Owens Challenges Clarke's Citizenship In a somewhat bizarre twist to the race between Rep. Major Owens and Councilmember Una Clarke, the Owens campaign has filed specific objections saying that Clarke is not a citizen of the United States. One of the objectors is Chris Owens, Major Owens' son. Exactly why the Owens campaign would make the move is not clear. Challenging petitions is a normal, if slightly off-putting part of the process-but challenging the citizenship of a three-term councilmember is almost unheard of. More than that, the challenge to Clarke's citizenship appears to be a sizeable political blunder in a race that is playing out along ethnic lines. With much of the 11th Congressional District composed of immigrants, Clarke is able to tap into public sentiment by casting the move as a slap in the face to all immigrants and their struggle to become part of American society. Plus, she seems genuinely annoyed at Owens for seeking to relegate her to what is essentially outsider status.

"He's really burning me up," she said. "I've been a citizen of the U.S. since 1983 and Major knows that." Clarke wondered why her citizenship only became an issue this year, after she has served on the Council for nine years and had a professional relationship with Owens for much longer than that. "First of all, the congressman has told everyone he is my mentor. He's told everyone that were it not for him, I would not be in the Council. If this was a concern for him, how in 1991 did he not ask to see my naturalization papers?" asked Clarke.

She also took the opportunity to blast Owens as anti-immigrant, citing what she said was his slow-footedness in educating his district about amnesty in 1986. In that vein, Clarke was able to expand the challenge of her status to all immigrants in the district. "I see it as a personal attack in trying to tarnish my reputation, but more so I see it as an attack on immigrants," she said. "It sends a chilling message beyond the district I represent, which has some 78 ethnic groups around the world, in telling people that you can participate as long as you don't run for public office. It's all right to be a voter and a soldier, but if you're an immigrant, don't run for higher office." The challenge will be heard in court on Monday, July 31.

The Owens campaign released a statement from Owens that did not address the two specific objections that challenged Clarke's citizenship, focusing instead on the third objection, which challenged her voter registration. "I have asked my election lawyer to challenge the strange and suspicious pattern of voter registration changes of my opponent. In a routine election law procedure, we have filed objections. Among the matters to be explained in a court proceeding is why has this voter residing at the same address registered three times in one decade and used a different name each time. I have no further comment on the this matter until the court has completed its review."

Danica Gallagher, a spokesperson for the Clarke campaign, said that the name changes were minor, and had to do with Clarke's use of her middle initial. The challenge to Clarke's citizenship, she said, was a political stumble by the Owens campaign. "They sort of climbed out on a limb and realized it wasn't attached to the tree," said Gallagher.

The Paper Chase Councilmember Herb Berman has raised significantly more funds for comptroller than Board of Ed President William C. Thompson, Jr. In the most recent filing, Berman listed $503,806, with $381,325 on hand. His average contribution was $561. Meanwhile, Thompson filed $174,658, with $155,834 on hand. His average contribution was eerily similar to Berman's at $561.60. Thompson has a lot of financial ground to close, but he also has ample time to do it, as the election is 14 months away.

Berman, Fisher Side With Clarke: Speaking of Berman, he recently joined with fellow Brooklyn Councilmember Ken Fisher in endorsing Clarke against Owens. The pair teamed with Councilmembers Adolfo Carrion, Walter McCaffrey and John Sabini, as well as former Parks Commissioner Betsy Gotbaum, to form a host committee for a recent Clarke fundraiser. Fisher said that he decided to go with Clarke because he believes she has what it takes to be a good legislator. When asked how he felt about the possibility of losing Owens' 18 years of seniority, he said, "A small portion of my district overlaps with that of the congressman. I can't think of an issue where he's shown real leadership, except in trying to organize the empowerment zone, and that failed, so seniority is important in the right hands."

The Owens campaign had no comment on the endorsements. Owens has been endorsed by Senator Charles Schumer, Assemblymember Clarence Norman, Jr., and a host of black elected officials in Brooklyn and Congress.

Weiner, Dear Vying For Orthodox Support Flyers are appearing throughout Borough Park that give an "urgent call from the Gedolei Torah of our community on behalf of the candidacy of Noach Dear for Congress." The flyer, put out by five Torah scholars and rabbis, advocates for Dear as a politician who will promote issues such as scholarship aid for religious schools. "To our distress, the values of the Torah and our way of life are foreign to the one who represents us in Congress," the flyer says of Weiner. "The time has come for us to have a congressman of our own, who is faithful to his constituents, who will be concerned with the vital interests of the Orthodox community."

But Shlomo Perl, chairman of the Hebrew Academy for Special Children (HASC), stepped up to defend Weiner. Weiner, he said, recently attended a meeting at his house with about 100 Orthodox leaders and enumerated an agenda on issues like federal aid for religious schools. "What Congressman Weiner is saying, which is very important to the Jewish Orthodox community, is that there are many ways to skin a cat," said Perl. "We don't really know whether vouchers for parochial schools is constitutional, but there are many ways to help yeshivas and parochial schools, and he's done a very good job of doing just that." As an example, Perl cited the fact that Weiner authored legislation that would double the per child tax credit from $500 to $1,000, while expanding the number of families eligible.

Jeff Hoschander, a spokesperson for Dear, released a statement saying that five signatories of the flyer (Rabbis Aharon Zelig Epstein, Aharon Shechter, Naftali Tzvi Halberstam, Avrohom Pam and Dovid Feinstein) represent a consensus of support for Dear in the Orthodox community. "The unified endorsement of these rabbinic leaders, who generally remain remote from politics, is highly unprecedented and demonstrates the overwhelming nature of the community's support for Dear," said the statement.

But Eli Yeger, an active figure in local politics and a member of School Board 22, said that Weiner has done a good job of reaching out to the Orthodox community. He said that the implication of the flyer-that only an Orthodox Jew should represent Orthodox Jews-was incorrect. Yeger, who often supports Orthodox candidates, has not yet endorsed a candidate in this race. "I don't think it's fair for anyone to say that a representative must be from a particular community to adequately represent that particular community," he said. "Clearly, there are certain types of concerns that if you are within the community, you certainly understand and appreciate them better, but it doesn't preclude someone who's not in the community from learning what the concerns are and understanding them."

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