New York City Campaign Finance Board

Last week, Council member Annabel Palma was fined $30,000 by the city’s Campaign Finance Board for essentially having 1199 SEIU run her 2003 campaign. The union, the CFB said, illegally coordinated with the campaign, providing in-kind contributions in excess of local limits.

Palma told me she’s happy just to pay up and put the matter behind her, and that she'll be holding fund-raisers to help cover the cost of the fine, one of the largest (the largest?) to be levied against anyone for such an infraction.

“I’m just glad it is over," she said on the City Hall steps this morning. "I’m glad I got a fine and can move on."

When I asked her if she’ll take matching funds again (she’s term-limited in 2013), she said, “I don’t think I will. I don’t think--my treasurer will probably kill me, but, I don’t want to accept campaign funds, public funds.”

Will that affect her ability to seek higher office?

“I don’t think so. I think this experience made me a little wiser in terms of what I need to do and  who I surround myself with. And I definitely don’t think this will discourage me from seeking higher office after I’m term-limited. And I won’t let campaign finance get me into thinking I can’t serve the public.”

Palma is having a fund-raiser tomorrow at Laces Out (1040 Castle Hill Avenue), from 6 to 8 p.m., and another on October 25 at Latin Quarters (511 Lexington Avenue), also from 6 to 8 p.m.

The John Whitehead who ran for City Council - as opposed to the one who got yelled at by Eliot Spitzer -- was fined $10,000 today by the city's Campaign Finance Board for “fraud and material misrepresentation.”

In total, Whitehead, who ran in the 42nd District in Brooklyn against Charles Barron in 2005, was fined $11,889.

Other fines levied today:

• Public Advocate candidate Jay Golub, $5,460, mostly for taking $27,800 over the contribution limit
• Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, $175, mostly for taking $500 over the limit
• Councilman Mike McMahon, $125, for taking a corporate contribution

Some lobbyists have apparently been complaining the Council about the fact that they are now required to disclose their home addresses on documents they file with the Campaign Finance Board, citing safety concerns, according to an informed to an informed source.

At a hearing earlier today about a campaign finance bill, the head of the CFB reacted.

"The lobbying law explicitly recognizes that the Board must have access to both the names and home addresses of lobbyists, as reported to the City Clerk, to adequately enforce the law's prohibition on matching contributions from lobbyists and associated individuals," said Amy Loprest, Executive Director of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, according to her prepared testimony.

-- Azi Paybarah

The Temporary Commission on the Future of New York State Power Programs for Economic Development meets at the Empire State Development Corporation.

New York City Campaign Finance Board meets at 40 Rector Street.

Latino AIDS activists protest plans to increase rent for disabled people with AIDS on the steps of City Hall.

The Domestic Violence Project at the Urban Justice Center hosts a domestic violence awareness forum with Hiram Monserrate at the Queens Museum of Art.

Union workers and elected officials call on the German-based insurance company Allianze to stop blocking World Trade Center rebuilding in front of the German Consulate.

Indiana Congressman Mike Pence rings the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

League of Women Voters of East Nassau hosts a debate between 3rd Congressional District candidates Congressman Peter King and Legislator Dave Mejias at the Levittown Library.

People For the American Way Foundation will be hosting an event with journalist and author Joe Maguire who will discuss his recent departure from Reuters and his new book on Ann Coulter at 7:30pm in their Northeast Regional Office at 149 5th Avenue at 21st Street.

Assemblyman Jonathan Bing will be hosting his annual Senior Health Fair at Knickerbocker Plaza.

—Nicole Brydson

In the morning, Madeline Albright will be honored by the New York Women's Foundation at the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board holds a public hearing at 40 Rector Street.

Frank Gehry will present his designs for the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn at the Atlantic Center.

Justice Anthony Kennedy will give the NYU commencement speech.

Marty Markowitz will become a "nurse for a day" in celebration of National Nurses Week at Maimonides Medical Center.

In the afternoon, John Edwards will discuss poverty and public policy at The Kaye Playhouse. In the evening, Assemblyman Jonathan Bing hosts his 2006 Campaign Kickoff with Eliot Spitzer at Michael Jordan's The Steak House NYC. And the Village Independent Democrats will meet at Judson Memorial Church to vote on endorsements for all statewide and local candidates.

—Nicole Brydson

If you're following Gifford Miller's dance with the campaign finance law on what qualifies as a "petitioning expense," this ruling from the Campaign Finance Board this morning can't be good news for the Speaker:

"September 2, 2005 — The New York City Campaign Finance Board yesterday determined that expenditures for petition-gathers who also distributed campaign literature for the Bronx City Council campaign of Stephen B. Kaufman were not wholly exempt from the expenditure limit." On the other hand, Gifford's campaign finance lawyer, Larry Laufer, is a longtime CFB counsel who knows more about this stuff than anyone. And if Gifford does turn out to be within the letter of the law, Mike Bloomberg's presence in the race makes it hard to criticize him.  read more »

NOTE: The original version of this posting repeated an error in the CFB press release, which has been corrected.

Sitting on a park bench behind the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, his long legs stretched out in fr  read more »