City Council campaign themes emerging from Bob Capano’s series of E-mails, Tweets and press releases

A campaign for a 2017 race for the City Council is brewing in Southwest Brooklyn  —  It ain’t just talk anymore  —  Capano is now also reaching out for his “team”

Maybe, you have seen or heard some of this  ---  maybe, you haven’t.  No matter, here’s what’s been happening in the week-and-a-half since I last posted an article about the emerging Capano Campaign for the City Council seat now held by Vinny Gentile

First, Bob Capano has kept up his media blitz (something that’s been going on for months, Now). Second, Capano is reaching out to certain GOP insiders to be part of his “inner-circle,” both as part of his formal election committee -- and also as part of an informal “kitchen cabinet” of private operators of various descriptions and political PARTIES.

CAPANO’S MEDIA BLITZ GOES ON, AND ON, AND ON

Right now, the most visible aspect of Bob Capano’s effort is what is clearly a media campaign of some sort. That media push has included both regular press releases and occasional paid print advertising.  Clearly, an unstated theme of Capano's PR strategy is that of the "Energizer Bunny"  ---  he just keeps going, and going and going.

Since Bob’s ad buy in the Brooklyn Courier, he has followed up with a direct challenge to any Brooklyn office holder or Democratic leader to “... Publicly Stand Up to City Council Speaker Mark-Viverito....” and instead stand-up for the police and their fellow Brooklynites, who are feeling “... Less Safe...” because of the environment created by Speaker Mark-Viverito’s so-called “Reforms.”   Pulling no punches Bob’s last bullet-point was that  “...  Enough is Enough With [Melissa Mark-Viverito’s] Criminal Justice ‘Reforms’....”

In support of his position, Capano took special note of two recent surveys: one of NYC Police Officers; and the other of NY City residents showing that the policies and proposals of the City Council Speaker and the de Blasio administration were “... having a negative impact on our quality of life and police morale.”

Here it is in Capano’s own words: “.... Throughout my long history of public and community service in Brooklyn, I have always taken great pride in working for and with Democrats and Republicans. I have taken on some of the extreme views of my own Republican Party, and now I hope there are some Democratic leaders in our community who will do the same here, and stand up to City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito and say enough is enough with the far-left criminal justice 'reforms' that are having a dangerous impact on our cops and neighborhoods. Whether it is the countless monitors looking over the shoulders of our cops, de-criminalizing quality of life crimes, erasing open warrants for offenders, closing Rikers Island, or not giving officers a raise despite the City Council giving themselves one for over 30%, it seems there is no common sense left in the City Council, or should I say the 'silly' council. Will one democratic leader show the courage and put our cops and communities over blind party loyalty to City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito? ”    Then Capano added this: “As the nephew of two former Brooklyn cops, I can not remain silent. I know that the vast majority of residents of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and Brooklyn support our NYPD, and do not want to go backwards when it comes to public safety. ”

As I stated in  comment to one of the articles below, “....  According to Steve Witt writing in his Kings County Politics Blog, ‘The war of words between Bay Ridge Democrats and Republicans –  [in] the borough’s only neighborhood with a healthy two-party system – continued today with Bob Capano, a longtime GOP operative calling out local Dems for not questioning City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito‘s proposed criminal justice reforms.... Capano, who was born and raised in Bay Ridge, but now lives in Staten Island, is strongly considering moving back to his home turf to run for City Council Member Vincent Gentile‘s 43rd District seat next year when he is term limited out of office....’ (See "Bay Ridge Showdown Part 2: Republicans Call Out Dems On Criminal Justice Reforms" by Stephen Witt, 3/29/16, Kings County Politics [http://www.kingscountypolitics.com/bay-ridge-showdown-part-2-republicans/])....”  Also, Witt’s article and my comment both noted this:   “Bay Ridge Democrats spokesperson Chris McCreight responded that Republicans should be the last people to complain about criminal justice reforms.... 'Whether it’s assaulting a female reporter, tax evasion, or bribery, it speaks volumes that Bob and other Staten Island Republicans say nothing when their own party is involved in criminal activity.’...”

ADDITIONAL CAPANO PRESS RELEASES POINT OUT A DOWNTURN WHEN IT COMES TO “QUALITY OF LIFE” ISSUES  — AND —  CONDEMNS CONTINUED FUNDING FOR RADICAL ISLAMIC GROUP

Since Bob Capano challenged office holders and Democrat leaders to speak-out against City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s “criminal justice reforms,” he issued releases about the following matters, which showed a worsening of the “Quality of Life”: 1) criticizing the NYC DOT’s announced decision not to remove graffiti from public places;  and 2) noting that the “Guardian Angels” were resuming subway patrols in an attempt to stave off increases in subway crime.

Mr. Capano also resumed his long-term public jousting with the radical Arab/Islamist activist Linda Sarsour.  Capano’s latest release specifically “condemned” the City’s renewal of a $500,000 grant to Sarsour’s Arab-American Association. The organization is based in Bay Ridge and Linda Sarsour is its Executive Director. According to the Capano release, the grant was one of 14 given to community based organizations by The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York, which is led by NYC's First Lady Chirlane McCray.

Perhaps more important than Capano’s persistent, incisive and topical items in his media blitz were his organizational moves.

CAPANO STARTS PUTTING TOGETHER HIS “TEAM”

At a recent meeting with a few of his supporters, Bob Capano is reported to have indicated that he lined-up two of the “formal” members of his election team.  The first is a well-respected “manager-type” that has run successful Brooklyn campaigns in the past, Capano indicated that he was still in the middle of discussions with that “manager” --  as to whether he’d direct the campaign on a day-to-day basis as a paid “campaign manager,” or serve as a paid consultant overseeing some other of his associate operatives. The second is a well-known Brooklyn leader, who would oversee Capano’s campaign finances, a position that he had held in the past for various campaigns and candidates.

Bob also mentioned that three experienced fund raisers, who would each be handling separate fund raising activities, were likely to cover all of that for the 2017 campaign. Capano said that it is most likely that, from those three would emerge a single Capano Campaign fund raising and/or financial chairman.