By John Toscano

City Council Speaker Peter Vallone’s view of the New York City mayoral race took a City Union Boosts Vallone’s Campaigndecidedly optimistic turn last week when he picked up the one of the most sought after and valuable endorsements available, that of District Council 37, with 125,000 members the largest municipal union in the city.

On top of that, Vallone has more cash in his war chest to spend in the crucial sprint to the Sept. 11 primary, just 56 days away.

The twin pluses for the Astoria lawmaker are together "probably the most significant thing that’s happened in the entire race," he declared, "the biggest thing to happen in any campaign."

Already in Vallone’s corner is the Correction Officers Benevolent Association. Reportedly leaning in his direction is the 100,000-member Building and Construction Trades Council.

Meanwhile, several other major municipal unions, such as the United Federation of Teachers, the Health and Hospital Workers and the Central Labor Council are still sitting on their hands and are expected to stay that way although each of these Unions is reported to be backing other mayoral candidates.

DC 37 Administrator Lee Saunders said his union decided to back Vallone because he has backed the union on many issues. Also, "We believe he will be a good mayor for the entire city," Saunders said.

Besides a huge psychological boost to Vallone’s campaign, the union’s endorsement also has practical value. The union can bring almost 2,000 volunteers into Vallone’s campaign, running phone banks right up to election day, exhorting their members to get out and vote for Vallone on Primary Day and to bring friends and relatives with them.

The endorsement also proclaims to city voters that Vallone can win and was endorsed for that reason—unions like to think that they back winners. Conversely, Public Advocate Mark Green, Comptroller Alan Hevesi, and Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer have not been able to nail down endorsements because of doubts about their chances of winning. Even with his persistent lead in the polls, Green has not had the benefit of major organization endorsements.

As for the cash-on-hand listings, Vallone’s campaign reported he has about $4.4 million to spend on the remaining primary campaign, most of which will go for television ads. The other three candidates, their campaigns reported, each have about $3.7 million to spend. In Hevesi’s case it came as a surprise because he had already spent about $1 million on a television campaign earlier.

PETITIONS IN: Like the hundreds of other candidates running this year, the six major mayoral candidates, four Democrats and two Republicans—Michael Bloomberg and Herman Badillo—filed nominating petitions last Thursday, the final day for filing. Each was required to submit a minimum of 7,500 signatures to get on the ballot. All did so and, as is the custom, all also filed many times that number as insurance in case their petitions are challenged.

Although each of the candidates has said he will not challenge anyone else’s petitions, the only one in danger of losing a challenge is Badillo. In all, he filed just under 14,000 signatures, which is not considered a great margin for error. Bloomberg would benefit most from knocking Badillo off the ballot, but, as we said, he has stated he has no interest in going after Badillo. We’ll just have to wait and see whether this situation will remain this way.

As for news about the petitions filed by a horde of City Council candidates, see a separate story elsewhere in this issue.

NEW PARTIES: Seeking to add a new line on the ballot and to capitalize on the controversial education issue, Hevesi and Bloomberg have petition gatherers out collecting signatures to form new parties. Hevesi’s is called the Education Party; Bloomberg’s the Education First Party. Each needs the signatures of 7,500 registered voters. If successful, the new parties would assure Bloomberg and Hevesi each at least one line on the November ballot. It would appear the maneuver could help Hevesi more since his chances of winning the Democratic primary aren’t so good. For Bloomberg, the heavy choice to become his party’s mayoral candidate, it would add to the Independence Party line he already has.

BIG BUCKS BEAT CROWLEY BILL: Last week, a bill sponsored by Congressmember Joseph Crowley (D–Queens/Bronx) to permit the reimportation of drugs and medicines shipped overseas was defeated in a Congressional vote, ending a years-long effort.

Major pharmaceutical firms had waged a campaign costing millions of dollars to kill the bill. Crowley had introduced the measure to give seniors a chance to purchase drugs at lower prices than these they are currently forced to pay. Drugs shipped to Canada, Mexico and other countries are lower priced than those dispensed at American pharmacies.

Commenting on his bill’s defeat, Crowley said: "In this great nation, it is simply wrong that American Seniors and all consumers are forced to pay twice as much for their prescription drugs as our neighbors in Canada. We cannot stand by as these seniors choose between paying for prescription drugs and putting food on their tables."

MALONEY PRAISES POSTAL DECISION: A recent decision by the United States Postal Services to continue delivering mail six days a week drew praise from Congressmember Carolyn Maloney (D–Queens/Manhattan). Maloney had spoken out against proposed changes in delivery schedules.

"For many New Yorkers, Saturday is an important day to receive mail at home," she noted. "And in the world’s capital for business and finance, New York depends on the Saturday delivery at work as well."

Maloney said postal authorities must find other saving measures to meet anticipated $2 billion in losses this year.