Youngsters have a rhyme that they say or chant, whenever they accuse another of lying; it goes like this: “liar, liar, pants on fire” (if it’s a male being accused); or “liar, liar, panties on fire” (if it’s a female being accused of not telling the truth). So there is a story presently circulating in political Brooklyn that accuses three people of lying through their teeth; some are saying that any minute now, the noses on these three individuals will start growing inch by inch-just like Pinocchio’s did when he lied. Could this be true?
Let me introduce the three individuals involved: Vito Lopez, Bernie Catcher and Shawndya Simpson. Mr. Lopez is the Democrat’s county leader-having succeeded the disgraced Clarence Norman a year or so ago. Some say his lies start with his residency- which Brooklyn’s District Attorney (Charles Hynes) refuses to look into- since many claims that he really lives in Queens, but represents Brooklyn’s Bushwick area in the New York State Assembly. Mr. Catcher is the district leader of the 59 AD, but most insiders say that he really lives outside the district. Ms. Simpson is a civil court judge from King’s County, who insiders claim lives in South Orange, New Jersey. Since I am told that they all read my blog, I expect that they (or their minions) will respond to this column in the comment section, ensuring a nice discussion on the contents.
I wish this story was simply about issues of residency; but it is not. It is really a story of the upcoming race to finally elect the second of two surrogate court judges in Kings County (Brooklyn). You see, on the last day of the 2005 legislative session in Albany, Governor George Pataki signed legislation creating a second surrogate position in Brooklyn. I really don’t want to rehash the many scurrilous stories about corruption in said court, over the period that Judge Feinberg (who was elected to a fourteen–year term in 1996) ran the show. In a nutshell: Feinberg resigned. A race to replace him took place in 2005. The key contestants were three judges: Lawrence Knipel, Margarita Lopez-Torres and Diana Johnson. Ms. Torres defeated Ms. Johnson by a couple hundred votes. It was an awfully close race. So Margarita was historically (first Hispanic) elected to fill out the remaining years of Feinberg’s term.
By some suspicious stroke of luck, the Brooklyn democrats were allowed from this 1995 event, to select (not elect) the new surrogate judge, that both houses of the state legislature and Pataki’s pen-stroke created. The leaders selected Assembly member Frank Seddio- a longtime Carnarsie political wheeler-dealer. No sooner had he assumed the position when rumors started circulating that he was on his way out. The reasons behind his hurried resignation I will leave for someone else to write. Needless to say: the rumors aren’t nice. Surprise! Surprise! Word is that the commission that deals with judicial (mis) conduct was investigating Seddio. A New York Daily New’s editorial suggested that he left to avoid (felony?) criminal charges; whatever.
Anyway, an election was called to find a replacement. Initially, three people emerged as the main contenders: Judge Diana Johnson (again); attorneys Robert Miller (who once ran for city council and did well despite losing), and Leo Beitner (who was the key advisor to the said court during the Feinberg regime). Despite the fact that Beitner has worked in the surrogate court for around 30 years, he is seen as a lackey for the political bosses and will do their bidding. When the candidates started making the rounds, seeking the endorsements from key political clubs-like Central Brooklyn’s Independent Democrats- Ms Johnson started racking up endorsement after endorsement after endorsement. It is said that she has even racked up an endorsement from the influential gay group: Lambda. Added to all this is the fact that in 2005, an independent screening panel had approved Ms. Johnson’s qualifications for this job.
It is said that all this panicked Vito Lopez, since he had intended to back one of the two men. Next thing that’s heard is Judge Shawndya Simpson– another black woman- entering the race; while Miller drops out for Beitner who is now rumored to be Vito’s candidate. Word is that Ms. Simpson was put into this race to siphon off votes from blacks and women, in order to adversely affect Judge Johnson’s chances. It is said that Bernie Catcher and Vito Lopez masterminded all this. It is even being said that Ms. Simpson was promised a Supreme Court position after she unsuccessfully runs this race (apparently an illegal inducement). Is this all true? You figure out all the angles, and then tell me what you think.
To understand the importance of the Surrogate’s Court, you have to be aware that many people (especially minorities) die without legal wills. When one dies intestate, this court administers the estate of the deceased. The judges appoint lawyers and/ or others, as administrators/overseers for these estates. There are large fees involved in all this. The Daily News uncovered that judge Michael Feinberg funneled over nine million dollars in estate fees to his lawyer pal Louis Rosenthal-way more than he was legally entitled to. It would be an understatement to say that a few of these estates are looted.
Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia once called the surrogate’s court: “the piggy-bank for Tammany Hall”. The robberies that take place here will make Jesse James envious- even while in his grave. Politicians love to control these courts; that’s why they fight these elections so fiercely. Reformer-type judges need not apply for this position; election-help won’t be forthcoming unless you raise buckets full of mullah.
In 1996 a group of insurgents (including myself) decided to back the run of a young, honest, black Jamaican-born attorney (Desmond Green) for the surrogacy. We were hoping to make history by getting the first black elected to this post. The powers that be fought us tooth and nail. Council member Leticia James did county’s dirty work, knocking Green off the ballot during the petition phase. They ganged up on us at all phases of the campaign. In one instance they sent intermediaries to offer us incentives for dropping out of the race. Their spies worked round the clock monitoring our moves.
You see, we had essentially put together what I now call: my “electric plan”. In this plan, we run a candidate county-wide, and he/she is at the top of the ticket. At the bottom, we then fill in as many races as we can, where challengers to incumbents work through/off an omnibus petition and pool resources in various parts of the borough. The idea was to do joint-mailings, joint lit-drops, and joint-campaigning, etcetera; in order to save costs in many areas. The plan was to share office space(s), telephone costs, telephone-banks, equipment, transportation costs, joint-fundraising costs, and such. It’s like having many electric outlets where candidates below plug into the power house (at the top); with tangible benefits for all involved.
It’s really a beautiful plan. When I first articulated this plan to former Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Field’s chief of staff Luther Smith, he was so impressed that as Director of Field Operations, he tried to implement it in her mayoral campaign; he just started out way too late, that’s all (only a few months before the primary itself). It’s a good plan nonetheless. And I am not even saying it’s totally original, since I saw it implemented in various ways over the years. I have even seen it successfully executed in parts of Brooklyn: ask Senator John Sampson what really happened in 1996.
Remember I have been around New York’s politics for almost 34 years. Insurgents tend to get very creative when their backs are against the wall and also when their resources are skinny (which is the norm in my estimation). In some campaigns run by Maurice Gumbs (Brooklyn’s insurgent Caribbean-American political guru of the ‘80s and ‘90s), in-house mailings became a norm. There wasn’t any of the contemporary mailing-house stuff back then; none of all that glittering literature, where the money goes down a large sink-hole. Gumbs mastered the “poor-man’s mail”: he lit-dropped the shit out of the districts he ran for office in. He would write piece after piece after piece (since he is a great writer anyway), week after week after week, and then paid kids to run around dropping lit under doors. All the adult volunteer would do was supervise these highly energized kids and make sure they were safe, and stayed out of trouble, etcetera. If we did mailings, volunteers would come into the office to stuff envelopes on a daily basis. Of course we fed them tasty Caribbean-American dishes; why do you think they kept coming back? One newspaper called Maurice’s volunteers a “mis-guided group of fanatics” (1991).
In the surrogate race of 1996, we never had a chance to execute this “electric plan” fully. The first couple days in court, nine out of our twelve (all black) candidates were knocked off the ballot. Board of Elections commissioner Weyman Carey coined the term: “pagination is fatal”. The county lawyers came after Desmond Green’s team with George Foreman’s punches. We went to federal court to restore a few of the candidates; but they wouldn’t let Green slip through the cracks. No siree Bob.
You see, that year Tony Genovese had challenged county’s surrogate candidate with a woman (judge) named Lila Gold. The black elected officials had all fallen in line to endorse Feinberg. If Green had made the ballot he and his band of renegades were going to upset the apple cart by siphoning off black votes. Clarence Norman and his cronies were not about to take chances with their cash cow.
Expect fireworks in court this year; it’s not much different from 1996. Supporters of Ms. Johnson have issued a warning to Ms. Simpson, in one word: residency. They say she doesn’t live in New York. They say her last child was born in a New Jersey hospital, and that all her kids attend a tony school district in NJ, where you must be a resident to attend. They say she is in major trouble if she goes ahead with this candidacy; they are suggesting that she withdraw: now. They say that “opposition research” is going great; there are broad smiles on some of their faces. They are saying that she needs to be: super-careful. They even mention the fate of another judge: Reynold Mason.
On Thursday 28th June, there will be a protest at the navy yard in Brooklyn, some supporters of Ms. Johnson will try to use county’s annual shindig to demonstrate their dislike for what they perceive Vito Lopez as doing: attempting to stop a black woman from making history. If Ms. Johnson wins, she will become the first black (and black female) surrogate judge in Brooklyn’s 173 year history as a city.
Stay tuned–in for part two (finale) of this article.