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NYC Speaker Bought With Bribes

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Gov. Cuomo is said to be rushing to block de Blasios choice for council speaker.
Gov. Cuomo is said to be rushing to block de Blasios choice for council speaker.
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is heavily involved in the selection and promotion of Melissa Mark-Viverito to the post of City Council speaker, according to an article in The New York post on Sunday, December 29. The article reported on cronyism and political trade-offs akin to outright bribery that are being used by both de Blasio and Brooklyn Democratic leader Frank Seddio to secure Mark-Viverito’s speakership.

The article stated that de Blasio staffers “are promising plum City Council assignments, along with plumper paychecks, to council members in return for supporting Melissa Mark-Viverito for council speaker, four council sources revealed.”

One anonymous source reportedly told the Post that Danny Dromm will get the Education Committee chairmanship while David Greenfield is expected to get Land Use Committee Chairmanship.

Other anonymous sources speculated on other positions for Greenfield as well. The recurring theme though cannot be refuted: The Council votes are for sale.

The Post explained that committee chairmanships “carry generous taxpayer-funded stipends over and above the $112,500 base salary council members get annually. Land Use and Finance committee leadership jobs — two of the most coveted gigs — each pay $18,000. The education chair nets an extra $10,000. The speaker receives a $28,500 stipend.”

“Finance is going to [Jimmy] Van Bramer,” another source revealed to the Post. “Julissa Ferreras is getting majority leader,” which carries a $23,000 stipend.

It is also alleged, by the Post, that Frank Seddio, the head of the Brooklyn Democrats, has demanded de Blasio promise his allies several city marshal’s jobs in exchange for supporting Mark-Viverito, an insider with knowledge of the negotiations allegedly told the Post.

On the flip side, Councilman Lewis Fidler, who is stepping down after 12 years on the council, insists this is business as usual and par for the course in the city council. He told the Post that “no speaker has taken that job since I was there without discussing committee assignments with possible supporters. This is standard.”

At least one council member finds de Blasio’s backroom support of Mark-Viverito ironic, considering his campaign for mayor.

“De Blasio criticized the current mayor and the current speaker for their relationship,” the council member said. “Now, instead of focusing on building his administration, he’s working to control the next council.”

The Post speculates that “if the deals that are currently in place hold, Mark-Viverito will have the 31 votes needed to become the next speaker. The votes will be tallied on Jan. 8.”

A NY1 article in mid-December addressed de Blasio’s initial involvement in the race for aspeaker. At the time it was reported that “Sources tell NY1 that de Blasio and his top political aide are calling City Council members to express their support for one of the candidates: Melissa Mark-Viverito.”

In another example of backroom deals, the NY1 piece pointed out that Mark-Viverito “was the first member of the Council to endorse de Blasio’s bid for mayor. She has been a front-runner in the speaker’s race but many observers believed she would only be able to pull off a win with de Blasio’s backing.”

Meanwhile, despite the near-secure vote count, the New York Post reported on Monday, December 30, 2013 that Gov. Cuomo is making an 11th hour effort to block Mark-Viverito from becoming speaker.

The Post reported that “Cuomo has been working behind the scenes with city Democratic leaders, including Assemblyman Carl Heastie, the Bronx party chair, and US Rep. Joseph Crowley, the Queens chair, to line up support for Councilman Dan Garodnick, the other candidate in the race, the insiders said.”

“It’s clear to many of us that Cuomo and his people are working to stop Melissa because it’s not in his interest to have her in there,” said a prominent Democrat involved in the speakership battle.

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