Michael Nelson

The Daily News conducted a survey of City Council members to find out whether or not they would vote to extend term limits, but one member they couldn't reach was City Councilman Mike Nelson of Brooklyn. I just found out Nelson will most likely vote yes.

I ran into Nelson as he was heading into a hearing in the City Council chamber on residency requirements for municipal jobs.

“I’m leaning towards it, not 100 percent,” he said. “More like 90 percent.”

Nelson is in his second term and has not previously been discussed as a candidate for higher office. 

So according to the Daily News poll, plus Nelson, that would be 11 yes, 14 no and the rest undecided or unreachable.

Buried inside this recent Courier Life article about Michael Nelson, the Councilman from Brooklyn who spent an unusually high amount of city money on local advertisements, is this interesting factoid:

“Nelson is now a candidate to succeed Marty Markowitz as Brooklyn borough president.”

If that's true (Nelson's office didn't return a call for additional information), that would make three candidates for the seat so far. The other two are Bill de Blasio and Charles Barron.

Anybody else making a stealth announcement?

UPDATE: Nick Perry is in the race. 

Michael Nelson, who, according to the Citizens Union report today uses the most amount of taxpayer dollars for advertising, emailed over this lengthy response (after the jumo) to defend his practice. Nelson's says that hes helping worthy groups in his district and that the ads express his "willingness to help those who would otherwise have lost faith in government’s ability to respond to their needs."

Well, maybe.

The best news for the members named in the Citizen Union report today is that the Conflict of Interest Board has made public the financial disclosure reports of City Council members, meaning that the spotlight should soon shift by tomorrow from members' spending habits to their earnings.  read more »

Citizens Union has posted online its study on how City Council members spend taxpayer dollars to raise their profiles.

I’m not sure what benefit top spenders like Michael Nelson and Helen Sears got for their expenditures, but others at the top of the list are widely known to be eyeing races for other offices: Domenic Recchia is running for congress. James Gennaro is likely taking a shot at state Senator Frank Padavan’s seat. Joel Rivera may run for Bronx Borough President, and James Oddo may run for Borough President on Staten Island.

Here's a fun piece of old campaign literature, featuring then-mayor Rudy Giuliani offering a toothy-grinned endorsement to Michael Nelson, a City Councilman who represents the Sheepshead Bay and Midwood sections of Brooklyn.

It's enough to prompt the interesting (if not hugely consequential) question of whether Nelson, a Democrat, plans to return the favor this year by supporting Giuliani over Hillary Clinton, who is the overwhelming choice of his local colleagues.

Nelson's chief of staff Rob Varley told me that Nelson “hasn’t endorsed anybody yet and the Councilman is waiting for the right moment to interject his opinion when the primaries come closer.”

OK, if you care, here's the official list of new City Council assignments. (Everything not mentioned stays the same.)

AGING - Maria del Carmen Arroyo CONSUMER AFFAIRS - Leroy Comrie CONTRACTS - Yvette Clarke ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - Tom White EDUCATION - Robert Jackson FIRE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE - Miguel Martinez GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS - Simcha Felder HEALTH - Joel Rivera HOUSING AND BUILDINGS - Erik Martin-Dilan MENTAL HEALTH - Oliver Koppell RULES, PRIVILEGES, ELECTIONS - Diana Reyna SMALL BUSINESS - David Yassky STANDARDS AND ETHICS - Inez Dickens STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATION - Maria Baez WATERFRONTS - Michael Nelson WOMEN'S ISSUES - Helen Sears

Subcommittees: PLANNING, DISPOSITION, CONCESSIONS - Dan Garodnick LANDMARKS - Jessica Lappin

New Standing Committees (formerly subcommittees): CIVIL RIGHTS - Larry Seabrook JUVENILE JUSTICE - Sara Gonzalez LOWER MANHATTAN REDEVELOPMENT - Alan Gerson(continued)  read more »

MAJORITY LEADER - Joel Rivera DEPUTY MAJORITY LEADER - Leroy Comrie ASSISTANT MAJORITY LEADER - Lew Fidler ASSISTANT MAJORITY LEADER - Bill de Blasio MAJORITY WHIP - Inez Dickens

Something for (almost) everyone!