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Archives: June '06
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The Modern Political Machine - Some things have changed, some have not Staten Island for Democrats? - Registration says yes, but Marchi race raises doubts McFarland Volunteers Seek Jobs, Security Connor-Diamondstone Court Case Comes to a Close Diamondstone Making It Rough for Martin Connor Race For Dollars in 74th Assembly Battle Connor Seeks to Knock Primary Challenger from Ballot Quinn’s Budget Reforms Called Good First Step Farrell’s Future Uncertain Search for Campaign Finance Board Director Underway Pasta with Helen Marshall The Congressional Race No One Wanted
The Rangel Wannabees Marty Connor’s Long, Hot Summer State of the Unions Wooing and Winning in the AG’s Race Stop Knocking the Opportunists Letters to the Editor A Modest Proposal to Avoid the Albany Infighting Pataki Blowing Smoke on Cigarette Tax In the Chair Troubled Youth no Trouble for Sara Gonzalez The Hairpiece For Those Who Top the City Council Rug, Quinn’s Locks Make the Cut The Notepad: Marcia Kramer Imagemakers Full Court Press from Knickerbockers Elsewhere The Problems and Promise of Citywide Wireless Where Are They Now? — Carol Bellamy In the Trenches A Lawnmower Ride to Borough Hall Crystal Ball On the Agenda Hall-Way Eating: Reach for Ruben’s A Missed Opportunity to Expand by Paula Gavin Poverty is the Problem, Not Public Schools by Amy Stuart Wells Focus on Students and Teachers Before Charters by City Council Member Robert Jackson Performance, Not Politics, Should Dictate Charter Expansion by Peter Murphy
The city’s Campaign Finance Board is searching for a new executive director to
replace Nicole Gordon, who announced at the end of May that she will step
down in September.
Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr., chairman of the five-member Finance Board is overseeing the hunt. Crain’s New York Business reported that Laurence Laufer, who served as the Finance Board’s general counsel until 2000, and Amy Loprest, the Finance Board’s assistant executive director, have emerged as the leading candidates to replace Gordon. Both are experienced in the realm of campaign finance, a qualification good-government groups say is crucial.
The position pays $168,177 a year.
Gordon is the first and only director the Finance Board has had, and she is credited with much of the Board’s success.
“She has been recognized as a leader of the campaign finance reform movement nationally,” Schwarz said in a statement announcing Gordon’s resignation. “Thanks to Nicole, New York City has been at the forefront of reform.”
Gordon, a Manhattan native who attended Barnard College and Columbia Law School, will join the New York-based JEHT Foundation, a philanthropic organization that fund social service programs, including election reform results.
“At this point in my life and in the life of the CFB, it seemed the right time both personally and institutionally to think about new challenges,” Gordon said in a statement.
“I’m sure there will be some type of struggle. It’s a powerful position,” said Doug Israel, a public policy and advocacy director at Citizen’s Union.
The Campaign Finance Board got its start in 1988, amid various municipal corruption scandals. At the time, the city had virtually no disclosure requirements. The contribution limits were high, campaign spending almost unlimited.
But during Gordon’s 18-year tenure, the Finance Board has become one of the best-regarded municipal campaign finance systems in the United States, overseeing a public financing system that matches funds for participating candidates. The Board prepares a final audit of campaign financing and expenses and strictly enforces any penalties.
“When you look at campaign finance across the country, one of the reasons why New York City’s is lauded is because of its tough enforcement,” said Rachel Leon, executive director of Common Cause/NY, a good-government group.
Throughout her tenure at the Board, Gordon sought to limit the influence of unions in campaigns, a position that could become a sticking point as her replacement is sought.
“I’m sure there will be some type of struggle. It’s a powerful position,” said Doug Israel, a public policy and advocacy director at Citizen’s Union.
Gordon incurred the wrath of unions when she limited their campaign contributions with a single source rule that would have counted donations from different locals of the same union toward an overall contribution limit; Gordon lost the battle when the City Council amended Campaign Finance Law last year. If the City Council and unions lobby for a director more permissive director, it is likely that they will come to heads with Schwarz and possibly Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Whoever replaces Gordon will have big issues to contend with, including: how to make the campaign finance rules relevant with wealthy, self-funded candidates who opt out of public financing, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg did.
“The program was stretched to its limits of effectiveness in that race,” Israel said. It will be up to an executive director with vision to figure out how a candidate who opts into public financing can be a viable challenge to a self-funded candidate.
“There was a lot of clamor around the election, and I hope that doesn’t die down,” he added.
Another pressing issue is whether – and how – to regulate political contributions of city contractors. The Finance Board recently released a report detailing campaign donations from city contractors.
“That vision of how the program can grow and how the program can limit the influence of someone who does business with the city is going to be a challenge, and [the new director is] gong to have to step up,” Israel said.
Overall, Israel said the Board needs a director who is independent and not biased on way or the other. He said, “There is a lot of special interest wielding power…and to the extent that we can limit that and limit the role of money in politics, a better democracy we’ll have. And that’s why the campaign finance board was founded.”