1199 SEIU

David Paterson is facing a $1.5 million ad campaign funded by groups opposed to his plan to cap property taxes. And ad man Jimmy Siegel knows how it feels.

Siegel made ads for Eliot Spitzer last year when the governor was trying to reduce health care spending.

When I played the ad for him, he said, “I got such déjà vu. I remember the first ad 1199 ran was exactly like that. It got worse, but they started with, basically, ‘Hey, everybody knows we got to do something to bring down Medicaid costs, but Eliot Spitzer’s plan is the wrong one. So, call and tell Eliot it’s the wrong one.  read more »

One thing I missed at the big 1199 SEIU rally at Madison Square Garden last week was an unannounced visit from David Paterson. In light of the spending cuts he just announced--which include $505 million to Medicaid--the speech he gave takes on new significance.

Remember, this union’s vigorous defense against similar proposed cuts last year led to Eliot Spitzer's first legislative defeat.

According to a transcript another reporter generously shared with me, he told the audience that he was with them, even if the public isn’t. And, he went on, “Every time we have a financial crisis, particularly 30 years ago when New York City almost went bankrupt, it was the unions that pitched [in].  read more »

Democratic State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr.--who is running for re-election on both the Republican ticket and the Democratic one--wants to clear the air about a few things.

He called to say that his August 13 fund-raiser features Democratic State Senate Leader Malcolm Smith and conference co-chair Jeff Klein, but they are not behind the event.

“They are not organizing it,” Diaz told me. “They never organized nothing for me.” Diaz said his paid fund-raiser for the event is Anne Noonan, and that he is calling contributors himself.

Diaz also said of the party, “I’ve been there when they needed me,” and added that he contributed money to help his conference pick up seats.  read more »

As Liz noted, some of the state’s leading unions have been eerily silent ever since Joe Bruno announced his retirement. (A spokeswoman for 1199 SEIU, for example, declined requests for comments for two days.)

Two people I spoke to downplayed how durable or partisan the unions' allegiances might be.

“[The unions are] so big, and they have so much money, that even if they were to fulfill their commitment to Bruno by supporting all the Republican candidates this fall, and the Democrats win, they’ll still land on their feet,” said one leading union official who asked not to be named.

“The next election is only two years away and they, and the teachers, are in a separate category of political actor,” this person said.  read more »

Councilman Hiram Monserrate may have slightly overstated his support in his upcoming race to unseat his fellow Democrat, State Senator John Sabini.

During an interview last night on The Perez Notes, Monserrate, who also ran for the office in 2006, said, this time around, he may get the endorsement of the Queens County Democrats, as well as several other organizations.

“I also understand that this time, I have some support that I didn’t have two years ago,” Monserrate said, around the 7:30 mark. “Namely Assemblyman Peralta, who has publicly stated that he is prepared to support me. Several members, union players, particularly 1199 and the hotels trades also stated that they will support my election. These are very important support networks in politics that we count on, and I think that obviously they are another factor in this decision.”

But Patrick Gaspard, executive vice president of 1199 SEIU emailed me to say, “We haven't made an endorsement yet in this race. We're still weighing the candidacies. I think that Hiram is encouraged because we backed Senator Sabini in 2006, but have yet endorse in this cycle.”  read more »

Later today, Al Sharpton and others will be meeting at the 1199 SEIU building on West 43rd Street to organize citywide protests in response to the Sean Bell verdict. The union will be represented by president George Gresham and executive vice president Patrick Gaspard, according to a spokeswoman.

The union's involvement in the planned protests shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Bell’s mother is a former member of the union [clarified]. And union officials have been in touch with the family since the shooting in 2006. .
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SEIU local 1199 sent out a statement just now saying that they have deep respect for Joe Bruno's leadership in the State Senate, which he is now holding onto by one seat.

"Senator Bruno's commitment to protecting quality care for all New Yorkers has made him a tremendous ally to the entire healthcare community. The Senate majority's advocacy on behalf of caregivers has been second to none. We have the deepest respect for Senator Bruno's leadership and we will continue to work with him to ensure that New York State maintains world class healthcare for all.  read more »

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Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is looking for a director of community affairs.

He's also hiring a director of communications.

The Transport Workers Union, which is fighting the effects of penalties levied against it for an illegal strike, wants to hire a political assistant.

Local 32BJ is hiring a director of communications.

The US-Ukraine Foundation needs a political analyst in D.C.

A private contractor in D.C. needs a writer to help the “Army’s Asymmetric Warfare Office.”

And campaign staffers are needed immediately in D.C. $15 an hour. No experience necessary.

I just got off the phone with the executive director of the city Campaign Finance Board, Amy Loprest, whose agency found that Larry Seabrook’s purchase of things like furniture for his campaign one day before his re-election wasn’t really a legal use of the taxpayer dollars he received from the matching-funds program.

Searbrook’s lawyer, Larry Laufer, offered a defense of the expenditures, saying, “There is no provision in the act for the CFB to approve or disapprove any particular campaign expenditure.” Which is a little funny, since Laufer is one of the people who wrote the law.

Loprest conceded the difficulty of formalizing the determination of what's allowed and what's not.

“Short of providing a 40-page list of every single thing someone can spend money on and things you can’t spend money on, you know, there’s no way to make it absolutely clear. I think, you know, campaigns are always coming up with new ways, new legitimate ways to talk to voters and to run their campaigns. And you wouldn’t want to limit that ability for campaigns to find ingenious ways to reach their constituents.”

Also, City Councilwoman Annabel Palma, who used to work for SEIU local 1199, was fined $30,000 for coordinating her campaign events with that union, one of the the most poweful ones in the city.

From my quick search online, it seems to be the largest fine against any candidate for such an offense. A woman in Palma’s Bronx office said neither she nor a spokesperson was available to comment. I emailed a spokeswoman at 1199 and am waiting to hear back.

It is possible that Palma or the union could appeal the decision in court, which would be interesting. Well, to me, at least.

After the jump, Loprest discusses the Palma case.  read more »

Here are those new 1199 SEIU ads, which target two upstate Republican congressmen who sided with George Bush against expanding health insurance benefits to uninsured children. The spots go after Randy Kuhl and Tom Reynolds, both of whom are likely to face strong Democratic challengers in the 2008 elections.

What's interesting is that this is the same issue Eliot Spitzer has been pushing and threatened to sue Bush administration over. Which, I guess, means he and the health care union he fought against so bitterly earlier in his term are back on the same page. About something, anyway.

Union spokesman Stefan Friedman said the ad buys were in the six-figure range.  read more »