Klein Forms State Senate Breakaway Conference:UPDATE

Celeste Katz over at the Daily News reports that Bronx State Senator Jeff Klein has formed a breakaway State Senate Democratic Conference with three other Senators. Katz reminds us that "Klein abruptly quit his job as Sampson's deputy a few days ago. Prior to that, he was removed as chairman of the DSCC, the conference's all-important political arm, and replaced by new Sen. Mike Gianaris of Queens." Although Sampson will easily hold onto his position, this group, which includes David Carlucci, Diane Savino and David Valesky, could make things interesting. Stay tuned! UPDATE: Here is Klein talking about his new breakaway group.

Councilwoman Helen Foster Has Worst Attendance in Council

James Fergusson over at Bronx News Network does a nice job in this article profiling Bronx Councilwoman Helen Foster who holds the fine distinction of having the worst attendance record in the City Council. She showed up for work just 61.7 percent of the time in 2010. What makes this especially galling is that the Council actually meets so infrequently -- just a handful of times per month. Not bad for a job that is part-time and pays $112,000. Almost makes you long for the days of Maria Baez.

Congressman Engel Cleared in Ethics Probe:UPDATE

Here is a link to a posting by David Freedlander over at Politics NY about Congressman Eliot Engel being cleared by a House ethics committee over the use of his per diem travel payments. The article states that "A Wall Street Journal report last year uncovered how some members of Congress used daily cash stipends even though many of their costs were picked up by foreign governments and U.S. embassies, leaving lawmakers with leftover funds. Leftover per-diem money was often used for shopping or to cover spouses' travel expenses and there are no rules about members of Congress returning leftover travel funds." The ethics panel concluded that "there is insufficient evidence to determine with any degree of certainty that any one of the Members were provided an amount of per diem that was not necessary for their respective trips." UPDATE: Daily News reports that Congressman Engel spent $70,000 to defend a charge of improperly spending $700.

Bronx Assemblyman To Join Team Cuomo?

In his weekly Bronx column for the Daily News, Bob Kappstatter reports that Bronx Assemblyman Peter Rivera may be in line for a high position in the Cuomo administration. For political junkies that raises the specter of a hotly contested special election to replace Rivera that could divide the loyalties of Bronx politicos. So 2011 may not be that boring after all.

Bronx Politicos Spar Over Senate Leader

Here is a story out of the Daily News about the back and forth in the State Senate over who will lead the Democrats. State Senator Jeff Klein recently resigned (or was forced out of his post) as the No. 2 Democrat after seriously questioning the leadership provided by John Sampson (pictured). Today, two Bronx Dems, Ruben Diaz Sr. and Jose Serrano, Jr. came out in support of Sampson. He only needs 16 of the 30 Dem. votes to keep his post so change at this point does not look likely, even though these are the same guys who allowed Pedro Espada to make a mockery of the whole system and keep him in his top leadership post until he was formally indicted just a month ago. Just another day in the NY State Legislature!

How The NYC Council Spends Our Money

Here is a great article from the NY Times entitled "Council Grants Often Shortchange Needy Districts". It details how the City Council (i.e. Speaker Quinn) spends nearly $20 million of our money in the form of member items. Not surprisingly, the money that is doled out to members has very little to do with the needs of a district and everything to do with a Councilmembers loyalty to the speaker. So if you are on the outs with Quinn (that would be Charles Barron) you might only get $137,000 to spend in your district, but if you are doing the Speaker's bidding (like Lewis Felder) you might get near $1 million to spread around. This despite the fact that Barron's district in Brooklyn, which includes East New York and Brownsville, is one of the poorest in the City. Regardless of what you think of someone like Barron, his constituents in a senior home, little league or soup kitchen or no less needy than elsewhere. It would make a whole lot more sense for our money to be divided equally among the 51 Council districts or at worst to do it according to need. But to do it according to loyalty to the Speaker Quinn is a travesty that robs us all. When I served on the NYC Charter Commission last year I proposed such a change, and not one elected official spoke up in favor, so I find it comical that Manhattan BP Scott Stringer raises his voice on the issue in this article. He put out a thick report to the Charter Commission that did not include any Council reforms. It's about time we stood up and demanded some integrity in how millions of our dollars are spent.

Jeff Klein Gives Up Top Post and Slams Sampson

Here is a link to a posting by Celeste Katz at the Daily News about State Senator Jeff Klein taking the gloves off and not only quitting his post as the No. 2 Democrat in the State Senate but calling into question the leadership of John Sampson. Klein said the "final nail in the coffin" was the recent Daily News revelation that the Senate Democrats under Sampson had overspent their $29 million legislative budget by $7 million. For two years, I stood by and defended the misguided action of others and I cannot personally bear that burden any longer," Klein said. It's time to move forward and be independent." This is either a an act of political courage or someone just jumping off a sinking ship?