The Vines #01-07

When I first started my “Grapevine” column almost a year ago, I promised to bring you the real story behind the events and happenings that mainstream media reports to you, relative to the politics of the places I peregrinate. I also promised to bring you the behind–the-scenes speculation, innuendo, gripes and analysis of such; the kind of stuff that both mainstream and local media usually ignore. I figured that the “grapevine” will always be full of the gossipy kind of stuff that political junkies like. The stuff that fuels political crack heads who read blogs like this. I always hoped to get as close to the truth as I could. I try, but I am not perfect. Sometimes the real truth can be elusive; other times it can be disguised. Most times I do all right; once in a blue moon I come up short; so sue me: I never promised you a rose garden.

Okay, so I once changed the name of my column to add “Pumpkinvines”; so what? Here I go changing the name again, but the contents remain the same, just as the objectives. Grapevines, pumpkinvines, watermelonvines: same difference; so fasten your seatbelts and drive off with Cousin Rocky as he peruses the “Vines”.

So last week Darryl Towns-the chairman of the Black and Hispanic Caucus- wanted to call an emergency meeting of his group, in order to discuss the “comptroller impasse” between the governor (Eliot Spitzer) and the speaker of the sate assembly (Sheldon Silver); Towns asked Silver for some space to hold the meeting, and the speaker refused his request, while chastising him for even wanting to hold such a meeting. You see the blacks and Hispanics in the Senate were staying with Malcolm Smith on this one, and Smith was backing the governor in this fight. Silver wasn’t about to lose the blacks and Hispanics in the Assembly too.

After being rebuffed by Silver, Darryl Towns then went to Malcolm Smith, while still looking for space (room) to hold his caucus; the senate minority leader (Smith) obliged. When Shelly heard about this, he called up Smith and they verbally went at it I am told. All this led one member of the caucus to ask; “are we still on the fucking plantation; must we get permission to hold a meeting now?”

Remember it was Malcolm Smith, who recently announced to the world that “nobody keeps their word in Albany”, suggesting that Silver was not being forthright about his agreement with Spitzer, as to the selection process for obtaining a new comptroller to replace the disgraced Alan Hevesi. In the end however, most of the blacks in the Assembly stayed loyal to Silver it seems; yesterday the Legislature elected an assemblyman (Napoli) from Long Island to fill the vacancy. The scoreboard now says: Silver 1 vs. Spitzer 0.

This is not the first time that Silver has been victorious in an Albany catfight folks. Remember Mr.Bragman- the upstate assemblyman who once challenged Shelly for the speakership- when the smoked cleared Mr. Bragman resigned from his seat and left. The last time he was sighted it was on a milk cartoon.

Anyway, some are saying that Shelly would be wise not to fuck with Spitzer again. They say Eliot plays ball even harder than Chris Matthews, and also that he is long on remembrance and short on forbearance. They say he hates to lose, and that he is the type of kid who we all experienced while growing up; the one would take his ball and go home if he wasn’t picked on the team. If all this is true, well we are in for a rough ride to reform folks.

In Brooklyn’s 40th City Council District (the race to fill the seat left vacant by Yvette Clarke’s ascension to Congress) there are ten candidates left on the ballot; one other candidate (Hopkins) is still in court trying to get back on, while the two others who were knocked off from the original thirteen who filed, are permanently out and off the ballot. Rumor has it that some candidate is claiming an endorsement from both Chris and Major Owens, but when they (the Owens) were asked to verify the endorsement, they both claimed not to have endorsed anyone in this race at this time. Wow!!.

This isn’t the first time that names were bandied about from candidates here claiming to have endorsements folks; word is that Jennifer James claimed at various junctures to have had endorsements from both Yvette Clarke and Fernando Ferrer, only to have both exposed as not true. Presently they are saying that Frances Purcell did not endorse her, even though her literature says Purcell did. Joel Toney was also said to have told people that the Clarkes were endorsing him at some time or the other, only to have that similarly exposed; likewise for an endorsement from Roy Hastick of the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce. Some supporters of Wellington Sharpe are claiming that Hastick has endorsed Sharpe instead. Now it is being said that the campaign of Karlene Gordon has claimed an endorsement from Charles Barron, who in turn denies endorsing her. What’s the real deal folks? Does anyone know? Tell Cousin Rocky please.

What we do know is that both State Senator Kevin Parker and Bertha Lewis (of Acorn) are supporting James. We also know that at a recent event (candidate’s forum) candidate Jesse Hamilton claimed to have the endorsement of DC37. Another candidate in this race (Wellington Sharpe) claims the endorsement of Council members Kendall Stewart, Lew Fidler and Dominick Recchia, amongst other members of the council. Sharpe also claims endorsements from Congressman Ed Towns and State Senator John Sampson. Leithland Rickey Tulloch claims the endorsement of Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs, and the others (like everyone else) seem to be waiting for the endorsement from “1199”. Word is that the trade union is frozen up.

This race is still up for grabs folks. It will come down to execution in the homestretch. Some are saying that Jennifer James is the real dark horse here and not Joel Toney; some others are saying that Wellington Sharpe is the real favorite and not Jesse Hamilton. What are you saying? Does Harry Schiffman have a chance of winning this?

Kenneth S. Evans called recently to say that he is committed to another run for the 40th Assembly district seat, since he expects a vacancy there soon. The current member (Diane Gordon) is under indictment for bribery (I think that’s one of the charges), and Evans expects the case to be resolved before year’s end. The former head of Brooklyn’s Urban League came in second in a three-way race last year, and feels that he is the obvious choice to replace Ms. Gordon, if she is convicted. Meanwhile a large field is shaping up in the event of a Gordon conviction. I will try to keep you folks abreast from time to time.

Some of Charles Barron’s supporters are saying that he is absolutely correct to call for Ray Kelly’s resignation as police commissioner. They are saying that over the years under Kelly, hundreds of civilians have been killed by the police, and that most have gone unnoticed because some of the dead had criminal records. They are also saying that the true numbers from the “stop, frisk and search” police initiative is ten times deflated (see Spitzer’s AG 1999 report). If this is half true, then it means that annually in New York, nearly three million blacks are stopped. If this isn’t racial-profiling then they want to know when it will rise to meet that definition. Some of them are really pissed folks. Really.

Meanwhile, Barron himself says that he is weighing all his options for the future; including another crack at Ed Towns (Congress/ 10th), or running for either NYC Public Advocate or the Brooklyn Borough Presidency. He said that he has ruled out another run for mayor at this time. He also said that he has so many other options in the upcoming years that it isn’t funny. He listed District Leader, State Assembly and State Senate as offices he could seek depending on the variables. He says that support for his public positions keep growing by leaps and bounds. He believes that his future (beyond term limits) is boundless. Yesterday he flew to Washington, DC, to address their city council on educational issues. He also has speaking engagements lined up for other states.

Word on the street is that Paul Washington (Barron’s former chief of staff) is angling to replace Barron in the city council (42nd district). Washington- a longtime political activist- now works at Medgar Evers College. He is said to be seriously mulling a race for next year also (tune up). Washington currently co-chairs the “Operation Power” group, and his wife Peggy was Barron’s treasurer from last year’s congressional run. If he does run, expect him to get a lot of support from the “nationalist” and “leftist/ progressive” crowds. Stanley Kinnard -another of Barron’s key supporters- is also said to be mulling a future race.

If Washington runs for the 42nd council seat, it could pit him against Carlos Bristol- formerly one of Barron’s key supporters- and this should make for an interesting race indeed. Bristol- a member of the community board- is a longtime resident of East New York, he was quite instrumental in the aiding of Barron’s early political and community successes.

Brownsville’s most popular political activist Reginald (Reggie) Bowman seems to have retired from politics folks; this is what his wife said recently, during a phone conversation. Bowman- who is known for his many battles on the political front- was working as a community liaison with Congressman Major Owens until recently. It is said that Yvette Clarke cleaned house when she took over the congressional seat. Another longtime activist in this area (David Miller) is recuperating from illness folks. Dave refuses to write off running for public office again though, saying that you could never rule out anything. Presently he claims to have no plans for any race in the immediate future.

People are talking about Tessa Abrams–Mason and her expose in the NYC Daily News newspaper recently. Tessa- the ex-wife of disgraced former Supreme Court Judge Reynold Mason- stated in essence, that when her then husband first ran for the bench, he paid former state senator Carl Andrews, a five thousand dollar fee in 1994, in order to hold on to the endorsement of the Brooklyn Democratic county machine. The implications of her statement are enormous. This story is far from over folks; Tessa and her ex are currently embroiled in a court battle over child support. She is a woman who doesn’t play. Once, many years ago, she led a protest outside his court after being forced to go on welfare to support herself and her kids. This protest brought attention to her plight, and eventually started the spiral which in turn led to Mason’s disbarment. You don’t mess with Tess folks. Right now she is hunting him down like a fox hound trying to obtain the child-support payments she claims he has been delinquent in paying. Some folks say he lives in Atlanta, Georgia,Tessa says that he can run but he can’t hide.

Recently a Caribbean-American icon passed away. His name was Carlos Lezama. Carlos was born in Venezuela, and grew up in Trinidad. He migrated to the USA around the time when “Adam” was a boy, and he eventually hooked up with some Trinidadians who played the steel-drums in NYC. Together they started the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (Labor Day/ September), and initiated an event which now annually draws millions of people to Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. This event is one of the largest money earners for this city on many levels of economic measurements. One of the pioneers was a man named Cecil Moniquette (deceased), who was a key player in Harlem’s steel bands past. Moniquette and many other Trinis (especially from Desperadoes and All Stars steel orchestras) have never really been given their due in recognition of their contributions. Hopefully Lezama’s relatives will now honor the memories of those who contributed in the parade’s start-up, and not keep all the glory for themselves.

Chris Owens called to say that he is seriously looking at the Brooklyn Boro Prez race in two years. When pressed further as to his other options (if any), Chris was cagey enough to only say that everything is possible. I could safely say that it seems as though Chris will be seeking public office again, one day in the future. I do wish him well. Recently in the Amsterdam News newspaper, his father lashed out at so-called white liberals who supported David Yassky. The Major seems to think that Yassky cost Chris the race, and at the same time he seems to think that Chris was the one candidate who stopped Yassky from winning. Interesting!!

Marlene Tapper is currently working on the Wellington Sharpe campaign. The last time we saw Ms. Tapper she was running against Hiram Monserrate for the city council (Queens). She later surfaced on Senator Sabini’s touch and go campaign against Hiram last year. Tapper-who has Barbadian roots- is said to be mulling a congressional race amongst other options. Tapper seems to think that the race for the 40th is between Hamilton, Sharpe and James. At last night’s candidate forum Tapper was impressed with the presentations of Hamilton, Ravzi and Sharpe, of all the candidates who appeared. She said that Joel Toney and Jennifer James were no shows. She also said that Gerry Hopkins appeared on the dais and publicized his Barron endorsement to Gordon’s chagrin.

It seems that in my last “vines” column, I irritated the wife of attorney Terry Hinds, with my disclosures. All I could say apologetically is that whatever I said was nothing but the truth. Recently while I was looking for the young attorney’s office on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, I asked a passerby for some info as to its whereabouts. The person said that he didn’t know where the office was located but that he knew Hinds had run for something recently. That’s name recognition folks; running for public office does that for you. Hinds, who finished second in the 58thAD’s district leader race last year, is expected to run again real soon. In a recent breakfast meeting with him, I can say that his phone was ringing more than a Vatican church bell. This kid is on the move folks; and he is only 31 years old, which is really young when it comes to politics.

Another former candidate who has now retired from seeking public office is attorney Edward A. Roberts. Last time he ran was in 2004 when he challenged Clarence Norman for the 43rd Assembly seat. In a recent phone conversation, he informed me that there were two candidates in the race (40th council manic) that he was interested in supporting, and now that Hopkins has been knocked off the ballot, Roberts said that he is going to formally endorse Wellington Sharpe soon. With two weeks to go before that race, who do you think will be the winner? Tell Cousin Rocky folks; utilize the comments section of this post.

Stay tuned-in please; politics is the only game in town.