SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Daily News published an editorial Sunday pointing the finger at 46th District City Councilman Lew Fidler for owing taxpayers $88,500. Fidler received the money as part of the city’s public funding system for his campaign against Republican Gene Berardelli, and was widely criticized for taking the maximum amount when his opponent had only raised $2,000.

We, too, were shocked at the amount of money Fidler asked for in his massive 41-page affidavit, which included coverage from Sheepshead Bites as evidence of a competitive race. Fidler told the Daily News, “”If it turns out that I don’t need it, I’ll return it.”

That’s why the day after the election we contacted the councilman to see how much he’d be returning. He wrote:

As of today, I have no clue what we spent and we are still paying bills. I can only GUESS that we will be returning a five figure number, but can’t say for sure.

Clearly he has no intention of meeting Daily News’ demand that he return all $88,500. But campaign funds are given out with the expectation that they’ll be spent, so getting five figures back – if that’s what we get – can be seen by some as a positive step.

What do you think? Should Fidler reimburse the city the entire $88,500? Or was he within his right to spend away?

On Tuesday, Sheepshead Bites and GerritsenBeach.net sponsored the first blog-hosted political debate in New York City, rounding up candidates for the 46th City Council District. The debate featured incumbent Lew Fidler (D), Gene Berardelli (R), and Derek Sacerdote (L) with Gerritsen Beach Property Owners Association President George Broadhead serving as moderator. The 46th District covers the neighborhoods of Bergen Beach, Canarsie, Georgetowne, Starrett City, Flatlands, Futurama, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Mill Island, Gerritsen Beach, Madison and Sheepshead Bay.

A feisty debate, the candidates wrangled over special interest groups, term limits, making New York City affordable, transit issues, and more. And yes, we got to see a taste of that nastiness, as allegations of antisemitism flared once more.

Questions for the debate were compiled from readers of both Sheepshead Bites and GerritsenBeach.net, as well as from local leaders on the Community Board and civic associations, and local news outlets. Moderator George Broadhead had the final say in determining questions.

People keep asking us: who won the debate? Well, we don’t want to become horse-race commentators. Instead, we’ll let you do that! But we will say we thought all the candidates expressed themselves well, and gave us a good idea on where they stand with a variety of issues. After the debate, we certainly felt like we had a better idea of their individual viewpoints, and each candidate held their own.

We want to once again thank all of our participants, and our moderator, who were patient and accommodating towards helping us put together this event. We’d also like to thank Baron DeKalb-Knights of Columbus, who supplied space, and Joe Mikos, who handled the video.

Check out the video and hear where your potential councilman stands on issues important to the city and our little nook, then let us know below what you thought of their responses!

Sheepshead Bites in association with GerritsenBeach.net is producing the first debate hosted by local bloggers in New York City. We’ve drawn together the three candidates running for the 46th City Council District, including the sitting councilman, Assistant Majority Leader Lew Fidler. The 45-minute debate will be taped tomorrow afternoon without an audience, then streamed on both sites on Thursday.

The debate promises to be lively, as the two leading candidates – Lew Fidler and Republican opponent Gene Berardelli – have been trading barbs in the comments section of Sheepshead Bites and GerritsenBeach.net (here, here, and here). They have discussed such issues as campaign financing, term limits, and discretionary funds, with the arguments getting very heated. They have at times labeled each other arrogant, questioned each other’s honesty, and Fidler has called Berardelli’s charges anti-semitic. Meanwhile, Libertarian Party candidate Derek Sacerdote has been waging a grassroots campaign, including going door-to-door in several areas of the district.

George Broadhead will serve as moderator of the debate. A self-described “old Brooklynite,” Broadhead signed on with strong recommendations from community leaders as a fair, independent, and objective member of the neighborhood with high integrity. He currently serves as President of the Gerritsen Beach Property Owners Association, is the past Post Commander of the Veterans of Foreign War Post 107, and past Commander of the Kings County Council of the VFW. A former U.S. Marine, Broadhead was awarded the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action after serving in Korea. He has also written for several publications, and was the Western Manager of Newhouse Newspapers.

We’re very proud to be the first local bloggers to independently host a City Council debate. Sheepshead Bites was founded on the idea of sparking discussion in our community and engaging it’s jaded members. We’re happy to have the opportunity to continue bridging the online-offline divide, inform our neighbors, and kindle a desire to participate.

In that spirit, we’re inviting all of our readers to submit debate questions for consideration. You can add them to the comments section below, or send them privately by e-mail.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed Gene Berardelli for City Council over the weekend, raising the stakes in his fight against sitting Councilman Lew Fidler.

In the release from the Berardelli camp, Bloomberg cited the candidate’s work with Brigham Street Park and his efforts in downzoning a portion of Sheepshead Bay as reasons hizzonah would lend his support to the first-time candidate for public office.

“I need a fighter like Gene Berardelli in the City Council so we can keep the city moving in the right direction. I strongly endorse Gene Berardelli in the race for City Council and urge the voters of the 46th district to support him too,” said Mayor Bloomberg in the release.

With just a little over three weeks left until the election, the endorsement’s effects are questionable. Berardelli probably wont be fundraising anymore, and his meager $3,000 or so of contributions is hardly enough to do such campaign basics as send mailers to the district’s residents. But he will appear on the Republican ballot in a year in which the Republican mayor has spent record amounts on media and other materials promoting himself and the party.

But while Berardelli is able to ride off the media-inundated coattails of the sitting mayor, it appears his opponent nailed the resources necessary to buy a little attention himself.

Councilman Fidler has received more than $63,000 in taxpayer funds after submitting a statement of need to the campaign finance board. Although Berardelli has not raised nearly enough money to be eligible for matching funds from the city, Fidler was able to get three times the amount he normally would by citing the district’s past turnout for a Republican mayor, as well as submitting 40 pages of documentation that included campaign coverage by Sheepshead Bites.

City Councilman Lew Fidler (46th District) gets a raw deal in the world of web publishing. He’s got at least two nosy, noisy bloggers in his district. And as the Assistant Majority Leader and the so-called “King of Discretionary Dollars“, he draws a lot of fire from the citywide digerati where lesser-known foes would go under the radar. To his credit, he’s far more active in the online community than his colleagues, a noble feat that often invites more flogging than flattery.

Poor Lew. His suffering knows no end. Republican opponent for City Council, Gene Berardelli, has unveiled a new website with an ingenious name: TheFidler.com. Decorated with a perfectly comic motif of dancing fiddlers, a bobble-head-esque Fidler, and the apocalyptic “Lew Fiddles. We Burn” tagline – the site is owned and operated by the Berardelli campaign. It features articles from around the internet criticizing Councilman Fidler on a variety of issues, from sources including Room Eight and NYC Council Watch.  So far articles have focused on his involvement with LawCash, pork-barrel spending, profiting off of the housing crisis, and failing to engage in a public debate. It also includes satirical photos and a “Whack-a-Lew” game where visitors can tase the good councilman’s nipples.

Apparently, TheFidler.com has its own contributors that produces editorial content, and Berardelli says in his release that anything he writes will bear his name. So far though, all original posts are labeled “TheFidler.com Staff”. While Berardelli notes in the release that he’s “responsible enough to stand behind all content on this site, even if not written by me” – we’re still pleading for him to make contributors reveal themselves. Anonymous posting is questionable enough on blogs; elected politicians (and those who aspire) shouldn’t meddle with such muck.

Overall, though, the site is an obvious attempt to goad Fidler into a confrontation. It pokes fun at the councilman and is begging for a response. From the campaign’s inception, Berardelli has issued several challenges to his incumbent opponent to meet for debates, but the councilman has been dodgy. Berardelli closed his press release by writing, “If the Councilman has a problem with the characterizations, he can come see me – I’m no shrinking violet myself.”

We’d love to see that scene. How ’bout it, Lew?

In a discussion that seems reminiscent of the ones we heard when Barack Obama used the phrase “Yes, we can” as his campaign slogan, Gene Berardelli (R-C) — 46th District City Council candidate running against City Councilman Lew Fidler — says that Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson stole his campaign slogan.

On one of his Facebook pages, Berardelli entered a Tweet with two simple words, “Slogan Thief” and included a link to his campaign website.  The link directs those interested in political fights — especially between candidates who are not running against each other — to an article written by “Administrator”.

The phrase being used by both the Mayoral and the City Council candidates is none other than the title of the popular TV comedy drama series show from the 1970′s and early ’80′s. It is also none other than the one that Barack Obama used in his now-famous 2008 Democratic Presidential nominee acceptance speech.

Berardelli says that the fact that he was using the slogan since June, whereas Bill Thompson has been using it only recently — is proof positive that not only is Thompson following his race, but that he also lifted the slogan from his campaign speeches, literature and website.

This must mean that either Berardelli didn’t read Jeffrey Ecker’s January 27, 2009 commentary in the New York Times, about the birth of Nadya Suleman’s octuplets, entitled “Eight Is Enough”, or he might be under the impression that no one in Thompson’s camp did, either.

Let’s hope that there will not be another television show about a family with (at least) eight children, another set of eight babies born, or another politician trying to get voted in beyond eight years (etc.) — because television executives, media professionals and politicians (etc.) seem to have run out of novel phrases by which to refer to the situation — without being called thieves, that is.

Gene Berardelli, City Council candidate for the 46th District, has gone Hollywood. The Plumb Beach Republican vying for Democratic Councilman Lew Fidler’s seat to represent Sheepshead Bay, Gerritsen Beach, and Canarsie, has produced a video for NBC New York’s online video voter guide. In it, he says the overturning of term limits was a “rude wake up call” and makes his case for voters. Among the achievements he highlights are his efforts to downzone parts of Sheepshead Bay and organizing the community to make Brigham Street Park a reality.

Kudos to NBC New York for producing these video voter guides. It’s good to see that they haven’t ignored the Republican opposition altogether (we’re lookin’ at you, Courier-Life).

Other videos of interest:

Lew Fidler, City Council #46
Derek Sacerdote, City Council #46
Mark D’Ottavio, Borough President
Marty Markowitz, Borough President
Eugene Myrick, Borough President

“I am in this because I’m angry,” Gene Berardelli told Sheepshead Bites over the phone on Sunday about his plans to run for City Council.

Berardelli formally announces tonight at the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association meeting that he will be campaigning for the seat of Lew Fidler in the 46th City Council District. He’ll be the sole contender for the Republican Party, Conservative Party, and the Independence Party.

The legal counsel of the SB/PB Civic – and habitual nettle to the established powers – has been mulling his run for some time. He spoke about his campaign with Sheepshead Bites during a Sunday interview, but asked that we wait until the start of the civic meeting to make it public.

Berardelli’s anger is targeted at the incumbent councilman, Fidler, who he says is more concerned with being Assistant Majority Leader of the council and being a thorn in the mayor’s side than in engaging in small-scale neighborhood issues.

“I think he’s a good man and his heart is in the right place,” Berardelli said. “But I think he’s been in there too long to be effective.”
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