Can you count the letter "o" in:
Before Republican leaders settled on Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County legislator, as their candidate for state comptroller, they approached two Giuliani aides: Randy Levine, deputy mayor for economic development, and Charles Millard, president of the city's Economic Development Corp. and a former city councilman. Both turned down the invitation, though the offers are another indication of the warming relationship between the mayor, who has national GOP ambitions, and both Gov. Pataki and Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, his one-time antagonists.
State Republicans are ready to let the Freedom Party die. The GOP created the party in 1994 as a way to let Democrats and independents vote for Gov. Pataki without having to pull the Republican or Conservative levers. It was called the Tax Cut Now Party at the time and unexpectedly attracted more than 50,000 votes, making it an official party. But the courts have ruled that because no one has come forward to run as a state committee member of the renamed party, it has no ability to choose statewide candidates. A Freedom Party member-and there are a few-could gather nominating petitions to get on the ballot, but the likelihood of that happening is slim, and the possibility of an unknown gubernatorial candidate getting 50,000 votes is even more remote. So Mr. Pataki will not appear on a third line this year, and the Freedom Party will likely be a thing of the past come November.
Two New York political operatives have recently joined the staff of Vice President Al Gore. That is sure to strengthen Mr. Gore's links to New York, where the vice president is looking to round up support for his expected bid for the presidency in 2000. Patricia Ewing, political director of the state Democratic Committee, has become deputy chief of staff to the vice president. And Paul Richman, a former aide to Gov. Mario Cuomo and, more recently, a policy aide at the U.S. Department of Labor, has been named director of communications for the president's Community Empowerment Board. The interagency board, which is chaired by Mr. Gore, coordinates the federal empowerment zone program.
BROOKLYN ZONE: As expected, Gov. Pataki yesterday designated the Brooklyn Navy Yard and neighboring areas as a state economic development zone. The navy yard is one of 12 zones across the state that were designated with the aim of helping areas that lost jobs because of military and defense cutbacks. The designation allows businesses in the zone to get tax and energy credits. The City Council passed legislation last year requesting the designation. The city now has nine state-approved economic development zones.
A study of the city's tort cases has been finished for months now, yet the Giuliani administration refuses to release it. The city Law Department has rebuffed numerous efforts by court officials, the city bar association and other leading lawyers to get a peek at the $1 million study. In frustration, Robert Haig, chairman of the bar's council on judicial administration, has sent a letter to Corporation Counsel Michael Hess asking that the report be released. So far, no response. The Law Department and Comptroller Alan Hevesi retained Price Waterhouse & Co. two years ago to undertake the review. One objective of the study was to determine whether private law firms should be retained to handle some of the tort cases filed against the city. The bar noted that the city has been so overwhelmed by discovery motions in tort cases that in 1995 it failed to obey court orders 60% of the time. A Law Department spokesman says no decision has been made on when the report will be released.
user
I counted 240 "o"s in that text.
assistant