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By Erik Engquist
As printed in the Courier Life Newspapers
December 1, 2003

FINAL TERM FOR MAJOR Rep. Major Owens tried to put an end to the biennial rumors of his retirement by declaring last week that he'll run for a final two-year term in 2004 and then quit. Owens hopes that will put and end to reports such as the one on political observer Maurice Gumbs's Web site "Footnotes" that if Councilwoman Yvette Clarke announces she's running for Owens's seat, he might retire.

"According to our information," Gumbs wrote, "Major has had triple or quadruple bypass cardiac surgery. And Footnotes has learned from very reliable sources that Major has been warned that if he gets involved in a physically demanding contest, it would likely be his last. In addition, those who have seen Major lately felt that he didn't seem to be in great health."

We passed that on to Chris Owens, who replied that his father "had quintuple bypass surgery in 1991. This is obviously old news and part of the usual bi-annual rumor mill." He meant biennial, of course. In other words, every time Owens is up for reelection. The point may be moot with the congressman's announcement that after one more term, he'll retire to write novels and plays.

Noteworthy is that Major didn't exactly deliver a ringing endorsement for Chris, who hopes to succeed him. "I have some very good friends who are knocking on the door, as well as my son," he told The New York Times. "At this point, I don't know what I want to do. And I still have time to figure that out." We'd be shocked if Chris Owens didn't get his father's backing. So why did Major hedge? Probably to make his endorsement appear to be on the merits, rather than based on nepotism. To do that, the congressman will have to pretend to consider other candidates.

And who might they be? The usual suspects are Assemblyman Nick Perry, State Senator Carl Andrews, and Councilwoman Tracy Boyland. A more remote possibility is former Councilman Steve DiBrienza. Also, Anthony Pugliese, who finished fourth among six candidates in the Democratic primary won by Councilman Bill deBlasio in 2001, has reportedly been telling people he'll run if Owens doesn't. Owens's announcement makes it unlikely any viable candidate will run against him next year rather than wait for the seat to become open. However, one campaign manager told us he'd advise a client to file petitions in 2004 just to be sure Owens doesn't withdraw suddenly and appoint his son to replace him on an uncontested ballots.

The Owenses have pledged many times not to do that, but our source e-mailed, "It's too good an opportunity for Major to pass [up], and if they could guarantee [Chris] a free seat he would make the attempt to get it. By the time everybody who's angry at it gets to do anything about it, he'd be a 21-month incumbent."

WEINER WATCH We got an inquiry from the Washington newspaper Roll Call, asking if the possible mayoral campaign of Rep. Anthony Weiner is being taken seriously. We replied: Council Speaker Gifford Miller is certainly not taking Weiner for granted. He's noticed that Weiner seems to be getting around town quite a bit more than members of Congress generally do.

Weiner, incidentally, called us to correct any impression our previous column might have left that he's an unabashed fan of the Patriot Act. While he did vote for the act shortly after September 11, 2001, he's not inclined to extend all the provisions that will "sunset" soon. Nor is Weiner gung-ho for any expansion of the Patriot Act, which was expected in a bill to be called Patriot Act II. The congressman said, "Right now I'm leaning against any expansion of this thing." He added, "It seems increasingly likely there won't be one. They (Bush officials) are having trouble just justifying what they have in there" already.

Weiner, who hails from Park Slope but now lives in Queens, makes an effort to portray himself as a moderate, which is a nice place to be politically because he can appeal to a broader range of voters. The downside is, true believers don't get too excited about moderates. Even Weiner's parents, Park Slope liberals, have been known to chide their son when he drifts too far rightward.

LENORA FOOL-ANI The political deal-making skills-or lack thereof-of the Independence Party's Lenora Fulani were on full display as she futilely tried to drum up support for Proposition 3, which would have replaced party primaries with non-partisan elections. Prop 3 failed miserably, with 70 percent of voters opposing it on November 4. We point to a call that Fulani made to Erlene King, who finished fourth in the Democratic primary won by Councilman Kendall Stewart.

Fulani asked King to endorse Prop 3 and round up her supporters to vote for it. King couldn't say no fast enough, since Fulani's Independence Party had denied King its line on the general-election ballot, even though she interviewed for it. I

n fact, the Independence Party didn't give its nomination to anyone in the East Flatbush race. "And they expected us to support them," King said in disbelief. "Why would I be out there trying to drum up support for a party that shunned me?" Fulani did manage to get City Council candidate Geoffrey Davis to endorse Prop 3, presumably in exchange for Fulani's endorsement of Davis, but the effect was negligible. Davis garnered just 19 percent of the vote.

WAITING FOR GUFFMAN.. ER, GORDON One of these decades, Assemblywoman Diane Gordon's campaign committee will file its financial disclosures, which have gone unreported since January 2001 (a violation of state law). By contrast, her 2002 opponent Kenneth Evans filed a report as recently as this year, even though he has just $20.90 in his campaign fund. And it's not as if Gordon's committee hasn't been active. She ran a big reelection operation in 2002, apparently fearful that Evans would get help from gubernatorial candidate Carl McCall in retaliation for Gordon's endorsement of McCall's opponent, Andrew Cuomo.

Evans was also hoping for McCall's support. At the very least he figured he'd get a hand from Councilman Charles Barron, whose petitions Evans had coordinated in 2001, and who as a champion of black people didn't figure to appreciate a black legislator like Gordon picking the white Cuomo over the McCall. Indeed Barron didn't appreciate Gordon's endorsement of Cuomo, and told her so. But Barron declined to back Evans.

Barron told all his election workers he would not automatically support them in future races. "It would have to be a very serious campaign," he said. Evans's 2002 effort didn't qualify, Barron said. First, said the councilman, "I caught Ken Evans meeting with (Rep.) Ed Towns's people." That didn't sit well with him since Towns had opposed Barron in the 2001 Council race. Then, "In June, in the middle of the petitioning period, after Towns abandoned him, [Evans] called me and said, 'I need your support.' We decided not to support him because he wasn't serious."

Incumbents don't usually endorse insurgent candidates who have no chance to win. For that reason, Barron may have a hard time rounding up support among elected officials for his mayoral campaign, which he'll launch on Martin Luther King Day from the steps of City Hall.

But we digress. Getting back to the 2002 Democratic primary, Gordon dispatched vans across the district with election workers equipped with radios, cell phones, and campaign T-shirts. "I don't think that was all done for free," Evans said. Gordon's campaign committee also ran an operation in 2001 for mayoral hopeful Alan Hevesi, borough president candidate Jeannette Gadson, and other candidates allied with Democratic county leader Clarence Norman.

By not filing financial disclosures, the assemblywoman has put her own relative, campaign treasurer Helen Gordon, at risk for $500 judgments for each violation of campaign finance law, according to a Board of Elections spokesman. "Why didn't she file?" Evans wondered. "Does she have something to hide?"

EAST FLATBUSH FIGHT City Councilman Kendall Stewart wants to resign as Democratic district leader for the 58th Assembly District and be succeeded by his chief of staff, Asquith Reid. Problem is, Stewart previously promised the position to Weyman Carey, according to Carey.

When Stewart announced his intention, Carey began lobbying the other 41 district leaders to vote for him at the October 30 meeting. But they didn't really want to decide the matter and told county leader Clarence Norman as much. So Stewart remained a district leader until the power brokers in East Flatbush could work out their differences.

Carey, who is supported by Assemblyman Nick Perry, is president of the New Era Community Democratic Club, the only active Democratic club in the 58th A.D. Reid is the treasurer.

Carey reminded Norman that Stewart shouldn't get to pick his successor because the councilman endorsed Republican George Pataki last year. "I tried to tell Clarence, loyalty is a two-way street," Carey said. Perry has also shown loyalty to Norman, appearing at the press conference to support the county leader just before Norman's indictment. If Perry's man doesn't get the job, it would be a blow to the assemblyman.

Usually the choice is given to the presiding assemblymember. (Each assembly district has a male and female district leader for the Democratic and Republican parties. They are elected officials but rarely have opponents, so are not often seen on the ballot.)

SCARE TACTICS When those opposed to an Atlantic Terminal sports arena/housing complex call it a "stadium" and a "skyscraper," are they being reckless with the language or purposely trying to scare people? The latter, believes Borough President Marty Markowitz. "They're doing it on purpose," the beep told us. "I know exactly what their subliminal message is."

They're trying to conjure up images of Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium, huge structures that seat nearly three times as many people as a basketball arena would, Markowitz said. Markowitz, who would love to bring the Nets to Brooklyn, believes the conversation about the arena/housing complex is premature until Bruce Ratner's group actually buys the team.

"Should this come to pass, the community has a right and an obligation to be included in the planning," Markowitz said. "I don't want anything to occur in terms of development and an arena without it being a win-win for Brooklyn and for Prospect Heights."

SCORE ONE FOR THE MEDIA Do newspaper endorsements make a difference in elections? Usually not. Consider that Erlene King was endorsed by The New York Times in the September race to unseat Councilman Kendall Stewart. King got 601 votes out of nearly 6,000 cast.

A year earlier, the Times endorsed Mickey Heller, who finished last with 14 percent of the vote in his bid to topple State Senator Carl Andrews. But on the day of this year's Democratic primary, the Daily News urged voters to support Civil Court candidate Kathy King against the incumbent, Judge Kathryn Smith, who was supported by the Democratic machine so despised by the newspaper. "That could have turned around a bunch of votes," said Mitch Alter, who handled the legal work for King's campaign.

Given that King won by 50 votes, it's fair to say that the newspaper endorsement changed the outcome, in combination with an effort by Councilman Charles Barron. "We had no elected officials supporting us, except 10 days before the primary Charles Barron endorsed our candidate and worked hard to get her elected," said Alter. Rep. Ed Towns and his camp were on the losing side of the race. Usually, Towns and Alter are on the same team, but the two have had a falling out.

The judicial district includes Bushwick, East New York, and half of Starrett City.

IDLING BUSES Brooklyn members of the City Council may soon vote on a bill to increase the fines for buses that idle for more than three minutes. While they're at it, they might also ask themselves whether police cars and scooters, ambulances, livery cabs, and all other vehicles should be allowed to idle needlessly. Council Speaker Gifford Miller's office told us the focus is currently on diesel buses because they produce the greatest and most harmful pollutants. But we suspect that the many other idling vehicles do, over time, contribute as much pollution as buses that idle for an average of three or four minutes. Miller says other pollution sources could be addressed later on.

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