Last week, in a Brooklyn Court House, far removed from the glare and scrutiny of the New York media, Senator Kevin Parker squared off with his political nemesis Wellington Sharpe ( through lawyers of course), once again. The last time these two had squared off was fall 2004, when they both attended a birthday party for NYC council-member Kendall Stewart, at Cafe Omar in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. This is where Sharpe claims that Parker physically assaulted him for the second time that year. And for the second time Sharpe made a complaint to the NYPD. The first complaint had come a few months earlier, after they had attended an event in Brooklyn sponsored by Haitian-American activists. Don’t expect these two to be exchanging Christmas gifts any time soon folks.
The court matter last week however had little to do with these alleged physical confrontations. No sir. This had to do with comments made by Parker, when Sharpe challenged him for his Senate seat (#21), in the 2004 Dem. Primary. Sharpe claims in his complaint that he was libelled , slandered, defamed and such, when Parker suggested that Noach Dear’s money was responsible for his (Sharpe’s) entry into that race. The implication being, that with a district comprising roughly 25% white voters , any black opponent to Parker increased the chances of a Noach Dear( white/jewish) victory, thus an investment in such a candidacy by Dear would be highly practical.
The last time we saw Kevin Parker grab a newspaper headline, was when he also grabbed a traffic agent about to give him a ticket for double-parking. It is alleged that Parker got physical, while screaming to the traffic agent : " do you know who I am? " It is further alleged that Parker has had confrontations with staff-members and others in the general public also. More than one newspaper has reported that Parker has also had run-ins with police officers, while he was driving over the legal speed limit or while driving irresponsibly. His temper is rumoured to be in Senator Ada Smith’s minor league.
Now we get word (again) that Parker has been taking anger- management classes. Rumors have it that he had failed them once or twice before. Well, Kevin will be tested very soon once again. You see,when lawyers representing the two parties met in court for the third time last week, they were admonished by the presiding judge to move this matter forward in a timely manner. If this holds, then Parker and Sharpe will be facing each other again, sometime in the near future, and that’s when we will know if Kevin passed his anger-management exams, or if he fell off the wagon once again. STAY TUNED.