ANGRY MAN PLAGUES WEINSTEIN Just as celebrities must fend off stalkers, elected officials (and newspaper reporters) occasionally have to deal with constituents whose behavior-how should we put this?-falls outside of the realm of normalcy. The office of Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, for example, has been visited at least three times of late by a Sheepshead Bay man who described her refusal to meet with him in a letter to us. A nine-page, handwritten letter.

Nine-page letters are always a troubling sign, and in this case helped explain why Weinstein's been ducking the author. His railing went on and on, including such irrelevant and off-the-wall statements as "the content of the neighborhood newspapers… is dictated by Steve Barrison of the Bay Improvement Group," an allegation the author himself promptly rebuts by noting that a dozen of his own letters-including one bashing Barrison-have appeared in this paper. We must have forgotten to ask Barrison's permission before publishing them.

The letter-writer then turned his attention this column's way, stating, "Mr. Engquist, I believe that you exist in an encapsulated cocoon… (and) are totally out of touch with the empirical, existential reality of a working-class homeowner." (Perhaps he didn't consider that we might be one.) He complained that "the rich get tax cuts and continue to throw million-dollar parties with vodka and Champagne flowing endlessly from the penis of a Michelangelo ice sculpture. Hell, I'll bet you attend those award dinners and orgiastic parties-gratis." OK, how much shall we bet?

But within his ranting, the man did have a valid question: Why did Weinstein vote in 1999 to repeal the commuter tax, robbing New York City of $500 million in annual revenue it now so desperately needs? The answer, of course, is that Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver asked Weinstein and her colleagues to do so. Their compliance proved to be a colossal mistake, and indeed Weinstein's people told us she now favors restoring the tax.

At the time, there was a special election in an upstate district where the Republicans made the commuter tax an issue (even though few had ever complained about it) to provide leverage for the Republican candidate. Silver took the issue off the table by eliminating the tax for New York residents, but his fellow Democrat lost the special election anyway. So nothing was gained.

But the loss proved deeper than expected, because commuters from New Jersey and Connecticut promptly sued, contending that if upstate New Yorkers didn't have to pay the tax, neither did they. The courts agreed.

Suddenly a misguided effort to win a meaningless special election had become a half-billion-dollar theft from New York City. We thank the letter writer for bringing Weinstein's vote to our attention. We are happy to report that the assemblywoman does meet with constituents and answer their questions, providing they are not suffering from delusions that Steve Barrison secretly controls the local press and political columnists regularly sip free Champagne from the penis of ice sculptures.

O'KEEFE SHUNS GAY REPUBLICANS The Log Cabin Republicans of New York, the local chapter of the nation's largest gay Republican organization, announced that it was not endorsing any candidate in the Bay Ridge council race, "in particular Rosemarie O'Keefe." The group said O'Keefe's campaign manager told them she did not want the public endorsement of a gay group. The stinging rejection came after Log Cabin had spent three weeks trying to contact O'Keefe's campaign, hoping to provide volunteers, contributions, and perhaps an endorsement.

"We are disappointed with O'Keefe's reactionary position and consider it an insult to the voters in the district-gay and straight-who believe in the Republican ideals of individual liberty and equal rights," the group's press release stated.

It then drew a comparison between O'Keefe and her most famous supporter: "We would like to remind Rosemarie O'Keefe of Rudy Giuliani's remarks to the press at the National Log Cabin convention in New York City: 'The fact that Log Cabin has a presence in the Republican Party is enormously important to the lesbian and gay movement in New York and in the country and enormously important to the furtherance of human rights.'" The Log Cabin Republicans did not consider endorsing any of O'Keefe's opponents because they are all Democrats.

GREEN FOE LYING LOW Given the vigor with which Hakeem Jeffries ran against Assemblyman Roger Green in 2000 and 2002, you'd think he'd be talking up the lobbying scandal involving Green and the halfway-house outfit Correctional Services Corporation.

But Jeffries has been silent, content to let the investigations run their course. "I'm really just sitting back and taking it all in," Jeffries told us. "It doesn't make any sense to comment one way or the other." Were Jeffries to publicly bash Green, he could anger some of the minority legislators who are defending Green-legislators whose support Jeffries would want if Green resigns his seat.

That was certainly one reason Jeffries was seen rubbing elbows in Albany at the annual dinner of the Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus.

THREE OBJECT TO CELL PHONE BILL City Councilmen Simcha Felder, James Davis, and Erik Dilan cast three of the five votes against a bill banning the use of cell phones in theaters. "If I were a restaurant owner, I would tell people 'We appreciate your business, but we don't allow cell phones,'" Felder said. "I just feel government shouldn't dictate manners."

"I think it's rude and inappropriate to talk on a cell phone in a movie theater. I don't think it's illegal," Davis explained. He added, "I don't think we should live in a police state." Davis said he feared enforcement of the law would be uneven, with cops focusing on particular theaters and ignoring others. (Translation: more summonses would be issued in black movie theaters than at the Met.)

Felder and Davis noted that eating popcorn and chewing gum loudly can bother audience members, but no bill has been proposed to outlaw it. "I'm not here to vote for silly bills, unenforceable bills," Davis said. The law is indeed unenforceable-we're not going to see cops walking theater aisles. But not all laws are meant to be enforceable. Some are just statements of what is acceptable behavior. Gabbing on a cell phone in a theater, restaurant, or bus, next to people who have no choice but to listen, is not.

SANTIAGO WEIGHS COUNCIL RACE Crain's Insider reported that former State Senator Nellie Santiago, who lost her seat last fall to Marty Malave Dilan, is thinking of challenging Dilan's son Erik Dilan for the council seat previously held by his father. The younger Dilan is up for reelection this year. If challenged by Santiago in the Democratic primary, Dilan could ask the courts to look into her residency.

For her failed reelection campaign last year, Santiago listed a Bushwick address which a visitor found to be a slummy apartment above a video store. There was no evidence that Santiago resided there. In fact, her political enemies say, she lives on the Upper East Side. Our efforts to get a response from then-Senator Santiago were unsuccessful. But if she runs again from the same address, we will give her another chance to give the public an answer.

COUNCILMAN OVERBOARD Every time it seems that Councilman James Davis has reached a new peak of zaniness, his antics get crazier still. Davis's latest number was a press conference at which he threatened to sue Council Speaker Gifford Miller unless Miller restores him to the Cultural Affairs Committee. Miller had bumped Davis from his treasured committee as punishment for Davis's vote against the property tax hike.

In a press release, Davis characterized his effort as "a struggle for freedom and democracy." Davis is correct that it was his right to vote against the 18.5 percent hike in property taxes. But it was also Miller's right to propose new committee assignments.

Lately, Davis has been holding at least one press conference every week. He recently called for a boycott of the transit system to protest the fare hike-an entirely impractical action that, even if it carried out, would only worsen the system's budget deficit and perhaps beget more fare hikes. Davis also holds a press conference whenever a cop shoots someone, even if it's nowhere near his district. We suspect he keeps a portable podium in his trunk to satisfy sudden media cravings.

SCHOOL OVERHAUL TO BOOST NORMAN? The shift of power from community school districts to the mayor will open "the floodgates of corruption" after Mike Bloomberg leaves office, predicts insurgent Brooklyn political gadfly Maurice Gumbs. In the latest edition of his newsletter, "Footnotes," Gumbs writes that the next Democratic mayor will owe his election to Democratic county leaders like Assemblyman Clarence Norman, who will collect on their debts by using the schools as a patronage mill. "Every manager in the public school system will owe his job to the county leader," Gumbs predicts. "Imagine what the annual Kings County Democratic affair would look like. It would have to be held in Madison Square Garden."

The party machine could well try to use the schools the way it does the judiciary, as a job factory. In a worst-case scenario, teachers would have to "volunteer" for political campaigns. But first, Norman would have to support the victorious mayoral candidate. And he hasn't been too adept at picking winners lately.

In 2001, Norman backed Alan Hevesi for mayor, Jeannette Gadson for borough president, Steve Cohn and Tish James for City Council, and two Civil Court candidates. They all lost. Last year both of Norman's Civil Court candidates lost. So did his State Senate candidate in Flatbush, Omar Boucher.

And even if patronage worms its way into the revamped school system, it shouldn't be forgotten that when school boards reigned, patronage was rampant. Yes, teachers did "volunteer" for the campaigns of school board members. It's hard to imagine the new system being any worse. But if it is, voters could retaliate by ousting the mayor, which is easier than prying 288 community school board members from their seats.

STEVE BANKS LOOMS Legal Aid Society attorney Steve Banks has come to accept the inevitable result of finishing second in a major campaign, as he did in losing to City Councilman Bill deBlasio in 2001: People constantly ask when you're going to run again.

We certainly did. Banks told us he's happy at Legal Aid, where he's been for 21 years, but if the right opportunity came up, he'd launch another campaign. What might that opportunity be? A departure by deBlasio is the obvious one. The councilman could run for Congress if Major Owens quit, or for public advocate if Betsy Gotbaum gave it up.

We don't doubt that Banks would like to be Brooklyn's district attorney, but he questions whether voters would choose a Legal Aid lawyer to be a prosecutor. (Prosecutors often quit to become defense attorneys, but the converse is rare.) Banks's name would come up if Assemblyman Jim Brennan tired of Albany the way his predecessor, Joe Ferris, did. Banks, of Windsor Terrace, is also in State Senator Carl Andrews's district, but its preponderance of minority voters precludes a white candidate like Banks from winning.

50 LASHES FOR SUSAN Former Assembly candidate Susan Lasher likes to say she got a great education in politics from her husband, Howard Lasher, who was an assemblyman and councilman for over two decades. But apparently she never learned how to file financial disclosures. The last one Lasher filed was in August, a month before she barely lost the Democratic primary to Assemblywoman Adele Cohen. Lasher's missed three deadlines since then, and the state Board of Elections has been to court numerous times to force her to comply. Lasher's inaction is causing the board and the court system to fritter away precious resources while the state budget is facing an $11 billion deficit.

Lasher didn't respond to our email, but her former campaign manager, Cole Ettman, said Lasher told him a week earlier that she'd eventually file the forms. Lasher didn't raise or spend a lot of money, so it's unlikely she's trying to hide something by not filing. More likely it's laziness or incompetence on the part of Lasher and her treasurer, Lenora Smallman, who now has two $500 judgments against her.

It would certainly behoove Lasher to clear up the matter so she could focus on enrolling more Russians in the district as Democrats before the summer of 2004, when she will almost certainly challenge Cohen again.

Quite a few Russian-speaking Lasher supporters tried to vote for her last fall, only to learn that only registered Democrats can vote in a Democratic primary. Lasher lost by about 200 votes.

NY IS LEFT BEHIND, REP SAYS Rep. Anthony Weiner is blasting President Bush for not fully funding the No Child Left Behind, the federal law that's stirring discontent in southern Brooklyn school districts. Parents and school board members in District 22, which Weiner represents, have been particularly vocal with their complaints.

Opponents' primary objection is that academically inferior children from low-performing schools will be allowed to transfer into their children's schools, crowding classrooms and slowing their children's learning. They are careful not to mention race, though it wouldn't be surprising if at least a few parents weren't worried about an influx of inner-city blacks to a predominantly white, middle-class school. Weiner is focusing on the financial issue, which is that Bush has pledged $1 billion to help schools comply with No Child Left Behind. "Well, that's great," Weiner said. "Now you're only $13 billion shy."

Meanwhile, New York City had to spend an extra $245 million last year to meet the law's provisions, and received $730 million less than Bush's legislation authorized. "There's no sign the money is coming," Weiner said. "To have gotten away with shortchanging it the way he has is outrageous."

Weiner, by the way, voted against No Child Left Behind, but a number of more liberal legislators supported it. That makes it even more surprising that it hasn't been fully funded, he said. "It is rare that on such a high-profile issue, where the president sits with Ted Kennedy and announces this bill… to say we're not going to do quite what we promised you," Weiner said.

Borough Politics Archive

2002
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2002
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2001
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2000
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1999
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