Buzz: The Reform Party’s reforms

While New York City políticos are jockeying to see who gets the biggest bite of the municipal apple, state Reform Party leaders have been working on a plan to do away with the New York City Public Advocate’s office. “The public advocate position has just become a tax-funded steppingstone to run for mayor,” said a bochinchero familiar with what Reform Party Chairman Curtis Sliwa, Secretary Frank Morano and the party’s former New York City mayoral candidate Sal Albanese have been working on.

As if that wasn’t enough to scare some of those eyeing that legal, toothless office as a bridge to the mayoralty (like Bill de Blasio did), the reformers also have the speaker’s position on their radar. “The idea would be to take the process of picking the City Council speaker away from the party bosses and put it into the hands of the voters,” the bochinchero said. All this could turn out to be a lot of tongue wagging.

“Let’s start with the fact that anyone wanting to make that kind of change would have to collect at least 50,000 signatures to put this on the ballot,” one doubtful bochinchero told B&B. “They would also need a campaign to educate the voters about it.” No doubt the campaign would need dinero, but given the discontent in some circles with the transactional ways of politicos, this could have a shot. Let’s see what if anything the reformers come up with …

Bochinche & Buzz is Gerson Borrero's weekly column of exclusive scoops and insider gossip. Remember, gente, it's all bochinche until it's confirmed.