Remember my June 26 email to Walter Carcione, the chief investigator of the Lobbying Bureau of the New York City office of the City Clerk, complaining that Corey Johnson was for at least three-years the Government Affairs Director for the GFI Development Corporation, a real estate firm, but that he wasn't registered as lobbyist?
I mentioned how strange it was the City Clerk's site contained no details about how to file a complaint against a lobbyist or whom to contact to make the complaint. This matter got a bit stranger today when a certified letter arrived via snail mail and required a signature acknowledging receipt of it.
Carcione acknowledges receiving my complaint but oddly asks for me to send him material which may substantiate my claim. Um, I sent him via snail mail and email the link to the Lobbying Bureau's database where Johnson's name does not show up, and Carcione was also sent links to proof Johnson was the GFI guy in charge of their contacts with City government.
Well, let's be happy we have the certified letter and wait to see if Carcione conducts an investigation.
In terms of good government and transparency, I gotta complaint about this office. It's impossible to locate on the City Clerk's site even the name of the City Clerk, his bio and how he came to occupy the office, whether elected by popular vote or appointed to the position. The About page omits his name and don't even think about contact info for him. That page mentions he's the Clerk of the City Council, which is some info.
According to the Daily News of February 2009, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was arm-twisting to have the acting City Clerk, one Michael McSweeney, take the helm:
So far, there's no official deal on the city clerk, but Council Speaker Christine Quinn is still trying mightily to make one.
Things are looking good for Quinn as the morning progresses, but Brooklyn Democratic Chairman Vito Lopez is continuing to hold out hope that he'll be able to at the very least postpone the vote today that Quinn is seeking on her preferred candidate, acting Clerk Michael McSweeney, who hails from Queens.
The New York Observer reported McSweeney was approved by an 11-to-3 vote of the Rules Committee. That Quinn sure knows how to twist Councilmembers' arms!
My gut says I should not expect much from Quinn's "preferred candidate" who is the City Clerk, regarding a thorough probe of her political protege Johnson's failure to register as a lobbying during the years he worked for GFI Development.
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