First Fundraising Numbers For Council & Mayor

Richard Martinelli

Financial disclosure reports for candidates for mayor and city council were filed last week, giving us a first look at how candidates are doing — dialing for dollars, as this reporter likes to call it. While fundraising is more important in the citywide race for mayor, all candidates must raise enough funds to pay for their palm cards, mailings, TV ads and staff to get out there message to the 200,000 people in the city.

Here are the totals:

Mayor

Republican Richard Martinelli led all candidates in fund raising, with $142,100 raised through July 15. Martinelli’s campaign spent $71,224 in that same period, leaving just under $71,000 on hand. Martinelli received many large contributions of $1,000 or more, and spent $37,250 on staff and on consulting (Digiworks Media).

Democrat Chuck Lesnick was second in fund raising, with $98,370 raised, and with over $40,000 in expenses, leaving a balance of $54,000. Lesnick spent $15,500 on staff and consultants during the first seven months of the year.

Democrat Mike Spano was third with over $57,000 raised, and $9,182 in expenses, leaving $48,465 on hand. Spano received $3,400 in contributions from Yonkers Police Union Political Action Committees PAC’s.

Republican John Murtagh was fourth with $52,931 raised and more than $35,000 in expenses, leaving a $15,000 balance. Murtagh spent over $27,000 on consultants (NLO Strategies and others) and $12,000 for print and postage for an early mailer sent out to Republicans citywide.

Democrat Bob Flower raised $34,510, with most of the contributions coming from a loan from himself and his companies, with $17,825 in expenses, leaving $16,685 left in the bank.

As of press time, no reports were filed from Republican Carlo Calvi, Democrat Shirley Thompson or Evan Inlaw, who some speculate to be only a “place holder” on the Working Families Party line while it awaits the outcome of the Democratic primary.

City Council –Fifth District

Republican Mike Breen led all council candidates with $41,135 raised. His campaign spent $34,329, leaving him $6,805. Breen spent $13,000 in consultants (Digiworks Media).

Republican Stephen Cerrato raised $21,344 and spent $16,774 leaving $4,569. Cerrato received contributions from Yonkers Union PAC’s.

Republican Joe Crotty raised $16,158 and spent $4,150, leaving $12,000 on hand.

No figures available for Democratic 5^thDistrict candidate Kathleen Thomas and Katherine Brezler.

Third District

Democrat Mike Rotanelli raised $15,738 and spent $3,232 leaving $12,506. Democrat Michael Sabatino raised $12,081, and spent $6,294, leaving $5,787. No figures have been released by democratic candidates Dennis Robertson or Michael Sweeney, nor from Republican candidate Jay Bryant.

First District

We could only find a disclosure report for democrat Larry Sykes, who raised $6,674 and spent $5,690, leaving $984 on hand.

Mark Hynes Brings Lifelong Yonkers Experiences to Council Run

Mark Hynes

 

The large field of democratic candidates stepping forward to run for City Council in the First District to replace Patricia McDow includes Mark Hynes. Hynes is a lifelong resident, a former Yonkers business owner and Democratic Committee co-ward leader who brings a diverse wealth of Yonkers experiences to the race.

“I’m running to make a change,” said Hynes. “Yonkers is what I’ve been about all my life. I hear the concerns of the people in the district and they are the same issues my family is concerned about. I’ve experienced the first district moving forward with development, but backwards in educating our children and keeping our streets safe and clean.”

Hynes has been a District Leader in the Democratic City Committee for 12 years and currently serves as a co-ward leader.

And while some district leaders are more active than others, Hynes’ community involvement runs much deeper, and beyond politics. He attends the church his family founded — the Yonkers Church of God, located at 21 Hudson St.

Hynes has operated a hair salon in downtown Yonkers which, like many barber shops, became a meeting place and social club for many residents to discuss the good and bad about living in Yonkers. Through his business, Hynes became an unofficial liaison between his customers and local elected officials. He employed many Yonkers residents, held voter registration drives, provided haircuts to needy families and donated to and sponsored community events.

As a real estate agent, Hynes has learned how important schools, and property taxes, are to prospective home buyers. And as a Senior Warden of the Free Masons, Farrell Lodge#34, he continues to his help to the people in the district through scholarships for local students, monthly luncheons for the less fortunate, Easter Egg Hunts, Thanksgiving baskets and Christmas dinners.

Hynes has also seen the sour side of living in downtown Yonkers, with a firsthand account of police brutality and getting forced out of his barber shop location by City Hall. Hynes’ experiences, good and bad, are the same things that have happened to many of the residents in the first district.

“I’ve dealt with police brutality and regentrification, and I’m tired of seeing things go the wrong way,” said Hynes. “We have problems with our schools and there are jobs in city hall that shouldn’t be there. And we aren’t safe on our streets, with young people not respectful of the police. Many people in Yonkers have no hope because they don’t trust our officials.

“Education is my number one priority. The school district needs to bring back sports and extracurricular activities to keep the students in school and off the streets and to give them hope.”

On development, Hynes wants to make sure, “that we don’t give developers large tax breaks. It hurts us down the road, and we are New York’s fourth largest city and an attractive location. Developers will come to Yonkers without tax breaks.

“I don’t want to see Yonkers rebuilt so that everyday citizens and small businesses can’t afford it. The mom and pop businesses are the backbone of the city — you meet them and see them every day. You never meet the owners of CVS or Starbucks.”

On crime, Hynes said, “We need police walking the streets again. I live on Riverdale Avenue, and there is too much activity going on outside at 3 a.m. More foot patrols are worth it, even if it means that response times are greater.”

Hynes wants to clean up some of the neighborhoods in the first district, and has a simple plan — put out more garbage cans. “On many corners there are no garbage cans. If we had them, a lot of people wouldn’t litter,” said Hynes.

Hynes lost the Democratic Party’s nomination at the convention in May by a 51 to 49 percent margin to Christopher Johnson. Hynes believes that his lifetime of interactions and experiences in the first district will help him win the Democratic primary against Johnson and Ivy Reeves, Larry Sykes and others (depending on the outcome of petitions submitted last week. Hynes submitted 1,100 signatures and is not being challenged, guaranteeing him a place on the ballot in September).

“Nobody is better known and has done more in the community than I have,” said Hynes. “Christopher Johnson has just moved into the district and hasn’t done anything for the people of Yonkers.” Johnson works for State Senator Andrea-Stewart Cousins.

Hynes called into question the roles that Johnson and City Democratic leader Symra Brandon played in getting the nomination for Johnson, while both are employed by Senator Stewart-Cousins. Brandon also works in the Senator’s downtown Yonkers district office.

“The City leader works for Andrea and Chris [Johnson] also works for Andrea,” said Hynes. “One of them should not have been involved in the vote at the convention. I think the party turned its back on me, and certain people I thought would support me haven’t. But I’ve received dozens of calls from democrats urging me to stay in the race and run in a primary because they believe, and so do I, that I didn’t lose ‘fair and square.’”

In addition to his friends and neighbors in the first district, Hynes will be assisted by his mother and father, 6 siblings, 24 nieces and nephews and more than 40 great nieces and nephews, all of who live in Yonkers and whose numbers rival the Spano clan and their large Yonkers family.

The Democratic Primary is on September 13.

 

Dennis Robertson for City Council: He’s In, Then Out — Now He’s Back In

3rd District council candidate Dennis Robertson

The race for City Council in the 3rd District took an odd turn when former Councilman Dennis Robertson, who got the Democratic nomination at the convention to run for his old Third District City Council seat in May. He bowed out of the race last month, telling Yonkers Rising, “my heart’s not in it.” Now, in an odd turn of events for the race for the Third District, Robertson is now back in the race for his old seat.

Here’s what happened; Robertson’s name was placed on the Democratic Party’s petitions along with their candidate for mayor and other council seats. When Robertson bowed out, it put the Democratic Party leaders in a difficult situation. They either had to woo Robertson back into the race, or pick another candidate to fill the vacancy created by Robertson’s departure.

There were three candidates that the Democrat’s Committee to Fill Vacancies (comprised of Democratic City Chair Symra Brandon, former Chair Pauline Galvin and Board of Elections Deputy Commissioner Jeannie Palazola) could have chosen to replace Robertson. They are Mike Rotanelli, Michael Sabatino and Sam Borelli.

While Rotanelli and Sabatino are actively campaigning, Borelli is not and wanted to be handed the place on the ballot. After speaking with several Democratic leaders, we found that the party was NOT convinced — or satisfied — that Rotanelli, Sabatino or Borelli could win in the fall.

Two members of the City Democratic Executive Committee commented on how bringing Robertson back “would get us off the hook” of having to pick his replacement. After Borelli had the lead from the several ward leaders in the 3rd council district, a decision was made to reach out to Robertson and have him stay on the ballot. The last day that Robertson could have declined to run was Monday, so he is officially on the ballot in the Democratic primary in September.

One reason given was that the 3rd council district — formerly held by Republicans John Spencer and Richard Martinelli — is a conservative district with many Democratic Catholics, who would not vote for Sabatino.

“I have great confidence that the constituents in the Third District are long past old bigotries and will judge me on my qualifications, accomplishments and abilities,” said Sabatino

Another reason dandied out is that Robertson has experience on the city council and that, if Council President Chuck Lesnick is elected mayor, Robertson could be appointed interim council president and run for that office, keeping it in democrats hands.

We do not agree with the decision of the Democratic leadership and believe that they have missed an opportunity to support either one of the two candidates actively running in this race, Rotanelli and Sabatino. We think that both candidates are qualified and can win in November. While we also think that Borelli is qualified, he did not actively campaign or circulate petitions.

We also know and respect Robertson’s service toYonkers, his qualifications and his political skills. If Robertson made a decision in June to get out of the race, he meant it and is only returning for reasons other than serving his constituents to the best of his ability.

One Democrat said “the consensus is this was an example of bad leadership in the party” and we agree.

Editor’s Note: We did speak to several leaders of the City Democratic Party, but did not speak to Brandon or Robertson.

Editor’s Note: In this week’s issue of Yonkers Rising, we said that the executive committee was convinced or satisfied—it should read was NOT convinced or satisfied and corrected above.

 

24 Candidates Step Forward To Run for Mayor & Council

City Council candidate Katherine Brezler at a senior center in East Yonkers

With the petitioning process now over, the 24 Democratic and Republican candidates for Mayor and City Council must now wait and see if their signatures stand up to challenges from their competitors.

Here’s the latest:

Mayor: 1,000 Valid Signatures Required

Democrats Mike Spano and Chuck Lesnick both filed more than enough signatures to avoid a challenge. Spano got 3,900 signatures, besting every candidate inYonkers. Lesnick obtained a healthy 3,362.

Spano touted his volume of signatures, saying “Today’s announcement continues the campaign’s growing momentum and is another indicator that Democrats across Yonkers are united in providing a new direction at City Hall focused on educational opportunity and economic growth, as well as ending the years of running Yonkers by crisis and blame. This is more than a campaign for mayor — this is a movement for a new direction in our city. Together, we will moveYonkersforward.”

Lesnick said, “I think it’s significant to note that over two-thirds of democrats who signed petitions did not sign for the party’s choice [Mike Spano]. It’s a wide open race.”

Dr. Robert Flower, another democrat, handed in 3,800. Shirley Thompson left the race.

Spano was the Democratic City Committee’s choice for mayor, so the rank and file Democratic District and Ward members collected signatures on his behalf, boosting his total.

Three republicans filed petitions for mayor — Council Minority Leader John Murtagh, former Council President Richard Martinelli and former Councilman Carlo Calvi. Each collected more than enough signatures to thwart a challenge from any other.

Martinelli topped the field with 2,030 signatures. Murtagh, the Yonkers GOP-endorsed candidate, filed with 1,940 and Calvi with 1,830.

“I obtained many of the signatures personally and with the help of over 50 unpaid volunteers,” said Calvi. “It was a pleasure to meet the hundreds of people who signed. I thank them and concur in the reoccurring sentiment which they expressed; thatYonkersneeds to be fixed in many ways, such as taxes, education, waste in City Hall, crime and developer give-aways. I’m not sure of the same about my opponents who appear to have sat back, taken it easy (one of them is reputed to have gone on a nice vacation) while the work was done.”

Martinelli said, “This week, we filed over 2,000 signatures with the Westchester County Board of Elections. They are the signatures of rank and file Republicans who share my belief that, if Yonkers is to grow and flourish, we must cut spending and rein in government so as to lower the tax burden that is breaking that back of so many of our citizens.

“The status-quo doesn’t work anymore. In these tough economic times, we must work together to create an atmosphere inYonkersthat will attract new businesses, new jobs and new opportunity for all our residents.”

Murtagh issued a statement supporting Inspector General Dan Schorr’s audit of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers’ Welfare Fund and Calvi issued a letter on eliminating patronage.

Cavli also has the Independence Party line for mayor. The Conservative Party and Working Families Parties have yet to endorse a mayoral candidate.

 

3rd City Council candidate Mike Rotanelli

City Council, 1st District:

472 Valid Signatures Required

Five democrats and one republican filed petitions for City Council in the First District. They are:

Democrat Mark Hynes filed an impressive 1,100 signatures — 550 of which were collected solely by his father. Hynes narrowly lost a Democratic mini-convention for the nomination to Christopher Johnson.

Johnson matched Hynes with an equally impressive 1,100 signatures of his own. “We tried to make sure there was real support out there,” said Johnson.

Ivy Reeves, Lawrence Sykes and Derryl Beasley rounded out the field.

Republican Brian Carter filed his petitions for his uphill battle in this overwhelmingly Democratic district.

City Council, 3rd District:

412 Valid Signatures Required

This one gets complicated. Three democrats have filed petitions.

Former Councilman Dennis Robertson was the Democratic party’s nominee and was on the party’s petitions. Robertson, who quit the race last month but is now back submitted 525 signatures.

Democrat Mike Rotanelli topped all contenders in the Third District with an impressive 1,150 signatures. “Although it was a lot of hard work and many hot days,” said Rotanelli, “it was great meeting so many wonderful people. The experience has been completely motivating. I am looking forward to campaigning in the streets continuing to go door to door meeting people and getting to know the issues which are most important to them.”

Democrat Michael Sabatino submitted 635 signatures. Democrat Lamont Badru has withdrawn.

There were also three republicans who filed in the Third District; John Bryant — a democrat who received the GOP nomination —, Michael Sweeney and Michael Myer, all submitted petitions. Their numbers are unknown.

City Council, 5th District:

432 Valid Signatures Required

Democrat Kathleen Thomas submitted 700 signatures, while Democrat Katherine Brezler submitted approximately 500.

Brezler, who collected each and every signature on her petition herself, said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We need to get our residents back to work on our roads and buildings; preventative maintenance will save our city from crisis care, which is more costly.

“Our children are our most valuable resource,” Brezler continued. “Our school budget has perceptual budget gaps which forces us to cut building improvement projects, teachers and other vital staff. For too long, the people have been divorced from the process. We need to do what’s right for our future. It’s what’s best for our fiscal house, our safety and our families.”

Three Republicans — Mike Breen, Joe Crotty and Stephen Cerrato — submitted petitions in the Fifth District.

Editor’s Note: In this week’s issue of Yonkers Rising, we incorrectly spelled the first name of Katherine Brezler in the story above.

The Three A’s in Westchester Corruption Trial—Annabi, Aronwald and Abady

Sandy Annabi

The political corruption trial of former Yonkers City Councilwoman Sandy Annabi has taken a strange turn, with Federal prosecutors accusing Annabi attorney Bill Aronwald of using the services of Sam Abady as part of the defense team,  last month.

Aronwald called the accusation absurd, and at a court appearance last week on the case, Aronwald and Judge Colleen McMahon had an exchange about Abady in which Judge McMahon accussed Aronwald of lying and being deceptive about what role Abady was playing in Annabi’s defense.  Aronwald called McMahon’s comments offensive and wrong.

And while Annabi told the judge she has full confidence in Aronwald’s representation, it is never a good idea to piss off the Federal Judge that you will try your case before.  Which has a lot of people wondering if Aronwald’s days representing Sandy are numbered.

Abady has always been a strong supporter of Annabi’s innocence, including on this blog. Abady lost his law license in 2005.

Aronwald has represented former Westchester District Attorney Jeannie Pirro. Annabi and Al Pirro were seen ‘dozens of times’ together at Mulino’s restaurant in White Plains, according to staff at Mulino’s.

Disgraced attorney and politcal operative Anthony Mangone, who was recently disbarred, has been going around telling friends that he will not serve any jail time for his role in the corruption scandal.