On July 14, a New York lower state court refused to let the Independence Party of New York regain use of $1,100,000 that has been frozen for several months. The party received the money in 2009 from Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The party was supposed to use the money to hire a firm that would set up poll watchers across the city. The party gave most of the money to a company that, allegedly, did not do any work for the mayor. Instead the money was allegedly used by the company to buy a home for the company’s owner. That owner is the defendant in a criminal case that is still ongoing, Vance v Haggerty, 401544/10, Manhatten.

While the criminal case against the owner of the company is proceeding, the Independence Party is being required to keep the same amount of money frozen, so that (depending on the outcome of the criminal case) Mayor Bloomberg can be reimbursed. The Independence Party had been trying to be released from this order, but has not yet succeeded. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for this news.

On August 1, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed SB 168, which makes it illegal to pay initiative, referendum and recall petitioners on a per-signature basis. See this story. See this statement from Citizens in Charge. Here is the veto message.

Schenectady, New York, elects its Mayor in partisan elections this year. The primaries are on September 13. A registered independent, Roger Hull, has the Republican Party mayoral nomination, and also the nomination of an unqualified party, the Alliance Party. He hopes to also get the nominations of any of these qualified parties: the Working Families, Conservative, Independence, and Green Parties. His supporters have filed the needed petitions to win the right to run as a write-in candidate in the primaries of those parties. See this story. Thanks to Bill Allen for the link. The only other candidate for Mayor is the Democratic incumbent, Gary McCarthy.