The More The Merrier A slew of community people are busy stomping around the borough trying to secure the signatures of a thousand Brooklynites and land a slot on Al Gore or Bill Bradleyís delegate slate. Every four years, most of those people are disappointed when they discover that the party doesnít want them, and on top of that, state law dictates that a certain number of ethnic minorities, women, gays and lesbians must be represented, drastically cutting the number of available spots. And in the case of the Democrats, union reps are always a heavy presence. The slate is balanced so that Democratic constituencies will receive adequate representation, and it is controlled so that candidates can trade delegate slots for the support of local infrastructures. But the control that the candidates exercise over the slate may actually hurt them in a way, said one source, who believes that a limited delegate slate can automatically limit the voters that will turn out for both the delegate and presidential candidates.

"The funny thing with these delegates -- it's not the Gore delegates versus the Bradley delegates, it's all of them running against each other. It makes no sense to vote for the entire slate of candidates because you're actually voting for no one," said the source. "People making efforts for individual (delegate) candidates against other individual (delegate) candidates is probably going to benefit the (presidential) candidates more."

When the candidates' campaigns secure the entire ballot, there are really no individual contests, which is automatically going to limit the turnout. But if the campaigns were to let anyone on the ballot -- in actuality instead of in theory -- a variety of people could come out for a wider range of delegate candidates who they personally know and support, or against delegate candidates they personally know and despise. The wider the choice offered by the delegate ballot, the more voters will turn out for that presidential candidate, which will give that candidate more primary votes. And since the delegates are awarded in proportion to the vote, and since the presidential candidate needs at least 15 percent to get any delegates at all, those primary votes are doubly important. Gore, as the established Democratic candidate, has to cut deals with the local organization, so it makes sense that his slate is approved from on high. But Bradley might be better off throwing the doors wide open and seeing who walks through.

The Call Word has it that John Talmage, the chief of staff for Councilmember Kenneth Fisher, is no longer interested in running for Fisherís council seat in 2001 because he wants to enter the seminary and become an Episcopalian minister. But Talmage said that he was never really interested in running in the first place.

"The Hasidim and people in Brooklyn Heights have been pushing me to run, but I'm just not interested," he said. Talmage said that he has not been accepted to the seminary yet, but he has applied. He said that should he be accepted, he would attend part-time and stay on as Fisher's chief of staff to work on the councilman's mayoral campaign. "I'm much more interested in government than politics," he said.

Steve Cohn, a Court Street lawyer who is considering a run for the seat, is the candidate most likely to benefit from Talmage's absence. Talmage was the only would-be-candidate in the race who could have given Cohn a run for his money in the Hasidic sections of the districtóa bloc that Cohn, if he indeed runs, will now command all by himself.

One-Way Ticket Jerry Wygoda was tossed out of the top spot at the Sephardic Voters League after making a series of moves that led the club in "directions that were not helpful," said Michael Geller, the district leader in the 45th A.D. "It's perfectly normal," said Wygoda of the leadership change. "I've been the chair for the last six years. I have a health situation, so I had to make things a little easier."

Wygoda antagonized State Senator Carl Kruger and Councilmember Herbert Berman when he profiled two of their rivals in his column in Image magazine, said Geller. Wygoda profiled deputy borough president Jeannette Gadson, whom Kruger would face if he decides to run for borough president. He also profiled William Thompson, Jr., the president of the Board of Education, who is Berman's competition in the race for comptroller. "It's totally innocuous," said Wygoda. "We also offered a profile to Herb Berman, who has yet to respond to us."

In terms of entertainment value, neither of those acts can trump the letter Wygoda is said to have sent in February endorsing Irma Kramer over Joe Dweck in the special election to fill the seat in the 48th Councilmanic District. According to Geller, Wygoda sent the letter on Sephardic Voters League stationary, which was fine, except for one thing -- the stationery letterhead included the names of the league's board of directors, many of whom had no intention of endorsing Kramer -- including Dweck himself. "I know nothing about that," said Wygoda. "The Sephardic Voters League did not endorse anybody, although I personally endorsed Irma Kramer. I'm not sure in all honesty if at the end of the election, when Joe was off the ballot, we might have all come out for Irma."

Wygoda also had a few choice words for Geller. "Mr. Geller is not a member of the Sephardic community, and he knows nothing about Sephardic customs or needs, and he's a politician," said Wygoda. Eddie Sutton, a member of Community School Board 21, will now head the organization. "We'll be working to try to get political clout to benefit the Sephardic community of Brooklyn," said Sutton, who was mum on the reasons behind the change in leadership."

If you have a tip or an issue to raise, please call 769-4400 ext. 3326, or send an e-mail to bpolitics@juno.com. If you intend your e-mail for publication, please include your name, phone number and address for verification.

Borough Politics Archive
December 2 column.
November 25 column.
November 18 column.
November 11 column.
November 4 column.