Stacking The Deck At least 20 staffers and supporters of Public Advocate Mark Green have joined the Lambda Independent Democrats in advance of the club's April 5 endorsement meeting, according to well-placed sources at LID. The membership dues of 20 of the Green staffers and supporters were paid with one $300 check drawn on the account of Allen Roskoff, who is Green's liaison to the gay and lesbian community. Roskoff did not return messages seeking comment.

Green staffers who joined LID include senior policy advisor Barry Ford and David Eichenthal, according to sources. Both Ford and Eichenthal's wives also joined the gay and lesbian political club. Green spokesman Steve Sigmund said that his office had no knowledge of the Green staffers who recently joined LID. "This office doesn't monitor what organizations individual staff members do or don't join," said Sigmund.

Joe DePlasco, a spokesperson for the Green campaign, also said that he had no knowledge of the new Lambda members, but added, "We would encourage as many people as possible to join these clubs, because we think Mark has the most progressive record for all New Yorkers."

The Green campaign was recently criticized when several of Green's staff joined the Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats, a Manhattan-based club, in advance of its vote. One such staff member is Harry Shiffman, a Brooklynite and Orthodox Jew married to Civil Court Judge Lauren Bailey Shiffman. Shiffman referred a request for comment to Sigmund.

LID, Brooklyn's only gay and lesbian political club, is split between three mayoral candidates: Green, city Comptroller Alan Hevesi and Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer. One source said that the keenest competition was between Green and Hevesi. "I would say that this club is pretty evenly split [between Green and Hevesi]. Whoever gets the best turnout on that evening is going to get the endorsement," said the source.

Hevesi has also been enrolling staffers in LID, but not to the extent of the Green camp, according to LID members. All of the new members have joined legally under the club's bylaws, and will have a vote in the endorsement meeting. "There's definitely been some packing of the club on both sides," said one prominent LID member. "The [Hevesi] campaign has made no organized effort, neither has the comptroller's office, to sign up supporters to LID," said Hevesi spokesperson Maura Keaney. The Hevesi people have joined as individuals, said sources, and were not paid for collectively by one check.

"I haven't seen any of the blatant thumbing of their noses at us that the Green camp has done," said one LID source. "We know that after the endorsement vote we're never going to see these people again. They don't really care about gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans-gender issues. They're just doing this to get their guy in office. I'm very disappointed. It's just so blatant."

Smart Mouths Speaking of Mark Green, the mayoral hopeful recently exchanged quips with Kalman Yeger, a Brooklyn political insider and a staffer for one of Green's opponents, Fernando Ferrer. As Green entered a recent IND mayoral forum, he turned to Yeger and said, "I'm going to have your support in the general election." "What line are you going to be running on?" Yeger asked.

Old Poll Shows Markowitz On Top:State Senator Marty Markowitz, a candidate for borough president, recently released a poll taken last June showing him with a sizeable lead over his two opponents, Councilmember Ken Fisher and Deputy Borough President Jeannette Gadson. According to the poll of 500 Brooklynites, conducted for Markowitz by Decision Research from June 19-21, 30 percent would vote for Markowitz if the election were held that day. Twelve percent said they would vote for Fisher, and 11 percent chose Gadson. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percent.

"I just think that it's important for people to know that Marty has a lot of name recognition and a lot of support," said Jill Harris, Markowitz's campaign manager. "People say that Ken Fisher has the ability to raise a tremendous amount of funds, and Jeannette Gadson has the support of the county Democratic organization, but Marty is ahead and people need to know that."

"It's a stale poll," said Danica Gallagher, a spokesperson for Fisher. "It's like something I left in my refrigerator. I don't understand why they would release it unless they're desperate for publicity. Eight months ago [Markowitz] could have been a contender, but it's meaningless today."

Ernie Lendler, a spokesman for Gadson, said that he was not surprised by the results of the poll since it was taken so long ago, before the race was defined and active. Early name recognition polls, he said, have little bearing on the outcome of an election.

Greens Target Council Race Craig Seeman, chair of the New York State Green Party, announced that he is a candidate for City Council in the 33rd district, covering Brooklyn Heights, a portion of Park Slope, and Greenpoint/Williamsburg. Seeman, who has run for City Council before, said that the Green Party believes this is the Council race they can be most competitive in citywide. "I think it's a strong district for me to run in," he said.

There are three Green political clubs in the district (Park Slope, Downtown Brooklyn and North Brooklyn), and when Seeman ran in a 1997 special election for state Assembly, he received 26 percent of the vote in the downtown portion of the district, which is included in the councilmanic district. Additionally, he said, in some northern parts of the district, Green presidential candidate Ralph Nader broke 20 percent of the vote. "This Council race will probably be the strongest Council race the Green Party could run anywhere in the city," said Seeman, who acknowledged that he was an underdog.

One source scoffed at Seeman's assertion, saying that high turnout due to the mayoral race will swamp the smaller Green vote. "There is a certain population that is going to reflexively, with no Giuliani on the ballot, is going to vote straight Democratic. Secondly, the Hasidic community, even if their candidate doesn't win the Democratic primary, is probably going to make their peace with whoever does," said the source.

Seeman is jumping into a crowded field that includes District Leaders Steve Cohn and Elizabeth Rose Daly, Community Board 2 member Ken Diamondstone, attorneys David Reiss and Steve Somerstein, and Brooklyn Law School Professor David Yassky.

Borough Politics Archive
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