Quicklink: WNYC

Choice quote/teaser:

…The biggest jolt in 2010 was the naming of a new Finance Committee chair. Quinn and her predecessor, Gifford Miller, had given this prize to Queens the previous eight years, a reward for the linchpin role that the 16 Queens Council votes had played in their elections to the speakership by a majority of the 51-member Council. The ironclad control that the Queens party leadership exercised over its Council delegation’s votes for speaker had allowed it to dominate Miller and then Quinn’s committee appointments, and Queens had nine committees, including Land Use and Finance, the pillars of Council power. Chairs aren’t free agents, and the speaker would ultimately call the big questions, but their powers are considerable, and a magnet for contributions.

Quinn appointed Dominick Recchia as Finance Committee chair. Besides the powers, Recchia also got the $18,000 salary bonus that went with the job, a surprisingly important prize to Council members whose base pay is $112,500.  Recchia, who did not respond to requests for comment, represents Coney Island, but he was so obeisant to Lopez that he was, at that very moment, using $2 million of his limited discretionary funds to subsidize Ridgewood Bushwick, as far away from his district as a buck could fly…

Why should we care about this you ask my fellow north Brooklynites? Very simple…

It would appear our incumbent Steve Levin (who, it has been established, is quite tight with Ms. Quinn) has accepted the above donation from Recchia— or at least his “friends”.Please take a moment to give this post by WNYC a listen. An informed voter is an empowered voter!

Closing on a related note, I feel compelled to share what is by far the best, B-E-S-T, campaign mailer yours truly has received to date (Lopez notwithstanding)…