James Oddo

Infobox Officeholder
order = Member of the
office = New York City Council
term_start = February 1, 1999
preceded = John Fusco
party = Republican
nationality = American
alma_mater = Fordham University
order2 = Minority Leader of the
office2 = New York City Council
term_start2 = 2002
preceded2 = Thomas Ognibene

James S. Oddo (born 1966) is a Republican politician from Staten Island, currently serving as Minority Leader in the New York City Council. He is one of three Republicans serving on the Council.

Born in Staten Island as the youngest of four sons in a family of city employees, James Oddo earned a B.A. from Fordham University and a J.D. from New York Law School.

He started in politics by working as Chief of Staff to then-councilman John Fusco for seven years and as Legal Counsel to the former Council Minority Leader Thomas Ognibene. He was first elected in February 1999 in order to fill the seat vacated by John Fusco, and has always been reelected since. After the resignation of Ognibene, he was elected Minority Leader of the City Council with the consent of the three other Republicans on the Council in 2002.

His district, the 50th, is located mainly in Staten Island, and encompasses the neighborhoods of Arrochar, Bulls Head, Concord, Dongan Hills, Emerson Hill, Fort Wadsworth, Grant City, Graniteville, Grasmere, Island of Meadows, Midland Beach, New Dorp, Old Town, Prall's Island, Richmondtown, South Beach, Todt Hill, Travis, Westerleigh, Willowbrook; but also parts of Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights and Bath Beach in Brooklyn.

Norwegian Comedy Show Incident

James Oddo received attention [cite news |first=Gersh |last=Kuntzman |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Jimmy Oddo rules `Rost´: Pol f-bombs the Norwegians |url=http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/40/30_40jimmyoddo.html |work= |publisher=The Brooklyn Paper |date=13 October 2007 |accessdate=2008-10-08 ] when a video of the councilman appeared on YouTube about October 5, 2007 [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1iNH7W9SC8 YouTube - James Oddo interview - "Get the f*** out of my office"] ] . In the video clip, Oddo is shown being interviewed by a film crew from the Norwegian comedy show "Rikets røst" (loosely translated as "Voice of the Nation"). The comedians had gained entry to councilman Oddo's office by posing as TV journalists who wanted to get the view of a Republican on the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Instead, the interviewer, Pia Haraldsen played the role of an uninformed foreigner. [She admitted to Fox News [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZTupXHLhCE] "I'm playing the role of a stupid, ignorant, blonde reporter."] She asked how Barack Obama could run for president, as he is not a U.S. citizen (she said she read somewhere he was "African-American") and asked if Senator Clinton could be president "after that embarrassing incident with the cigar?" On the aired clip, Haraldsen is shown smiling as Oddo starts swearing dropping the f-bomb 16 times and threatening the film crew, as well as his secretary. The film crew keeps recording the incident with a hidden camera, as Oddo, in a profanity-laced tirade, furiously tells them to get out of his office.

Support of Congressman Fossella

Oddo supported scandal-plagued Congressman Vito Fossella stating that he "knows what [Fossella's] core is about" and he has to be held "accountable." ( [http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/vitos_boodalcohol_level_twice.html] )

References

External links

* [http://council.nyc.gov/d50/html/members/home.shtml Official NYC Council Website about James Oddo]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi6ELAinliA Longer version of Norwegian show "Rikets røst" including more of James Oddo interview]
* [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,300816,00.html Exploding New York City Councilman Refuses To Get 'Punked'] (Fox News, 2007)