By Dee Richard
We only attended two events this week, but they were two good ones. The first one was a fund-raising party hosted by the Friends of Peter Koo for his re-election campaign.
It was held in the Phoenix Ball Room in the Flushing Sheraton Hotel. Have they changed the name of the hotel? Invitations in the past were listed as the Sheraton La Guardia East Hotel. This invite said Flushing Sheraton Hotel. Which is correct?
Whatever the name is, it was a great party with more than 300 in attendance. Considering the donations started at $150 and went up to $2,750, it would seem it was a most successful fund-raiser.
Apparently, City Councilman Peter Koo has strong supporters and it obviously doesn’t make any difference to them what party label he wears. They support Koo the man, not Koo the party label.
I never did get the straight skinny on the reason for the split between Peter and the Queens Republican Party. There were several variations on a theme floating about out there, but no definite confirmation straight from the horses’ mouth.
From what we understand, the Queens GOP is looking to recruit Asian candidates for public office both in Toby Stavisky’s 16th Senate District and Mark Weprin’s 40th state Assembly District.
Good luck, GOP guys! Although it seems rather late in the game to run a successful winning campaign, especially if you do not as yet have candidates, keep us posted.
Has there been a final decision as to the acceptance of the new proposed redistricting lines? That would also seem that it is getting rather late in the game for those decisions due in no small part to the candidates not being really sure what their lines are. Please, somebody make a decision.
New York’s new Senate and Assembly district lines are still in limbo, but at least there’s movement on new congressional lines thanks to a panel of federal judges. The three-judge panel appointed Brooklyn Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann to propose her own lines by March 12, after a public hearing, in time for candidates to start petitioning in the new districts by March 20.
The state Legislature’s LATFOR redistricting task force and plaintiffs who sued the state have to submit their own proposed maps by Wednesday. To help Mann get up to speed, the court plans to hire Columbia University professor Nathaniel Persily as a redistricting expert.
The other event we attended this week was the Saul Weprin Democratic Club’s breakfast at the Hollis Hills Jewish Center. The place was packed with what seemed to be a large portion of the club’s membership.
Non-regular member guests who dropped in were U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman, Stavisky, city Comptroller John Liu and Brooklyn Councilwoman Letitia James — although some of the above may be honorary members of the club.
The real star of the breakfast was young Elly Weprin, who informed us she will be 4 March 30. The charm, personality and confidence that child exuded brought a question to mind: Is this the next generation of the Weprin family dynasty? At this stage in her life, she sure looks and sounds like a winner.
James says she would like to run for city public advocate in 2013. She, too, sounds like a winner. District Leader Martha Taylor has retired from her city job and is seriously considering running for Jim Gennaro’s Assembly seat, as he will be term-limited out of office and that would then become an open seat with no incumbent to face. That fact makes campaigns a lot easier to win, as you do not have to spend time or money disparaging the incumbent.
This is the last-minute call for anyone wishing to attend the Christine Calafa-Guarino Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund through Fordham University. The memorial fund will award scholarships to worthy yet needy young women who could not otherwise afford a Fordham University Education.
In honor of Christine, they are holding the event at the Nassau Coliseum March 4. The cost is $100 a ticket, which includes lunch, giveaways and seating for a hockey game.
The game will be the Islanders vs. the Devils at 1 p.m. If you have any interest, call Vic at 917-514-5216, but hurry — time is getting short. Two Queens honorees will be ex-Sen. Frank Padavan and Dan Leone, QPTV executive director.
