100 PERCENT Saturday January 23, 2015

100 PERCENT

By Robert Press

17th City Council Special Election 

   First, if you have not looked outside the second largest snow fall in the history of NYC fell yesterday. A total of 26 inches, missing the record by only a few snow flakes. So how did it go yesterday? It seems that Governor Andrew Cuomo trumped Mayor Bill de Blasio once again by declaring a State of Emergency for the New York City Metro area, and it seemed that no one gave the mayor advance warning. The Governor also put a travel ban into effect, stopped bus and above ground rail service in the afternoon, and again it looked like the mayor could only confirm what the governor did. Both the Governor and Mayor had several press conferences during the day, and they were always separate from one another. I was waiting to see the Governor's choice to run against Mayor de Blasio at one of his announcements, but that did not happen, or did it? Anyway Mayor de Blasio will come out a loser no matter what he does, and right now he was only able to suspend alternate side of the street parking for Monday. What about school, and will the streets be cleared of snow so school buses can run and safely pick up and drop off children? 

  On to the 17th City Council Special Election. 11 candidates filed petitions by the close of the Board of elections deadline. The names include Rafael Salamanca, Julio Pabon, George Alvarez, Joann Otero, Marlin Molina, J. Loren Russell, John Perez, Carlton Curry, Amanda Septimo, Elliot Quinones, and Helen Hunt. 

  Former Assemblyman turned journalist Michael Benjamin has reported that candidates Curry and Hunt will be thrown off the ballot for not filing an acceptance of the nomination, and that the petition of Amanda Septimo will be thrown out for having the word Democratic on the petition in an non partisan election. 

  I have been told other candidates may also fall as the challenges are heard by the Board of Elections and then the court challenges are heard. The Bronx Democratic County organization under the leadership of Assemblyman Marcos Crespo whose assembly district just happens to be part of the 17th City Council district is heavily involved in the candidacy of Rafael Salamanca the current District Manager of Bronx Community Board #2. Elected officials have maxed out on contributions to Salamanca's campaign. and it looks like there may be some problems as to just when Salamanca was a candidate for the city council, and his use of the community board office for political gain. I am sure the NYC Conflict of Interest Board is looking into this, and I would not be surprised to see an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office. 

  One question is, Bronx Democratic County Leader Assemblyman Marcos Crespo may have jumped the gun by announcing on Saturday December 18, 2015, after interviewing candidates who were interested in running for the soon to be vacant 17th City Council Special Election, that the Bronx Democratic County organization has chosen Rafael Salamanca as its candidate. The Bronx Democratic County Executive Director Mr. Anthony Perez later tried to downplay this by saying that the Bronx Democratic County Organization has not officially made its choice. Mr. Anthony Perez is also a member of a Bronx Community Board. 

  Candidate Julio Pabon was also interviewed by the Bronx Democratic County organization before December 18, 2015 for the not yet vacant 17th City Council seat, and it is said that Pabon thought the choice was already made. This are other Conflicts of Interest by Bronx Community Board #2 District Manager Salamanca. Salamanca also was campaigning at various Christmas events held by State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. I attended two such events that were held in Public Schools where Mr. Salamanca was electioneering while still being the District Manager of Bronx Community Board #2. It appears that there are other problems with Mr. Salamanca's campaign, and even Bronx Community Board #2 that needs to be investigated further. I submitted a Freedom of Information Letter to Bronx Community Board #2 requesting six items including minutes of general and Executive Board meeting that are part of Mr. Salamanca's job, but unavailable for viewing, if they do exist. In fact I was able to get hold of the October 29, 2014 minutes of the general meeting that was held at Urban Health Plan 1054 Simpson Street. On Mr. Salamanca's Campaign Finance Disclosure statement are contributions from about a dozen employees of Urban Health Plan. I thank the person who sent that to me. It appears that there needs to be much more investigation into Bronx Community Board #2 District Manager Rafael Salamanca, Bronx Community Board #2, and the Bronx Democratic County organization. I would suggest to candidate Rafael Salamanca that he withdraw from the 17th City Council Special Election now. More in upcoming columns, and there is a candidates forum scheduled for Wednesday January 27th at the Pregones Theater located at 575 Walton Avenue starting at 5:30 PM running until 9 PM. From the look at the listing of topics for questions that Mr. Benjamin posted, it looks to be geared to someone in the position of a Land Use Committee Chairman or Community Board District Manager.  

  If you have any political information (especially about the 17th City Council special election) that you want to share or have checked out, any comments about this column or would like to have an event listed or covered in this column or on this blog, you can e-mail us at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com or call 718-644-4199 Mr. Robert Press.