Viv bid to swing elex board in her favor

Self-described reformer Melissa Mark-Viverito is trying to become a political boss — with a say over patronage and access to the ballot — in the waning days of her tenure as City Council speaker, sources claim.

That’s the reason why she’s pushing so hard to appoint her pal, Andy Praschak, as the next Manhattan Democratic commissioner on the Board of Elections, political insiders and critics said.

“Melissa is a lame duck. She’s looking to maintain control over some of the jobs and changes being made at the Board of Elections,” said board President Frederick Umane, the Republican commissioner from Manhattan.

The Manhattan commissioner recommends the appointment of the board’s deputy borough clerk, who oversees the hiring of more than 100 full-time and part-time employees and supervises the staff that helps decide who gets on the ballot in primary elections, the sources said.

Should the council approve her pick, Mark-Viverito (above) would have influence in patronage hires and her commissioner could be a swing vote with enormous leverage on the 10-member board in setting policy and ruling on ballot questions.

The commissioners also act as administrative judges in dozens of challenges to candidates’ petitions, determining who gets on the ballot in primary races after reviewing recommendations the board’s staff.

“If Melissa puts in her person as commissioner, she gets to place all kinds of friends in jobs,” said Arthur Schwartz, a borough Democratic district leader who filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Manhattan Democratic Party and leader Keith Wright to block her appointee.

“It’s an effort by Melissa to take over the Manhattan office of the Board of Elections. She’ll be able to dole out patronage — even when she’s out of office. She’s making the Manhattan Democratic Party leader look more democratic than her. That’s hard to do.”

By custom, the City Council rubber-stamps the county party leaders’ picks for election commissioners.

But Mark-Viverito, in a power struggle with Wright, is attempting to make the call and weaken her rival in the process.

She hasn’t been able to get the Democrats on the council to approve her appointment of Praschak, though, because the other borough party leaders, in solidarity with Wright, have told their council members not to show up at meetings to confirm him.

The stalemate leaves holdover Manhattan Democratic Commissioner Alan Schulkin in place.

If no action is taken by next Tuesday, the appointment will be reconsidered next year after Mark- Viverito is gone.

She’ll be able to dole out patronage — even when she’s out of office. — Manhattan Democratic district leader Arthur Schwartz of

Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is pushing the City Council to pass a last-minute bill boosting the number of street food vendors. There’s a case to be made for the change — but not as stealth legislation.

The council is set to vote on the bill Tuesday, in its final meeting before new members take office. It would add hundreds more licenses for food trucks and carts over the next decade, with about 10 percent set aside for veterans.

It would also establish a dedicated law-enforcement unit for the industry as well as set up an “advisory council.”

But the council tabled a similar expansion bill last year and hasn’t held hearings on any of the problems that torpedoed it. The speaker is just bringing up a new version (whose details have shifted behind closed doors) without engaging the critics.

Concerns include pedestrian safety and traffic congestion — and the potential harm to small brick-and-mortar businesses already under huge financial pressure.

While mom-and-pop shops must pay soaring rents (and often added Business Improvement District fees), the food trucks park for free outside their doors.

Yet Mark-Viverito is hell-bent on passing the bill, aiming (laudably enough) to boost the immigrant community she sees as her main constituency. “It’s a legacy piece for her,” one council source told Politico.

Again, we’re open to OK’ing new trucks: Some of us buy lunch at one nearly every day. And it’s troubling that existing permits, renewable every two years for $200, can resell for 20 grand or more on the black market. But a bill written in darkness and passed by lame ducks isn’t the way to fix anything.