14 The QUEE NS Courier • october 17, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com ▶politics Serpe has ‘22 Ideas for District 22’ BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected] One candidate is ready to turn Astoria green. In June, Lynne Serpe announced she would be running to fill departing Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr.’s seat in the 22nd Council District, serving Astoria, Long Island City and parts of Jackson Heights. Serpe ran against Vallone for City Council in 2009. She is currently the project consultant for the Greening Libraries Initiative at Queens Library and an independent election administrator. She is also an active member of Two Coves Community Garden and the cofounder of Triple R Events: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Some of the ideas Serpe hopes to bring to Astoria if she gets elected are affordable housing and sustainable development, healthy schools and neighborhoods, clean energy and a green economy, and fair elections. Serpe has created a list called “22 Ideas for District 22” which can be found on her website at serpeforcouncil. org/22ideas. “Clean air, clean water, clean energy and clean streets are not partisan issues – they affect the quality of life for all of us,” said Serpe. Serpe will run against Democrat Costa Constantinides, Independent Party candidate Danielle De Stefano, Republican Daniel Peterson and Populist Party candidate Gerald Photo Courtesy Lynne Serpe Kann. Liu aides sentenced BY MELISA CHAN [email protected] City Comptroller John Liu painted the sentencing and overall investigation of his two former campaign workers last week as a “set up of a weak man and a wonderful young woman.” His ex-campaign treasurer and fundraiser will serve time in prison for less than a year for funneling illegal contributions in a straw donor scheme during his bid for mayor. Jia “Jenny” Hou, 26, was sentenced to 10 months in prison on October 10 for attempting to commit wire fraud, making false statements and obstructing justice. The former campaign treasurer from Flushing will also be under supervision for three years. Another aide, Xing Wu “Oliver” Pan, will serve four months in prison and three years under supervision for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and attempting to commit wire fraud. The 47-year-old from New Jersey was a fundraiser and contribution bundler for Liu. “For reasons I may never fully understand, the U.S. Attorney’s Office set out to destroy me with what has been described as an extraordinarily intrusive and exhaustive investigation,” Liu said in a statement. “Failing to find that I had done anything wrong, they proceeded to set up a weak man and a wonderful young woman.” The comptroller, who lost his Democratic primary for mayor in September, said Hou did not deserve the “ordeal and injustice she has been put through.” He said she was “a good person and exceptional individual” when she was found guilty in May. Federal officials said Hou and Pan evaded Campaign Finance Board restrictions that limit donor contributions to citywide candidates to $4,950. The pair used straw donors, prosecutors said, or individuals who illegally make political contributions in their own names with money they have received from others. Hou was caught offering to reimburse an individual for donations well-above the allowed amount during a series of instant messages on July 14, court records show. Prosecutors said she also instructed campaign volunteers on how to imitate the handwriting of campaign donors on the contribution forms in order to make it appear official. Hou also failed to give up documents with identities of several campaign contributors in response to subpoenas and lied about producing them, according to court records. Pan was caught funneling $16,000 in campaign contributions by an undercover FBI agent, who posed as a businessperson interested in supporting the comptroller, records show. Liu was not accused of any wrongdoing. However, the trial kept Liu’s campaign from receiving public matching funds that could have doubled his war chest. “I am very sad but even more angry at what has occurred,” Liu said after the sentencing of his former aides. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office was wrong and should not be proud of its conduct.” De Blasio, Lhota square off in debate BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected] Mayoral opponents Bill de Blasio and Joe Lhota faced off this week in the first of three general election debates between the two. De Blasio, the Democratic candidate and front-runner, spent much of the Tuesday, October 15 televised debate trying to tie Lhota to national Republicans and the Tea Party. “I think Mr. Lhota should be straight up with us about the fact that he does subscribe to the views of the national Republican Party,” said de Blasio, who mentioned Lhota’s attendance at a Staten Island Tea Party event and support of delaying Obamacare for a year. “Don’t lump me in with people who I’m constantly in disagreement with,” said Lhota, defending himself at one point. Lhota, who was deputy mayor under Mayor Rudy Giuliani and headed up the MTA, took aim at de Blasio by saying he has the direct management experience to be mayor. “I can be mayor on day one without any training, without any learning curve whatsoever, said Lhota. Though both candidates expressed a desire to change the direction of the city and agreed on some basic points, including creating more affordable housing, they were divided on many of the issues. Among the topics covered were charter schools, crime and stop-and-frisk, the government shutdown, job creation and narrowing the income gap. De Blasio spoke about his “Tale of Two Cites,” saying 46 percent of residents are living at or near the poverty the level, and his desire to tax the wealthy. He wants to use the tax increase to expand after-school programs and create universal pre-K. Lhota called de Blasio a typical “career politician” who says he’s going to raise taxes on the wealthy, but will end up also raising them on the middle class. Lhota added that de Blasio voting twice to increase property taxes when he was on the City Council and other parts of his record were proof of him “going back and taking money away from the middle class.” The two candidates will debate again on October 22 and 29. Graziano crosses lines, endorses Saffran BY MELISA CHAN [email protected] The enemy of my enemy is my friend. That’s the proverbial message a northeast Queens Democrat is sending by crossing party lines to endorse the Republican candidate over the one who beat him at the polls last month. Paul Graziano, who came in third in the Democratic primary for District 19 to Paul Vallone, publicly endorsed Vallone’s general election opponent, Dennis Saffran, on October 15. “Voting for the best person in the race is more important than voting for your party,” Graziano said. The Flushing urban planner said the decision was not made lightly, but the move is not entirely surprising to spectators of the closely watched contest. Graziano had slammed Vallone multiple times in forums for being a registered lobbyist. He was also one of three primary foes targeted in accusatory hit pieces paid for by a political action committee called Jobs for New York, which endorsed Vallone. The fuming trio, who included Chrissy Voskerichian and Austin Shafran, took turns grilling Vallone during a televised debate and at a press conference they held to call on him to denounce the mailers. “During the campaign, Paul Vallone refused to take responsibility for any of these acts,” Graziano said. “We’ve had four years of not having an adult in the room,” Graziano added, referring to the sitting but scandalscarred incumbent, Councilmember Dan Halloran. “To me, this is just a continuation, if not worse.” Runner-up Shafran, who narrowly lost by less than 200 votes, said he would not support either candidate. Voskerichian said she would not endorse Vallone and was not endorsing Saffran at this time. Vallone did get the backing of John Duane, however, who finished second to last. Duane was not attacked in the mailers but had a hand in calling Vallone out for them. The endorsement was not public and Duane did not give a reason for it. “Whatever differences Paul Graziano and I have is pale next to our differences with Paul Vallone,” Saffran said. Vallone’s campaign fired back, saying Saffran “has been missing in action in this community for over a decade.” “That probably explains why the leaders we know and trust have endorsed Paul Vallone, including Senator Chuck Schumer, the United Federation of Teachers and countless others,” said Vallone spokesperson Austin Finan. Vallone and Saffran will face off on November 5. THE COURIER/Photo by Melissa Chan Democrat Paul Graziano (right) crossed party lines to endorse Republican Dennis Saffran (left) over Paul Vallone.
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