NORMAN GETS TWO YEARS Last week, indicted Assemblyman Clarence Norman was given a two-year term-no, not in prison, but as chairman of the Kings County Democratic Executive Committee. Only two of 42 district leaders voted against him: Alan Fleishman and Joanne Seminara. "I'm pleased that there have been some reforms in the county, but the largest Democratic organization in the country [east of Chicago, anyway] should not be headed by someone who is under indictment at this moment," Fleishman said. "We should have found some way to let him step aside until the charges against him can be resolved." Fleishman and Seminara are not afraid to publicly battle Norman because it could help them should they run for City Council in 2005 in the districts currently represented by David Yassky and Vinny Gentile, respectively. Yassky may leave his seat to run for district attorney. Gentile is expected to run for reelection if he can't land a gig on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

OK, that was a cheap shot. Just trying to give the councilman a laugh during a difficult time. Think we succeeded? The hope here is that Gentile weathers the storm over accusations of harassment by a former staffer. As for Norman, a judge's 50-page decision denying the assemblyman's motion to dismiss the four indictments has convinced some of his critics that he'll be convicted. The feeling here is Norman will walk on three of the charges but not on the one for accepting travel reimbursements for expenses he never incurred.

By the way, sources said only one district leader skipped the Norman vote and didn't send a proxy either: Assemblyman Darryl Towns, who in the past has been rumored as Norman's successor.

FOUR FOR SUPREME COURT Republican Supreme Court Judge Louis Marrero managed to get renominated by the Democratic Party, assuring him of another 14-year term, despite being rejected by the Dems' screening panel. The revamped panel, comprised largely of law professors and others more removed from political influence than panelists of prior years, is supposed to give Democratic officials political cover, so that when one of their judges goes bad, they can point to the independent screening panel's approval. In the case of Marrero, it did the opposite, drawing attention to what otherwise would have been a routine reappointment. Word was Marrero was rejected either because he didn't show the panel respect during his interview or because he's been too hard on defendants. It could be both.

In filling the three other Supreme Court slots, the party achieved its usual racial balance, elevating Civil Court Judges Wayne Saitta, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, and Eric Prus. Despite their political connections, none is considered a hack. As one insider put it, "Sylvia is fairly new, but easily the finest of the African American candidates; Wayne is a bit of a left ideologue, but a brilliant attorney and a fine person, and Prus is a class act all the way. Either someone gave it some thought, or the system's accidents worked for a change."

Saitta and Prus were championed by Assemblymen Vito Lopez and Dov Hikind, respectively. New district leader Weyman Carey made a futile effort to elevate Dolores Waltrous, but the county leader, Assemblyman Clarence Norman, didn't include her on his slate. (Norman, incidentally, doesn't call it "his" slate, insisting that it reflects the wishes of Brooklyn's 42 Democratic district leaders. But we will call it Norman's slate until he allows the leaders to vote on each nominee, rather than on the whole slate at once. At the last meeting of district leaders, a motion to implement individual voting failed.)

"Clarence said [sentiment among the leaders] was overwhelmingly in favor of these candidates," said district leader Alan Fleishman, referring to Saitta, Hinds-Radix, and Prus. "If you have the votes, why are you so afraid of a floor vote?" One irony of Carey's push to elevate Waltrous is that the judge's campaign manager for her election to Civil Court some years ago was Asquith Reid, who was Carey's main opponent in the recent Democratic primary.

Saitta's elevation (to become official when he wins the general election) was a double victory for Assemblyman Lopez, who will get a big say in picking Saitta's replacement for the Civil Court, since the vacancy is in Lopez's power base (Williamsburg). Of course, it's possible Lopez has already traded that chip to line up support for Saitta, one insider said. At the Democratic judicial convention, one floor nomination received support from about a quarter of the delegates. But this time it wasn't Civil Court Judge Margarita Lopez Torres, who had again submitted her request for elevation and been approved by the party's screening panel. Instead, it was Civil Court Judge Sally Krauss, who was eying Marrero's spot.

GREEN'S ABSENCE COSTS SILVER A few people noticed that the one more vote Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver needed to (symbolically) override Governor Pataki's budget vetoes could have been cast by Roger Green. But Green resigned in June to forestall the release of a report on his travel voucher scandal. His seat remains vacant.

In an e-mail, one reader commented, "Is it an example of chickens coming home to roost? Mr. Green for years served as one of Mr. Silver's most loyal lieutenants and committee chairs. As reward, Silver exerted tremendous influence in contested primaries in Green's district-regularly calling in all resources for the Assemblyman's re-election. When Green became mired in scandal in early 2003, Silver dragged his feet for more than a year in disciplining him. In fact, Silver forced out Green this year only after an extended (and secret) Ethics Committee investigation AND after it was too late to call a special election to immediately fill the seat."

ROCOFF BEGS TO DIFFER Attorney and campaign operative Alan Rocoff disagreed with Councilman Lew Fidler's assertion that all of Rocoff's clients lost their Democratic primary races this year, except for Bill Saunders, whom Fidler said was more Peter Weiss's client than Rocoff's anyway. "In my book, if you print someone's petitions, bind them, organize the petition drive, represent them at the Board of Elections and in court, write their literature, do two prime voter mailings, raise all the money for primary day operation, design and print all the palm cards, hire and assign all the poll workers, and much more, then you can rightfully claim that that person was 'your' candidate," Rocoff e-mailed us.

"That does not in any way denigrate anyone else's contribution to the race, but to dismiss my involvement is also kind of petty and silly." You might have guessed that Rocoff and Fidler aren't drinking buddies. Rocoff said about 35 of his judicial delegates were elected. About 120 delegates approve the Democratic nominees for Supreme Court.

TIMES BATS .400 The New York Times endorsements for countywide Civil Court candidates went to April Newbauer, Gerry Dunbar, and Evelyn LaPorte, as well as Robin Kelly Sheares in the Second District and Ingrid Joseph in the Sixth District. Two of the five Times-endorsed candidates won (LaPorte and Dunbar), both from the countywide race. In the district-wide races, the story was very different.

The prevailing sentiment in political circles is that endorsements by the Times mean little in minority or Orthodox neighborhoods. Indeed, the Times practically begged readers to vote for Sheares over Geraldine Pickett, but Pickett won anyway in a district that includes Bedford-Stuyvesant and parts of Ocean Hill, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, and Crown Heights. "Robin Kelly Sheares, the principal law clerk to a State Supreme Court justice, has a reputation for hard work and competence," the Times wrote two days before the Democratic primary. "We strongly recommend her over Geraldine Pickett, a lawyer in private practice lacking the temperament and other essential qualities for the bench."

Even countywide, Times endorsements for judge have limited effect. The paper wrote off countywide candidates Johnny Lee Baynes, Richard Izzo, and Charles Finkelstein as not "plausible" but Baynes won one of the three available countywide Democratic nominations by finishing second in a field of nine. Finkelstein was fourth.

DEMOCRACY IN ACTION Here's Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats secretary Warren Miner's report on the September 21 meeting of the Kings County Democratic County Committee, chaired by the party's executive director, Jeff Feldman: "With many of the delegates watching their wrist watches, the meeting started precisely at 8:13 p.m. and ended promptly at 8:28 p.m. Ladies and gentleman, that's exactly 15 minutes. During this crucial time and armed with a four-inch stack of proxy votes, Jeff was able to get floor approval of the working rules and then nominations, seconds and election by voice vote of this year's committees and chairpersons. Of course there was that claque in the back who asked if there were a quorum present, but Jeff deftly waved his stack of proxies, declared the questioner out of order and swiftly continued the meeting without a hitch."

TIDBITS The male Democratic district leadership in Prospect Heights and Fort Greene changed hands when octogenarian Bill Saunders walloped incumbent Francis Byrdm, though Byrd was strongly endorsed by Rep. Major Owens and his son Chris Owens. One observer said Byrd's loss doesn't bode well for Chris's chances of succeeding his father in 2006. Chris did win elections to School Board 13, but in his only run for major office, he lost to then-City Councilman Enoch Williams in 1989…

Embattled Assemblyman Clarence Norman endorsed Rep. Major Owens for reelection this year, but Owens did not mention that on the literature he mailed to Park Slope voters. He did mention 15 other endorsers…

Reports have surfaced that Brooklyn Surrogate Court Judge Mike Feinberg may be removed from his post for allegedly allowing his lawyer buddy Lou Rosenthal to pocket excessive fees from the estates of dead Brooklynites. But for some reason, this long-brewing scandal hasn't been blamed on Clarence Norman-yet. Norman and the Democratic machine were largely responsible for Feinberg winning the 1996 election over the late Assemblyman Tony Genovesi's insurgent candidate, Civil Court Judge Lila Gold. Feinberg succeeded Bernard Bloom to head a court notorious for patronage and cronyism…

Assemblyman Nick Perry doesn't think Councilwoman Yvette Clarke is a favorite for the 2006 race to succeed Rep. Major Owens, a race Perry hopes to win. In fact, Perry thinks Clarke will face a strong challenge for her reelection to the City Council in 2005. But he wouldn't identify any potential candidates. Perry and other potential opponents of Clarke in 2006 hope she will have to spend a lot of money on her 2005 reelection bid, weakening her for the congressional race the following year. Of course, they could do more than hope. They could actively recruit someone…

Miriam Steinberg didn't come close to wresting away Roberta Sherman's state committeewoman position, garnering about 35 percent of the vote. But she was disgusted enough by the political hardball that she claims led to the withdrawal of her original running mate and his replacement that she's launching Phase Two of her fight, which is to have Sherman's co-leader, Bernie Catcher, removed because he lives outside the district…

The iconoclastic Sam Sloan ran perhaps the first write-in candidacy in the history of the Working Families Party, calling about 100 party members of the 700-plus who live in the 10th Congressional District and asking them to write his name rather than pull the lever for Rep. Ed Towns. Sloan was optimistic that he could win with two dozen votes, but was a little worried about how the chief clerk at the Brooklyn office of the Board of Elections would count the ballots. "The person doing the counting is Diane Rudiano, the person I keep suing. So that doesn't help me," Sloan said. Rudiano helped deny Sloan the Republican nomination, prompting him to go to court. As it turned out, Sloan lost the WFP primary to Towns by seven votes. We should mention that only seven people voted…

Former Civil Court candidate Harley Diamond informs us that contrary to our earlier report, fellow failed candidate April Newbauer is not Jewish, so perhaps we can't ascribe her loss to a decline in the Jewish vote. However, her name still sounds more Jewish than the names of the countywide race's three winners (LaPorte, Baynes, and Dunbar). It is believed the candidates' names are the only things on which many folks base their vote…

The revelation that many bicycle locks can be opened with the barrel of a Bic pen has drawn attention to a bill from Councilman David Yassky that would require office buildings to allow bikes inside. But the bill's been stuck for ages in Councilwoman Madeline Provenzano's Housing and Buildings Committee. Brooklyn members on the committee include Lew Fidler, Tish James, Jimmy Oddo, and Diana Reyna. Yassky is still working to move the bill…

Maurice Gumbs, who twice ran against Marty Markowitz for State Senate, wrote in his online column Footnotes that Markowitz was seen on primary day at a busy Parkside Avenue poll site urging people to vote for Assemblyman Clarence Norman. But Markowitz told us he was only campaigning for Civil Court candidate Bernie Graham. Norman and his opponent Ed Roberts (supported by Gumbs) happened to be at the same site…

Campaigns try to have their last piece of literature arrive in voters' mailboxes on the day before the primary. But we received our only mailing from Councilwoman Yvette Clarke on primary day itself. Even worse, mailings from Civil Court candidates Maxine Archer and Bernie Graham arrived the day after the primary.

Contact Brooklyn Politics at (718) 399-3693.

Borough Politics Archive

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