Monserratitus of the Queens

So…

Hiram Monserrate didn’t seem to get the message on Tuesday and is apparently looking at running for State Assembly, you know, for that recently vacated seat of the guy who left the Assembly to replace (and beat) some jerk who was expelled for roughing up his girlfriend. How long before Queens will be rid of this infection? What other offices can Hiram lose a run for?

Or is it, as many of us believe, all just a continuing ploy to raise money to pay off his legal fees?

Ousted Senator Monserrate Gunning for Assembly (Gothamist)

Democratic Party In Manhattan

Party politics is complicated and people throw terms around like state committeeman, district leader, party club, and county committee and almost no one knows what they all mean. Over the last week or so, I’ve been working to decode the tea leaves and come to grips with all the various layers of the Democratic Party here in the city and the state.

Districts
The start of the confusion is that there are many different “districts” that every voter belongs to. Lets go through the types of districts that are important to Democratic party structure from biggest to smallest, starting with the Assembly District. As a disclaimer, I am only sure of this structure in Manhattan. The state committee is the same everywhere, but district leader can mean different things in different Boroughs, and certainly the structure does not translate well to different parts of the state which can have assembly districts spanning multiple counties, town committees, etc.

State Assembly Districts
Each voter is in an assembly district, and each assembly district (shockingly!) elects a member of the state assembly, the New York State equivalent of the House of Representatives. There are 12 assembly districts that are within New York County (a.k.a. Manhattan), numbered from 64 to 75. After the 2000 Census, each assembly district contained about 126,510 people. Obviously that has changed over time, and the districts will be redrawn soon after the upcoming census. Every assembly district is represented in the New York State Democratic Committee (the state-level governing body of the Democratic Party) by two Democratic State Committee members: one male and one female.

Executive Districts (Assembly District “Parts”)
In certain counties within New York City, each assembly district is broken down into “parts.” In these counties, each assembly district can have between two and four parts. Unlike assembly districts, these parts need not be contiguous, but are always within the same assembly district. Each part is presented by two elected District Leaders: one male and one female.  District Leaders serve on the Executive Committee of their County Democratic Committee, and are more or less the NYC analog to Democratic chairmen of cities/towns/villages outside the five boroughs. Local Clubs, which often exist within one assembly district, can represent more than one Assembly District Part.

Election Districts
Election districts (sometimes called “EDs” by people who spend time on campaigns) are the smallest and most basic district type, and they are the building blocks out of which all the larger district types are constructed. The ED is made up of all the people who are assigned to vote on a particular voting machine (certain large EDs may have two voting machines, but you get the point). A typical ED has between 400 to 800 registered voters and never more than 1,000. Each ED can be directly represented on its County Democratic Committee by two (or sometimes up to four) county committee members.

Committees
We’re represented by various Democratic committees, that correspond to each of the districts above. Let’s go through them from biggest to smallest.

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LogoGate – The Final Day?

Hopefully after tonight the only place anyone we will ever see this logo again is in a trash can.

Did Someone Copyright that Logo (Ben Smith @ Politico)

Monserrate Shunned in Jackson Heights – We Have Video

Yours truly was down at Jose Peralta HQ last Sunday helping to make sure Hiram Monserrate, the domestic abusing coup instigator re-running for State Senate in a special election after he was thrown out, doesn’t come within spitting distance of the finish line.

While I’m there video taping a rally, this guy decides to campaign right outside the door. What ensues is both hilarious and ridiculous. Watching Monserrate stumble around without a clue as to what he’s doing is sure to bring a smile to anyone’s fact. Whata mook.

MYD EXCLUSIVE: The Rejected Monserrate Logos

After applauding Hiram Monserrate’s graphic design team for their innovative – some might even say revolutionary new campaign logo – MYD has obtained the 3 other logo designs that Hiram
considered using. As you can see they are equally groundbreaking and ingenious, particularly for
their use of the Q, for Queens:

It’s Official: Hooligan Hiram is Either Blind or Stupid

Thug, Plagiarizer, and all around disgrace Hiram Monserrate officially kicked off his campaign of shame this afternoon in District 13.

He was hilariously introduced as the “next Senator from Queens,” as if hadn’t been drop-kicked out of the Senate following  an alleged attack on his girlfriend.

Continuing in his delusions, he defended his campaign’s blatant ripoff of the Obama branding.

“This logo is similar to the logo that they use but slightly different because the logo actually is a “Q” which stands for the great borough of Queens. If folks had really  analyzed it, they would have seen it.”

Uh… We DID.

Here is the Obama Logo (red/blue) next to the Hiram Logo:

Here is the Obama Logo (Monserracolors) next to the Hiram Logo:

And lets not forget the color similarity of the favicon Hiram is using on his site:

And the audacity didn’t stop there! (More choice quotes after the Jump)

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No, You Can’t.

Yesterday MYD pointed out that convicted domestic abuser and expelled State Senator Hiram Monserrate had left his campaign site untended, allowing people (like you) to go and tell him (and anyone else that would then visit his site) what a cruel clueless egomaniac he was. We hit social media with it and the story made it around the internets until eventually City Room at the New York Times ran a quick piece on it. Alas today the site is changed, guestbook gone, and arrived is a new index page that looks like this:

It had been reported before that he was using “Yes We Can/Si Se Puede” in the spirit of either Obama or Cesar Chavez – but to actually use the Obama logo?? That takes some serious gall. Sure they have modified it to be a Q, which is probably supposed to mean Queens… although perhaps it means Quack, Quagmire, Queasy, Quixotic, or (I should just) Quit.

How do you feel about the Monster O? How closely do you associate a clueless, disgraced, expelled, convicted domestic abuser with the President of the United States?

How about this instead:

Now get to a phonebank this weekend for Jose Peralta and let’s get rid of this loser once and for all. Also – Peralta – has a new media team.

Sat and Sun
12pm – 6pm
461 Park Ave South, 10th Fl
New York, NY 10016

PHONE BANKS for PERALTA EVERY DAY THRU ELECTION DAY, MARCH 16th
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

HiramMonserrate.com: Hilarious

The special election in New York’s 13th Senate District is beginning to heat up. Hiram Monserrate, who was stripped of his Senate seat last month for his assault conviction, is running for re-election to the SAME SEAT HE WAS REMOVED FROM. Only in New York, folks.

His constituents aren’t happy about it either. His campaign website’s own guestbook contains mostly vehement swears about his job performance, scandal, and poor priorities. My favorite quote: “You are a g–d-m law breaker and you want to continue to make laws for this state?!”  Another good one: “your politics are atrocious, your behavior even more so. I call for your resignation and a public apology to your girlfriend.”

There have only been 6 comments since June 2008, and just in case they wise up and take it down, I’ve provided a screen shot above. But this is an opportunity we just can’t pass up. I’m calling for all MYD members to post their true feelings about Hiram Monserrate on his guestbook by CLICKING HERE. Best comment wins!

Oh, and give some time this weekend to Jose Peralta, the real Democrat running to replace Monserrate in the Senate. Email Alex V. for details:  political@gomyd.com

Hat tip to my buddy Tracey Keij-Denton for this find.

MTA: Show Me Your Books ! (Its The Law)

A new era of transparency began this Monday for hundreds of our state public authorities – whether they like it or not.

For decades these agencies were able to keep multiple sets of books that advocates dubbed a “shadow government” – books that they were not obliged to share with anyone. This practice is now history with the passing of the Public Authorities Reform Act. It requires many of these quasi-governmental corporations to be more transparent and required even to subject themselves to independent audits.

“We certainly have the authority now to recommend that board members be censured, that they be warned and in the most extreme cases, we can recommend to the governor or to the local appointing authority that board members be removed from office,” said David Kidera, Acting Director for the Independent Authorities Budget Office.

But this information isn’t just for government officials like Liu or DiNapoli. The information is also going to be available online for anyone with an internet connection and a whole bunch of time ! Click here for your chance to play junior auditor.

Paterson Will Not Run for Reelection

After yesterday’s story that Governor Paterson intervened in a domestic violence case involving one of his aides, The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza is reporting that:

Embattled New York Gov. David Paterson (D) will not seek re-election this fall, a bow to the inevitable given his low poll numbers and a recent controversy surrounding one of his top aides.

“It’s done,” state Senator Bill Perkins told the Post’s Jason Horowitz. “The governor is not going to be running for reelection.”

The Daily News is also reporting that he will not resign, but will not run. The formal announcement is expected this afternoon.

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