Nine Lives The recent losses suffered by the Kings County Democratic Party have given rise to new discontent over the county leader, Assemblymember Clarence Norman, Jr. But at this point, despite the grumblings of insiders disenchanted with Norman's performance, there doesn't appear to be either the political will or a suitable replacement to establish a new regime. Councilmember Angel Rodriguez's loss in the speaker's race is only the latest blow inflicted upon the county party, although it is one of the harshest. Even with the council's biggest delegation and several meetings to unify support, Norman was unable to create a large enough consensus to put Rodriguez over the top.

In contrast, Queens county leader Tom Manton and Bronx county leader Roberto Ramirez kept their delegations together and used that support in the most fruitful way possible, as they were two influential figures behind Gifford Miller's election. Their members then feasted on committee assignments, including nabbing the finance and landuse chairs. In the last election cycle, the county party fared badly. First, Norman backed Alan Hevesi for mayor, the eventual last place finisher. Then he backed Mark Green, who lost in the runoff. He back Scott Stringer for public advocate over the winner, Betsy Gotbaum. Norman and county also suffered some local defeats, the most glaring being when one of Norman's enemies, James E. Davis, won a Council seat in Norman's own assembly district. Norman and county also lost the borough presidency to Marty Markowitz.

"Have we taken one beating after another? Yeah, it's unfortunate, no question" said one elected official. "But if you count heads as to who would be there for a candidate against him, I don't think you can get to 21." And 21 is the magic number for Norman, who is elected by the district leaders, of whom there are 40 altogether, two in each assembly district.

Another elected official expressed the same dissatisfaction with Norman, as well as the same pessimism about the chances of unseating him. "I hope this [Rodriguez's loss] is a wakeup call for Clarence that he should listen to the concerns of the leaders in the Democratic Party and act accordingly. There's no lack of stability in the borough, but we won't realize our potential until the leadership pays more attention to the concerns of local elected officials," said the official.

One insider speculated that Norman would be weakest against either a black or Latino candidate that comes from or nearly from his own power base. But the elected official said that there is no emergent candidate. "I don't sense enough alarm that it's going to be easy to move to someone else. I don't hear anyone talking about anyone. There's no consensus person to turn to," the official said.

This year Norman carries an extra arrow in his quiver: his close relationship with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the three major players in drawing district lines. "The reapportionment thing is a huge benefit," said another elected official. "If you're sitting at the edge of the district and you wind up on the wrong side of the county leader, you could wind up in another district."

Additionally, any elected official, including members of congress, who want their districts to remain relatively intact and their reelections to be that much easier, will steer clear of offending Norman. "Ed Towns and Major Owens and Anthony Weiner and Nydia Velazquez will not mess with Norman now," said an insider. In fact, Norman's relationship with Silver is crucial for him in any year. So long as Silver supports him, then Silver can extend that support through the members of his delegation and ultimately to the district leaders.

So is Norman absolutely, positively safe? Is he a political rubber man, able to shrug off the bullets of one defeat after another? "I think he'd have a very hard time surviving a defeat for Carl Andrews, which I don't think is going to happen," said one resigned politico. Norman did not return calls seeking comment.

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 Brooklyn member who fared best of all was Lew Fidler, who represents Canarsie, Bergen Beach, Mill Island and nearby areas. Fidler will chair the youth services committee, and also sit on the finance and rules committees, two of the most influential in the Council. "I felt very rewarded," said Fidler. "It's a rare combination to be a committee chair and have a seat on finance and rules. Obviously I hope to use that influence to help my district and Brooklyn."

Two other Brooklyn members got seats on finance, namely Tracy Boyland and Angel Rodriguez, who will also chair the revenue subcommittee. Boyland had wanted to chair the housing or economic development committees, but was given women's issues instead, said one source.

While the consensus is that Councilmember Bill de Blasio fared the best of all brownstone members in committee assignments because of his savvy play in the speaker's election, Councilmember David Yassky did come away with something despite his reluctance to commit to Speaker Gifford Miller down the stretch. De Blasio, who along with a group of supporters switched from Bill Perkins to Miller in enough time to make a difference, wound up chairing the general welfare committee and getting seats on finance, education, labor and civil service. "Some of us, even though we did not support the speaker initially, did move to support him and had more standing because of that," said de Blasio.

Yassky, however, was one of several Brooklyn members who made the move to Miller too late and paid the political price. He wound up chairing the select committee on the waterfront, which may not even have legislative power. While the committee is viewed as a lesser prize, the fact that Yassky got anything at all is attributable to the respect his colleagues have for his abilities, say sources. Nonetheless, the committee is pertinent to his district, since it includes the planned area for Brooklyn Bridge Park as well as the Greenpoint waterfront.

Mark Caserta, the director of the Waterfront Park Coalition, which operates under the umbrella of the League of Conservation Voters, said that the committee will provide "a mechanism to look at the issues in a comprehensive way." It will deal with a variety of waterfront issues, such as parks, the environment, housing and industry, he said.

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. Who were the big losers in the committee assignments? Al Vann, Kendall Stewart, Diana Reyna and Erik Dilan got no chairmanships of any kind. All were victims of jumping on Miller's train way too late. For Vann though, one additional factor played a role: his overly high expectations. According to sources, Vann, who left a prestigious post in the assembly to run for the Council, felt his pedigree would net him influence by itself. "What Vann was doing is as big a mystery to me as anything else," said one official. "I don't know what he felt his status would demand."

Warning Shot A close associate of State Senator Carl Kruger is sending ominous signals about what the bare-knuckled statesman is ready to do if his district is not drawn to his liking. "Carl is getting more and more interested in the fact that if he doesn't get good lines, why should he kill himself in a primary to be in the minority of the senate when he can run for the assembly and be in the majority," said District Leader Bernie Catcher.

And what assembly district is Kruger considering for this possible run? "He would have to see where in his senatorial district he has the most strength and is best known, and we'll let others figure it out," said Catcher. "He [Kruger] just doesn't attend going away."

Catcher's comments are more than pointless speculation. In fact, they're closer to a targeted missile fired in the direction of Assemblymember Helene Weinstein. Weinstein has a good relationship with Speaker Sheldon Silver-the sort of relationship, according to sources, that would give her Silver's ear on reapportionment. The comments by Catcher, then, could be interpreted as a warning to Weinstein to use her influence to get Kruger a good draw, or else he will challenge her. Weinstein did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Judicial Candidates Gear Up The rumor mill is already churning about several judicial candidates, many of whom have been making the rounds to various political clubs. Alice Fisher Rubin, the sister of former Councilmember Ken Fisher, has been making it known that she would like to be elevated from civil court judge to the Supreme Court. "She's circulating herself," said one insider. Fisher Rubin was elected in 1998.

Another interested candidate is Laura Jacobson, say sources. Jacobson is the wife of Peter Weiss, a top staffer for Assemblymember Jim Brennan. Jacobson is also a civil court judge. Those two candidates will be competing for nominations against some candidates who hail from the southern half of the borough.

Lauren Bailer Schiffman, wife of the former ubiquitous Mark Green staffer Harry Schiffman, is also interested. And yes, Bailey Schiffman is also a current civil court judge. Rumor also has it that Marty Solomon, the former state senator and current civil court judge (what else?) is eyeing the Supreme Court bench.

And for the third time, Mark Partnow, who is a clerk to a civil court judge, will be throwing his hat in the ring. Partnow lost a heartbreakingly close election last year. Partnow's top supporters include Councilmember Lew Fidler and District Leader Bernie Catcher. "We all know that Mark deserves it," said Fidler. "I think he'll be very well received." The county judicial delegates will meet in September to choose the Democratic nominees, who are virtually assured of victory in the general election.

Civil court judges make a salary of $103,000, while Supreme Court judges earn $113,000. A civil court term is for 10 years; a Supreme Court term is for 14. The supreme court post also carries greater prestige, although some of that luster was dulled by the arrest last week of Supreme Court Judge Victor Barron, a Brooklyn native who was originally backed for the past in the late 1980's by some southern Brooklyn leaders. Barron is charged with soliciting a bribe of $250,000 to sign off on a multi-million dollar settlement.

"Anyone who knows him is really shocked," said District Leader Michael Geller, whose club, the Kings High-Way Democrats, originally backed Barron when he was first elected. "He happen to come from a very wealthy family. I would hope that people would withhold judgment until everything comes out. He could be very difficult at times, but nobody would ever think he would do this."

Borough Politics Archive

2002
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2001
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2000
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1999
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