Despite some evidence suggesting that Michael Bloomberg doesn’t have the authority to stop the $400 property-tax rebate checks from going out, the mayor told reporters this afternoon that the issue is fiscal, not legal.  read more »

After Christine Quinn delivered a speech to the Citizens Budget Commission this morning, I asked her if if the beneficial continuity she thinks Michael Bloomberg's third term will provide extends to the City Council's committee assignments. 

My question was prompted by the New York Post article that reported City Councilman David Weprin risks losing a coveted spot as chair of the Council Finance Committee because he is not supporting the term-limits legislation.

Quinn said the rumor that she is threatening to take away committee assignments is false.

If term limits are extended, the convention wisdom is that incumbents City Council members are basically shoo-ins for their current seats, in no small part because they’ve raised tons of money campaigning for higher offices already.

But they’ve also spent lots of money. Too much, perhaps.

Some City Council members have raised and spent money with eye towards a borough-wide or citywide races, but they then turn around and run for their old seats, the contribution and spending limits are much lower.

For a City Council race, the spending limit is $322,000 ($161,000 for the primary and $161,000 for the general election).

According to the Campaign Finance Board, Christine Quinn’s campaign spent $285,535.  read more »

Councilman David Weprin, a Democrat from Queens, sees a funny side in the failure of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill in the House.

“It’s very ironic that it’s the Republicans who are responsible for the federal markets tanking," he said. "It was a Republican administration pushing a Republican package and it’s the Republicans who usually are defending business interests.”

“It’s kind of an ironic, bizarre twist of politics,” he said.

The city comptroller's race continues to shrink as Assemblyman Jim Brennan just announced he's out of the race. 

Brennan, who's from Brooklyn, dropping off the ticket is a boon to City Councilman David Yassky, also from Brooklyn.

Another Brooklyn candidate, Simcha Felder, dropped out in June. That leaves Yassky competing most intensely for votes in Queens, where City Council members Melinda Katz and David Weprin are from. Another candidate, Adolfo Carrion, is from the Bronx.

Of course, there's still plenty of time for someone else to jump into the race.  Here's Brennan's email:   

State Assembly member Jim Brennan (D.W-F, Bklyn) will not seek the office of the Comptroller of the City of New York in 2009.

 read more »

I showed up just after the start of the press conference David Weprin held yesterday to express opposition to extending term limits legislatively.

It was to ignore the fact that there were only two other City Council members with him: Bill de Blasio and Eric Gioia. (Ken Moltner of the Ron Lauder-funded group Citizens for Term Limits and Susan Lerner of Common Cause also attended.)

As they spoke, you could hear City Council Speaker Christine Quinn speaking at a rally for same-sex marriage in City Hall Park.

In the clip above, Weprin cautions against reading too much into attendance at the event. Also, de Blasio and Weprin did not rule out running for re-election if term limits are extended.

Tony Avella got some major coverage today for sponsoring a bill to block the City Council from extending term limits legislatively.

He's not the only one. David Weprin has also asked that bill drafters in the Council write up a bill opposing the possible extension, his office said.

Also, Weprin is organizing a press conference for this Sunday at noon on the City Hall steps about his own bill. Expected to attend the event are groups like Citizens Union and New Yorkers for Term Limits--Ron Lauder’s group.

UPDATE: According to this document, Weprin's request to draft a bill on this issue was made on September 5. 

City Comptroller candidate David Weprin is having a fund-raiser this Thursday at the Sheraton Hotel downtown.

The invitation doesn't show a dollar amount, but Weprin told me the ticket price is $250 and up.

Looking ahead to other 2009 citywide races, all three mayoral candidates are expected to be in Denver for the convention. Bill Thompson arrived yesterday, Anthony Weiner is arriving today, and Christine Quinn's office said she will be here.

In an appearance last night on the Perez Notes radio show, Council finance committee chair (and comptroller candidate) David Weprin discussed David Paterson's speech on the budget, congestion pricing and development in the city.

Perez also brought up the Council slush fund incident, which Weprin was quick to characterize as a minor blip in the face of a roughly $60 billion budget.

“I’m not proud of these scandals or these misappropriations of some small amount of money in a very large budget, but in the end I think the process is stronger for it, and we’re all better off for all the scrutiny that came out of this,” he said.  read more »

A legislative breakfast for a Brooklyn-based educational group, Shema Kolainu, on August 5 will be something of a who’s who of New York politicians.

Amusingly, attendees will hear both “remarks” from State Senator Kevin Parker, and “greetings” from one of the Democrats looking to unseat him, Simcha Felder.

The chairman of the event is possible mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, whose company, Gristedes, is the sponsor.

(Honorary chair status is given to Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, which may help sell a few more tickets.)

The event is paying tribute to, among others, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, the State Senate minority leader, Malcolm Smith, comptroller candidate and City Councilman David Weprin, and City Councilman Bill de Blasio, who is also a candidate for Brooklyn borough president.