Citizens Union Foundation

At 2:30 p.m. today, I'll be chatting with Dick Dadey, executive director of the good-government group Citizens Union.

Among the topics Dadey and his colleagues have had to ponder recently are: continuing, serious talk about changing city term limits and the mayor's bill about financial disclosure requirements for board members of nonprofits.

If everything goes right, we'll go live with Dadey at 2:30. And if everything really goes right, you'll be able to send me questions in real time that I can, in turn, ask him.

(Above is video from a live chat I did last week with Democratic consultant Michael Tobman.)

Here’s Comptroller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson delivering his opening remarks to the Citizens Union breakfast at the Puck Building this morning.

“It will take months, if not years, to understand the full impact of the current impact on international and financial markets,” Thompson said.

He goes on, “It’s Wednesday. The question is, what’s going to happen tomorrow and the day after that?”

Later, he said that unlike other, more cyclical financial downturns, this one could result in “permanent job loss[es]” among the city’s highest income earners.

Barack Obama's decision to opt out of the public campaign finance program is "unfortunate but understandable," says Dick Dadey, executive director of the good-government organization Citizens Union.

When asked for comment, Dadey emailed:

It is unfortunate but understandable.

The federal campaign finance system hasn’t kept up with the times and the changed nature of what it now takes to run a national campaign for president.

Federal funds no longer provide enough money or incentive to participate, particularly given the huge presence in the race for president of independent expenditure campaigns aimed at attacking the nominees.

The Citizens Union Foundation will call for more qualified bilingual election day workers, announcing their latest effort to recruit multi-lingual poll site workers on the steps of City Hall.

Assemblywoman Adele Cohen celebrates the groundbreaking of a wheelchair-accessible greenhouse in southern Brooklyn.

Nassau County Police Benevolent Association President Gary DelaRaba will discuss Nassau County Police Department cutbacks at the Nassau County Press Room in Mineola.

The City Council's Consumer Affairs Committee will hold a public hearing on the power outages in Queens. Christine Quinn, Peter Vallone, Jr., Eric Gioia, Leroy Comrie and ConEd representatives are expected to testify.

—Nicole Brydson