DAILY NEWS \ Bronx Tuesday, July 15th 2008 League of Women Voters hosts seminars to lure City Council hopefuls BY BRENDAN BROSH With term limits forcing an unprecedented turnover in the City Council next year, advocates are encouraging political neophytes to enter the fray. For those who need more motivation - it's a part-time gig that pays $112,500 a year. The League of Women Voters is offering seminars on "HowTo Run For Public Office in New York City," kicking off in Queens Tuesday with one of the city's best-known leaders - former Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. More than two-thirds of the 51 Council members are term-limited, and 153 people have registered with the city Campaign Finance Board for the 2009 elections. With so many vacancies, political observers believe next year will be the most turbulent city election cycle in recent memory. "You can't run unless you know how to get on the ballot," said Gladys Krasner, a board member of the League of Women Voters. "We want to whet their appetites [for local politics]. Everyone has a chance to be elected." The league will host three classes this month at LaGuardia Community College, touching on fund-raising, election law, public speaking and debating. "People 18 to 29 are usually disenfranchised because they don't vote," said Vallone, who also lectures on city politics at CUNY's Baruch College. "I think 2009 is going to be a great year. We have the excitement of younger voters," he said. Vallone said he begins his lectures with a civics lesson and a discussion on the Declaration of Independence. Then he taps his own vast political experience. "You may not like some of the people in office, but we have a great system in the United States," said Vallone, who represented Astoria from 1974 to 2001 - the last 12 years as Speaker. "The first time I ran for office, I lost. We all learn from our mistakes," he noted. Another group, the Grassroots Initiative, has hosted events in Queens and the Bronx to recruit first-time candidates. The nonpartisan group encourages aspiring politicians to start small. "We like to start people with county committee seats," said Alex Carabelli, deputy director of the group. "It's really the easiest way to get people involved." Fund-raising can be an impediment for some candidates, Carabelli said, but the city's Campaign Finance Board offers a six-to-one matching funds program on political donations. "People shouldn't get discouraged with the political process," he said. "With the matching funds, it really only takes a small amount of donations to have $50,000 on hand. That's enough to run a good, respectable campaign." The League of Women Voters has held seminars in other boroughs, too. Krasner said that the seminars, which have attracted hundreds of people, cater not only to wanna-be candidates. "A lot of people come to be informed," she said. "Some people come to be better voters."

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