TOWNS DROPS CIGS FOR ENERGY BIGS Until this year, Rep. Ed Towns was ridiculed as the Marlboro Man for allegedly doing the bidding of Big Tobacco while receiving sizable campaign contributions from that industry. Then came the revelation from Towns that he'd gone two years without accepting a penny of tobacco cash. Panicked that our days of penning "Tobacco Towns" items were over, we raced to the Federal Elections Commission Web site to see if the claim were true.

Indeed it was. But in the process, we noticed an unusual number of four-figure donations from the energy industry, adding up to at least $17,000 from energy PACS alone. Was Towns up to something?

In late November, the other shoe dropped: Towns voted for a controversial bill that was slammed by critics but coveted by the energy industry, which stood to receive more than $23 billion in tax breaks. It also included $1 billion to build a nuclear plant in Idaho, $800 million in loan guarantees for a coal gasification plant in Minnesota, and tens of millions for timber companies to ravage national forests. The New York Times editorial page derided the bill as "a pork-barrel bonanza of special favors likely to cost twice the advertised price of $31 billion."

Given that Towns voted with the majority of House members, it might be unfair to say that in ditching the tobacco industry for energy, the congressman had simply found a new pimp. So we won't.

But we will point out that not even one other Democrat in the tri-state area voted for the bill, which was eventually defeated by a Senate filibuster despite late lobbying by President Bush. The bill would have passed had Republican hatchet-man Tom DeLay agreed to drop a provision protecting MTBE producers from lawsuits over the harmful fuel additive. Apparently Towns had no problem with that, the tax breaks, the logging subsidies, or anything else. How bad was this bill? Even Rep. Vito Fossella, a Republican representing Staten Island and western Brooklyn, voted against it. Fossella usually follows Bush and the Republican right wing in the manner of a lemming.

For Towns to position himself to the political right of Vito Fossella… Well, let's just say if Towns ever shows up at a reform club like Independent Neighborhood Democrats again, he'll have some explaining to do. As one disgusted IND member said of Towns, "He got caught up too much on the Mr. Marlboro tag, so he traded it in for something else."

Towns aide Karen Johnson, IND's vice president, e-mailed us that "because of the way Republicans operate down there (in Washington), one cannot separate good from bad" in such bills. "The rules committee would not allow it because then it guts any hope of an energy bill." Of her boss, Johnson wrote, "I think his vote is courageous." Even we are not so cynical to believe that a bill improving the nation's electric grid couldn't pass without lots of unnecessary tax breaks and subsidies thrown in.

YASSKY EYES NETS The folks fighting plans for a Nets basketball arena next to Atlantic Center have an ally in Councilwoman Tish James but perhaps not in her more established colleague, David Yassky. "I want to see the full plan, but I'm inclined to support it," Yassky said. "A basketball team in Brooklyn would be good for the city, good for Brooklyn. It would be a way to make Atlantic Center work, which it doesn't, and never has."

But Yassky said he'll reserve judgment until there's a design and financial plan for the project, which would also including housing. James opposes an arena at Atlantic Center, despite the presence of 11 subway lines, numerous bus routes, and the LIRR, because of the impact on nearby residents. She says the Nets should play in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where there's just one small and obscure F-train station and no significant commercial development.

STICKER SHOCK FOR DEBLASIO In the last days of her race against City Councilman Bill deBlasio, "Green-No to War" candidate Gloria Mattera of Park Slope e-mailed us, "We noticed that the taxpayers have decided to reclaim the garbage cans on 5th Ave by taping over deBlasio's name."

Uh, Gloria, isn't that vandalism? "No one on (my) campaign committee condones such actions," Mattera responded, dropping the smugness we inferred from her previous comment.

We assume she also doesn't condone the defacing of signs crediting deBlasio with allocating money to Harmony Playground at 9th Street in Park Slope. The councilman set aside funding to pay for the extra-large garbage cans, on which the Department of Sanitation painted, "Sponsored by Councilmember Bill deBlasio." Special solvents were promptly used to remove the vandals' super-adhesive stickers, which had replaced the councilman's name with "Brooklyn taxpayers."

Unfortunately, no such urgency has been shown in removing yellow "Bush lies, who dies?" stickers slapped all over public property in the same neighborhood by the Manhattan-based United for Peace and Justice, which apparently is only interested in justice for the crimes of others, not its own. The group, not related to Mattera's campaign, didn't bother returning a phone call. Incidentally, Mattera declared herself "very pleased" with the 18.5 percent of the vote she received on November 4 against deBlasio, up from the 10 percent she garnered in 2001.

BARRON BITES BACK Councilman Charles Barron, responding to quotes from Ken Evans in last week's column, told us he did not support Evans's opponent, Assemblywoman Diane Gordon, in the 2002 election. Barron added that he was indeed upset that Gordon endorsed Andrew Cuomo over Carl McCall for governor, and told her so. But the councilman confirmed that neither did he support Evans, even though Evans coordinated the petition drive that put Barron on the ballot in 2001.

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." Since Towns had opposed Barron in the 2001 Council race, that didn't sit well with him. 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. If Barron makes the mayoral ballot, he would have to give up his Council seat. But he plans to sue for the right to run for both offices at the same time, he told the New York Post.

FELDMAN UNDER FIRE When Brooklynite Elise Harris from General Wesley Clark's presidential campaign called Brooklyn Democratic Party executive director Jeff Feldman for a list of the borough's Democratic clubs, Feldman replied that he had none.

Party spokesman Bob Liff said Harris "was told exactly the same thing that everyone is told from every campaign: that the party does not keep a list of clubs. What it keeps, and what she was given, was a list of district leaders and their phone numbers. Those district leaders are tied to individual clubs." Feldman is an encyclopedia of Brooklyn politics. If he wanted to compile a list of active clubs, he could certainly do so. But some clubs aren't on good terms with the organization, so by not providing any club numbers, Feldman can't be accused of playing favorites.

If Feldman were a bit grumpy when the Clark campaign called, we could guess why. He was about to be indicted by a second grand jury impaneled by Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes for the DA's "judgeships for sale" investigation. The first grand jury fell one vote shy of indicting Feldman, prompting Hynes to try again.

We'd be shocked if Hynes can secure a conviction, given that Feldman did not personally benefit by allegedly telling County-endorsed judicial candidates which vendors to hire. It's not even clear that such instructions were criminal, since there's no proof that failing to follow them would have resulted in retribution against the candidate.

Indeed, one candidate, Housing Court Judge Marcia Sikowitz of Park Slope, did not hire one vendor recommended by Feldman, William Boone III (apparently because she lacked the money, not because Sikowitz was standing up for herself). But Sikowitz was not kicked off the County ticket, which also included Karen Yellen and Robin Garson.

One irony is that the primary vendor the three candidates were allegedly compelled to hire, Brooklyn Heights printer Ernie Lendler, produced literature for them that was superior to that of their opponent Dolores Thomas, whose mailings were rife with bad grammar and spelling. Still, Yellen was furious-especially about hiring Boone to work black neighborhoods, where she expected few votes-after losing her bid for reelection to Civil Court. Her complaints to Hynes helped secure Feldman's indictment.

But we must mention the absurd assertion by Brooklyn Democratic Party spokesman Bob Liff in The New York Times that Yellen's request for a Supreme Court judgeship following her defeat demonstrated her contentment at the time with the party.

The only way to become a Supreme Court judge in Brooklyn is through the Democratic Party. Yellen asked county leader Clarence Norman because he was the only person who could keep her on the bench. It was the same request that Judge Howard Ruditzky made after losing his County-backed Civil Court race in 2001. Ruditzky's request was granted. Yellen's wasn't. It's not a stretch to say that if Norman had elevated Yellen to Supreme, she would not have testified against him and Feldman and they would not have been indicted on November 17.

CIVIL COURT RACES LOOM: Look for Park Slope Civil Council President Bernie Graham to run for one of the five Civil Court judgeships up for bid next fall. Well, perhaps we shouldn't say "up for bid," given the district attorney's ongoing "judgeships for sale" investigation, but you get the idea. The vacancies were created when five judges finagled Supreme Court promotions from the Democratic machine. Graham is considering running in the 6th District, which runs from Fort Greene to Midwood. Graham last ran for office in 1991, when he lost a City Council race to Steve DiBrienza.

Other possible candidates include Legal Aid's Steve Banks (who lost to Bill deBlasio in the 2001 race to succeed DiBrienza), Lambda Independent Democrats treasurer Harley Diamond of Fort Greene, Michael Gerstein (who ran for the seat in 2001), Supreme Court law clerk Robin Shears, April Neubauer (who floated her name this year but didn't run), and Housing Court Judge Johnny Lee Baynes. The last three 6th District races were won by black women. By that measure, Shears would be the favorite in 2004.

Banks told us he was looking at the race but also had goals for the job he got last year as Legal Aid's number-two lawyer in New York City. It sounded to us like Banks is waiting for Assemblyman Jim Brennan's seat to open up, which could happen if Brennan wins the 2005 race for city comptroller. Brennan is the only elected official from Windsor Terrace, where Banks lives.

Three names have also come up for a countywide Civil Court seat: Law clerk Robert Dorf of Brooklyn Heights, Housing Court Judge Gary Marton, and South Brooklyn Legal Services board member Theresa Ciccotto. Civil Court judgeships have 10-year terms with a starting salary of $125,000. In Brooklyn, the Democratic primary decides these races.

HERBERT'S MONEY WOES Former City Council candidate Tony Herbert has yet to receive about $40,000 in matching funds that he was expecting, and as a result some of his campaign workers haven't been paid what they were promised. Herbert, of Fort Greene, told us his inexperienced campaign treasurer initially failed to send documentation to the Campaign Finance Board for several contributions he received. He said he expects to get the money and pay his people in January, when he will also announce which office he'll run for next. Herbert, a Republican, lives in the heavily Democratic districts represented by Councilwoman Tish James, State Senator Carl Andrews, Assemblyman Roger Green, and Rep. Major Owens, so he'd be a big underdog in any race. But he told us, "I'm never going back to the Democratic Party."

POLITICAL TIDBITS Newsday broke the story that former City Council candidate Geoffrey Davis was fired as head of a CUNY-funded youth program at Medgar Evers College because he failed to disclose his criminal history when he was hired in January 2002. Davis said he might have omitted information on his initial application, but underwent extensive background checks afterward.

The feeling here is if his bosses really liked him, they would have overlooked his long-ago convictions, which had no bearing on his $35,000 job today. If Davis's late brother James Davis were alive and still in office, Geoffrey's job would have been protected…

One opponent of the shelter for battered Asian women about to open in Carroll Gardens, Richard Salerno, told The Brooklyn Paper he'll expose the safe house's address in Asian neighborhoods, which would help batterers track down their wives and girlfriends there. Shelter supporters are now considering whether to publicize Salerno's phone number and address and stage protests in front of his house, giving opponents a taste of their own medicine…

Contact Brooklyn Politics at (718) 399-3693.

Borough Politics Archive

2003
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2001
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2000
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1999
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