No Consensus On Speaker After the fourth meeting of the Brooklyn City Council delegation, consensus on a single speaker candidate appears impossible, said several sources. "What's happening here is the folks who wanted to see a Brooklyn consensus around a compromise candidate are ready to become free agents," said one Democratic nominee who attended the meeting, held again in the backroom of the Park Plaza Diner on Cadman Plaza West.

For a month, Assemblymember and County Leader Clarence Norman, Jr. has been trying to get all 16 Brooklyn councilmembers and Democratic nominees to back one of their colleagues for speaker-a coalition that would be the largest of all the boroughs. But now it appears that full consensus is out of reach, and uncommitted incumbents and nominees are ready to cut their own personal deals with whomever they please. "I get the feeling that there's no effort to build a full consensus," said another nominee. "There are people who are just never going to be on board." Most ominous is the fact that the next meeting isn't scheduled until November 18, suggesting there is scant momentum.

However, Councilmember Angel Rodriguez, an announced candidate for speaker, did add a new supporter to his list: Councilmember Tracy Boyland. Boyland, who was herself a speaker candidate, decided to drop out after her campaign failed to gain traction. Rodriguez now has nine declared supporters. But most, if not all, of Rodriguez's support was earned by Rodriguez, and not delivered by Norman, said one nominee. "The truth is that Clarence Norman does not have many, if any, votes there," said the nominee.

Up until now, Norman has consistently said that he was neutral and did not favor any particular candidate, although others have disagreed, saying that he has pushed Rodriguez. Now, however, Norman is openly naming Rodriguez as Brooklyn's candidate. He sounded upbeat about the fact that most of the delegation was backing Rodriguez, and said that in addition to Rodriguez's nine declared supporters, some so-called undecided nominees were also backing Rodriguez. "It's clear that the Brooklyn delegation is with Angel, even though not everyone is with him. Not one vote went to anyone else. Angel is the guy for Brooklyn. I think he's looking very good," said Norman.

Nominee Al Vann is the only other announced Brooklyn candidate, but his candidacy is flagging. The other announced candidates include three Manhattan councilmembers: Gifford Miller, Bill Perkins and Phil Reed. Even if consensus is still possible, of which Norman said he is hopeful, it is clear that members and nominees are becoming tired of lengthy meetings with little new movement. "It was an utter waste of time," said one nominee of the last meeting, which lasted three hours.

Another nominee said that the November 18 meeting was make-or-break. "By the time we reconvene on the 18th, we will have either reached the critical mass or not." The slow pace of consensus may be giving other counties-which were eager to make a deal with a unified Brooklyn-some reason to pause. "The other counties looking to make a deal with Brooklyn are going to reassess in light of the inability to reach consensus after four meetings," said one nominee. But Norman disagreed, saying that Rodriguez can now operate from a position of bargaining power, even if he doesn't have absolute support.

Hot Contest On Horizon While Carl Andrews may have the inside track in a special election for State Senator Marty Markowitz's seat, Andrews will probably face stiff competition in the near future. Andrews, who is Clarence Norman's best friend and director of intergovernmental relations for Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, will probably be chosen as the Democratic nominee if a special election were held for the seat, say sources. The special election would occur if Markowitz wins the general election for borough president-a near certainty.

If Andrews were the Democratic nominee, he would likely coast to victory in the general election. But the following September, Andrews could face as many as four primary opponents.

Roy Hastick, president of the Caribbean-American Chamber of Commerce, has said he will probably not challenge Andrews in the special election, but has never ruled out the following primary.

District Leader Lori Citron Knipel-whose cooperation Andrews will need to be designated the Democratic nomination for the special election-has expressed interest in the seat herself, according to sources. Knipel did not return a call seeking comment.

Vaughn Toney, chief of staff for Councilmember Lloyd Henry, is a likely candidate. "I'm very much interested in that seat," he said, noting that he served for eight years as the top aide to former state senator. District Leader Booker Ingram also is said to be interested, but he could not be reached for comment.

Toney said that if Andrews were to win the seat in a special election, he would not enjoy the full advantage of incumbency because he would take the office in February, and face a challenge that September. Further, said Toney, Andrews is not widely known in the district. "I think the real race is going to be September of next year. I'm mounting a vigorous campaign," said Toney.

Andrews did not return calls seeking comment.

De Blasio Flies Below RadarAlthough Angel Rodriguez has the most declared support, nominee Bill de Blasio of the 39th Councilmanic District continues to run a behind-the-scenes speaker campaign that insiders refuse to ignore. "Don't sleep on Bill de Blasio," said one nominee.

The next speaker won't be chosen until January, so despite the early jockeying, much time remains until the finish. Additionally, the process is so fluid that insiders believe nearly anything can happen. And if history is a guide, declared support is worthless until the votes are actually cast. De Blasio has been meeting with high-level supporters in state and city government as well as labor unions, while bending the ear of individual members and nominees to gauge their interest.

If de Blasio, Senator Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager, does not become speaker, he will likely make a play for some leadership role, say sources. De Blasio himself did not comment directly on the matter, but said: "I want to work for significant Democratic rules reform, and I'd like to see a strong and capable speaker. I will do what I can over the next two and a half months to make sure we have a good leadership team that is committed to Democratic reform."

Feud Flares In Club Darts continue to fly between members of the Good Government Democratic Club and Susan Lasher, wife of Councilmember Howard Lasher, over whether the club's executive board voted to endorse Republican Council candidate Oleg Gutnik. Lasher maintains that after meeting with Gutnik, seven of the nine members of the club's executive board, including President Gloria Hacken, decided to back Gutnik. "If you have seven out of nine, I think that's a majority, so I was told that the executive board of the Good Government Democratic Club is supporting his candidacy," said Lasher.

But not so fast, said two board members who were galled by Lasher's assertion. Ida Sanoff said that the board never voted to back Gutnik. Quite to the contrary, said Sanoff, the board voted not to back anyone in the race. "I'm very upset that it was said that the club voted to endorse someone when it did not, because this gives the candidate a veneer of acceptance which was not intended," said Sanoff. Sanoff added that individual club members were free to support whomever they desired. Fellow board member Barbara Teitelbaum also said the Gutnik endorsement never happened. "Susan's statement is untrue," said Teitelbaum.

But Lasher maintains that Sanoff and Teitelbaum are alone in their refusal to back Gutnik, and that the rest of the board supports him. Both Sanoff and Teitelbaum are backing the Democratic nominee, Domenic Recchia.

Oops Department Councilmember Marty Golden may very well be a wonderful person, but he is a terrible speller. While we are not above the occasional misprint ourselves, we did find several noteworthy spelling errors in Golden's campaign materials.

Golden recently mailed out a campaign piece heralding his endorsements by Mayor Giuliani, Governor Pataki and Rep. Vito "Forssella." Last time we checked, it was Fossella, and there was only one of him. Due to the recent attacks and ensuing public uncertainty, the piece states that we need Golden's leadership "now more than every."

On his Web site, We are tempted to poke fun at the intelligence of your average councilmember, but we do not want to alienate our sources, who are far too "valluable" for our purposes.

Borough Politics Archive
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