By Dee Richard
The final countdown is coming. This column will be printed Oct. 23, which will leave 13 more days till Election Day. Who will our next president be? There are lots of pros and cons on both sides. It is tough to figure out what the results will be as the odds fluctuate almost daily.
Let's switch to the local races. As we all know, “all politics is local.” There have been many candidates' nights and the debates that go with them. Coverage of those events have been pushed to the back burner, due to the firestorm Mayor Michael Bloomberg started when he announced he was going to try and overturn term limits to run for a third term, even though the public on two occasions voted to keep term limits.
Even if Bloomberg is successful in achieving his goal, he still has to get elected. The question is will the public vote him in? Judging by the contentious uproar at the City Hall hearings last Thursday and Friday, the public is so upset over the financial crisis that they do not seem interested in overturning term limits.
Bloomberg claims he wants the overturn because he feels the city needs him and his particular brand of expertise during this fiscal crisis. But some of his detractors contend that the mess was created by Wall Street and Washington and the mayor has no control over either.
The public is upset, wondering how the current financial crisis is going to directly affect them and their families and friends. They do not seem in the mood for dealing with a political crisis.
The domino effect of overturning term limits is mind-boggling. Think of all the declared candidates who had plans to run for all the vacant council seats and other city positions that are term limited out. Many of these candidates have already filed with the city Campaign Finance Board, hired staff, rented headquarters and held fund-raisers.
If the mayor is right and the City Council can legally vote to overturn the present law, why didn't anyone attempt to do it during the last two referendums? We will have to wait and see.
Some of the events we covered recently were a fabulous fund-raiser at the Douglaston Club for state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose). An equally great fund-raiser was held for City Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis) at J.D. Thakral's home in Fresh Meadows.
The Queens Library Foundation held its annual Crystal Ball at the Waters Edge Restaurant in Long Island City. There was a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline from the restaurant's glass window walls.
A reception was held at Queens Theatre in the Park for the producers of the Hong Kong Cantonese Opera, an interesting experience.
All of the friends of Sabina and Rocco Cardali bid them a fond farewell recently as they left College Point to join their only child, a daughter who lives in Las Vegas with her husband and children. I know how tough it is to tear up your roots and move. This is a good plan for them, as they can all be together in warmer weather rather than having to travel back and forth to visit each other. No matter what, it is good to be surrounded by family.
Condolences to George Heymann on the death of his father, a city judge.
Congratulations to Linda De Sabato on the birth of her first grandchild, a little girl named Delinda. Her granddaughter's name was taken from her name and her daughter's, Denise.
Folks, take care of yourselves. There is a nasty flu bug going around — I know because I caught it and have been laid up in bed for a number of days. Apparently, there is nothing you can do about it except to let it run its course. It was no fun.
That's it for this week.
I look forward to hearing from you with information on people, parties or politics or gossip.
I also like receiving your voice mail at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com.
Till next week, Dee.
