So Says Quinn to Taxpayers

Hmmmm .... forget what we said the other day. Quinn just wants more money - period.

No mention of givebacks, no mention of Council Members paying for more of their healthcare coverage, no mention of pension adjustments or agreement to work additional hours, and no mind the working New Yorkers who have seen little to no quality of life improvements over the past decade.

Quinn wants a raise for Council Members and apparently, that's that!

Or Not?

Since the establishment (especially ours) tends to move in lockstep, should be interesting to see whether or not the Mayor's salary panel, the City Council Speaker and our other elected officials follow Hillary's lead on this one:

Sen. Clinton wants no raise without a minimum wage boost

Questions is, what can Council Members, BPs, the Public Advocate and others offer New Yorkers first, before suckin' on the public trough?

Curious minds (and taxpayers) want to know...

Have At It!

Alright all you salary pimps and whores.

The 2006 list of all city employees and their salaries (as of April 1, 2006) was just released.

Your tax dollars hard at work ... or not.

Enjoy!

Last names:  A-L, click here

Last names:  L-Z, click here

(c/o the Department of Citywide Administrative Services)

Deal or No Deal?

The edit heads at the Daily News vote No Deal today for City Council pay raises (of which, Barry Popik reminds us).

But we here at Backroomie, we're in to matters even more ludicrous. And that's the panel that Mayor Bloomberg created to render advice on this matter.

Frank Lombardi of the said News recently reminded us that this panel historically is but a facade for money-hungry lawmakers, and that in the past 23 years they have never NOT recommended a salary increase. OK.

The Council's Phat Pork

EJ McMahon of the Manhattan Institute did a very good thing last week in releasing his research of all that is Albany's pork. Simply put, that shit was so obviously fat and yuuuuuuuummmy!

We were inspired. So we thought we'd give you a glimpse of all that is the Council's pork. Because we know that shit is just as yummy.

What's most interesting, though, is to really see one's truest "priorities". And it appears that Giffie's priorities were the gay community (Hetrick Martin Institute got $229,000), some Jews (United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg got $350,000) and of course, the High Line - of which he's a very good friend (they got $250,000).

Interestingly, the Hetrick Martin Institute alone received more money than all the organizations with the word "Harlem" in their names combined. Go figure!

Let Stossel Teach

It wasn't so long ago that we reported on Randi's Pavlovian response to John Stossel's "Stupid in America" segment on ABC's 20/20.

After ABC aired this controversial piece, Randi brought out the troops to bash Stossel and ABC. But remarkably, Stossel responded by going outdoors to face the angry mob. At the protest, he also accepted what was then a very loud invitation to teach for a week at a school of the UFT's choosing.

That's The Word

Today's a big day at the Council. A sold out crowd is anticipated in the Council Chambers as Members, lobbyists and Yankee fans anxiously await the Council's approval of the Yankee stadium deal.  And from what we hear on the proverbial street, la Speaker Quinn has no intention of disappointing.

Quinn has taken the not-so-unusual, Giffie-style-step of warning her rogue-est of Members - Barron, Avella and James, to be exact - that should they fail to fall in line with the Yankees deal that they might as well kiss their sweet pet projects good-bye.

Cuz That's How We Like Our AG's

Fred Dicker of the New York Post really stuck it to a man today. And that man? Attorney General Candidate Mark Green.

Not only did Dicker humiliate Green by highlighting what appears to be his all but inevitable failure to get onto the ballot by way of backroom Democratic politicking, but he continued to sucker punch Green with these nasty blind quotes:

"Green will have a hard time getting to 25 percent - that's become clear," said one of the state's most important Democrats, who is neutral in the attorney general's race.

Oh Let Us Count 'Em

Some new hires (and adjustments) at the City Council:

Jonathan Ettricks, $100,000 (a recent increase)
A lot of moola for a Legislative Policy Analyst, wouldn't you say? Perhaps the fact that Ettricks comes from the Anoroc Democratic Club, home of Queens Chief Tom Manton, didn't hurt his cause?

Antonio Rodriguez: $95,000
Husband of Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera who is the sister of Council Member Joel Rivera, both of whom are the children of Bronx Chief Jose Rivera.

Looks like the Harlem Charlester is whippin' up the troops for the soon-to-announce Staten Island Congressional candidate Brooklyn Council Member Bill de Blasio. How's that for a triple play?

In a note that went out to the NY Congressional Delegation yesterday (click here to view), Dean Rangel directs his colleagues to "indicate to me what your level of support will be if Bill should decide to run," and concludes by saying that "...I am certain that Bill is deserving of our support."

Doin' the yeomen's work, we tell ya ... luvin' it!

Yummy!

Ok. Roomie's back.

And here's the deal. We are now fully rested individuals ... and are ready to talk turkey.

As promised (tho it took longer than we ever expected), we ran some numbers regarding Quinn's firing techniques ... and we'll gladly share with you what we discovered.

But first, we must mention this one caveat ... that unlike the Council, we DID NOT have access to Council records, and only had limited access to Council staff. And so, our numbers are only as good as we think they are. But we will share with you our calculations anyway, and they follow:

Backroom Deal Breaker - aka Backroomie - aka Roomie - always sits in the back of the class, never the front.  Cuz from the back, Roomie's gotta good view of things.  And things, unfortunately, are never as they seem.

Problem is, Roomie believes in the people's right to know these things.

Roomie's been around the block a time or two; which alone should explain why Roomie's skepticism runs so deep ... oh so very very deep.

Post hiatus, Roomie will be double blogging, here and on backroomie.com, with a vengeance.

Stay tuned!