly.)As it turns out, about a third of the contributions ($10,750 of $32,841) he has received since announcing in March came from board members or close associates of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. The group's spokesman, Daniel Goldstein, and his father Lawrence accounted for $6,600 of that, according to Batson's latest campaign filing.
The other candidates in the 57th assembly race have until Saturday to file their reports.
I thought it was interesting that Chris Owens gave Batson $500. You would think he wouldn't have that much cash to spare but it says alot about his idealism and support of his fellow anti-Ratner foes.
Student: Alternate theory; it's a pretty cheap price to pay for joint petitions carried by Batson's supporters and joint palm cards.
alternate theory. Gatemouth is a nihilist.
Batson's donations are much more locally based than Jeffries. This is important in a small district like an Assembly seat. Batson continues to be a strong candidate.
Gatey, you're probably right on this one. I continue to learn.
Chris Owens and Bill Batson have worked together a lot. Both were extremely active in the Norman Siegel campaign, so they share a lot of common interests. And these interests seem to be shared by the voters of the district- this was one of the only districts that carried Siegel last year.
Bill was not a late entry. Hakeem was.
Actually this is Jeffries third attemp at Rogers Greens seat, I heard he was contemplating running for the seat before Batson
Pacificislander: what are you talking about?! Hakeem has run for this seat twice since 2000 and both times has garnered 40 percent of the vote or close against the incumbent. how is he a late entry to the race? When you make incompetent statements like that, you ruin the little credibility of batson's anti-arena base and contributors.
Pacificislander: what are you talking about?! Hakeem has run for this seat twice since 2000 and both times has garnered 40 percent of the vote or close against the incumbent. how is he a late entry to the race? When you make incompetent statements like that, you ruin the little credibility of batson's anti-arena base and contributors.
I've breezed through the filings and concluded that the above Batson press release is delusional, an attempt to spin some pretty bad news. Here's another view of the same facts:
-- With $20,000 on-hand and a $15,000 loan still outstanding to the candidate, the campaign is essentially in the black by only $5,000 with eight-plus weeks to go to the primary.
-- "200 contributors"? Looks like closer to -100- checks from about 85 discrete individuals. (Is it really fair to count Daniel Goldstein -five- times?!) Batson does have another $3300 in unitemized (presumably, cash) contributions. Perhaps that was all collected from the other 115 people.
-- "Most" of the contributors "live in our district"? Again, unless he has tabs on the cash contributors, this is an outright falsehood: of the 85 individuals who cut checks, 44 provided addresses -outside- of the 57th AD. And a full 23 contributors gave no address at all.
If Batson's petitions are as lame as these filings and this excuse for a press release, he should be very worried.
Hakeem is walking around with a Century 21 yellow jacket selling all of our neighborhood out from under us. His campaign manager is Ratners spokeperson. Disgusting ! Once he is done, he will go back to his house on Park Aevnue and split the proceeds with Ratner. Vote Batson ! Vote Hamilton ! Stop Jeffires !
12:45 - you sound ridiculous. First of all, if jeffries lived on park ave - which he doesn't (he was gerrymandered out of the district by geen before green's last re-election and moved himself and his family back in to the district) he could not run for a seat that he has run for TWO other times. Your rantings and vitriol DO NOT bode well because you are just rambling - it makes absolutely no sense. Even batson doesn't make the claim that jeffries doesn't live in the 57th, let alone on park ave (he used to live on PARK PLACE before green cut him out). All your screaming is just to hide the fact that batson does not have the monetary support that he claims. You are embarrassing his campaign. Pipe down and let those with real, competent analysis speak out.
poor little rich people fighting against the big bad developer. if they lose all the affordable housing for the working poor, someone should send these losers into a river.
what affordable housing Bubba?
Guys: I was not implying anything evil about the Batson donation from Owens. I was merely saying that helping your allies does have an element of mutual self interest. Sheeesh!
Anyway, that ain't evil, that's civilization as we know it. Unless, Bill was then going to build Chris his dream house; and I don't think $500 would even cover the downpayment.
I should really delete the last paragraph; it might give Ratners some ideas.
It's so ridiculous when campaigns pat themsleves on the back for "raising money from the district." You idiots! Why would you rob from those who have much better use of their $50 - you get the money from the wealthy who have it to spare! I continually shake my head at the nonsense people spew in the name of self-proclaimed righteousness. It's so funny - it's the candidates' only way of answering for their lousy fundraiser's failure to put them over the top.
what i'm talking about is that Batson announced his candidacy more than a month before Hakeem did. Yes, he's run twice before, the last time was over four years ago. but he announced second on this one. thus he was a late entry. and he was a specter til he announced. still seems to be.
pixie363: it is not theivery to get donations from neighborhood folks - actually, it's encouraged (see the laws of the nyc campaign finance act). getting donations from wealthy contributors is nice, but its also very esoterical; there is no vested, personal interest for them. when a neighborhood resident on a fixed income gives a candidate their hard-earned money, there is a personal connection to that candidate and where their money is going. people want to invest money in the guy/woman who can get the traffic light fixed on the block or has a say in the daycare slots for the neighborhood. as a person who grew up in an immigrant household in an urban city, whose parents donated $10 here and $20 there, people like to be asked. its offensive to not ask donations of the people that you claim to want to represent...but then ask them for their vote?
the amount of neighborhood donations that a candidate receives shows the appeal of that candidate in the neighborhood. it's an important measure of a candidate's "wealth."
(Yes, he's run twice before, the last time was over four years ago)
you are correct that hakeem had not run for this seat in 4 years, but hakeem was knocked out of the district by incumbent green in 2003 so he could not run for office against him in 2004. he had to move back in to the district to run.
neither of the candidates were late in announcing - actually both were fairly early. saying that batson announced before hakeem and that made him a late entry is stretching it. hamilton announced well after the both of them. you are reaching.
whoever said that Batson announced late is stretching it. as far as money, money won't win this election, ground work will.
To add to Black Pride's comment, having local donors speaks to local strength. It suggests a local base of support that can spread through word of mouth. This is not so important in large districts, like statewide New York offices, but in a small district like this, local support is an important advantage.
The Jeff Feldmans may support Hakeem now, but if they think he's weak, they will find other districts to put their efforts. But people who live in the district are not going anywhere.
pacificislander: it's not worth commenting when you clearly know so little about the game. Nobody said Batson entered the race late. But most folks who follow politics know that it matters little the relative timing of announcement press conferences. Exactly when Batson moved into the district is another matter entirely...
But, for argument's sake, let's buy your fairly weak line that Batson's extremely weak cash position "won't matter" and "ground work will"!
Well, by Batson's own admission (again, see press release), he's got ground-forces of only 30 volunteers. Hardly an army. Add that to the fact that no major union or organization with ground troops (including 1199, his former employer) has chosen to support him. Conclusion: he has hardly enough people to cover the 30 or so polling places in the 57th AD on primary day.
I could see how you would want to spin grim money news so that these few volunteers don't get further dispirited. But when you're in a hole, stop digging!
well, i haven't been swayed by either side's barking on this thread, but i do have to point something out.
batson's press release above clearly states that he had 30 volunteers carrying petitions. i don't think we know how many volunteers in total the campaign has--only the ones doing the petitioning. and since i think only 500 signatures are needed, if he truly has 3000, that's a pretty good show of support--at least in signatures.
it's true that he hasn't been endorsed by anyone with major ground troops, but it's more telling to have active support from people who live in this district, rather than people from outside who will not be voters, and are told by their superiors what to do and where to go.
i'd be pretty impressed if my neighbor was willing to donate their time to petition for someone, and intrigued about that candidate.
are you impressed by seeing a local candidate supported mostly by an outside organization?
uhm, alreadylive here, pioneer posted above "Bill was a late entry in the race...."
so someone did say he entered late. and what is evidence of late entry other than an announcement. sitting on your arse and waiting to run? hakeem go nowhere near 40% his second time around.
$6,600 from the Goldsteins = more than 1/5 of Batson's money comes from a single family. I guess Ratner's not the only wealthy white master in town.
according to the state campaign records, batson filed 59K, not 62K as his press release says.
pacificislander: Your comment is truly the pot calling the kettle, but since you mentioned it: I'd say "sitting on your arse" is taking 27 years to finish an undergraduate degree!
I've seen Hakeem at countless events, subway stations and churches in my neighborhood in each of the last several years. If you need physical evidence that Hakeem has been actively campaigning, look at his campaign filings from 2005. It suits the purposes of the Batson folks to discount the role of money, but might it be a sign of Batson's inherent weakness that Hakeem had more cash-on-hand six months ago than Batson does now? And check out the addresses of Hakeem donors: plenty from within the 57th!
Finally, if Batson can round up 85 contributors to 200, it's more than safe to say Hakeem got "almost 40%" when he got 38% in 2002. You clearly do not know what you're talking about.
Black mamma: I will give you that 30 people collecting 3000 signatures is an impressive number -- but that's only if that number can be believed. (The B for B press release suggests let's say, a talent for exaggeration.) We all knew that Batson's core supporters in DDDB have nothing but time on their hands. In the end, 30 people -- no matter where they live or how hard they work -- will not do it for you in a contested primary.
But BM, I'll give you credit, you yourself are spinning hard. If you are who I think you are, you've more than earned the $2,282 Batson has paid you since April...bark!
already live here. seems elitist to suggest that a colleg degree is so important. perhaps batson was being an activist, organizer, campaigner all the time. best real world experience there is.
to the the other:
yeah 6,600 vs. Ratner's billions. thats a nice analogy. very logical .
What do Hakeem Jeffries and Diane Gordon have in common?
a)they both are with County
b)they both have Jeff Fledman on their committee on vacancies.
c)very popular with developers
d)all of the above