The mayor’s consultant
-
- October
- 9
It probably won’t come as a surprise to avid readers here that one of our most frequent posters, The Consultant, is Mike Edelman. Edelman is also head of The Hastings Group, a political consulting business, which is a major recipient of money from Phil Amicone’s campaign for a second term as Yonkers mayor. The Republican incumbent is opposed by Democrat Dennis Robertson.
Friends of Amicone paid $214,985 to The Hastings Group, but most of that money, Edelman maintains, does not actually go into his pocket. An attorney, political consultant and Republican pundit on Cablevision’s News 12, Edelman says most of that money is used to pay for media buys, production costs and direct mail for his clients.
Those receipts, Edelman said, do not pay him for his numerous postings at Politics on the Hudson, which total 695 as of this writing. “If I got paid by the posting I would be a very wealthy man,� Edelman said. “I enjoy it. It’s an avocation.�
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 3:48 pm by Len Maniace.
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Why does the Consultant think he even has
to justify that he, like all consultants,
gets a commission or fee for the work he does
and the media buys he makes and places, etc.?
He is only being bugged by the gnats from
the Robertson and Spencer group in Yonkers.
Round up the usual suspects…Hoffman, Scaringe,
Jereis, and a few more like them. They aren’t
worth the consideration of an explanation.
They already know how it works, but don’t care.
thanks ethan but len called me and I answered his questions
like I always do when the press calls whethe its the
journal news or the new york times…or wbal in baltimore
the difference between my consulting agreements and a lot
of others is I only get an agency fee on the tv..nothing
on the printing, or on anything else..and besides..
I was on phil’s side 2years ago..so thanks for the defense
but lens question is ok with me..and now dennis has to
answer the question of WHY HE IS TAKING 35% OR MORE
FROM SAM ZHERKA…DOES THAT MEAN HE IS A WHOLLY OWNED
SUBSIDIARY OF ZHERKA’S CORP…( to those not schooled
in business it means dennis is bought and paid for
I however am quite proud to work for phil amicone
That list of Zherka corps who gave money to
Robertson may not be complete.
On this blog, from a few days ago, you can see a list
someone posted, with addendums I added a few posts later.
Robertson has another problem…his accounting
for a Guardian back page ad points right to a friend
of Zherka’s for actually providing that cash to Robertson,
who then paid the Guardian.
Robertson also did not account for another ad of
his in the Guardian. This one, also full page,
was inside the paper. It appeared the week before
the back page ad. But Robertson only accounts for
the back page ad, which apparently was actually
paid for by by a Zherka’s partner, Gennaro Morales.
Len responds to a few “haters” who post trash but sleeps
through rock-solid data on Zherka and Robertson. Amazing.
and here is another possible violation…a corporation
can only give 5000 in the aggregate during any
campaign ..so if zherka gave robertson 5000 in
cash and also gave him even one dollar in advertising
he is committing a misdemeanor
Yeah, well….still waiting for that complaint to
be filed. It should happen this week, right? The
Republicans better stop blowing smoke and get after it.
The JN should want to do a blog article about this one…
Mike Bloomberg has done a TV commercial endorsing
Amicone. It’s airing on TV starting tonight, I guess.
I just saw it. Amicone being endorsed by the liberal
independent Bloomberg, who also has high approval numbers.
Robertson must be thankful he has Sam Zherka airing
attack ads for him. LOL.
Yak Yak Yak Yakkity Yak. Clean up the government! Enough with “He did THIS” “The other guy did THAT” “THIS guys’ talking to THAT guy” “THOSE guys are trying to pull a fast one” “Who put that ad in there?” “Who gets paid for that?” “WHO owns WHOM? ” “Why is he getting 35% when I don’t even get ANYTHING on the printing?” It’s seamy. It’s trivial. And it’s all a product of BAD government, both sides.
he ed…you want clean government….make sure
amicone is the mayor not robertson..all the rest
is noise
Indubitably. I’m just troubled that the good people are being dragged down to the level of the unscrupulous and the self-aggrandizing.
well then we can agree on the principle that there is no
substitute for good government…and that is how I
choose for whom I consult..
I disagree with Ed 100 percent.
When you have a suspected Albanian criminal
element trying to make inroads in Yonkers and that
suspected criminal element is making deals with Dennis
Robertson, it matters a great deal.
When you also have what seem to be clear violations
of election law on a few fronts, it matters.
This isn’t small stuff. It’s big stuff.
It’s not just “He said, she said.” It’s not
just “politics as usual.” It’s all very relevant.
ethan you are correct…that is why the democrats
are now seeking to distract from the discussion
who counted up my blog entries…and did they bother
to break them down into yonkers related and non?
and did they bother find out that I also have my
own blogging feature at westchester magazine.called
POV….However none of this is important what is
imporant is that sam zherka is the single most
significant contributor to dennis robertson
and that his interests are obvious and the antithesis
to what the taxpayers of yonkers want in their city
where is this POV blog? can’t find it
It was in the last internet issue of the mag..
don’t know when the next will post..they may
be waiting for lawrence to do a counter point
on the issue…be patient though I am sure it
will be up relatively soon…
Consultant,
I understand the Yonkers Republican leadership
issued a press release sometime yesterday, demanding
that Robertson explain his ties to Zherka.
I have yet to see that statement publicized in
the Journal News or on Cable News.
Regardless, the Republicans should get their
list of Zherka contributions to Robertson complete.
There could be more, because several other corporate
donors need further analysis. But this list here,
to this point, is accurate—
1. ABCZ Corp. $5,000
2. Casanova Ent. $500
3. Kukaj Mgt. $500
4. Metro Holdings $5,000
5. MKSZ Realty $5,000
6. Moe Management $500
7. Gennaro Morales $1,600
8. Nubreed Ent. $500
9. Pacific Holdings $1,250
10. Sunday Mgt. $500
11. The Guardian News $5,000
Total: $25,350 since July. You can work
out the percentage of that vs. all Robertson
contributions since July. But it must be
around 40 percent, or even more.
Note Morales and his $1600. That’s the same
price of a full back page Guardian ad, per
Zherka’s own slip-up on News 12. I suggest
it is very likely Zherka, through his partner
Morales, donated to Robertson who then paid for
that ad in Zherka’s own paper.
I suggest you also look at the $1250 from Pacific
Holdings. That could be the same price of the “inside”
full page ad which Robertson did NOT report on
his financial statement. His “inside” ad ran
the week before the full back page ad.
I have no idea why the JN is not reporting the release but
it is of no moment..most people according to polling in
yonkers get their local news from news 12 and they are
definitely on the story
Mike, Can you please find out how much money was spent on Amicone fundraising activity at Zuppa’s and X2O’s? The expense doesn’t show up anywhere on his financial disclosure forms. Were these gatherings paid for by others and isn’t that also illegal if its not reported
A more interesting topic would be why Edelman was highly vocal in his criticism of Phil Amicone, including his now erroneous claim in the primary that only Mike Spano and not Phil Amicone could win a general election because Amicone was pro-life and too conservative and now he is Amicone’s biggest and most vocal supporter.
So basically anyone who hire Edelman’s consulting firm is great, while anyone who doesn’t is an extremist who is unelectable. Go figure.
A more interesting topic would be why Edelman was highly vocal in his criticism of Phil Amicone when Amicone first ran for mayor of Yonkers, including his now erroneous claim in the primary that only Mike Spano and not Phil Amicone could win a general election because Amicone was pro-life and too conservative and now he is Amicone’s biggest and most vocal supporter.
So basically anyone who hire Edelman’s consulting firm is great, while anyone who doesn’t is an extremist who is unelectable. Go figure.
Consultant, The JN is lagging deliberately.
Wake up and smell the coffee. And make sure
the Republican leadership gets the right numbers.
But even those may not be complete yet.
News 12 is doing stories…half-butted, as usual.
They blew that $1600 comment, and they don’t have
other things right, either. What else is new?
Zherka issued what is truly an insane press release
late today. It will blow up in his face and in
Robertson’s face. This is serious stuff. So, I would
suggest you delay the “theoretical analyzing” and
please get real about what’s going on here. Thanks.
And just ignore those two Robertson-Spencer fools
who posted above this comment.