Marty's First Goof Neophyte Borough President Marty Markowitz recently made the first public political misstep of his fledging administration, but the fallout appears to have been short-lived. The gaffe occurred during Markowitz's ballyhooed inauguration last weekend, held at the Christian Cultural Center, located on Flatlands Avenue near Starret City. The theme of the event was the diversity of Brooklyn-a theme that Markowitz has made his clarion call, an idea upon which he based his campaign.

The event was definitely A-list, and attendees included Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, state Comptroller H. Carl McCall and city Comptroller William Thompson, Jr., as well as the Brooklyn Council delegation and a slew of other politicos.

During his speech, Markowitz catalogued Brooklyn's diversity, mentioning many of the various types of people who call the borough home. But he forgot to mention one group that was an early and energetic supporter: the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

According to one source in the GLBT community, the omission initially caused quite a stir, particularly among the Lambda Independent Democrats. "Lambda people were outraged that he did not mention the words lesbian and gay," said the source. "On a symbolic level, it's like a slap in the face to early supporters. You can't just say the words in Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights and Fort Greene, where it plays O.K. We want to hear it said in Sheepshead Bay and Canarsie." However, as soon as the mistake was brought to Markowitz's attention, he returned to the stage and said some kind words about Brooklyn's GLBT community and Brooklyn Pride, its annual march.

Despite the initial reaction, another prominent and active Lambda member called the omission a flat-out error that caused only fleeting annoyance. "It was just a brain fart. It's just one of those things that you have to shrug off. [Markowitz] has been our friend and he continues to be our friend," said the source. "We pointed it out and he fixed it."

There has been some speculation that perhaps the location of the event caused Markowitz to avoid mentioning his GLBT supporters. "Was it the fact that it was the Christian Cultural Center, and he thought he might offend people?" asked one source. "I honestly don't think Marty would play that way," said the other source.

There are plenty of reasons to think that the omission was nothing more than a mistake that Markowitz regretted immediately. First, his campaign manager and chief strategist, Jill Harris, was the first openly lesbian president of School Board 15. Markowitz also has other openly gay and lesbian staffers in his administration.

Additionally, said his spokesperson, Glenn von Nostitz, he has sponsored a Coming Out Day since 1995, and has a strong record on GLBT issues from his more than 20 years in the state senate. "I think his record speaks for itself. He's going to continue being extremely outspoken and extremely supportive of the community. Pretty much he endorses their whole agenda. He's definitely going to continue," said von Nostitz.

Sources say that Markowitz called Bethany Joseph, Lambda's president, the next morning to apologize. Additionally, on the same day, Markowitz sent a letter to his former colleague, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, urging him to push through the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act.

Dividing The Spoils Brooklyn received relatively few City Council committee chairmanships-an unsurprising development considering the delegation's initial opposition to the eventual speaker, Gifford Miller of Manhattan. Most of the plumb committee chairmanships went to those closest to Miller's power base in the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan. The only brownstone councilmember to head a committee is Bill de Blasio, who was named chair of the general welfare committee, formerly headed by his predecessor, Stephen DiBrienza.

Simcha Felder, a de Blasio ally, will head the landmarks committee. Charles Barron, the local head of the Fresh Democracy Council, will chair the higher education committee. Tracy Boyland will chair the women's issues committee. Lew Fidler will chair the youth services committee and Yvette Clarke will chair the fire and criminal justice committee.

All of the committee chairs, with the exception of Fidler, never committed to Brooklyn's speaker candidate, Angel Rodriguez, and instead chose to back Miller as he was picking up momentum.

Fighting Words Councilmember James E. Davis recently threw some bean balls at Chris Owens, the son of Rep. Major Owens and a potential future opponent. It's no secret that Davis has been eyeing the elder Owens' congressional seat for some time. The pair have had an adversarial relationship for quite a while, with both men offering barbed criticism of the other. Although Chris Owens has been publicly non-committal about his interest in that same seat, he has never denied that at some point he plans to run. Thus, if Davis chooses to run for congress in a few years, Chris Owens could very well be one of his opponents.

And Davis is wasting no time trying to chop him down. "I just don't see what he's ever done on his own. Has he ever gotten one job where he didn't say my daddy is Major Owens? I am the future. I'll take out Chris Owens politically, and it will be very easy," said Davis.

"He flatters me by making me his chief opponent," said Chris Owens. "My educational background is certainly not based on my father's political office. I didn't go to Harvard and Princeton based on Major Owens. My experience with real jobs in the private sector is not based on anyone else doing the work for me."

As for his own interest in the seat, he said, "I'm as interested as anyone else, but this is not the time to discuss that because the congressman is going to be in office for the foreseeable future."

Angel's Ashes Insiders believe Councilmember Angel Rodriguez fell short in his bid for speaker primarily due to three reasons: Bronx County Leader Roberto Ramirez, big labor and an ineffective attempt to rally the Brooklyn delegation in the early going.

Rodriguez and Ramirez have long been at odds, and Rodriguez declined to endorse Ramirez's mayoral candidate, Fernando Ferrer, which incensed the Bronx county leader. Ever since Rodriguez has been a speaker candidate, Ramirez has opposed him, only recently turning up the heat when he sensed a deal to slay his opponent was near. According to a source close to Ferrer and Ramirez, Ramirez was particularly upset when Rodriguez recently highlighted Ferrer's racially-charged loss as a reason why the Council should elect a Latino speaker. "If Angel Rodriguez thought he was going to profit from Freddie Ferrer's loss, he had another thing coming. Roberto was never going to permit that to happen," said the source.

But ironically, after Ferrer's loss, Ramirez and another Rodriguez foe, Local 1199 boss Denis Rivera, were quite vocal about what they perceived as racial slights by Mark Green's campaign. However, given the chance to back a Latino speaker candidate, both instead chose to torpedo him-a move that makes their indignation over Ferrer's loss a lot less righteous. Aside from Rivera, other union leaders played a significant role in Gifford Miller's election as speaker. "Labor's effect was tremendous. They gave Gifford the momentum for the county leaders to get behind him," said one source.

One member of the Brooklyn council delegation pointed to an earlier cause: the inability of county bigwigs, such as Assemblymember Clarence Norman, Jr., the county leader, to forge consensus around Rodriguez, despite a series of meetings in November. "The fundamental problem was the way the Brooklyn process took place, the lack of unity," said the member. "The leadership in Brooklyn did not gain consensus. They had a [bogus] process that could only lead to Angel."

The seemingly orchestrated process caused some members to feel they were being pushed, which ultimately undermined support for Rodriguez, said the source. Another Brooklyn councilmember laid a portion of the blame for Rodriguez's loss at the feet of the Fresh Democracy Council, a group of new councilmembers that is headed locally by Councilmember Charles Barron. "Angel fumbled, but he had Charles Barron out there hurting him… Barron jumped on board with Gifford," said the member.

But another member defended the group's role, saying it "elevated the criteria for choosing a speaker," by forcing the candidates to address the concept of reform, specifically a package of new proposals designed to make the Council more egalitarian. Neither Barron nor Rodriguez returned calls seeking comment. A portion of the group's proposals was passed at the Council's first meeting.

Now that Rodriguez has lost, the major remaining question is what impact the defeat will have on Brooklyn. Certainly, Rodriguez's eleventh-hour efforts to topple Miller did not help matters. However, three Brooklyn councilmembers were named to the all-important rules committee: Yvette Clarke, Lew Fidler and minority Leader James Oddo. The committee will help Miller choose the chairs of the other committees, from whence much of the Council's power flows. Three members out of thirteen is not a lot from the city's largest borough, but Miller is a two-year, lame duck speaker who will have to pay attention to Brooklyn to avoid a row within the delegation. "Is it the best solution? No," said one source. "But is it workable? Yes."

Framing The Game As noted above, Councilmembers Yvette Clarke and Lew Fidler were appointed to the rules committee, along with Republican Minority Leader James Oddo. Since the borough is overwhelmingly Democratic, that means Filder and Clarke have the most juice among their local colleagues and a golden opportunity to grow their citywide influence.

"You can look at the people who are on the rules committee and draw an obvious conclusion: that the people were put on because the speaker has some faith in them," said Fidler. "Considering that I supported a different candidate for speaker (Rodriguez), the fact that the speaker trusts me enough to put me on the rules committee says a lot about the relationship I'm going to have with him."

Apparently some of Fidler's colleagues think so as well. During the interview for this piece, Fidler fielded calls from fellow councilmembers asking him to intervene with Miller on their behalf regarding committee assignments. "There's no question that this appointment spoke volumes to people," he said.

As rules committee members, Fidler and Clarke will receive and help finalize Miller's recommendations for filling all the Council's leadership positions, some of which carry real influence, while others carry big lulu's (slang for the additional stipends members receive for committee work). Clarke has already made her preferences known to Miller, said her communications director, Michael Roberts. "She met this morning with the speaker," he recently said. "She was very forthright with him and told him what committees she would like to sit on."

The appointments of Filder and Clarke have as much to do with politics as they do with their individual credentials, and both appointments once again show the power of the Bronx in the speaker's election and surrounding events. Both Filder and Clarke have ties to Ferrer and Ramirez. Before running for the Council, Clarke effectively worked for Ferrer as the director of business development for the Bronx Empowerment Zone. She supported him in the election. "She is considered a child of the Bronx," said Roberts.

Fidler also supported Ferrer for mayor, and was Ramirez's attorney during his unsuccessful 1993 campaign for public advocate. He was somewhat more nebulous in discussing his connections in Queens, which played perhaps the second most influential role of any borough. "In addition to Miller's assessment of my conduct, because of the time I've been involved in this stuff I have relationships with people in the Bronx and Queens that have put me in good stead," Fidler said.

Dems Name Nominees For Legislature The county committee recently made official what insiders have known for a long time: Carl Andrews and Annette Robinson are the Democratic nominees for the special elections in the 20th State Senate district and the 56th Assembly District, respectively.

Andrews was nominated with only one abstention, coming from Guillermo Phillpotts, said Jeff Feldman, executive director of the Kings County Democratic Party. Robinson's nomination was unanimous. While both are opposed by Republican candidates, politicos believe that the opposition is token. In special elections the organization candidate has a big advantage in preparation, resources and often in voter base. Additionally, the elections will be held on February 12-likely a cold day with few voters, further increasing the Democratic nominee's chances.

Andrews is opposed by Frances Purcell, a real estate broker who finished second last year to Yvette Clarke in the six-candidate Democratic Council primary. Purcell, who is running on the Republican and Conservative lines, said that she is a Democratic at heart, and is not changing her voter registration. "If I sat back and allowed Carl Andrews to run uncontested, this would not be Democracy working," said Purcell.

She said that despite the odds, she is running because it is important for people to come out and vote. "Things are as difficult as we make them in life. The important thing here is to come out and let people know there is an election. They need to come out and casts their vote," she said, adding that if she is unsuccessful this time, she will run again in the fall.

Robinson is opposed by former Republican County Leader Arthur Bramwell. Neither could immediately be reached for comment.

Borough Politics Archive

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