NYCivic - Where Has All the Money Gone?

Where Has All the Money Gone?
By Henry J. Stern
August 13, 2003

This afternoon Ginger Nut leaves for a few days in California with his parents and brother, and next week I'll be spending time in Vermont with Peggy and our son Kenan. (Jared is skiing in Chile, where it is winter.) Northside will hold the fort, but there may be a hiatus in columns, or even a lacuna.

We received numerous e-mails on the last two articles. Although the late Bronx DA Mario Merola said that "a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich", and his comment was published, that memorable observation was first made by Sol Wachtler, former Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. I spoke to Judge Wachtler and he told me that he made that remark in an interview with Marcia Kramer in 1985. The metaphor has become a staple, expressing the fact that prosecutors have great influence over grand juries. It could have been a contender for inclusion in "Familiar Quotations", if Bartlett had a legal division.

I have written precisely one sentence which has survived the years. It is: "The City Council is less than a rubber stamp, because a rubber stamp at least leaves an impression." That was in my campaign fund raising letter when I first ran, unsuccessfully for the Council in 1965. (I was elected in 1973 and 1977). It is used periodically when the Council is discussed; sometimes attributed, sometimes not.

In the 38 years since I wrote that, the Council has been given substantially more power under the City Charter, and it is run a good deal more collegially than it was a few years ago. The Council still has a long way to go, however, to establish its bona fides (make its bones) as a serious legislature. The grim reaper of term limits cuts without mercy, removing the sublime as well as the ridiculous. It is also difficult to instill collective responsibility into a gerrymandered group of fifty-one activists with very different constituencies, abilities, ambitions and attitudes.

Those who wrote us to say that Governor Dewey only ran for President twice were unaware of his first candidacy, in 1940. He lost at the Republican convention in Philadelphia to Wendell Willkie, and thereby avoided the distinction held by William Jennings Bryan of being the only major party nominee to lose three Presidential elections. Notwithstanding that, the 'cross of gold' speech was wonderful.

We erred in saying that Kenneth Keating was a three-term Senator. He did spend 18 years in Washington, but twelve of them were in the House of Representatives. First elected in 1946, the Rochester Republican served six terms in the--pardon the expression, lower chamber--before he defeated Frank Hogan for the Senate in 1958. New York's upstate senator from 1947 to 1959 was Irving M. Ives of Norwich, who lost to Averell Harriman for Governor in 1954 by the narrow margin of about 11,000 votes.

More on Elections: Those who have been salivating over Mark Green's indiscretions in Brooklyn should read the article by Wayne Barrett in today's Village Voice about Green's principal rival, Fernando Ferrer. Barrett's column alleges that millions of dollars Ferrer spent (including City matching funds) were not properly accounted for, went to companies controlled by former Bronx County leader Roberto Ramirez, and did not result in a high level of service to candidate Ferrer, who appeared to know little and say less about where the money went.

On DA Hynes' continuing inquiry into the Brooklyn Democracy, we cite with appreciation Jack Newfield and Colin Miner's report in today's Sun on the finances of Clarence Norman's organization and the sums it, and preferred contractors, receive from endorsed candidates.

It is now a year and eight months since the 2001 election. What has the Campaign Finance Board done to track the huge undifferentiated sums spent by major candidates? Public funds constitute up to 80% of campaign expenses. Shouldn't there be specific standards of accounting for the tens of millions of dollars in tax dollars spent on local political campaigns, rather than committees submitting reports of a few checks for large sums. Why must we wait for Wayne Barrett and his research assistants to expose the issue? Is there anything from NYPIRG, ACORN or the civic establishment on the subject? Let us know.

Hasta la vista.