Tony Avella for Mayor

The campaign will be getting the word out at the following, upcoming street fairs:

Saturday, August 30th - Greenpoint Avenue Festival, Queens - our table will be on Greenpoint Avenue between 47th and 48th Streets - from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday, September 6th - Dutch Kills Street Festival, Queens - our table will be on 36th Avenue between 29th and 33rd Streets (exact location TBD) - from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

We will be giving out literature and asking for small donations. Please let us know if you can drop by and volunteer for a few hours. Contact us by email (TonyAvella2009@gmail.com) or leave a comment, below.

This week, City Council Member Tony Avella sent a strongly worded letter to Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, reaffirming his opposition to any attempt to overturn term limits.

Tony stated, “I have heard that discussions are occurring ‘behind the scenes’ to overturn term limits. The thought that City officials are ignoring the wishes of New York City voters by plotting to overturn term limits is offensive. Twice the voters have indicated their support for two four-year terms for City officials. Their wishes could not have been clearer.”

Tony’s letter continued, “I believe it is a betrayal of the public trust if the Mayor and the City Council conspire to overturn term limits. By campaigning for public office, we made a covenant with the people that we accepted term limits. Any attempt to amend the term limits law breaks that covenant.”

“If the Mayor and the Council Speaker truly believe that extending the term of office will improve the operation of City government, then they should prove it by ensuring that only future public office holders would benefit from extending the terms of office from eight to twelve years.”

Tony also firmly indicated that if this effort to extend term limits is successful and allows current City officials to stay in office - he will not serve. Of course, he won’t have to. He’ll be Mayor of the City of New York!

On Sunday, August 10th, Tony and members of his campaign wil be at the Steinway Street Fair (Astoria, Queens) from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. The table will be set up in front of 30-95 Steinway Street (between 30th and 31st).

If you have some time on Sunday, we are looking for volunteers to help distribute literature and ask for small campaign donations. Please let us know if you can volunteer for a few hours by leaving a comment, below, or email the campaign at tonyavella2009@gmail.com.

We hope to see you there!

Earlier this week, Tony received a dozen yellow roses from well-known Hollywood celebrity, Pamela Anderson, expressing her appreciation to him for authoring legislation to ban the operation of the horse drawn cab industry in New York City (Intro. #658).

Accompanying the flowers was a personal letter from Ms. Anderson, which read:

Tony is a strong animal rights advocate. For more information on his horse-drawn carriage legislation, or to learn more about his other animal rights and welfare efforts, click here.

Council Member Tony Avella and Dan Jacoby, an organizer with Democracy for
NYC, joined together yesterday on the steps of City Hall to announce that Tony will introduce legislation entitled “Clean Money, Clean Elections” at the next stated City Council meeting. If enacted, this legislation would allow candidates for city office to qualify for full public financing of their campaigns. Similar campaign finance programs already exist across the country in states such as Connecticut, Maine and Arizona, and in cities including Portland, Oregon and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“Twenty years after the creation of our partial public funding program for local campaigns, the system has not only proven to be ineffective, but is also failing,” Tony said. “Under the current program, private fundraising is mostly from large, outside donors and bundlers. Under ‘Clean Money, Clean Elections’ private fundraising is strictly limited to small donations from constituents. ‘Clean Money, Clean Elections’ takes the election process away from special interests and expensive consultants, and gives it back to the candidates and the voters of the city of New York.”

Avella added, “I believe that the implementation of ‘Clean Money, Clean Election’ would end the corruption and unethical behavior that has permeated politics in this City. It is a change that is long overdue.” If the legislation is not passed in the City Council, Tony will make “Clean Money, Clean Elections” a priority, as Mayor.

How would it work?
Example:

*Current Program: City Council candidates must raise $5,000 from a minimum of 75 contributors and need 900 petition signatures to get on the ballot. Once on the ballot, the candidate could receive up to a maximum $88,550 in public funds. The candidate’s spending limit is $161,000 for the primary as well as another $161,000 spending limit for the general election.

*Clean Money, Clean Elections a City Council candidate would only have to raise 500 donations of $5 ($2,500) to receive full public financing of $100,000 for the primary and another $100,000 for the general election. In addition, to the obvious benefits of reducing the influence of special interests and lobbyists, under this new program, the total allowable spending for City offices would be reduced and ballot access would be easier, allowing independent candidates to run for office.

Today, at 11:00 AM, Tony will join Dan Jacoby of Democracy for NYC on the steps of City Hall to announce a proposal for some major campaign finance reforms. These reforms will then be introduced at the stated City Council Meeting on Wednesday (July 23rd). If enacted, they will give candidates an opportunity to qualify for full public financing of their campaigns.

More on these reforms to follow, after the press conference.

Yesterday, Tony walked out of the City Council’s Housing and Buildings Committee public hearing on a slate of proposals to
reform the Department of Buildings. These reforms were introduced in the aftermath of several fatal construction accidents.

“These so-called reforms do absolutely nothing,” he said. “I can no longer stand idly by in a hearing on legislation that enables the Mayor and the City Council Speaker to delude the public into believing that City government is addressing illegal and unsafe construction practices throughout the City,”

Tony walked out during Speaker Quinn’s comments on the legislation at the start of the hearing.

“For too long, Speaker Quinn has held up building/construction/zoning reforms in the City Council because of politics, real estate interests, and her own political agenda. Now that the cameras are focused on these issues, all of a sudden she seems to be interested. Unfortunately, no real reform has been forthcoming.”

Tony has already announced a series of reforms to the Department of Buildings that he will act on immediately, as Mayor. You can learn more about these reforms by clicking here.

Today, New York City’s trans fat ban goes into effect, citywide. Yesterday, Tony characterized New York City’s trans fat ban as nothing more than nanny government.

Avella, the only Council Member to vote against the trans fat ban stated, “I am sure that the Mayor is extremely pleased with the trans fat ban that goes into effect tomorrow. However, this is just another example of Mayor Bloomberg’s nanny government. Just how far is the City going to go in dictating how we conduct our everyday lives? The trans fat issue should be one of personal responsibility and not legislation.”

What’s your opinion on this issue? Leave a comment, below, or email Tony at tonyavella2009@gmail.com.

Photo via Wikipedia.

Tony took his campaign to the streets of Brooklyn this past weekend, spreading the word at the Smith Street Festival. Many Brooklynites stopped to chat with Tony about his campaign and to express their concerns about the city’s rampant overdevelopment.

There are a few more photos available on Tony’s Flickr page.