Golden Backs Felder Simcha Felder may not say it, but he must be pleased with the status of his City Council campaign after his February 27 fundraiser. Felder, chief of staff to Assemblymember Dov Hikind raked in close to $100,000 and took home a potentially bigger plumb-- the endorsement of Borough President Howard Golden.

Golden, who once held the City Council seat for which Felder is running, attended the fundraiser and spoke on Felder's behalf. His PAC, Committee for a Golden Future, also contributed $250 to Felder's campaign. He is also said to have contributed substantially more at the event, held at Hikind's Borough Park home.

Felder, who is running in the 44th Councilmanic District, hopes that Golden's backing will help broaden his appeal. "I intend to serve every part of this district from Bensonhurst to Midwood to Ditmas Park, and what Howard Golden's endorsement does is that it says, here's somebody who really represents that, somebody who has dedicated his 25 years to every part of Brooklyn's communities," said Felder.

District Leader Steve Cohn, whose PAC contributed $75 to Felder's campaign, also attended the event. Cohn is a candidate for City Council in the 33rd Councilmanic District.

Also in attendance was Bill de Blasio, formerly Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign manager and now a consultant for Local 1199. De Blasio, a candidate for City Council in the 39th Councilmanic District, is actively seeking Hikind's support in that race. "De Blasio has been courting (Hikind's) support more aggressively than some of the other (candidates)," said an insider. The source added that de Blasio's connections with Clinton are attractive to Hikind. "Some people feel that there's more of a chance-not a definite chance, but more of a chance-of Dov supporting some like Bill because of whatever comes with it," said the source.

Insiders also speculated that Hikind is seriously considering backing Deputy Borough President Jeannette Gadson for borough president, especially since Golden backed Felder. "Howard Golden is supporting Jeannette, Dov wants Howard to support Simcha-what do you think is going to happen?" quipped one wag.

Another candidate for Council in the 44th District, Bob Miller, formally kicked off his campaign on February 15. In attendance at Miller's event were District Leaders Lori Knipel, Charlie Ragusa and Joan Ribaudo. Other candidates in the 44th District include local activist Sandy Aboulafia and lawyer Sam Spirgel.

Dr. Laura Repels Fisher Apparently Councilmember Ken Fisher is not a fan of controversial radio personality Dr. Lauraa. Fisher, a candidate for borough president, declined an invitation to be honored at the annual dinner of the National Council of Young Israel, an umbrella organization for synagogues, because Dr. Laura Schlessinger was also scheduled to receive an award. Schlessinger has sparked outrage with some of her commentaries, particularly when she dishes her critical views on homosexuality.

"While I understand that you are honoring Dr. Schlessinger for her personal experience, my participation in a program of this nature with her could be misconstrued as my choosing to associate myself with her political views," wrote Fisher in a recent letter to Steven Mostlofsky, president of the National Council. "Consequently, I will not be able to join you on this occasion, but I look forward to otherwise continuing our association."

Fisher was set to receive the public service award. Schlessinger received the national heritage award. Mostlofsky, who said that Rep. Ed Towns and Rep. Anthony Weiner attended the event, added that his group would ask Fisher to receive his award at one of their regular meetings.

Waid Leaves Council Race At a time when it seems that most of Brooklyn is lining up to run for City Council, one candidate is dropping out. David Waid, legislative aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, is out of the running in the 39th Councilmanic District.

The reason, said Waid, was that he wanted to be able to spend more time with his family. "In the last nine months, my two-and-a-half-year-old has gone through seven surgeries," he said. "For the last nine months, I really have not been focused on the campaign. I think this is going to be an intensely competitive race, which is actually what makes it fun. But in order to win, and I think I could win, I would have to give it 100 percent, and I can't. This is going to be the Council race to watch this year, and I would have loved to participate in it."

Kruger For Council? Rumors persist about whether State Senator Carl Kruger will run for City Council. The rumor continues to have life because one of the candidates in the 46th Councilmanic District race, District Leader Lew Fidler, has not yet formally announced or filed a committee. Fidler, a member of the Thomas Jefferson Democrats, is said to be hesitant because Kruger, who is also a member of the club, is considering running himself. Fidler declined to comment. Kruger said that he was not leaning toward running, but that anything was possible.

District Leader Bernie Catcher, president of the Jefferson Democrats, said that Fidler was currently the club's candidate. "The Jefferson Club would of course support Mr. Kruger if he wanted to run, but as long as Mr. Kruger is not running, the club is unanimous behind Mr. Fidler," said Catcher.

Speaking of Kruger, he became the first southern Brooklyn elected official to endorse Jeannette Gadson for borough president. Kruger's endorsement, first reported here on February 12, occurred on March 2 outside City Hall.

Not So Fast There is at least one district leader from southern Brooklyn who is not at all swayed by county's forceful endorsement of Comptroller H. Carl McCall for governor. "This guy wants to run for governor, he's got to see me because I want to know what's best for our community," said District Leader Michael Geller, who reckons that southern Brooklyn accounts for roughly 15 percent of all the Democratic votes cast in the city. "We have a very large part of the say in this election, and we wait for candidates to reach out to us personally," he said.

Dubrow Backs Celano Alan Dubrow, chairman of Community Board 12, said that he is not part of the effort to unseat CB 12 District Manager Priscilla Celano.

Last week, Celano said that Dubrow approached her with a deal in which she would step down so that he could remain as chair. Term-limited Councilmember Noach Dear was angling to take Celano's job, she said. Dubrow said that Celano misconstrued what he had said, and that he was merely trying to convey to Celano that people close to Dear were pushing for her ouster.

"I am not looking to remove Priscilla. I would never do that. We've been a team all the way through. I will certainly continue to go on supporting her, even if it means losing my chair," said Dubrow.

Dear has denied any involvement in the bid to oust Celano.

Tietz On The Move Dan Tietz, co-president of the Lambda Independent Democrats, has left his job at Housing Works to become the campaign manager for homeless rights attorney Steve Banks, who is running for Council in the 39th District.

Tietz will now share his Lambda duties with newly elected co-president Bethany Joseph. "I've always been on the edge of politics, and finally I decided to take the leap," said Tietz.

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