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The Missing Advocate? With all the attention on the Senate race and the possibility that Mark Green might succeed Hizzoner as Mayor, no one’s focused on what happens to the Public Advocate position in 2000 if Rudy gets bumped upstairs to DC. So, we’ve decided to do it for you. According to one insider, there are three options being discussed: promoting Deputy Council Speaker Archie Spigner to Public Advocate to serve out the last year of the term; elevating Council Speaker — and Mayoral wannabe — Peter Vallone to Acting Public Advocate; or calling a special election within 60 days of the time Green vacates the Public Advocate post to become Mayor. Since the position is a newly created one — replacing the old City Council President post — the New York Charter is not clear about succession, say government watchdogs. This uncertain scenario makes the race for Public Advocate for 2001 all the more intriguing — and if the fundraising race is a good predictor, West Side Assem-blymemeber Scott Stringer has jumped out to a lead. According to the most recent Campaign Finance Board filings, Stringer leads the pack with $222,000 raised in 1999. He’s followed by New-York Historical Society chief Betsy Gotbaum with $198,000; Downtown Manhattan Councilmember Kathryn Freed $159,000; Brooklyn Councilman Stephen DiBrienza $104,000; and Harlem State Senator David Paterson $51,000. Trash Spying Homeless people aren’t the only folks sifting through trash these days. "Trash evaluation" is a corporate cloak and dagger tactic for stealing business info like cash flow numbers, plant capacity, research, production rates, collective bargaining agreements, even labor costs, writes Boris Parad, author of "Commercial Espionage: 79 Ways Competitors Can Get Any Business Secrets." Now New York City has eco-shred.com — a team of uniformed and fully-insured "Information Destruction Specialists" that haul away a company’s shreddable secrets in trucks tracked by GPS satellites, and annihilate them in monster-sized destruction machines. "We can shred in five minutes what it would take the typical in-house office shredder eight hours to destroy," declared eco-shred President Sheldon Greenspan. How, we asked Greenspan, could you possibly shred so much, so fast? "With the mother of all shredders," he replied. Bill's Public Property Is the image of the President public property? That’s the conclusion of our sister paper in Washington, D.C., The Hill, and its attorney, Stanley Brand. The former counsel to the House of Representatives said: "The President’s image is public property — the White House doesn’t own it, we do." This unusual decision came in response to a request by the Office of the Counsel to the President not to use a handwritten letter written by the Prez to GOP Congressman Jack Kingston in a promotional ad for The Hill. The President’s note to Kingston said: "I read Betsy Rothstein’s article [in The Hill] on our trip — thanks for the nice things you said about me and Chelsea — I hope it doesn’t get you run out of the caucus." Kingston faxed the letter to Hill reporter Rothstein and as a result The Hill created an advertisement showing that the 200 copies of the newspaper delivered to the White House each week reach the desk (or bedside) of the First Reader. Despite the request of the President’s lawyers, the ad appears on page 16 of last week’s issue of The Hill. When You Can't Miss The Big Game Picture it. You’ve just settled into a leather recliner to watch the widely anticipated seventh game of the Subway Series between the Mets and Yankees. With an ice-cold brew in one hand and the remote control in the other, this blissful scene is suddenly shattered when your pregnant wife hollers that she’s in labor. While most men would choose the blessed miracle of life over a ballgame, for some the decision is not so simple. Well, with a little planning, expectant fathers can now experience the wonders of birth without missing a moment of their favorite sporting event. Enter BabyCenter. At www.babycenter.com, you'll find an informative website for couples preparing for parenthood. Baby Center also offers an unusual feature. The Sports Conflict Catcher allows the ultimate sports dad to schedule conception — and consequently birth — around can’t-miss games. A quick visit to the conception blocker provides a list of sporting events from the Super Bowl to the U.S. Open. Choose one and click the bar that says "Tell Me When To Be Careful." If you already have a child on the way, you can input the due date to find out which match-ups you may miss. And just in case you’re at an event, like the championship match at the U.S. Open, don’t worry because BabyCenter provides directions from a host of stadiums to local hospitals. Albany: No, No It’s a first for the folks in the State Legislature! NYConfidential hears that new finance reform legislation is about to be introduced and we are told it will pass both houses. Although not all encompassing, the legislation effectively addresses the longtime abuse of legislators and lobbyists exchanging favors for bucks while the Legislature is in session. The legislation will forbid any elected official from holding fundraisers within 40 miles of the State Capitol while the legislature is in session. This could be catastrophic for restaurants and catering halls in Albany. To remove the "party" from the marble halls of Albany and force any lobbyist to drive 40 miles to hand over a check is a sobering thought that is unheard of in any other state capital or even in Washington, DC.
E-MAIL your items to: NYConf@NewsCommunications.com
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