Campaign for Democrats and it will count as time served on your sentence!
According to a Democratic district leader in Brooklyn, that is the message Kings County District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes and Kings County Democratic Party boss Frank Seddio are conveying in one assembly district to parolees seeking a way to fulfill community service (See "District Leader Claims Hynes and Seddio Signed Off On Parolees Campaigning For Community Service" by Stephen Witt, 6/13/13 [http://www.cityandstateny.com/district-leader-claims-hynes-and-seddio-signed-off-on-parolees-campaigning-for-community-serv/]).
According to the report in City & State, "New York State Republican Party spokesperson David Laska said he found Collymore’s assertion that Hynes and Seddio had given approval to her initiative hard to believe, but that knowing Democratic politics in Brooklyn, he would not be surprised if it were so." Does Mr. Laska know that Mr. Hynes is the consensus and likely nominee of the Brooklyn GOP for Brooklyn DA in 2013 ?
The article published in City & State stated the parolees were collecting signatures on nominating petitions. Problem is to collect signatures you need to be enrolled voter. You can't vote if your on parole. Who is witnessing these petitions?
ReplyDeleteUPDATE: A later report on a blog that is often critical of the Brooklyn DA focused on a part of the City & State post that seems to modify/correct/contradict the main claim of the piece in significant part, as follows: "[A] Hynes' spokesperson called [ Democratic District Leader Renee] Collymore's claims a "bald-faced lie" and said that Seddio didn't know anything about the program until he was told about Collymore's claims by Hynes' office. *** Almost immediately after City and State NY asked Hynes' campaign for comment on Colymore's [sic]claims, Collymore texted City and State NY multiple times with messages including 'I need City & State to hold off' and 'Changes are being made.' *** She then went on to deny that Hynes and Seddio approved the program, saying instead that she told some unnamed people in the Kings County Democratic Party about her program before implementing it." (See "DA Reportedly Using Parolees As Campaign 'Volunteers' Who Are Allegedly Allowed To Count The Campaign Work Toward Their Community Service Requirements" 6/14/13, Failed Messiah [http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2013/06/da-reportedly-using-parolees-as-campaign-volunteers-who-are-allegedly-allowed-to-count-the-campaign-community-service-678.html]).
ReplyDeleteSomething sounds very fishy about this whole story; and City & State posted it whole with the modifications/corrections/contradictions for some unexplained reason. The backstory to all that might be very interesting.
That's your take away, because you seem to have some feelings about the original source of the story that appeared in City & State.
ReplyDeleteCity & State posted its story whole --- giving Collymore's original claim, along with the later denials, modifications, corrections, contradictions, etc. by Hynes' spokesman, Collymore and others.
The backstory to all of that might be even more interesting than what's come out so far.