A resume goes to Washington

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Daily Point

Mystery job

On the surface, it wouldn’t be crazy to think that a Long Island political guy might be in the mix for a D.C. job.

But the niche story of Jovanni Ortiz that has captured the attention of national media is … a bit strange.

Ortiz, who is registered to vote in Freeport, works in community outreach and engagement for Hofstra University’s Department of Public Safety, used to work in comms for Assemb. Charles Lavine, and says he did some work for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign ("volunteer, fundraising"). A good resume, but is it the kind that would immediately vault someone to be "in talks to join the Biden administration, potentially in a top communications role in Vice President Harris's office," as political outlet The Hill reported in December?

That story cited two unnamed sources for its information. But the intrigue didn’t end there. On Tuesday, Politico reported that journalists from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS News, and Politico "have been receiving emails from several different accounts all with the same tip": that Ortiz was being eyed for a senior Harris job.

Some of the emails — nominally from different people — contained "similar, if not identical, phrases." Two emails signed by two different names used the same phone number as their contact. The names — including "Mike Cristofu," "Jess Ceballos," and "Jon DiMasi"-- would not look out of place in a Nassau County phone book.

Harris’s office denied to The Hill that Ortiz was in talks for a job, and Politico noted skeptically that "It’s not unusual in Washington for people to try to get their names floated for prominent positions that they are very unlikely to get."

Ortiz told The Point he didn’t know where the emails were coming from — "obviously they’re false" — and when asked directly if he was the one who sent them, replied, "Absolutely not."

Ortiz — or those working on his behalf — has sometimes sent news releases about political issues directly to regional reporters, including as the "Founder of the South Shore Democrats," which he explained is "more of like a Facebook group, not necessarily a club that meets or anything like that."

He said that he did "submit during the transition period" to the incoming Biden Administration and "interviewed for a few positions," though he noted that was at a time when resume-sifters receive "hundreds of thousands of applications from people."

Lavine told The Point that Ortiz did "good work" in his office and was a "smart guy."

On Wednesday, The Point came across a screenshot of now-deleted tweets that appeared to be Ortiz’s account responding to the news that Rep. Kathleen Rice would not seek reelection. The tweets said that the district was "home to me and has been for most of my life," that he has "contemplated running for Congress over the years" and to "Stay tuned!"

Ortiz did not respond when asked about that job opportunity.

— Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano

Talking Point

Lost opportunity

The East End’s ultrahot pandemic real estate market sent revenue for the region’s Community Preservation Fund soaring in 2021. The program, fueled by a 2% tax on East End real estate sales, brought in a record $210.6 million for the five East End towns for land preservation and water quality projects.

But the open spigot also left Assemb. Fred Thiele, one of the architects of the CPF program, with a wistful what-if feeling. As in: What if then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had signed a 2019 bill also co-sponsored by Thiele that would have created a similar funding mechanism for an affordable housing program?

Answer: It would have produced about $50 million in 2021 for what has been a dire need on the East End for decades.

"It could have made a big difference," Thiele told The Point. "It was a lost opportunity in my opinion. I’ve thought about it almost every day for the past year."

A version of that bill, co-sponsored by State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk), was finally signed last year by Gov. Kathy Hochul. It lets each of the five East End towns, subject to approval in a public referendum, create a community housing fund via a 0.5% increase in the real estate transfer tax. The funds would allow the towns to jump-start construction of new housing, offer zero-interest loans to first-time homebuyers, or offer other incentives.

The 2021 CPF revenue was a 51.1% spike from the 2020 haul, $139.4 million, the previous record for the program which began in 1999. Thiele, an Independence Party member from Sag Harbor, said the market — and the CPF revenue it produces — have plateaued.

"But obviously at an extremely high level," Thiele said. "The question is, which nobody can answer and everybody wonders: How long can these numbers sustain themselves?"

For a while, affordable housing advocates hope. The earliest the new program could be up and running is 2023 if towns approve the measure on November’s ballot.

But betting on a heated East End real estate market has rarely been a losing proposition.

— Michael Dobie @mwdobie

Pencil Point

The angry ones

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Final Point

He’s still unavoidable for comment

Sen. Chuck Schumer loves speaking at graduations. From one campus or school to another, he has over the years appeared at lots of them, certainly across Long Island. He cited Stony Brook University on Thursday as but one example.

For the uninitiated, the gist of the stock story goes that when he got out of college he had unique chances for a great job, a future with a great girlfriend, and a trip around the world. The punchline is that none of them came to pass.

So here he was at the Democratic State Committee to accept his nomination for a fifth term as U.S. Senator. He asked the room: "How many of you have been to a graduation ceremony where I spoke?"

An impressive number of hands shot up on all sides. He said: "So you know I didn’t get the girl." Laughter ensued. Once years ago, Newsday asked the identity of the young woman and the Brooklynite politely demurred.

His point — and he did have one — was that he never stops schmoozing with people at county fairs, parades, and special occasions across the state where everyday citizens convene. He vowed to continue setting foot in every county statewide each year.

Perpetual meet-and-greet politics the old-fashioned way tends to be his M.O. The push is to show he’s helping out on concrete issues. He spoke about the trillions of dollars committed for pandemic aid and infrastructure driven by Democrats in Congress at the behest of President Joe Biden. He flicked help for hotel workers, lead remediation, rural broadband.

Whether he can dance or not, this approach has worked for him so far, ever since he won the job in 1998.

— Dan Janison @Danjanison

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