Christine Quinn, Liz Holtzman, CityTime, Pay-To-Play Endorsements

Christine Quinn Kept The CityTime Gravy Train Rolling ; Lobbyists Like Liz Holtzman Kept Rolling In The CityTime Dough ; Scratch-My-Back, Pay-To-Play Endorsements ?

Today, CityTime lobbyist Liz Holtzman endorsed the mayoral candidacy of Christine Quinn.

WNYC was one of many media Web sites, which reported Ms. Holtzman's connection to the $600 million CityTime scandal. Ms. Holtzman was once a four-term Congresswoman.

The city's lobbying database shows a small army of former prominent city officials who did work for SAIC and Technodyne. Defense contractor SAIC has retained former City Comptroller Liz Holtzman, Peter Powers, who served as Mayor Giuliani's top deputy Mayor for operations, and Seth Kaye, who worked in both the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations. Technodyne's lobbyists include former Bloomberg Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications Commissioner Gino Menchini and Agostino Cangemi, who also held key posts in both administrations. (CityTime Payroll Scandal a Cautionary Tale * WNYC)

Why is Speaker Quinn desperate to accept Ms. Holtzman's endorsement ? At one time, Ms. Holtzman was mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Congresman Anthony Weiner after his resignation, but Ms. Holtzman's connection to the scandalous CityTime fraud immediately disqualified her.

Ms. Holtzman's lobbying firm was paid $120,000 in 2009, $90,000 in 2010, and $200,000 in 2011 by SAIC, the maker of CityTime, to lobby New York City politicians in order to keep NYC.gov paying CityTime's huge cost overruns. Eventually, it was estimated that SAIC over-billed New York City by $600 million, and Ms. Holtzman was one of the principal lobbyist being paid to keep that gravy train rolling. Her lobbying firm was paid $410,000 to keep the CityTime gravy train rolling into Ms. Holtzman's station.

City Councilmember Letitia James called for investigations into CityTime, but Speaker Quinn, who controls the City Council like a dictator, thwarted each attempt to launch a full City Council investigation into the CityTime overbilling scandal. (Daily News)

Maybe Ms. Holtzman is grateful that Speaker Quinn thwarted all those City Council investigations, thereby protecting Ms. Holtzman's CityTime gravy train, and, as patronage, has offered up her endorsement as pay back ?

Ms. Holtzman's endorsement was made during an announcement of a group that Speaker Quinn's mayoral campaign describes as ''Women for Chris.''

If @repweiner enters mayor's race, @chriscquinn's lead will immediately drop by 11 points capitalnewyork.com/article/politi… @defeatquinn

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) April 18, 2013

Speaker Quinn's latest maneuvering with Ms. Holtzman's endorsement comes on the same day when it was announced that her campaign would immediately drop 11 percentage points in voter support if Mr. Weiner were to enter the mayoral race. Speaker Quinn also faces sharp criticism and endless protests by LGBT activists, who claim that Speaker Quinn has sold out.

2013-04-17 Extract - Liz Holtzman SAIC CityTime NYC Lobbyist Search (2009 Billing) by Connaissable

2013-04-17 Extract - Liz Holtzman SAIC CityTime NYC Lobbyist Search (2010 Billing) by Connaissable

2013-04-17 Extract - Liz Holtzman SAIC CityTime NYC Lobbyist Search (2011 Billing) by Connaissable

Christine Quinn Expected to ''Kill'' the Living Wage Bill

Christine Quinn Is Expected to Kill the Hopes of the Middle Class to Earn a Living Wage in New York City.

The proposed living wage bill is supported by 30 out of the 51 members of the New York City Council, but it is opposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, reported The New York Times.

And because City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is a puppet of Mayor Bloomberg, everybody is expecting that Speaker Quinn will go through backroom machinations to kill the proposed living wage bill, similar to how Speaker Quinn killed the paid sick leave bill last year.

''Supporters say that recently released poverty statistics, which showed one in five New Yorkers living below the poverty line, provide evidence that the bill is needed. The city 'has not done enough to advance policies that will strengthen working families,' Councilwoman Letitia James of Brooklyn'' told The NYTimes.

The NYTimes added :

''Ms. Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor in 2013, can kill a bill by not bringing it to a vote. Last year, she shelved a bill that would have required employers to provide paid sick days to their workers; it had the support of a veto-proof majority in the Council but was opposed by business interests.''