Coney Island Write-In Planned The Russian-speaking community in Coney Island is planning a write-in campaign for Alec Brook-Krasny in the November 7 general election. "They're going to do it," said Brook-Krasny. "We have some hopes. It's something that would be interesting." Brook-Krasny, a principle of Fun-O-Rama, was tossed off the primary ballot when a judge found him guilty of fraud in the collection of petition signatures for his Assembly candidacy in the 46th Assembly District. But Brook-Krasny's supporters are now in the process of organizing a campaign in which voters will use rubber stamps to print his name on a blank ballot spot. Roughly 100 to 120 stamps will be produced, he said.

Naomi Bernstein, a spokesperson for the Board of Elections, said that Brook-Krasny could legally be written in despite the fact that he was originally removed from the primary ballot. Some insiders were concerned that a large amount of write-ins could disrupt the vote count, especially given the rickety state of the voting machines. But Bernstein said that it should not have any impact on the count. One source thought that Brook-Krasny's write-in campaign could have the effect of boosting Cohen because it would split the vote for her Conservative challenger, Mark Belli. "What a stupid thing to do," said the source. Brook-Krasny said that he didn't believe Belli would garner much support to begin with.

The Board of Elections has received a request to send more poll workers to election districts in the 46th A.D., said Bernstein. The request, which she said came from members of the Russian community, is based on concerns that some immigrant voters encountered trouble voting in the primary.

Explanations differ as to why some immigrants were not permitted to vote. Some say that poll workers discriminated against them; others say that many Russians were registered as Republicans and were precluded from voting in the Democratic primary, or that they did not know how to properly vote. "I know it's a rough spot because of the language there, and they have requested that we send translators and so on, and we're working on it, but it's not definite yet," said Bernstein. As of now, there will be four poll workers per election district, as well as door clerks.

Vaughan Toney, chief of staff for Councilmember Lloyd Henry, who chairs the subcommittee on immigration, blasted the Board of Elections for not automatically supplying translators. "They should be proactive," he said. "Clearly the Board of Elections should know that in certain parts of Brooklyn they ought to have, as a matter of course, interpreters at the polls where there's a heavy concentration of immigrants." Toney said that party chairs should not be given the power to recommend poll workers. "Until this thing is completely de-politicized and taken out of the hands of district leaders and party chairs, and they start drawing from a pool of professional election day workers, you're going to have people that are going to be biased and rude to people who they think are voting the wrong way," said Toney.

Weiner Looks To Cut Palestinian Aide Some members of the Jewish community have expressed disappointment at their elected officials in Congress for what they perceive as their relative silence on the United State's decision not to veto a United Nations resolution condemning Israel for the current Middle East violence. But one Brooklyn congressman is now speaking with his pen instead of his mouth. Rep. Anthony Weiner has authored and introduced legislation that would cut approximately $33 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA). The bill has 24 co-sponsors, including Rep. Jerrold Nadler. Ten of the co-sponsors are Republicans, and support for the bill extends to representatives from states such as Arizona and Georgia, said Serena Torrey, Weiner's spokesperson.

The legislation seeks to cut non-humanitarian to the PA until its leadership renounces violence and calls for the end of rioting, and until the violence itself has subsided. For fiscal year 2001, $100,000,00 in U.S. aid has been requested for the PA. The money that Weiner's bill would withhold would likely be used for business development projects, government building programs, infrastructure improvements and police training.

"The congressman felt that members of Congress needed a vehicle through which to make a strong statement in support of Israel," said Torrey. "Within a public forum, Congressman Weiner has been very outspoken in support of Israel. This was simply a legislative way to do that as well."

Cracking The Eggman Anyone who's had their property pelted with rotten eggs or bedecked with shaving cream on mischief night knows how annoying it is, but does it actually demand political action? You bet it does, says Councilmember Stephen Fiala of Staten Island. A straight-faced Fiala kicked off Operation Safe Halloween last Tuesday, calling for local merchants to ban the sale of eggs and shaving cream to minors. The initiative coordinates the police and the South Shore Business Alliance in an effort to stem the sale of Halloween contraband and catch the no-good whipersnappers who take a perverse joy in late October hijinks.

"I don't see how it's a silly request," said Vincent Ignizio, Fiala's chief of staff. "All you have to do is look in years past and see the damage that's been done to people's property." Ignizio said that sometimes the eggings can lead to assault when enraged drivers confront the vandals. But is it legal for merchants to selectively refuse to sell certain unregulated products to minors? "I'm not an attorney, but we're asking merchants to use their discretion on this one," said Ignizio.

Perhaps Fiala and his Staten Island/Brooklyn colleague, Councilmember James Oddo, have been spending too much time together. Oddo recently introduced a bill banning the possession of fart spray and stink bombs on school property-another foul social evil perpetrated on the cleanly citizens of New York. For those who have already stocked a supply of seasonal projectiles, Fiala's district office is located at 3944 Richmond Avenue.

New Council Chief Of Staff As one Brooklynite leaves, another comes in. John H. Banks has been named chief of staff for the City Council, replacing Bruce Bender, who left to work full-time on the campaigns of Speaker Peter Vallone and Councilmember Herb Berman. Banks' last job was director of government relations for Con Ed, where he represented the company to city, state and federal officials. Before that, he was deputy director of the Council's finance division. Banks began his government career in 1986 as part of the Mayor's Office of Operations. He also served a short stint at Brooklyn Union Gas.

Online Debate Forum A new Web site that offers candidates the chance to strut their stuff online is being surprisingly underutilized. The site, www.savvyvoter.org , re-launched in September after a preliminary debut in 1998. It allows candidates to post their bios, pictures and positions on the issues-- unedited.

"The basic philosophy is to create a debate about the issues that people care about, and give candidates a way to participate in that debate and voters a way to get information," said Mark Schmitt, a senior advisor to the site and director of public policy at the Open Society Institute. "A Green candidate could raise an issue and challenge the others to debate it online, and they get a back-and-forth going, and the voter gets the picture straight from the candidate's mouth. In the presidential debates, they couldn't have included Nader and Buchanan because the time is limited. On the Internet, space is not limited, and you can really get a sense of everything on your ballot." The site is non-partisan and non-profit.

Despite the invitation, few Brooklyn politicians have posted information. "It's very frustrating sometimes," said Schmitt. "A lot of them don't have close races, and that makes it very difficult to make the pitch that they need to be doing this. We're really hopeful. We want to make sure people are aware of this next year, when we have all the City Council races." The site is a production of the Earth Pledge Foundation, and the Open Society Institute is one of its sponsors.

Borough Politics Archive
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