Guy Velella
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Guy J. Velella | |
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G. Oliver Koppell | |
Personal details | |
Born | Bronx, New York, U.S. | September 25, 1944
Political party | Republican |
Alma mater | St. John's University (BA) Suffolk University (JD) |
Guy John Velella (September 25, 1944 – January 27, 2011) was an American Republican politician serving as a New York State Senator from the Bronx.
A political leader, state assemblyman, and state senator for over 30 years, Velella was indicted in 2002 on 25 counts of
Biography
Velella was born on September 25, 1944, in
In 1972, aged 28, Velella, a Republican, ran for the New York State Assembly in the East Bronx. The incumbent Democrat withdrew from the race unexpectedly, and Velella won the race. He served in the Assembly from 1973 to 1982, sitting in the 180th, 181st, 182nd, 183rd and 184th New York State Legislatures. After redistricting, Velella found himself running in a new Democratic district in 1982, which then covered Throggs Neck and Parkchester. In a bitter campaign, he ran against popular Assemblyman and head of the Parkchester Tenants Association, John C. Dearie.[6]
After losing that election by a wide margin, Velella told the Bronx News, a local weekly newspaper, that he was done with politics. In January 1983, Velella returned to practicing law full-time. Despite his pledge that his political career was over, Velella was elected to the local school board. Many political observers expected Velella to run for the seat in Congress held by Mario Biaggi, a Democrat, when he retired.[citation needed]
Velella returned to elected office on April 22, 1986, when he was elected to the
In a battle that echoed those for the Republican nomination and the Senate Seat itself, Velella also became chairman of the Bronx Republican Party. He was subsequently re-elected to the State Senate in November 1986 and in every subsequent election until November 2002, sitting in the 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th, 190th, 191st, 192nd, 193rd, 194th and 195th New York State Legislatures. He resigned his seat on May 14, 2004, as part of a plea bargain reached on criminal charges that he took bribes to help businesses win lucrative state contracts. According to the text of the indictment, the bribes were in the form of payments to the Velellas' law firm for little or no work.[citation needed]
Popularity in district
As a state senator, Velella brought millions of state dollars into his district, which funded local projects. Velella also endeared himself to his constituents through his advocacy on their behalf with the federal, state, and city government. Velella's success in securing money for his district and excellent record on constituent service made him very popular in his district, including conservative Democrats (or "
Influence
As one of the handful of Republican State Senators from New York City, Velella exercised considerable influence in the state legislature and in both Westchester County and New York City politics. Over the decades, many Democrats in the Assembly often turned to Velella to introduce their legislation in the New York State Senate, which was controlled by the Republicans from 1966 until 2009.
In 1989, Velella became chairman of the powerful Senate Insurance Committee. In this capacity, Velella secured passage of numerous laws affecting the insurance industry in New York. Velella reached the height of his influence and power during the mid-1990s. He enjoyed access to important elected officials, many of them Republicans, such as U.S. Senator
Velella used his many contacts to secure patronage jobs for his supporters. Other key backers such as Bill Newmark, the chairman of the Bronx Conservative Party, joined his legislative payroll.
During Rudy Giuliani's first mayoral bid in 1989, Velella and D'Amato acted together to deny Giuliani the support he needed to beat David Dinkins, the eventual Democratic nominee, even going so far as to engineer a completely spurious candidacy on the part of cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder to challenge Giuliani in the Republican primary. Victor B. Tosi, Velella's executive assistant and a long-time Bronx Republican activist, served as Lauder's campaign manager. Lauder lost the primary, but the nearly $13 million he spent on negative campaign commercials damaged Giuliani's candidacy.
In the general election, Velella endorsed Giuliani, who went on to lose narrowly to Dinkins. Later, when D'Amato and the Governor-Elect Pataki decided to foment a coup against then-Majority Leader
He was a partner, with his father, in Velella, Velella, Basso, and Calandra, a law firm in the Morris Park section of The Bronx. After his conviction, Velella surrendered his law license. In 2004, the law firm changed its name to Velella, Basso, and Cirrincione and then, after the retirement of Vincent Velella, to Basso and Cirrincione. The law firm is now known as Velella & Basso.[10]
Controversies and scandals
In 1987, Velella admitted that he had fathered a child out of wedlock with an Albany woman with whom he had had a longtime affair. The year before, Velella's supporters distributed campaign literature that championed him as an advocate of family values and criticized liberal Democrats for undermining sexual morality. Velella later said he had made financial arrangements with the child's mother to support his newborn daughter, Alexandra Velella.
In 1993, Velella was accused of fixing local school board elections. No criminal charges were filed.[11]
City-wide races
In 1981, then-Assemblyman Velella ran for
As Bronx Republican Chairman
In 1986, Velella became the chairman of the Bronx Republican Party. He resigned that position in 2004. Critics charged that Velella did nothing to build the local GOP and maintained a "non-aggression pact" with the Bronx County Democratic organization.[12] With the exception of himself, no other Republican was ever elected to any office in the Bronx during his 18-year term. In 1994 and 1996, Velella ran with the endorsement of the Bronx Democratic Party.
Although he maintained a cordial and mutually-beneficial relationship with the Bronx Democratic political machine, Velella did work hard to get Republicans elected to prominent offices. In 1992, Velella campaigned for Senator D'Amato, who was facing a tough re-election fight against Democratic challenger, New York Attorney General
In 2001, Velella endorsed former Bronx Borough President and Congressman Herman Badillo, who became a Republican in the 1990s, in the race to succeed the term-limited Mayor Giuliani. In the Republican primary, Badillo faced billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who won the endorsement of the city's four other Republican county chairmen in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. When Velella realized he was the only Republican county chairman in the city supporting Badillo, Velella stopped actively campaigning for Badillo and publicly called on him to withdraw from the race. Velella explained to the New York Post that he didn't like primaries although he enthusiastically backed Lauder in 1989 against Giuliani. Bloomberg won the primary handily. Velella then campaigned for Bloomberg, who went on to narrowly defeat Mark Green in the general election.
StopGuy.com
In late 2002, a number of Morris Park residents expressed their concerns over a (now-defunct) web site with the domain www.morrispark.com. The site reportedly contained pornographic images, racial and ethnic jokes and insults, and criticism of local businesses, community leaders and politicians, including Velella.[13] The site's domain was registered under what was believed to be a false name, and its owner has never been identified. Velella announced that he would draft legislation that would require web site operators to register with the New York State Attorney General.[13] Velella's action sparked the creation of a now-defunct "Stop Guy" Web site.[14]
Early release controversy
On June 21, 2004, Velella was sentenced to one year in jail for bribery under a plea deal, but was released from Rikers Island on September 28, 2004, after less than twelve weeks by the Local Conditional Release Commission, an obscure New York City agency. (Ironically, in the State Senate, Velella had voted to abolish the LCRC.) His early release sparked outrage, especially in the media. Both the New York Post and New York Daily News, which both endorsed Velella in past campaigns, published editorials demanding his return to jail. The New York Post pasted Velella's face on a Monopoly "Get Out of Jail Free" card and published it daily in its opinion section.
Mayor
Additional notoriety
Guy Velella received slot #94 in reporter and conservative commentator Bernard Goldberg's book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America, citing his change in stance of crime and justice issues before and after his incarceration [1].
Post-political activities
Velella continued to receive an annual state pension of $75,012.
Death
On January 21, 2011, the New York Daily News disclosed that Velella was suffering from "inoperable lung cancer" and moved to Calvary Hospital for the terminally ill in the Bronx,[19][20] where he died on January 27, 2011, aged 66.[4]
References
- ^ "Press Release Issued By Manhattan District Attorney (May 9, 2002)" Archived June 16, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "New York Times, State Senator Quits in a Deal Over a Bribery Indictment (May 14, 2002)"
- ^ a b "In Re: Guy J. Velella". findlaw.com. Findlaw for Legal Professionals. September 20, 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- ^ a b Hevesi, Dennis (January 28, 2011). "Guy J. Velella, State Senator From Bronx, Dies at 66". New York Times. p. B15. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- ^ "Official Guy Velella New York State Senate Biography"
- ^ "New York Times, 2 'Nice Guys' Vie in Dearie-Velella Assembly Race (October 18, 1982)"
- ^ "Velella Wins State Senate Race". New York Times. April 23, 1986. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- ^ Norwood News, "Velella's Voting Record Is in Eye of Beholder" (November 2, 2000)
- ^ "In Albany, Ally of Insurers Profits From Them", nytimes.com. February 4, 2001.
- ^ "Home". bassolawny.com. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
- ^ New York Times (May 14, 1996) "Web of Patronage in Schools Grip Those Who Can Undo It"
- ^ Village Voice, A Bronx Tale (August 16, 2000)[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b New York Times (December 15, 2002) "Neighborhood Report: Morris Park; A Trojan Horse on the Web Has Ethnic Insults and Smut"
- ^ "domain name of www.stopguy.com". Archived from the original on April 15, 2003. Retrieved 2009-11-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Tavernise, Sabrina (November 30, 2004). "Judge Orders Velella Jailed, Then Another Court Steps In". New York Times. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- ^ "New York Times, It's Back to Jail For Velella, 3 Months After His Disputed Release (December 28, 2004)"
- ^ New York Daily News (September 1, 2010), "Convicted pols such as Guy Velella, Joe Bruno and Alan Hevesi get fat pensions
- ^ New York Daily News (August 22, 2005) "Boro GOP lacks big Guy. Velella loss creates new dynamic"[permanent dead link]
- ^ New York Daily News, The Daily Politics blog, "Former State Sen. Guy Velella's Health Worsening" (January 21, 2011)
- ^ New York Daily News (January 27, 2011) "Guy Velella, disgraced ex-Bronx state Senator, dies at age 66 after battle with lung cancer"
External links
- Senator Guy Velella's legislative web site at the Wayback Machine (archive index)