Page 7 - Demo

A Guide to the CandidatesBrooklyn Petitioning andPolitiking Revs Up as Primary NearsBY PETER HALEYAs the petitioning process for political candidates begins, the hottest development is the recent formation of a loosely-knit slate of black candidates in a bid to redesign the political structure of north and central Brooklyn. The slate sponsored by the Black Community Congress%u2019 (BCC) principal purpose is to challenge white incumbents in %u201c minority%u201d districts, but the slate includes both black incumbents and black insurgents.The political petitioning process is the first necessary step to place a candidate on the ballot. Petitioning for all party candidates ends on July 27. If the candidates have the necessary amount of signatures they will appear on the ballot on September 12 primary%u2014unless they are successfully challenged by rival candidates. Challenges to a candidate%u2019s petition signatures must be filed within three days after the end of petitioning and challengers have until six days after the. latter date to file specific objections. If, as a result of a challenge, a candidate%u2019s number of signatures drops below the required level, the candidate is then disqualified.Thus, the primary slates are really just shaping up now, and there may be changes before the time comes to pull the lever on September 12. Then, of course, the final shakedown comes with the November 7 election.The impetus behind the BCC endorsements are the ad hoc groups recently formed to oppose Congressman Fred Richmond and to deal with the Crown Heights racial crisis. Black leaders Jitu Weusi, BCC chairman, and the Reverend Herbert Daughtry of the House of the Lord Church, are Richmond opponents who parlayed the issue of Richmond%u2019s morals charge and their own community activism to establish the June political caucus which chose the BCC slate.Weusi credited the interest he and other newcomers to the electoral politics scene in Brooklyn share to the ill-fated 1977 mayoral campaign of Percy Sutton, which he described as a %u201c point of departure.%u201d%u201c Even though he wasn%u2019t an attractive candidate Sutton showed some of the biack voting strength that existed in Brooklyn,%u201d said Weusi, who indicated that intensive %u201c grassroots%u201d campaign with voter registration drives could turn out substantial numbers of black voters this year.The aim of the BCC, said Weusi, is to turn out sufficient black votes to switch white incumbent seats in the following districts:%u2022 Congressman Fred Richmond%u2019s 14th Congressional District (Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, Williamsburg, Park Slope, Crown Heights) versus BCC candidate former schools Deputy Chancellor Bernard Gifford;%u2022 Assemblyman Harvey Strelzin%u2019s 57th Assembly District (Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, and Williamsburg) versus BCC candidate District 13 school board president Velmanett Montgomery;%u2022 State Senator Thomas Bartosiowicz 18th S.D. (Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Bedford-Stuyvesant) versus BCC candidate Brooklyn CORE chairman Samuel Pinn;%u2022 Assemblyman Peter Mirto from59 A.D. (Bushwick, Williamsburg) versus BCC candidate Horace Greene;%u2022 Assemblyman George Cincotta from 43 A.D. (Flatbush) versus BCC candidate District 17 school board chairman Stanley Garke.%u2022 Among the incumbents backed by BCC are Assemblyman A1 Vann, 56th A.D., leader of the legislature%u2019s Black and Puerto Rican caucus, and State Senator Vander Beatty, 23rd S.D.Among those Congressmen running for re-election is Congressman Leo Zeferetti, from the Park Slope-Sunset Park-Bay Ridge 15th Congressional District. Zeferetti is opposed by insurgent Jospeh Saminara in the Democratic primary. Joining Richmond and Gifford in the 14th Congressional race are Owen Augustin and Irving Gross.LIVELIER FIGHT IN 21 S.D.Although Vander Beatty already has the Liberal endorsement for his re-election in the 23rd S.D., Maxwell Clemmons, who beat him out of the district leadership in the 53rd A.D. two years ago, may be opposing him for the Democratic nomination. Recently elected State Senator Martin Connor, who took over after Carol Bellamy was elected City Council President, has opposition from Manhattan-based former union official Leonard Waller in the 25th S.D., which runs from Red Hook to Williamsburg in Brooklyn and includes the Lower East Side in Manhattan. Connor also has been endorsed by the Liberalr.A livelier fight for the State Senate will be fought in the 21stS.D., with Assemblyman Christopher Mega entering on the Republican side to replace William Conklin, who is retiring. Mega, a Bay Ridge Assemblyman, hopes to %u201c double%u201d his representation by taking in the Bay Ridge plus Sunset Park and Park Slope S.D. The Liberals are not supporting anyone here. Republican Mega, who won%u2019t have a primary, will face the winner of the Democratic dogfight which precedes the general election. For the Democrats, John Zito has the regular Democrat backing with Jackie Carroll of the reform Central Brooklyn Independent Democratic Club opposing him. The CBID itself has not endorsed anyone yet.The departure of State Senator Jeremiah Bloom to fight Governor Hugh Carey and Lieutenant Governor Mary Ann Krupsack for the Democratic gubernatorial 'nomination has left the 19th S.D. (Flatbush) open, and attorney Howard Silverman and former KCDC president and law assistant Lyle Silversmith will be battling for the Democratic nomination there.The assembly will have some interesting races, notably in the 57th A.D., where incumbent Harvey Strelzin will have to fend off BCC and Kings County D em o cra tic C lu b -e n d o rs e d Velmanett Montgomery, Brooklyn College teacher and Liberal Party designee Virginia Apuzzo, and taxi-union official Alexis Miranda for the primary. Miranda, who has run against Strelzin before, claims he can reach out beyond his Hispanic base in Williamsburg to attract enough blacks and Jewishvotes to offset Strelzin. Montgomery, working with a base in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, has accepted the BCC endorsement but will be campaigning as an independent backing Gifford for Congres%u2014and Katy Davis and Roger Green for district leaders against Abe Gerges and Theodora Martinez.Apuzzo, Community Planning Board 2 member and a gay activist, has the Liberal Party endorsement and will be pitching for the %u201cliberal%u201d Democratic vote.In the 59th A.D. there is a %u201cgrudge%u201d match between Mirto and Robles. Robles lost to Mirto by 130 votes in 1976 when he split the Hispanic vote with Tito Velez. Velez is not in the running this time and Robles gave up his district leader post in the 59th so that City Councilman Luis Olmedo could run for leader and support Robles. But both Julio Martinex from the Ponce de Leon slate and anti-poverty worker William Cruz will be running, which may split the Hispanic vote. BCC candidate Green may drop out in support of Cruz since blacks are not as strong in the 59th as Hispanics.VANN FACES WILLIAMSOne of the prime movers in the anti-Richmond campaign and the BCC is 56th A.D. Assemblyman A1 Vann, leader of the legislature%u2019s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and. Rings County Democratic Club- . endorsed Vann faces a primary bid from Cal Williams, cab company owner and former 56th A.D. Assemblyman until beaten by Vann. Incumbent 53rd Assemblyman Woodrow Lewis,who was endorsed by the Liberals, faces a much easier task running against Marlin Jeffries, a Crown Heights social worker.44th A.D. Assemblyman Melvin Miller faces a challenge from Marty Ipkin, who is backed by gubernatorial candidate and state senator Jeremiah Bloom.Both 51 A.D. Assemblyman Joe Ferris and 52nd A.D. Assemblyman Michael Pesce have received Liberal and KCDC endorsements. Pesce will have a %u201cfree%u201d primary, but Ferris will face Beatrice DeSapio, backed by the regulars in the district. Meanwhile, in the 43rd A.D., George Cincotta is %u201c holding%u201d the Assemblyman line for the regular Democratic organization while KCDC-endorsed Rhoda Jacobs, who helped run Gary Deane%u2019s campaign for Councilman-at-Large, and BCC endorsee and District 17 school board chairman Stanley Clarke will try to wrest the seat away.Last but not the least of the assembly race is in the 41st A.D., where Assembly majority leader Stanley Steingut faces the first serious primary threat in over 16 years in 26-year-old lawyer Helene Weinstein%u2019s upset bid.The district leader races include unopposed %u2018race%u2019 for Sal Ferraioli and Eileen Dugan in the 52nd A.D. Louise Finney and Anthony Carraciolo will be opposed by Joh Carroll, Alberta Frischia, and John Wojick in the 51st A.D. Andrew Gill will oppose incumbent leader Maxwell Clemmons in the 53rd A.D. Ai Vann and Annette Robinson will oppose incumbent 56th A.D. leaders Carl Butler and Evelyn Dixon, while Katie Davis and Roger Green will run against Councilman Abe Gerges and Theodora Martinez, 57th A.D. incumbents.REPUBLICAN PRIMARIESThe traditional Republican primary in Brooklyn features one candidate running with his or her eye on the November election rather than the uncontested primary. But this year is an exception with one congressional, two assembly, and two leadership seats demanding a primary.Vito Battista, a leader in the Taxpayers Party, will oppose Father Vincent LaRocca who is also an attorney, for the 15th C.D. Republican nomination. Roy Vanasco, 57th A.D. Republican leader and community activist, will be opposed in both the Republican Assembly primary and the district leadership primary. Realtor Nat Hendricks will oppose Vanasco for Assembly while Mario DiFalco is challenging for the district leadership there.The 44th A.D. also will provide contested assembly and leadership primaries with Park Slope attorney Henry Gargano opposing Theresa Luisa in the Assembly race and Millicent Handel and Rosemary Millis running for district leaders against Robert Carroll and Mary Johnson.Other Republican candidates included; 14th C.D. - Esther Bramwell; 23rd S.D. - Joan Nussbaum; 23rd S.D. - Juanita Lovell; 19th S.D. - Republican county committee administrative assistant Bruce Kogan; 18th S.D. - Vincent Alukonis; 59th A.D. - Jerome Laberta; 56th A.D. - Madge Ford; 52nd A.D. - Patrick Kenney; and 51st A.D. - Alice D%u2019Emic.Juiy 1 3 ,1S7B, pHOe n ix , p a g e /