Dear Job Hunting What will a politician do to avoid the force of term limits? In some cases, they will try to overturn two voter referendums. In other cases, they will run a spouse or child for their seat. But in the case of Councilmember Noach Dear, he will look to take the office of his former assistant, Priscilla Celano, who has been district manager of Community Board 12 since 1982, when Dear first won election to the Council. Prior to being a councilmember, Dear was the district manager at CB 12.

The move to oust Celano began about two weeks ago, according to sources. At the time, Dear was organizing an effort to unseat the board's chairman, Alan Dubrow. The ultimate purpose of pushing Dubrow out, said sources, was to expedite Dear's control over the district manager's position.

On Friday, February 23, Dubrow approached Celano with a trade that, according to Celano, was struck by Dear. Celano said that Dubrow told her that if she agreed to announce her impending retirement at the board's nomination meeting, then Dear would halt his coup against Dubrow. "And (Dubrow) asked me then if I would retire, and could I make that announcement. I tell you this, God's honest truth, I was numb. I didn't know what to say. In all these years, I've tried to do a good job," said Celano. "So (Dubrow) said, think about it and tell me Monday morning. They said it was a tradeoff. If he could get me to do that, then they would reelect him as chairman again."

When asked for comment on the situation, a spokesperson for Dear said that allegations about Dear trying to oust Celano were "simply unfounded." The spokesperson also said that Dear's wife, Rickly, has not yet decided whether she will run for her husband's seat. Dubrow did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Insiders believe that Dear is hedging his bets in case his mayoral candidate, Council Speaker Peter Vallone, does not win. If Vallone does win, insiders say that Dear, chair of the Council's transportation committee, will be named commissioner of the Department of Transportation. But if Vallone loses, said sources, then Dear could use the community board as a way to remain on the public payroll and in the community's consciousness, in case he wants to run again for his Council seat in 2003. "If all of his work for Vallone doesn't work out, then he's still in the limelight," said one source.

Sandy Aboulafia, a member of the community board who is also running for Dear's seat, offered this scathing criticism: "(Dear) wants the district manager to step down and he wants to drop out of the Council seat, run his wife in a special election and take over the district manager's spot for himself because he's a spineless, gutless toad who knows that he can't earn a living." But disposing of Celano may not be that easy. For one, she has said that she will fight to keep her job. "I'm not going to let (Dear) have his way, and I'm going to stay. I'm going to stay until it is comfortable for me to leave," said Celano.

Dear has 24 appointments to the board, said Celano. District managers serve at the pleasure of the full board. Speaking just hours before the board's nomination meeting, at which the coup was supposed to unfold, Celano said that she was ready for the battle. "I put on a red dress. If I'm going to be the target, I want to be easier to find," she said. The nominations were eventually postponed until March 26.

Lasher To Seek Primary Nod Susan Lasher finally ended months of speculation in southern Brooklyn by announcing her intention to run for the City Council seat currently held by her husband, Councilmember Howard Lasher. "If everything is okay, I believe that I will try to run in the primary," said Lasher, reached as she was unpacking boxes in her new Ocean Parkway apartment.

"It's a double-edged thing. First of all, I really know the job. Second of all, I really know the district. And third of all, with term limits there's going to be such upheaval, I can't think of any better way to establish continuity of services for the community. "It's obviously not a totally selfless thing-I would love to do it. As they say, let's hope for the best and see what happens," said Lasher.

She also emphatically stated that her husband will not be stepping down early, as had been rumored. "Absolutely not. There's no reason for it. Truthfully, we need the income. Why should he step down early? There's no reason for it," she said. Lasher's announcement stems a tide of gossip about her political aspirations and again changes the dynamic of a Council race that was first altered months ago, when the presumptive front runner, District Leader Marsha Rapaport, died. As a candidate, Lasher could be a heavyweight, armed with widespread name recognition and the connections of the Council office.

"If she can make the ballot, she becomes the favorite," said one insider. Currently, her competition consists of Brian Gotlieb, a member of School Board 21 and deputy chief of staff to Rep. Anthony Weiner, Oleg Gutnik, a Sheepshead Bay doctor, Domenic Recchia, also of School Board 21, Pat Singer, executive director of the Brighton Neighborhood Association, and Inna Stavitsky, an employee of JASA.

Krasny Mulling Bid Alec Brook-Krasny, a Russian-American who is owner of Fun-O-Rama in Coney Island, is considering entering the race for the Lasher seat, according to District Leader Michael Geller. Geller said that Brook-Krasny would enter the race if Oleg Gutnik drops out. Gutnik, a Republican, might drop out of the race if the non-partisan special election he was hoping for does not materialize, said Geller.

Because there had been rumors that Lasher would step down early, some insiders believed that a special election was a realistic possibility. But with Susan Lasher clearly saying that her husband will not step down and that she intends to run in the primary, the possibility of a special election appears to be disappearing. "If Gutnik does not get in the special election, (Brook-Krasny) will run. It seems that (Gutnik) has built up a very strong network and they don't want it to go for nothing," said Geller.

Geller said that he was told by the Gutnik camp that they have registered thousands of Russian-Americans in the past year. Last year, Brook-Krasny was thrown off the ballot when he challenged Assemblymember Adele Cohen. Neither he nor Gutnik returned calls seeking comment.

B'klyn Dems Back McCall The Brooklyn Democratic Party last week issued an early and enthusiastic endorsement of state Comptroller H. Carl McCall, a candidate for governor. The unanimous endorsement, made by the party's executive committee, is a clear-as-bells message to former Federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo to consider leaving the race.

"Clearly a message is being sent to all Democrats that when you have someone of such unparalleled qualifications, to even consider embroiling the party in a pointless primary would be something that's less than fully appreciated," said Jeff Feldman, executive director of the Kings County Democratic Party, which represents the most populace county in the state. A primary, said County Leader Clarence Norman, would only hurt the party's chances against Governor Pataki.

"Of course it could because it would force Carl McCall to expend large sums of money. Then he would have to go against George Pataki, who will probably have $30-35 million dollars. To have a primary battle will only weaken us as an organization, and I would hope that Mr. Cuomo would understand that and stand down," said Norman.

Borough Politics Archive
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