Fallout From 15 Mark Peters, president of Community School Board 15, has been riding something of a political roller coaster of late. One day, Peters, who has not yet decided whether he will run for City Council, is commanding the front page of the City section and being hailed as the guy to save John Jay High School from imminent doom. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are sitting at the breakfast table, munching their bagels and wishing they had a school board president so visionary. And the next thing you know, Peters is caught in the eye of the storm ripping through the school board apropos of allegations of financial mismanagement in the district office. Suddenly, he's identified as an ally of embattled Superintendent Frank DeStefano, and he's forced to shepherd a fractious board while telling juiced-up parents that their three-minute time limit is up.

"Poor Mark Peters," said one wag. "He has the best week of his political life, and now he's having the worst week of his political life. If I was a Liz Daily or a David Yassky and I didn't want another brownstone candidate in the race, I'd use it against him."

"That's just silliness," said Peters. "First of all, I haven't even said that I'm running for the City Council. Second of all, everyone knows that the budget issues being discussed here are outside the school board's authority, so that we have no control over them. And third, one of the reasons that everybody is talking about this is because I insisted that the board hold public meetings so that all of these budget issues could be debated fully and the public could have all the information."

Observers are also gossiping about how the schism in District 15 will affect school board member Bill deBlasio, who is also Hillary Clinton's campaign manager. deBlasio has said that he will run for the seat currently held by term-limited Councilmember Steve DiBrienza. Both men have at least one thing on their side: Time. With more than a year before the election, the public has plenty of opportunity to replace any current impression with a new one. And if the outcome of the current situation is not nearly as dire as some critics claim it may be, Peters and deBlasio will look all the more calm and composed.

Perfetto Ticked Off District Leader Ralph Perfetto did not mince words in expressing his feelings after a perceived snub by County Leader Clarence Norman, Jr. At the recent convention, Norman had the proxies of county committee members returned directly to him. The arrangement is not necessarily new; nonetheless, to Perfetto, it was "the biggest insult in the world."

When district leaders cast the proxy votes from their county committee, they have a chance to voice their opinion about the county leader and demonstrate the full voting power of their office. Without that opportunity, they are reduced to a bunch of head-nodders, said Perfetto. "We account for nothing. In March, Vladimir Putin had a more democratic election than we did," he said.

Perfetto and Norman met last Friday to discuss the issue. "Ralph and I met last week. He mentioned it and I said, hey, it's something we could look to give consideration in the future. It's something we can certainly take a look at," said Norman, who generally enjoys good relations with Perfetto. "Ralph and I are buddies," he said. "Ralph is a very passionate leader and I like that passion." "We'll see if we can make it work," said Perfetto. "If not, I'm going to be one big thorn for the next two years."

Lieberman Backs Weiner If Representative Anthony Weiner faces a general election rematch with Councilmember Noach Dear, he will have the support of Senator Joe Lieberman. Lieberman endorsed Weiner during a recent visit to the New York area (apparently the first-term congressman is not too fast and loose with his "family values" for the moderate Lieberman's taste). Lieberman said that he looked forward "to working with Anthony for years to come on issues dear to our communities."

DiCarlo Picks Up Support Republicans are closing ranks around former State Senator Robert DiCarlo, who eked out a narrow primary victory over Charles Capetanakis. DiCarlo will now have the Conservative and Republican lines in his bid to unseat State Senator Vinny Gentile.

DiCarlo was recently endorsed by Rep. Vito Fossella and Councilmember Marty Golden, both of whom had endorsed Capetanakis in the primary. Capetanakis himself also endorsed DiCarlo. All three men pointed to party unity in making their endorsements. One notable absence from the list is Staten Island Republican chief Letitia Remauro, who Capetanakis had credited with being one of the most important and original supporters of his candidacy.

The significance of DiCarlo's primary win is that it enables him to make a united challenge for the seat and avoid a repeat of 1996. That year, DiCarlo lost the Republican primary but ran on the Conservative line anyway. Some believe that the controversy and resentment he engendered by creating the three-way race hurt Republican chances to win the seat. Democrats in the 23rd Senatorial District say that DiCarlo is still a controversial figure and they are not overly concerned for Gentile, who has made a habit of canvassing the district.

Borough Politics Archive
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