In the 40th Assembly District in Brooklyn they are searching for a replacement to former assemblywoman (and also former district leader/female) Diane Gordon. The last time we looked Diane got 2 to 6 years in prison, for attempted bribery and other things. And right now there are six candidates in the upcoming democratic primary vying to replace her. They are namely (with odds); Earl Williams (the male district leader/ 2to1), Inez Barron (the wife of councilmember Charles Barron/3to1), Kenneth (Ken) S. Evans (the former head of the NY Urban League/6to1), Nathan Bradley (the former chief of staff for Diane Gordon/10 to1), Winchester Keys (the former chief of staff to the former assembly member Ed Griffiths/15 to1), and a newcomer named Donizetta Brown (who remains somewhat of a mystery up to this point/50to1).
People have been wondering as to who helped Ms. Brown make this race and stay on the ballot. They believe that it was a direct attempt to siphon off female votes from Inez Barron, and some have placed that candidacy on the steps of Earl Williams. As many of you know, I had written that Mrs. Barron should win this race. That was back when she was the only female runner. Now I am not so certain about that. I think Inez Barron still has a very good chance, but it isn’t as easy as before with this other lady in the race now.
Last week Wednesday there was a public forum for all these candidates; four showed up. Missing in action were Winchester Keys and Ms. Donizetta Brown. The two of them probably had much better things to do, since the debate itself was rather disappointing in terms of quality. Earl Williams showed some spunk for a guy who (they tell me) is on the northern side of age seventy and had had problems with his old ticker. But he still left a lot to be desired when it came to being specific on issues. Nathan Bradley came over as a slick talking hip-hop artist. His cheering section was loud and animated but his content was weak. Ken Evans was too professorial for the crowd and that probably diminished the quality of his content. And although Inez Barron was articulate, she lost points for attaching herself to her husband’s hip too much. This led to the evening’s fireworks.
It seems that Mrs. Barron answered near every question with reference to her husband; she talked about his seat on the city council, his accomplishments in said body, his popularity, and the fact that as his wife (once she wins) they will be working closely together, on dealing with the issues facing the district. It is what you can call the “two for one strategy”. Plus, she had a cheering section that included the well-known and militant black political activist Viola Plummer and some other folks -some were probably from Viola’s group called “December Twelfth”, and also some from Barron’s group called “Operation Power”.
In a rare moment of passion, the usually respectful, calm and mild-mannered Evans admonished the crowd to vote for a “change” not a “name”; ostensibly taking a dig at Inez Barron for repeatedly invoking her husband’s name all through the debate. The crowd went into an uproar of sorts for quite a few minutes. Even the moderator had to chime in to help maintain order. Mrs. Barron was livid. She vocally protested that Evans had taken a cheap shot at her with the statement. Evans in turn, completely ignored her protestations as he walked right past her without making eye contact. It was a defining moment for a rookie candidate with a long record of political involvement.
Someone (female) behind me murmured; “welcome to the hot seat, bitch”. I was very very surprised, since Mrs. Barron is a gentle lady and usually above the political fray. It is obvious that there are those who resent the fact that Barron has chosen to run her in this race. One spectator protested that this is not a dictatorship or monarchy, it is supposed to be a democracy; and that Barron cannot dictate who gets what seat. He also expressed anger at the fact that next year Charles Barron is intent on running his former chief-of-staff (Paul Washington) to replace him -after he is term limited from his seat in the council. There seems to be push back to some of Barron’s recent political moves/decisions. Plus there are rumors that his candidate for district leader (Andre Mitchell) is mad at him for reasons undisclosed. It seems that my old buddy Charles is finding the wicket a bit sticky lately: I wonder why.
When the debate was over, Evans extended his hands to Charles Barron and Charles refused to shake it; telling Evans that he won’t. Evans in turn said that he was glad that Barron won’t shake his hands, because that way he doesn’t have to worry about Charles stealing his fingers. OUCH!!!!!!!
It is obvious that a once decent relationship between two of the best political figures in this district (Evans and Barron) is now in the dumpster. But it goes deeper than this debate. Ken Evans had supported Charles Barron from 1997 thru 2002. He even headed up Barron’s petition effort pro-bono in 2001. In 2002 when Evans challenged Diane Gordon, he expected Barron’s endorsement: it never came. Also, in 2006 Evans figured that since Diane Gordon had so many indictments against her, Barron would endorse someone (anyone) against Diane that year. He was in a race against the incumbent (along with Winchester Key) and found out that Barron did nothing against Gordon. Evans feels that Barron was in bed with Diane Gordon all along, and hid this fact from many of us who supported him in the beginning -long before he was elected to office.
Sighted at the debate were many of the candidates for district leader -both male and female. That race is also shaping up to be quite an interesting battle, since Diane Gordon was the female leader too and thus the recent events have created another opening. The vacancy is being sought by three women. They are namely; Carolyn Faulkner, Carol Faison and Alice Lowman. Ms. Lowman was once associated with the Barron organization named Operation Power, and is running with Andre Mitchell (male leader) who once worked on Barron’s staff. Mitchell heads up an anti-crime group in the community (Man-Up).
Carol Faison -who supported and worked with Ken Evans two years ago- is now the appointed district leader (female), and is sharing a ticket with Earl Williams -the current male leader. Do note that Earl Williams is also running for the assembly. Ms. Faison is a tenant leader in the district and was once a school board member.
Carolyn Faulkner is a longtime resident of East New York, and has been a member of Community Board 5 for many years. She has been active in this community for a very long time, and might still be an active member of the split Ron Brown Political Club on New Lots Avenue. Her husband is another longtime community activist who is currently on Charles Barron’s council staff. Ms. Faulkner is a sweet lady who may have chosen the wrong time to get into a political battle. She is on a ticket with Albert Scott (male leader) and Nathan Bradley (assembly). They are all members of the Ron brown club. Scott was once closely associated with Barron, and is one of many who have made the jail-break over the years.
The Ron Brown club is rumored to be split along lines of loyalty, with some members lining up with Earl Williams, and others with Nathan Bradley. It is claimed that Bradley is being supported by Diane Gordon -who is out of jail while awaiting the results of her appeal.
Meanwhile Ken Evans is also running for both the assembly and male district leadership spots; he is more or less running alone, without the backing of any major political club, political figure or elected official. Well, with one exception: me. I am going to endorse Kenneth Evans real soon. LOL. If my endorsement is good for 2,000 votes in this district: he is a winner. He has already accumulated two thousand votes when he ran two years ago, and there is no reason why he shouldn’t hold them and bring them back to this race. Two plus two is four, and four is a winning number here folks. Seriously though; I believe that Ken Evans is the best candidate in this race, with Inez Barron the second best.
Stay tuned-in folks.