Then There Was One The five so-called "brownstone" candidates in the 33rd Councilmanic District have decided to meet and discuss what could be a fatal flaw in all of their candidacies: each other.

After a political forum held by the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats in Park Slope, the five candidates decided that the idea of choosing one brownstone candidate to oppose District Leader Steve Cohn was at least worth broaching. The dynamic of the race bears out their concern. District Leader Elizabeth Rose Daly, Community Board 2 member Ken Diamondstone, Brooklyn Law Professor David Yassky, and attorneys David Reiss and Steve Somerstein, are all vying for the same base.

On the other hand, Cohn has an established and as of yet unchallenged base in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint section of the district. Part of that base includes the Hasidic community, which tends to vote monolithically. Additionally, Cohn is expected to be competitive in at least one of the brownstone communities, Brooklyn Heights. He will also most likely have the support of the Kings County Democratic Party and the departing councilmember, Ken Fisher.

All of those factors have lead the other candidates to consider the idea of choosing a leader. "The question is, can the progressives in the district unite behind one candidate who can beat the machine head-to-head?" asked Yassky at the political forum.

The problem, of course, is choosing one. Both Daly and Diamondstone have been most active in the local community. Additionally, Daly has the political experience and connections she formed as a district leader. But Yassky has raised the most money of any candidate by a wide margin, and says he has been organizing for the last year. At the forum, Reiss and Somerstein both appeared passionate about and committed to their candidacies.

Support for the idea of choosing one candidate also varies among the players. The idea to meet and discuss it was Somerstein's, said sources, and the other candidates have expressed both openness and distaste for the notion.

One piece of good news for the five candidates is that Mark Peters, president of School Board 15, has decided not to run. Peters said that the transformation of John Jay High School and his family obligations made a Council bid impossible. "Now that we know that John Jay is going ahead, there's no way that I can devote the time to John Jay that's necessary to make this work, and run hard for city Council, and get home to see my one-year old daughter and wife," said Peters.

Coincidence? Brooklyn politics has become a life-threatening pursuit. On January 10, Greg Atkins, chief of staff to Assemblymember Joan Millman and a City Council candidate in the 39th district, was diagnosed with appendicitis and had his appendix removed.

And now, one of Atkins' competitors is unfortunately following in his footsteps. On Friday, February 16, Jack Carroll's appendix burst. Carroll, who is president of CBID, underwent surgery at Lutheran Medical Center-the same institution that performed surgery on State Senator Marty Markowitz, a candidate for borough president, who fell and broke his ankle in three places on February 5.

Mary Beth Carroll said that her husband would be fine after another week in the hospital followed by several weeks of rest. But she did wonder about the odds of two candidates in the same race being struck by the same ailment not more than five weeks apart. "Is there something in the water?" she asked. "It's just Greg Atkins showing leadership again," said Atkins. Ironically enough, the Council seat for which Atkins and Carroll are running has a history of bad mojo that extends back almost two decades. In the early 1980's, as current Councilmember Stephen DiBrienza was mounting an unsuccessful bid to unseat Tom Cute, DiBrienza was struck with appendicitis, and had to have his appendix removed in the middle of the race.

Musical Chairs Eyebrows were recently raised when veteran political consultant Ernie Lendler left Councilmember Ken Fisher's camp to work for his competitor, Deputy Borough President Jeannette Gadson. Lendler said that he and Fisher "originally started off in long discussions," and that he did give Fisher "some assistance." However, he said that they never reached a formal agreement for his services. "We never reached an agreement. I also think that Jeannette will be a much better borough president, to be honest with you," said Lendler, who is friendly with Fisher.

Lendler is now doing media relations and direct mail for Gadson. He said that there was nothing unusual about switching sides. "It happens all the time. I began discussing this campaign with Jeannette when Ken was still running for mayor, so the party in the first case, as they say in Marx Brothers films, was Jeannette," said Lendler. One source said that Lendler left the Fisher camp because of fallout with John Talmage, Fisher's chief of staff. "I hear he hates John Talmage's guts," said the source. "I would rather just-I'm not going to discuss it," said Lendler. "I think Ken's a really nice guy and we'll leave it at that."

Lendler has a history of being able to straddle political animosities and work with opposing camps. Last year, he did direct mail and print advertising for Rep. Elliot Engel, even though he is friends with Bronx County Leader Roberto Ramirez. He also worked for Assemblymember Clarence Norman while serving a stint with Councilmember Una Clarke, whom Norman opposed in her bid to unseat Rep. Major Owens.

Currently, Lendler has been retained by Steve Cohn in his City Council bid.

Make Love, Not War The verbal fisticuffs between Assemblymember Peter Abbate and District Leader Ralph Perfetto seem to have subsided. "That's over," said Perfetto. "He said what he said, and it's over. I have no animosity toward him. Peter is a good assemblyman. He misunderstood, and so he reacted and I reacted. So we both reacted. That's an ethnic handicap. We're both Italian and we're demonstrative people. But we're also loving people, and forgiving people."

Every Move They Make A recent move by Councilmember Howard Lasher has stoked rumors that his wife, Susan, is angling to run for his seat. The Lashers recently moved from a large home in Manhattan Beach to an apartment at 3000 Ocean Parkway. The Ocean Parkway address lies within the district, a fact that some insiders believe portends a Council bid by Susan Lasher.

"Why did they choose to stay here?" asked one politico. "The rents are very expensive now. Why stay?" "I keep hearing that Mrs. Lasher is going to run in the Democratic primary," said another source.

Susan Lasher, who has previously said that he has no plans to run, could not be reached for comment by press time.

Party Business Assemblymember Adele Cohen is expected to officially become the female district leader in the 46th Assembly District. By press time, the Kings County executive committee had not yet met to vote on Cohen's status, but insiders said she was likely to be confirmed. The post came open in December when Marsha Rapaport, a close friend of Cohen's, died.

Also, district leaders were expected to back the candidacy of Mark Partnow for civil court judge. Partnow, currently a law secretary for Supreme Court Judge David Vaughan, is a member of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club. District Leaders Bernie Catcher and Roberta Sherman expressed pride about Partnow's expected support.

Also on the agenda is a proposal to codify the way petition signatures are gathered. A recent decision by the Second Circuit Court left open the possibility that people living outside of a particular district could circulate petitions for candidates in that district. The proposal seeks to require that petition carriers must live in the district for which they are petitioning.

"It's basically preventing party raiding, preventing people from creating havoc in places where they have no right to create havoc," said Jeff Feldman, executive director of the Kings County Democratic Party. But there may be some debate about the proposal, especially by progressive district leaders who feel that it impedes ballot access, and by leaders who have a network of troops they like to deploy in other districts.

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