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In the Public Interest

By HEATHER HADDON

Showdown for Speaker
Joel Rivera doesn’t care that he’s not the front-runner in the political jockeying to determine who will be the City Council’s next speaker. At this point, he just wants to be near the top of the list of members politicking for the influential seat.

“If I’m not your first pick, then I want to be your second choice,” Rivera said last week.

That formula, and the sway of the Bronx Democratic Party that his father chairs, worked for Rivera four years ago when he was elected as the Council’s majority leader. But there’s more at stake in deciding the speaker position, which is considered the city’s second most powerful post.

Seven officials have been quietly battling for weeks, well ahead of when the Council’s 51 members vote on the position in January. The private contest essentially amounts to who can butter up the most colleagues, and the county political clubs, through campaign contributions and other favors.

Rivera’s campaign doled out thousands of dollars to five races, none of which are in the Bronx and most involving Hispanic candidates. The recipients were James Gennaro and Hiram Monserrate, councilmen in Queens; Sara Gonzalez and Diana Reyna, councilwomen in Queens; and Steve Sanders, a Manhattan Assemblyman.

Rivera’s competitors, including Bill de Blasio, Melinda Katz, Christine Quinn and David Weprin, had all raised more campaign money, which they are permitted to lavish on others. Katz, of Queens, led the fund-raising pack at $666,670, according to city campaign finance records. Rivera’s total amounted to $102,032.

He might be an underdog, but Rivera is the Bronx’ only candidate, and he could be the only minority running if the Queens organization backs Katz or Weprin over Leroy Comrie, who is black.

Rivera says his team has been working hard at courting support, and feels somewhat optimistic. “We’ve been in communication with everyone who would be involved in the opinion process,” he said. “Some people have said they would be happy to see me as speaker, but they may be saying that to other candidates as well. It is politics.”

Rivera is running on his ability to unify the Council and fight for more state and city funding. But he acknowledged that issues might not be the contest’s clincher. “I can’t find anything negative to say about the other candidates,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that are similar [between us], some things may be different, but there’s not a lot of difference.”

The candidates will try to stand out during a debate next week sponsored by the Citizens Union and the New York League of Conservation Voters at Baruch College. Organizers hope that the session will make the selection process a bit more transparent. “We thought hosting this event would add a new dimension to the selection process,” said Jaime Strohmenger, a League spokesperson.

The process of picking a speaker may be purely political, but Rivera says his reason for running isn’t. “I will not be running for mayor,” he said, referring to the career trajectories of the last two speakers, Peter Vallone, Sr. and Gifford Miller. “People can find comfort in that.”

Rivera wasn’t so modest in 2002 when he told the Norwood News that he wasn’t sure what public office he’d like to pursue when term limits kick in, but a move to Gracie Mansion wasn’t out of the question: “I don’t know exactly what I would run for, but maybe it would be mayor of the City of New York,” he said at the time.

Tenant Voting Flap
A long-term campaign to create a federal affordable housing fund was thrown for a loop last month by Republicans, who successfully pushed through a restrictive amendment. Advocates are up in arms over the last minute addition, which would ban funding for groups who help tenants register to vote.

“To come this close to victory, just to have the legislation poisoned by this unfair and unnecessary restriction, is more than disappointing,” said Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, an advocacy group, in a statement.

The fund is intended to dedicate a percentage of the profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac federal mortgages to grants for affordable housing organizations. An estimated $500 million would go specifically for construction costs of new projects, with hurricane-damaged buildings given immediate priority.

Republican members of the House stalled on the bill until restrictions were added. The amendment, which groups have dubbed the “nonprofit gag provision,” would deny funding to any organization that has participated in non-partisan voter work in the last year, including keeping voter registration forms on hand. It would also restrict funding to groups that engage in any kind of lobbying, or do not have housing as their primary mission.

“The only conclusion to draw from this action is some members of the majority party are afraid of more low income people participating in elections,” Crowley said.

Congressman José Serrano lashed out at the move. “It is simply appalling and shameful, and possibly even unconstitutional, since it will restrict abilities of the organizations to engage in First Amendment civic activities,” Serrano said in a statement. Congressman Eliot Engel also voted against the bill.

The issue is particularly pertinent in the Bronx, where several nonprofit housing organizations encourage their tenants to become engaged in community affairs.

The legislation now moves on to the Senate, where it faces opposition. The fund is part of a bill meant to strengthen regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after recent accounting scandals.

Rivera’s Queens Office
Council Member Rivera may be a product of the Bronx Democratic organization, but his official campaign office is nowhere near his home turf. For the past two years, city campaign finance records have listed Kew Gardens, Queens as the address for the Committee to Elect Joel Rivera.

The location is coincidentally in the same building as Newsday, where the story was first reported, along with a suite occupied by Congressman Anthony Weiner. But Rivera’s operation is actually located in the law office of James Cullen, an attorney who defended Robert Chambers, better known as the “preppy murderer,” this year. The campaign paid $2,000 to Cullen for rent in July.

Rivera said the office is used because Cullen handles his candidacy’s paperwork. “He’s a good guy,” Rivera said.

Rivera denied that the space was his campaign office, but said the office is used because it is always staffed by someone. “We don’t have the finances to have someone in the office 24-7,” said Rivera about his Bronx operations. “We’re not like the mayor.”

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In other news involving Joel Rivera, Hispanic Business Magazine nominated him as one of the 100 most influential Latinos last month, joining other officials, business leaders and entertainers in the annual list. Rivera and his influential family members were also recognized by Tempo, a Hispanic review published by the New York Post. The “Rivera dynasty,” which includes father Assemblyman Jose Rivera and sister Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera, were listed among 25 powerful Latinos.

School Funds
Council Member Oliver Koppell allocated $213,000 last month to after-school music programs at a number of schools, including PS 8, PS 56 and PS/MS 95. Funds were also issued to the Montefiore Medical Center’s Adolescent AIDS Program and the West Bronx Housing and Neighborhood Resource Center.

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