100 PERCENT
By Robert Press
The Next 17th Councilman
Before I tell you who the next city councilman for the 17th City Council will be, Monday is Iowa Caucus Day (or evening). Iowa residents most of whom are independent voters not enrolled in either the Democratic or Republican Party are still able to register in either party to select their candidate for the state Caucus. The front runner Donald Trump is expecting thousands of new people to sign up for the Republican Caucus to select him as their choice. In the Democratic side Bernie Sanders is hoping for the same thing. So why does Iowa and the next primary stare New Hampshire mean so much to the candidates?
It is always good news when you are out trying to raise the much needed campaign funds or trying to get more people to vote for you if you have already proven that you are a better choice than the other candidates. You are already a winner, and if there is a large field of candidates they start to drop out because things are starting to get tough, and look bleak for them. That is the true spirit of the primary, let the people decide. To bad that dies not happen in the Bronx, and especially in the current 17th City Council Special Election.
Why am I so cynical about the 17th City Council Special Election especially when there was a forum that ten of the eleven candidates took part in. I expect that after the petition hearings are held on February 8th to see less than half of the field of candidates left. Will they be the best candidates or will they be the political hacks, one issue candidate, or just plain lucky to not get thrown off the ballot by the Bronx Democratic County organization expert election lawyer "KING STANLEY SCHLEIN". KING STANLEY is the man credited with knowing more than the Board of Elections when it comes to election law, after all it is said that he wrote the book on election law, or corrected it.
Here is who I predict will remain on the ballot, and just who will win and why. Of course Rafael Salamanca the candidate of the Bronx Democratic County organization will be on the ballot since no one challenged his petition, and the petition of the other ten candidates were challenged by the Bronx Democratic County organization as said at the candidates forum by soon to be former candidate Elliot Quinones. Other candidates who will make it past the Board of Elections challenge phase will be Julio Pabon, Loren Russell, and maybe one more candidate for a total of four from the original eleven candidates.
One would think with only three or four candidates in the race the Bronx Democratic County organization candidate would win, but one would be wrong as has happened in recent elections such as the 79th Assembly District. Then there is the factor of the campaign manager Mr. Benny Catalia, who seems to be slipping in recent elections, and most recently as the campaign manager of the Ruth Hassel-Thompson campaign for Mayor of Mount Vernon. It seems that State Senator Thompson should have won the election easily especially with the Bronx Democratic County organization ace campaign manager as her campaign manager Mr. Benny Catalia. So what happen to Senator Thompson in the Mount Vernon Mayor's race, she came in third. Was it bad campaign managing or something else? Word is that State Senator Thompson will be seeking re-election after saying that she would be retiring from office. Could the way she lost have anything to do with the decision?
Getting back to the 17th City Council Special Election with only three or four candidates I would have to say that candidate Julio Pabon would be the favorite to win, and he should need less votes this election than he received in the last election for this seat in 2013. The Bronx Democratic County organization candidate Rafael Salamanca seems to be very weak, especially since it appears that he was not doing his job as District Manager of Bronx Community Board #2. I say that because there were no minutes of Community Board #2 full board meetings, executive board meetings, or District Service Cabinet meetings on file when I requested to see them at the Community Board #2 District office on January 19, 2016. I also asked to see the time sheets for the Community Board #2 District Manager, any communication between the district manager Mr. Salamanca and the board as to when Mr. Salamanca decided to run for office, and any discretionary spending by Bronx Community Board #2 while Mr. Salamanca has been the district manager. I have had to give Bronx Community Board #2 Chairman Dr. Ian Amritt a Freedom of Information letter for the above six items, and in an e-mail to me dated January 25, 2016 from Dr. Amritt he states that the board has received my FOIL letter and will respond in twenty business days of which documents are in the possession of Community Board #2, how I can obtain them, and which items I will be denied. Since Bronx Community Board #2 is a public body of the City of New York all six items should be in the possession of the board office and available for viewing at any time. By the way the twenty business days just happens to be after the Special Election that Community Board #2 District Manager Rafael Salamanca is a candidate.
I have also viewed the first Campaign Finance Board filing of 17th City Council candidate Rafael Salamanca (all nine pages) which is accessible on the CFB website, and it seems that candidate Salamanca received campaign donations as far back as early December 2015, throughout November 2015, on October 26, 2015, and even as far back as September 11, 2015. The question is, how many of the contributors had anything to do with Bronx Community Board #2, and was District Manager Rafael Salamanca on the payroll of Bronx Community Board #2 when any of the contributions to his campaign for City Council of a seat that covers Bronx Community Board #2 came in? by the way I was sitting next to a person who said they were a member of Bronx Community Board #2 at the candidates forum. More in upcoming columns.
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.
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