Owens Wooing Davis Hoping to derail the Council aspirations of Yvette Clarke and deal a blow to her mother, Councilmember Una Clarke, supporters of Rep. Major Owens are trying to persuade District Leader James Davis to enter the Council race in the 40th district. Una Clarke lost a close and bitter primary last year to Owens. Yvette Clarke was closely involved with her mother's campaign, and is now one of several children of term-limited Councilmembers who are seeking their parent's seats.

Davis, who has said he is a Council candidate in the 35th district, has received overtures from Owens and Assemblymember Al Vann to enter the race in the 40th District, he said. "People from Major Owens' and Al Vann's camp have spoken to me about the 40th district race, the reason clearly being that I have 23 election districts [from that Councilmanic district] as district leader. I did very well in that area. I even beat [Assemblymember] Clarence Norman in part of the 40th," said Davis.

Vann said that he has not expressed any interest in the 40th Councilmanic District race. "I've had no communication with James Davis about that issue. I've spoken with no one in reference to it," said Vann, who is running for City Council in the 36th district. "I'm concerned at this point only with the 36th district," he said. A spokesperson for Owens did not return a call seeking comment.

Persuading Davis to enter the 40th District race would have beneficial consequences for both Owens and Vann. For Owens, Davis' presence could allow him to get some payback for Clarke's challenge. Owens, who once was Clarke's mentor and backed her against the county machine when she first ran for City Council, said that he felt betrayed by her primary challenge. With Davis in the race, Yvette Clarke would have to face someone with name recognition and the mouth to match.

Vann is backing Letitia "Tish" James for Council in the 35th District, where the race is extremely crowded. Getting Davis out of that race and into the 40th district would narrow the competition for James. Additionally, Vann was the head of a group of black elected officials that last year formally appealed to Clarke not to challenge Owens, fearing that her candidacy would cause division among African and Caribbean Americans. Clarke dismissed the appeal.

Regardless of whether Davis joins the race, there are several other noteworthy candidates. Alithia Alleyne, most recently the government relations officer at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, is looking to jump fully into politics. Her campaign officially kicked off last Wednesday at an event at the Marriott. Alleyne, who worked as an aide to Clarke in 1995, doesn't seem to need Davis' help in needling Yvette Clarke. "I'm proud to say I have the support of more than just my mother," said Alleyne.

Other candidates include local activist Jean Vernet, Wellington Sharpe, who was thrown off the ballot last year in his failed attempt to challenge State Senator Marty Markowitz, George Borsiquot, a Haitian activist who works for the city, and Lola Poisson, a social service worker whose husband owns the Haitian Observer.

Gold Swats Rumor Sources say that District Leader Jake Gold is considering backing city Comptroller Alan Hevesi for mayor so that Assemblymember Clarence Norman will help keep Assemblymember Jim Brennan's district lines intact during the redistricting process. Brennan has had a long-running feud with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, whom he has accused of running the Assembly like a fiefdom, giving members little say in issues and exerting untoward control over the state's finances in "slush funds."

Brennan was also a supporter of Assemblymember Michael Bragman of Syracuse, who made a failed challenge for speaker last year. Since district lines are negotiated by the state legislature, Silver will play a large role in the process, especially with regard to lines in overwhelmingly Democratic areas, like Brooklyn.

But Gold denied that concerns for Brennan's district played a role in his thinking about the mayoral race. He said that he is leaning toward Hevesi because of Hevesi's work to force foreign governments to pay Holocaust reparations. Gold's in-laws were victims of the Holocaust and his own parents were forced to flee their native country. He also said that he believed the census results were favorable to Brennan, and that it would be difficult for Silver to hurt Brennan by shifting his district lines.

Lastly, Gold added that he'd heard Silver was not the vindictive type. After Bragman's failed coup, Silver stripped him of his position as majority leader. He also punished several of Bragman's supporters, including Brennan, who was removed as chair of the mental health committee.

Pataki Goes Local Oleg Gutnik, a prominent Sheepshead Bay doctor who is running for Council in the 47th district, was tapped by Governor Pataki as the borough's coordinator for the recently formed Citizenship Unit, a group that helps undocumented immigrants get their green cards under a limited federal amnesty program.

Gutnik, a Republican, is himself an immigrant from the former Soviet Union. "His immigrant background and his familiarity with the needs and desires of newly arrived immigrants in Brooklyn are great assets for assisting the Citizenship Unit with its task," said Pataki.

A bill to extend the limited amnesty law for another six months was recently introduced in Congress by Rep. Peter King. As of press time, its lone Brooklyn co-sponsor was Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Miller Gets Progressive Nod Attorney Robert Miller officially became the City Council candidate of the Progressive Democratic Club in the 47th Assembly District. The club's endorsement of Miller, who is vying for the Council seat in the 40th district, is not surprising since Miller already had the support of the district leaders, Joan Ribaudo and Charles Ragusa. Assemblymember William Colton and State Senator Seymour Lachman also voted for the endorsement, which was unanimous.

The club mainly covers mainly the Bensonhurst section of the Councilmanic district. Miller has been a longtime member of and counsel to the Federation of Italian American Organizations of Brooklyn. The race also includes local activist Sandy Aboulafia, Simcha Felder, chief of staff for Assemblymember Dov Hikind, and attorney Sam Spirgel.

Borough Politics Archive
March 26 column.
March 19 column.
March 12 column.
March 5 column.
February 26 column.
February 19 column.
February 12 column.
February 5 column.
January 29 column.
January 22 column.
January 15 column.
January 8 column.
January 1 column.

2000
December 25 column.
December 18 column.
December 11 column.
December 4 column.
November 27 column.
November 20 column.
November 13 column.
November 6 column.
October 30 column.
October 23 column.
October 16 column.
October 9 column.
October 2 column.
September 25 column.
September 18 column.
September 11 column.
September 4 column.
August 28 column.
August 21 column.
August 7 column.
July 31 column.
July 24 column.
July 17 column.
July 10 column.
June 26 column.
June 19 column.
June 12 column.
May 15 column.
May 8 column.
April 24 column.
April 10 column.
March 13 column.
March 7 column.
February 21 column.
February 14 column.
February 7 column.
January 31 column.
January 24 column.
January 17 column.

1999
December 16 column.
December 9 column.
December 2 column.
November 25 column.
November 18 column.
November 11 column.
November 4 column.