NY: Can We Make Progress Over Partisanship?

NEW YORK

• Working Families Party Demands More Probes Into News Corp.'s "Criminal Activity" (BY ALEX KATZ, Daily News) "It's time for the political class in New York to stand up to these bullies," he added. "The New York Post, Col Allen, and Roger Ailes have set the agenda for our state for far too long. It's time to move on."
• UPDATE: Bloomberg gives $10,300 to Independent Democrat Conference members (WNYC/The Empire) “He’s been very supportive of us when we formed and what we stand for, and certainly what we’ve done this session,” Azzopardi said. “Above all else we [all] value progress over partisanship.”
• Cuomo Plays Both Sides In Political Duel (By HENRY STERN, Queens Tribune) The reform movement in New York State public affairs, which consists of traditional, well-regarded government organizations, joined by Mayor Ed Koch’s New York Uprising, has made independent redistricting a priority for 2011. So far the legislature has ignored their wishes, instead convening its own instrument for redistricting, called LATFOR, an acronym for Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment.

Can Albany Be Reformed? Also, New Yorkers Don't Care for Spitzer as Mayor in 2013

NEW YORK

• New York awaits more reform (by Jim McGrath, Albany Times Union/The Observation Deck) The portion of the budget that funds legislative operations specifically includes $1.5 million for LATFOR. Yet this would have been the ideal time to instead put that money toward the independent redistricting commission that so many legislators profess to support.
• Andrew Cuomo, the press and the war on partisan redistricting (BY JOSH BENSON, Capital) The danger, for anyone interested in putting an end to a process that protects unresponsive officials, is not that Cuomo will fail to get the legislature to go along with him; it is that he will cut a deal, in exchange for something else he wants, that would allow the legislature to keep a firmer hand in the process of drawing electoral lines than the reform proposal currently calls for.
• New Yorkers prefer Spitzer not run for mayor: poll (Reuters) Almost two-thirds of New Yorkers do not want disgraced former New York state governor Eliot Spitzer to run for mayor of their city in 2013, a new poll found on Friday.

NY Daily News: Lenora Fulani Endorses Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr.

Lenora Fulani Endorses Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr. For Re-Election »

BY CELESTE KATZ

Who says everyone's running to endorse Gustavo Rivera in The Bronx's 33rd SD? State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, Jr. now has the public backing of Lenora Fulani....


Read the full text of Fulani's endorsement here.

Pedro Espada, Jr.: Independent Reformer for New York

NOTE: Every politician and their brother is attacking Pedro Espada. That's because he's independent. The parties don't control him and he went up to that cesspool in Albany aka the New York State Assembly as a real reformer. The Hankster, for one, will be volunteering for Pedro's campaign this weekend. Read the articles below at your own risk!

• Pedro's a poster boy of littering (By DAVID SEIFMAN, City Hall Bureau Chief, NY Post) The much-investigated Bronx Democratic state senator has received the most violations so far this election season for putting up illegal campaign posters on city property.
• Landlords Stand by Espada (By ELIOT BROWN, Wall Street Journal) With Mr. Espada fighting to keep his seat, the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents large residential-building owners, is returning the favor... However, not all landlords are sticking with Mr. Espada. While the group that represents the city's largest landlords, the Real Estate Board of New York, contributed significantly to Mr. Espada in 2009, its members have curtailed their giving.
• Rivera Gets Nod From McCall, Sharpton And Other Top Politicos (Special To The Black Star News) "Gustavo worked with me as part of my campaign and helped change the rules so Barack Obama could get elected President," said Reverend Sharpton in his first public remarks since endorsing Rivera last Friday.
• "Pirate Of The Bronx" Espada Pays Off Food Giveaway (Gothamist) Previously, Espada was accused of violating election law for failing to disclose the expenses associated with his anti-obesity food giveaway (which already netted him a showdown with one Bronx priest). So Espada wrote the check to Hunts Point Terminal Market on Aug. 25, two days after the Post's story first broke.
• Rev. Sharpton Endorses Gustavo Rivera from Jeanmarie Evelly on Vimeo. (Bronx News) Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton came to the Bronx today to throw his support behind Gustavo Rivera, now the only candidate challenging incumbent Pedro Espada, Jr. for his seat in the 33rd State Senate District.
• And then there were 2: Race for Espada's state Senate seat (BY FRANK LOMBARDI AND BOB KAPPSTATTER DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS, NY Daily News) Ferrer denounced Espada as the most embarrassing "public official to have ever taken the oath of office."
• Pedro Espada Throws $17,000 Check at Fruits and Vegetables (NY Magazine/Daily Intel)

New York's dysfunctional and secretive state government

True enough, New York's dysfunctional and secretive state government desperately needs fumigation, with both political parties sharing in the blame. But Mr. Spitzer's head-butting approach to redemption -- involving the arbitrary use of power and bully-boy tactics -- was no improvement. As for reform, his first budget grew state spending at three times the rate of inflation, and is a major reason the state now faces a $4.5 billion deficit. When the governor tried to reform the state's bloated Medicaid program, the health-care workers' union ran a TV campaign against him, and he quickly caved..... ("Eliot the 'Enforcer'", Wall Street Journal)

TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• New Hampshire: This year, some independents are joining forces to make sure their concerns are heard. (ABC News)
• Texas: Just about every organization is disappointed with its officials, Russell Pruitt said, and his group believes the independent movement could help. (Victoria Advocate)
• Obama now virtually tied with Clinton, poll shows (USA Today)

New York: Redistricting reform - where's Bruno?

Mr. Bruno would be very wise to send a clear signal to the public that he not only understands its demands for reform, he embraces them. (Albany Times Union editorial)