Back before the November 2017 election, several robocalls and campaign hit pieces against Robert Holden were circulated among Republican District 30 voters by Michael Ricatto, who splits his time between Kew Gardens and Florida. Why someone living well outside the district would care about a council race in which no registered Republican was running is a good question. Ricatto spent $23,000 on the ads and the Campaign Finance Board fined him $4,380 for failing to report the expenditures. CFB documents reveal that Ricatto was put up to this by Brooklyn State Sen. Martin Golden’s advisor, James McClelland, who is such a “loyal Republican” that he had no problem working as Communications Director for Democrat Melinda Katz for 6 years. Both Ricatto and McClelland are good friends of former Republican Council Members Dennis Gallagher and Anthony Como, who waged war against Holden and the Juniper Park Civic Association during their tenures and also tried to influence the outcome of the most recent election. Como and Gallagher moved out of the district years ago yet still feel the need to be involved in local politics? This ingenious plan not only cost their buddy more than $27,000 but the guy they hate ended up winning anyway.