By Dee Richard
It seems if you rile the public sufficiently, it will take the time to sit down and write a letter of complaint to the editor of what in their mind is offensive.
On Thursday evening the Flushing Political Coalition, at its regular monthly meeting held at the Reception House in Flushing, had an updated meet the candidates night from the 19th and 20th Council districts. Representing the 19th District were Democrat Kevin Kim and Halloran. Representing the 20th District were Republican Peter Koo and Green Party candidate Evergreen Chou. Democrat Yen Chou was also invited, but could not make the meeting due to prior commitments.
The meeting was orderly and all the candidates behaved as perfect gentlemen. They answered whatever questions they were asked and each gave a brief speech as to why they thought they were the best candidate for the job and the reasons their constituents should come out and vote for them on Election Day. They all sounded good — not a clunker in the crop.
City Councilman Tony Avella stopped by to give an update on his mayoral race run. Halloran and Kim are vying for his seat, which went up for grabs. Tony said after Jan. 1 he would be unemployed and did not know what he was going to do next. He said his wife, Judy, insisted he had been bitten by the political bug and was sure he would find something else political to do.
Now if Judy is right, what could that be? If Ann-Margaret Carrozza’s state Assembly seat becomes available, he could go for that, which might be doable. But perhaps he may decide to challenge Frank Padavan for his state Senate seat.
I am curious as to his reasons for entering an unwinnable race. He could not have seriously thought he could beat Mayor Michael Bloomberg or even city Comptroller Bill Thompson for that matter. He was not the Democratic Party’s choice — Thompson was. The amount of monies he was able to raise was proof positive he did not have the financial support necessary to run a successful race. So why do it?
Could our boy Tony be so clever as to plan that far in advance? Think about it. What better way to get that kind of free publicity and generate name and face recognition that running for mayor has produced? Even with campaign financing no one could afford that much publicity, let alone get it for free. If he or his advisers are smart, then that indeed is a clever maneuver on their part.
The only fly in the ointment is that it’s a long time between now and November 2010 and sadly the public has become rather apathetic and in all probability will not remember what happened a year ago. But do let us know what your actual plans are. Suppositions and what-if’s are fun, but they are not the real deal.
When you were the 19th District councilman, people said you did a lot of good, other people said you irritated the daylights out of them, but I suppose such is the life of a politician. You can’t win them all, that’s for sure. Good luck to you in whatever you decide.
On Saturday, Halloran held the grand opening of his campaign headquarters at Bell Boulevard and 43rd Avenue in the old Chase Bank building. Weather-wise it was a beautiful day and they had a great turnout. When they went outside to do the ribbon-cutting, the majority of cars driving by honked their horns to show their approval. Maybe the campaign pundits should consider having some signs made up that read, “Honk for Halloran.” It’s just a thought, guys.
That’s it for this week.
I look forward to hearing from you with information on people, parties and politics or gossip.
I like receiving your voice mails at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com.
Don’t forget to check out the Focus on Queens page.
Till next week, Dee.
