THE VOICE'S CHOICES The Village Voice's Best of New York 2003 recognized yours truly as "best political columnist," but we were overshadowed by the honor bestowed upon Councilman Charles Barron, who got the more colorful title "best demagogue local politician utterly ignorant of world affairs."

The Voice explained, "Barron struck a low note for a city that has historically played host to victims of oppressive governments on September 12 of last year when he feted Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe on the steps of City Hall. When Mugabe-whose campaign of murder, mass rape, and imprisonment of black political foes and white farmers has sent a tide of refugees spilling across the border into South Africa, and who voted himself a 600 percent pay raise as his subjects teeter near famine-marched up the stairs, you could almost hear the bones of his victims crunching under Barron's feet." But putting aside the murder, rape, and famine, we hear that Mugabe likes Barron's reparations plan.

The Voice also recognized the apartment house of Senator Chuck Schumer as "best place for a progressive political protest" after the Park Slope Greens demonstrated against Schumer's support for the war in Iraq. But the Green Party wasn't the first to think of it. Twice in 1996, Lambda Independent Democrats protested outside Schumer's Prospect Park West residence, angry about his vote for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between a man and woman and denied federal benefits to same-sex couples.

Incidentally, we recently ran into the senator outside of his home for the second time this year. The previous occasion, he was surrounded by cops because his car had just been stolen, along with Schumer's E-ZPass. Schumer later issued a press release blasting the state for charging him $23 for a new tag. When we reminded him of that morning, Schumer happily reported, "They found the car." And the E-ZPass? "No." What happened to the $23 charge? "I paid it," he said with resignation.

LEGAL BILLS WORRY DEMS Some Democratic district leaders are worried that their party is going to pay indicted county leader Clarence Norman's legal bills, which could reach six figures.

But Norman spokesman Bob Liff said he believes Norman is paying for his defense. He is not, of course, paying Liff's fees. So we asked Liff how much the party was paying him. "That's none of your business," he replied, even though it is public information. But he said it was much lower than the $10,000 per month that's been rumored.

The party would pay for Norman's defense if the charges concerned his work for the party. But they don't. He's charged with pocketing $5,000 from state taxpayers for driving expenses that were actually covered by the Democratic Party, whose credit card he used to pay for his gas, tolls, luxury sedan, and the little bobblehead doll on his dashboard.

Norman told The New York Times this was appropriate because the driving expenses are "not a reimbursement" but "an allowance." Norman should have read the reimbursement forms he submitted, which stipulate that the expenses were "incurred" (not imagined). We also wonder why the party should pay for Norman's trip to Albany so he can do his Assembly job.

A day after Norman's October 9 arrest, timed by Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes so it wouldn't be overshadowed by the California recall election, former Mayor Ed Koch chimed in on Norman's behalf. Koch claimed the charges should be referred to the Assembly Ethics Committee, not a grand jury. The ethics committee consists of Norman's fellow legislators and is known for doing nothing. By Koch's logic, if a DMV clerk "borrows" $5,000 from the cash drawer, he shouldn't be arrested but instead referred to a toothless "ethics" panel consisting of his fellow clerks, who might also have availed themselves of the cash drawer.

Politicians, for all their tough talk about fighting crime, apply a different standard to themselves. They don't steal-they commit "ethical violations." Another charge in Norman's indictment accuses him of depositing into his personal account a $5,000 check made out to his reelection fund. "That was a mistake," Liff said.

Norman was reimbursing himself for a $5,000 check he'd written nearly two months earlier to Assemblywoman Diane Gordon's campaign committee to pay for Gordon's people to carry literature for Norman-endorsed mayoral candidate Alan Hevesi, said Liff The spokesman said Norman should have ripped up the check and had another one made out to himself, rather than to his campaign.

The one question from us he was unable to answer was, "Which Democratic presidential candidate is going to want to be escorted around Brooklyn by an indicted county leader?" You can bet George W. Bush's hatchet-man Karl Rove wouldn't miss the chance to link the Democratic nominee with a man accused of stealing state funds. "You tell me what presidential candidate is going to want to stand in a room with Clarence Norman," one Brooklyn Democrat observed. "Norman could become the Willie Horton of 2004."

HERE AND THERE Is Rep. Ed Towns trying to turn over a new, um, leaf? He hasn't accepted a penny from the tobacco industry for at least two years, according to his office. The congressman has been criticized by the editorial page of The New York Times and many others for his relationship with Big Tobacco over the years…

…At a Community Board 6 meeting the day following the Clarence Norman pep rally, a representative from Joe Hynes's office ended his report to the board by deadpanning, "District Attorney Hynes regrets that he was unable to attend the rally on Tuesday outside Borough Hall." He got a big laugh…

…Democratic county leader Clarence Norman keeps saying that since Hynes began his investigation because of a tip that Brooklyn judgeships were being sold, he shouldn't have expanded it to Norman's alleged use of party money for personal expenditures. So, we suppose a cop who pulls a driver over for speeding and sees a pile of hand grenades in the back seat should just ignore them? And what's up with Rep. Major Owens calling the investigation a "credit card lynching"? Whether it's a politician getting reimbursed for imaginary expenses or a common thief snatching a lady's pocketbook, it's still taking money that's not yours. Of course, Norman claims he was entitled to unincurred travel expenses and that his Amex charges were all in the interests of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, except for some accidental mix-ups…

…Crain's Insider reported that former City Councilman Herb Berman will leave his job on Governor George Pataki's staff to become president and CEO of Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation…

…The City Council passed a bill raising the crime of trespassing on the playing field of professional sports events from a Class B misdemeanor to Class A. That increases the potential penalty from a $500 fine and 90 days in jail to $1,000 and a year. The only vote against the measure was cast by Charles Barron, who said another solution should have been found. Bill sponsor Peter Vallone told the Daily News, "I get more concerned when Councilmember Barron votes in favor of one of my bills than when he votes against it." But for once, we agree with Barron. No drunken fan is going to catch himself before he jumps onto the playing field and say, "Oh, wait, it's now a Class A misdemeanor. I'd better not." Who might be deterred by higher penalties? How about vendors who sell beer to drunken fans? …

…We noticed a letter to the editor from Brooklyn Heights resident Veronica Weiss complaining that this column was "as usual, incomprehensible from beginning to end," which makes us wonder why, if she didn't understand the beginning, did she bother reading through to the end?

…We asked former City Council candidate Sam Taitt if he supports Mayor Mike Bloomberg's proposal for non-partisan elections, in which candidates from all parties would face off in one election, with the top two finishers advancing to a run-off. Under such a system, Taitt almost certainly would have defeated Councilman Kendall Stewart this year. Instead, he was eliminated in a close Democratic primary because he split the anti-Stewart vote with Omar Boucher and Erlene King. But Taitt told us he opposes non-partisan elections, "Even though I could have won the race." But he couldn't explain why he prefers party primaries.

YASSKY'S FOCUS Contacted by Crain's Insider for comment about his possible candidacy for Brooklyn district attorney, Councilman David Yassky said he was concentrating on his reelection to the Council. Against Stella Harmatiuk?

An unknown Republican-Conservative candidate running against a well-financed, uncontroversial incumbent in a heavily Democratic district? Harmatiuk has no prayer and Yassky knows it. "I'm just focusing on my reelection" is one of those trite political phrases purported to imply modesty, but is really a polite way of saying "no comment."

NEPOTISM NEWS Supporters of Civil Court Judge Margarita Lopez Torres were irked by Democratic district leader Ralph Perfetto's assertion that the judge should have at least interviewed Gina Lopez, the daughter of Assemblywoman Vito Lopez, when the judge was allegedly asked a decade ago if she could hire Ms. Lopez as her court attorney.

Even more upset by Perfetto's comment was Assemblyman Lopez, who claims he never attempted to place his daughter on the judge's staff. But Perfetto, believing it did happen, voted not to promote Lopez Torres to Supreme Court in part because he heard the judge rudely blew off the request. Perfetto, who wrote a five-page explanation after voting against Lopez Torres and tussling with fellow district leader Alan Fleishman, included the Gina Lopez fiasco as evidence that the judge is an "ingrate." Then, after hearing from Lopez, Perfetto re-wrote the paragraph.

In his original version, Perfetto wrote that the two judges and four attorneys who labeled Lopez Torres an ingrate "told me that she courted Vito Lopez to support her for Civil Court, but then decided she didn't need him anymore and denied his daughter a job."

Informed by Lopez that that wasn't true, Perfetto removed that sentence-but kept the "ingrate" label. If these sources were lying about Lopez Torres courting Vito Lopez (the judge says Lopez courted her) and denying his daughter a job, we wonder why Perfetto kept their "ingrate" remark and added that one lawyer told him, "When you explain something to her, she stares into space as though she is having trouble understanding what you are saying."

He also added that the lawyer "had some terrible things to say about her husband." That would be Matt Chachere, who once infuriated Vito Lopez by criticizing and calling for someone to run against him in City Limits magazine.

It's clear from the revision of his letter that Perfetto, when he voted against Lopez Torres, was operating with bad information, including that the Park Slope judge had an opening for court attorney when Gina Lopez was looking for a job. Had Perfetto checked some old Green Books (there are plenty at the office of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, where he works), he would have seen that Irving Weitzman was Judge Lopez's court attorney from the day her 10-year term began in 1993 through at least 1996. When Gina Lopez was allegedly suggested to her, in approximately 1994, the judge confided to confidants, "What am I supposed to do? Fire Irv? He has a family."

Weitzman also had a quarter-century of experience. Gina Lopez was fresh out of law school. Sam Schaeffer, Assemblyman Lopez's chief of staff, told us Judge Lopez Torres made up the Gina Lopez story out of thin air. "I don't believe anybody called. Vito definitely did not call," he said. Elected officials generally do not call directly with hiring requests. But someone may well have put the word out to Brooklyn judges that Vito Lopez's daughter was looking for a job. Judge Lopez Torres was probably not the only one to get that message.

Lopez Torres, by the way, insists it was actually the second request from a Democratic power broker for her to hire a crony. The first came from the county leader, Assemblyman Clarence Norman, shortly after the judge was first elected, according to a source close to the judge. But the naïve judge, unaware that court attorney positions were supposed to be used to repay political supporters, had already hired Weitzman.

Other judges played the game better. Gina Lopez was eventually hired in 1994 by Judge Gus Reichbach, to succeed Cheryl Slavin and Marcell Brandes, who had been splitting the job.

Speaking of bad information, there's a story floating around that the judge fired Slavin and Brandes to make room for Lopez. But the judge's wife says that wasn't the case. "Soon after my husband went on the bench he broke new ground by hiring two mothers to split the court attorney position. He did this with several different women for a period of 4 or 5 years," Ellen Meyers e-mailed us. "Marcel Brandes … left her half-time position with my husband because she needed a full-time job. The other woman became his full-time court attorney for a period of time prior to Gina Lopez becoming his full-time attorney. Neither of these women was fired."

Judge Reichbach is in Kosovo serving on the U.N. International War Tribunal and couldn't be reached. Neither could Slavin or Brandes. Lopez stayed with Reichbach for less than a year and then went to work for Supreme Court Judge Marsha Steinhardt, who happens to be married to Jeff Feldman, Norman's aide-de-camp.

After hiring Lopez, Reichbach was promoted to Supreme Court. Lopez Torres remains the most experienced Civil Court judge yet to be promoted.

Lopez Torres's supporters also note that she wasn't obliged to repay Assemblyman Lopez because she didn't seek his help to become a judge. Rather, Lopez recruited her, back when she was a lawyer for the city. Yet Norman and Lopez later accused her of disloyalty to the Democratic Party. But last month, they made no such accusation of Democratic judges who sought the Republican nomination-something Lopez Torres declined to do when approached by the GOP.

Contact Brooklyn Politics at (718) 399-3693.

Borough Politics Archive

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2002
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2001
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2000
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1999
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