AND THEY'RE OFF The campaign for state offices and judgeships officially began July 25, the deadline to file petitions to get on the ballot. Here's a rundown of the contested primaries in Brooklyn (all Democratic, unless noted): In the Assembly, with incumbents listed first, we have Diane Gordon (40th A.D.) versus Kenneth Evans, Rhoda Jacobs (42nd) versus Zacary LaReche, Clarence Norman (43rd) versus Sandra Roper, Adele Cohen (46th) versus Susan Lasher and Eddie Brumfield, Darryl Towns (54th) versus Terence Simms, Gladys Santiago, and Evelyn Pardo, William Boyland (55th) versus Abdur Rahman Farrakhan, Annette Robinson (56th) versus Stanley Kinard, and Roger Green (57th) versus Hakeem Jeffries.

That's only eight contested primaries out of 21 Brooklyn districts, testament to the power of incumbency. It's noteworthy that seven of those eight races are in largely black districts. Cohen is the only incumbent in a white district being challenged. The other eight white districts (represented by Helene Weinstein, Jim Brennan, Steven Cymbrowitz, Bill Colton, Dov Hikind, Peter Abbate, Joan Millman, Frank Seddio, and Matthew Mirones) won't have primaries. Meanwhile, six of the seven black incumbents have challengers. Only Nick Perry has a free ride. In state Senate primaries, incumbent Nellie Santiago (17th S.D.) faces Marty Malave-Dilan, incumbent Velmanette Montgomery (18th) is challenged by Barbara Taylor, and incumbent Carl Andrews (20th) faces Wellington Sharpe, Mickey Heller, and Guillermo Philpotts.

The new 21st Senate District's Democratic primary features Noach Dear, Lori Knipel, Omar Boucher, Kevin Parker, and Harry Kaloshi, a surprise entry who invested $10,000 of his own money to try to make the ballot. Joel Toney dropped out. Dear also has a Republican primary against Herman Hall. We're not sure why Dear wants the Republican line; perhaps he thinks he can win on it if he loses the Democratic primary. (Doubtful.)

There's a Working Families Party primary as well between Parker and Jeffrey Stein. Go figure.

In the new 22nd Senate District, Marty Golden has a Conservative Party primary against Ira Rudolph. Golden will have the Republican line against Democrat Vinny Gentile in the November 5 general election. State Senator Seymour Lachman (23rd S.D.) faces Gil Perez of Staten Island, whose campaign war chest consists of $10 he gave himself. We are not kidding. Lachman might have a Conservative Party primary against James Gay, but Gay's petition filing states "declined." State Senators John Sampson (19th S.D.), Marty Connor (25th), and Carl Kruger (27th) apparently don't have primaries. Ada Smith's district won't include Brooklyn next year.

Seven candidates filed to run for three Brooklyn-wide Civil Court judgeships. The Democratic organization's ("county's") three candidates are Karen Yellen, Robin Garson, and Marcia Sikowitz, each of whom filed 45,000 to 60,000 signatures (it takes 4,000 good ones to make the ballot). The insurgent slate of Margarita Lopez Torres (30,000 signatures), Jim McCall, and Alan Gelbstein (about 12,000 signatures each) all figure to make the ballot, though challenges of McCall's and Gelbstein's petitions are likely. The seventh boroughwide Civil Court candidate, Dolores Thomas, filed just 7,200 signatures and figures to be knocked off the ballot by county. Generally it takes three or four times the minimum number needed, and she didn't even double it. "Dolores Thomas would win if she stays on the ballot," said one observer, noting that Thomas is the only black candidate.

How did she blow such a great chance at a 10-year judgeship worth over $1 million in salary? One source claimed Thomas relied on novice Assemblywoman Diane Gordon and election attorney Jerry Dunbar to handle her petitions, ignoring an early offer to piggyback on Roper's petitions. (Roper's insurgent slate ended up with Lopez Torres, McCall, and Gelbstein). Gordon and Dunbar did not return calls before press time.

MARTY'S MESSY MATH Borough President Marty Markowitz says in his latest newsletter, "I've convened unprecedented planning meetings at Borough Hall with Brooklyn's 17 City Council members, 28 State Assembly and Senate members, and five representatives in Congress." Small problem: Brooklyn has 16 City Council members, 29 state legislators, and six representatives in Congress.

We took some educated guesses at the source of the bad numbers. Perhaps Markowitz (a Democrat) forgot that Staten Island-based Vito Fossella (the only Republican in Brooklyn's congressional delegation) represents Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, and parts of Bensonhurst and Gravesend.

Not according to Markowitz's spokesman, who said Fossella was invited to the June 3 planning meeting but, unlike the five House Democrats, was unable to attend. So chalk it up to sloppy editing We're not sure who Markowitz thought Brooklyn's 17th councilmember was, but we can forgive him if he overlooked the 29th state legislator, Senator Ada Smith, who'll only represent Queens when she loses her slice of East New York to redistricting next year.

ROGER GREEN ENDORSED BY McCALL A spokeswoman for gubernatorial candidate Carl McCall put to rest a small controversy over whether or not he had endorsed Assemblyman Roger Green in his Democratic primary against Hakeem Jeffries. "He has endorsed Roger Green," said the McCall campaign's Marisa Shorenstein. She noted that there has been no formal announcement.

A Jeffries supporter had asked Green at a Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats meeting this month whether he had McCall's endorsement "in writing." He does now, if this column counts for anything. This does not mean you can expect to see McCall tooling around Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, and Clinton Hill slamming Jeffries, whose supporters would likely respond by withholding their votes for McCall in his primary against Andrew Cuomo.

As it is, endorsing Green entails some risk of that for McCall, who would have received most of the vote in the 68 percent black 57th Assembly District simply by steering clear of the Green-Jeffries contest. For Green, the McCall endorsement is big, since McCall supporters figure to flood the polls in an attempt to put a viable black candidate on the general election ballot for governor for the first time in New York. Voters not following the Assembly race might cast a casual vote for Green if they get a McCall-Green palm card outside their polling place.

Which is why you might expect Jeffries to distribute McCall-Jeffries palm cards as well, despite McCall's endorsement of Green. McCall would certainly appreciate it, which is why he's not exactly trumpeting his Green endorsement with a press conference or even a press release.

BROOKLYN BRIDGE TOLLS UPDATE A Quinnipiac University poll of 932 registered city voters found more support for tolls on the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges than for any other budget-balancing measure. Over all, 40 percent of those polled picked tolls picked tolls over raising taxes (23 percent) or raising subway and bus fares (20 percent). Another 17 percent wouldn't give an answer, giving them something in common with the average politician. Interestingly, many more women (45 percent) than men (33 percent) picked tolls. Manhattanites (50 percent) were the most supportive, followed by Brooklynites (39 percent). Perhaps the bevy of Brooklyn politicians denouncing tolls should take note. Not that government should be dictated by polls, but this suggests an elected official could support a toll without being voted out of office.

Also on the subject of cars, one reader e-mailed us, "Liked your mention of [Comptroller Billy] Thompson's SUV. Please do similar survey of other pols and ask them to defend the air pollution they cause as well as the expense."

Unfortunately, polling 52 elected officials is no simple task, especially since some don't seem to return our phone calls (recent culprits include Rep. Jerry Nadler, Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs, state Senator Nellie Santiago, and Senator Chuck Schumer). We did read that Borough President Marty Markowitz drives an SUV. We didn't bother calling for his reason. There really is no good one.

MAKING JUDGES, PULLING WEEDS The elusive John O'Hara-we call him elusive because so few people know how to find him-called us after hearing that we'd printed his tale of woe. In case you missed it, we detailed how the many-times candidate in Sunset Park/Red Hook races was prosecuted three times by Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes for illegal voting and false registration, and finally convicted, only to reinvent himself as a behind-the-scenes manager of judicial campaigns. O'Hara helps candidates who are running against the Brooklyn Democratic organization, a/k/a "county," which detractors call the machine.

Asked if he regretted the actions that led to his conviction, O'Hara told us, "I don't regret voting," and noted that the last person nailed for similar crimes was Susan B. Anthony. That O'Hara can mention himself in the same breath as Susan B. Anthony shows, if nothing else, that he hasn't lost his hubris. But for the most part, O'Hara has endured much misery on account of establishing a sham voting address a mere 18 blocks from his apartment.

O'Hara lost his law license and eligibility to run for office, and is performing 1,500 hours of community service by cutting weeds and picking up trash in a city park (he declined to say which one). Financially, he says he's scraping by. He wouldn't say exactly how, but denied rumors that he supports himself through his association with judicial candidates. "I never got a nickel in my life from politics," he said. "It's a labor of love." O'Hara said only a New York Times article exposing the absurdity of his case kept him from being sentenced to jail time. He added that the setbacks endured by Hynes and "county" since his trial are the result of bad karma they brought upon themselves.

We don't know about karma, but O'Hara did then prove that a judicial candidate can run against the machine and win. During his appeal, by invoking the Susan B. Anthony comparison, he persuaded the League of Women Voters to file a brief on his behalf. Afterward, he wanted to thank the lawyer who wrote the brief, Peter Sweeney, and the president of the league, Eileen Nadelson. "So I did," O'Hara said. "I made them judges." Sweeney and Nadelson did indeed shock the Brooklyn political establishment by winning both Brooklyn-wide Civil Court judgeships up for grabs last year, withstanding a massive legal challenge by county just to make the ballot and then defeating county's two candidates.

Whether O'Hara was largely responsible is anyone's guess, but it is fair to say that Sweeney and Nadelson probably wouldn't have been elected without him. "I've morphed into this underground rebel leader who was written off as a nut-job before," O'Hara said. But he said he's frustrated that he can't take credit for his candidates' success because his name carries a negative association with many folks-plus, he doesn't want to violate the conditions of his sentence so that his record might someday be wiped clean.

O'Hara believes the 2001 judicial election killed county's cash cow by shattering the notion that a county-backed judicial candidate is a certain winner. That is, he thinks candidates previously bought county's support with bags of cash, knowing that it would pay off with a 10-year term as a highly paid judge.

No evidence of such bribery has ever surfaced, though the recent indictment of Judge Victor Barron for taking a six-figure payoff to approve a personal-injury settlement does suggest that some ethically-challenged jurists sit on Brooklyn's bench. O'Hara is collecting signatures for three Civil Court candidates opposed by county: Margarita Lopez Torres, Republican Jim McCall, and Alan Gelbstein, a traffic-ticket judge. O'Hara's never met Lopez Torres, but county hates her, so that's good enough for him.

SHARPE PHOTO BUGS ANDREWS State Senator Carl Andrews said he was told by Roy Hastick of the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce not to believe whispers that Hastick had endorsed Wellington Sharpe over Andrews and Mickey Heller in Senate District 20 (Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Prospect Heights, Flatbush, and Crown Heights). Said Andrews, "Mr. Hastick told me he didn't (endorse Sharpe). He said he just took a picture with him and the next thing you know people were saying he endorsed him." Hastick, an influential presence in the Caribbean community, wanted the seat that Andrews won after Marty Markowitz vacated it to become borough president. Hastick was not available for comment.

One endorsement we are sure of is that of Senate District 21 candidate Omar Boucher by Andrews, which infuriated another candidate who wanted it, Lori Knipel. Knipel berated Andrews backstage at a concert he was co-hosting. More on that next week.

Back in District 20, Heller continues to be dismayed by the advantages that incumbency and connections afford Andrews, who recently got Markowitz's permission to help promote and host the free concerts that Markowitz has been putting together for years.

In mid-July Andrews mailed households across his district an invitation to the concerts. As an elected official, Andrews can use taxpayer money to co-sponsor the concerts and to mail constituents fliers about them. The best Heller and Sharpe can do is show up at the events and beg Markowitz for the chance to say a few words.

FELDER SENDS ME$$AGE TO CHALLENGERS Councilman Simcha Felder has served notice to would-be challengers in the 2003 election that he would enter any race with an overflowing war chest. In the first six months of 2002, the Borough Park/Ocean Parkway councilman raised $124,471 in campaign contributions, second only to Speaker Gifford Miller among councilmembers and far ahead of Brooklyn's runner-up, David Yassky, who pulled in $48,807. Mike Nelson, the only other Brooklyn councilman to file, pulled in $14,062. Combined with the matching funds of $80,000 he's eligible to receive, Felder already has more money than the $190,000 that campaign finance program participants are allowed to spend in 2002-2003.

"It's a message to anyone who would consider even running that they're way behind things already," Felder said. "I don't see anyone else running, but this is one of the tools that is used, unfortunately or fortunately, to discourage people from running. Unfortunately, money is power." The candidate who finished second to Felder in the 2001 election, Bob Miller, is not expected to run again in 2003.

Felder said he raised the money mostly from people who live in or near his district and only received one contribution (of $250) from a donor who appears before the landmarks subcommittee he chairs. Yassky did beat Felder in one category: number of contributors, with 178 to Felder's 162.

NELSON BACKS TERM LIMITS CHANGE Councilman Mike Nelson voted for the bill that would prevent councilmembers from being booted from office by term limits before they'd served eight years. Nelson was hardly alone-only two of his colleagues (Brooklyn's Marty Golden and Charles Barron) voted against it. But Nelson had more reason than anyone to oppose it: leaving the current law in place would result in Nelson being the senior council member in 2003, should he remain in office. "I would most likely be up for some leadership position or get my own committee," Nelson told Citizens Union. "But I support this measure because I believe that when New Yorkers voted for term limits they thought that meant two four-year terms. I also believe that the individual communities, not just the council members, will be shortchanged if their representatives have their time cut short." One could argue that Nelson would shortchange his own community by not becoming the senior councilman. But he's correct that other districts, and the city as a whole, could suffer by having their councilmembers forced out after as few as six years.

Incidentally, Golden is one of the three Brooklyn councilmen who can't run for reelection in 2003 under the current law, but could if the bill passes. Yet his nay vote was not surprising since he's running for state Senate and didn't want to be seen as opposing the will of the people who voted for term limits. A Golden campaign spokesman said the councilman believes the public, not the government, should decide the issue. Mayor Bloomberg might veto the bill but the council has the votes to override him.

Borough Politics Archive

2002
July 29 column.
July 22 column.
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June 17 column.
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2001
December 10 column.
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2000
December 25 column.
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1999
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