Page 469 - Demo

OR THE hTECORD NEWS OF THE POLITICAL SCENEAssemblymen Blame Party Leadership For Getting Them O ff The BallotBY ROB TAYLORWhen Assemblymembers A1 Vann and Roger Green were removed from the September Democratic Primary ballot by the New York State Supreme Court earlier this month, they chose to blame the easiest target, their long-time adversary, the Kings County Democratic Party led by Borough President Howard Golden.Despite these escalating efforts to reproach the Brooklyn Democrats, it appears that the State Supreme Court decisions invalidating their nominating petitions was less the result of a party conspiracy and rather the product of an aggressive attorney who put to use a new election law technicality that could easily be applied to the petitions of both Vann and Green.On Aug. 7, Green, who represents the Ft. Greene/Downtown 57th A.D., was removed from the September primary ballot by Justice Joseph Slavin because the cover sheet accompanying the joint petition had been filed on behalf of himself and his Party District Leaders, Ed Hightower and Jeanette Nottage, did not separately itemize the signatures for each of the candidates. On Aug. 8, Vann, who represents BedfordStuyvesant%u2019s 56th A.D., was removed for the same reason, along with his District Leader, Annette Robinson, by Justice Irving Rader. The decisions were based on a 1985 State Court of Appeals ruling, The Matter of Pecoraro vs. Mahoney.Vann and Green first realized their nominating petitions were in trouble when specific objections were raised against the cover sheets with the Board of Elections. The board initially validated the petitions because the objection was not correctly filed by the plaintiffs%u2019 attorney, Robert Muir.But, with legal action pending, Vann decided to escalate the accusations and immediately blamed Golden for masterminding a plot with his Democratic opponent, Chase Manhattan executive Robert Hunter, to have him removed from the ballot. %u201cYear after year they have used tricks to try to remove us from the ballot,%u201d said Vann about the Kings County Democratic organization at a press conference July 29.LONG AN ENEMYVann, who ran against Golden in 1985 for the Democratic nomination for Borough President and lost, has considered the County Democratic organization an %u201cenemy%u201d since he took his Assembly office.Vann, who is also a candidate for Democratic Leader in the 56th, says that the Brooklyn Democratic organization %u201cdisliked what the Coalition for Community Empowerment represents,%u201d referring to his Brooklyn Black political organization. Vann added that none of his election attorneys had indicated that the Pecoraro requirements should change the way his slate filed petitions.In an attempt to demonstrate that a large number of his Black constituents were just as angry with Golden, Vann rallied a large number of constituents and members of the Coalition for Community Empowerment to appear at the State Supreme Court every time his case was to be heard.But the Kings County Democrat%u2019s responsibility appears to end with Vann%u2019s accusations. In conversations with other Democratic District Leaders in Brooklyn and the Borough President himself, the problem instead appears to be what Golden calls %u201cnegligence.%u201dCHOSE TO IGNORE IT%u201cWe offered to give them adequate and competent legal council,%u201d said Golden last week, %u201cbut they chose to ignore it.%u201d%u201cVann%u2019s attorneys weren%u2019t aware of the law,%u201d he added. %u201cMr. Vann should be asking questions about why his people did not know the law.%u201dCounty Democratic Party officials say that several workshops were held in June for all Brooklyn election lawyers and Brooklyn District Leaders where the petition-filing methods and new wrinkles in the law were discussed, and explained by the party%u2019s law secretary William Arinotes. %u201cThe cover sheet changes were well publicized and discussed,%u201d says Morty Matz, a spokesman for the Kings County Democratic organization. \blaming the county.%u201dVann, however, denies that the offer was ever made to his District Leaders. %u201cNone of the District Leaders was given notification about the changes,\A lb ert Vann R oger G reenKeep in mind therehas been a constantbattle with theCounty organization.One would have tobe stupid to turn thepetitions over to theo nes y o u \\ e battled with.PlymQ4rfff*)t.asyigionSr / Water S r' TiarySlAdams Si -Boem mPiAltantcAv,C o u rts J WarrenSl/ Smith SltouglassSlHoytSt-%u201c 7 \I fOtvtsonSM Broadway* Heyward S t ' Bedford Av P a rtA v| Spencer S tJMyrtle Av \Montrose A y/ MarcyAv Myrtle Ay-Boerum St larrson Av -Lynch St Lewis Av ' Vernon Av Broadway OeKalbAvDouglass Si DegrawSi SAvSacaettsiSjcKHSIEmejsgnPi^%u25a0%u2022&SLS/ S i JoftnsPi <' LncohPi'^TaVtePi Most*and Av GatesA^.--OtHJb CC rGates 9 0 \/PuloamAv NoslranOAv '/ Irv m g P l,--- .A ^ ///Kingston**Prospect Expy .518Av^ Prospect PkW BSt,Prospect PkWi Prospect Pk S' WvJWv*Ste>*'gp,J BuwPT>79 t iJ O presden7y^-,uticaAv /Carrnli - * 5 / ^ - < 7 Carroll l *0ariva..Cry2. Shert^Sf4 Mew Utrecht Av 19SttjA \\ Prospect Expy-l Seeley S t'* McDonald A v '%u25a0 *ce ft lCatonAv*, Paradei:S t Pauls g S? Pauls C t-%u2014le tte rs %u2022 lo.^ Maple St V m thropStl t ilpress conference Aug. 12. Vann then added that he %u201cresented%u201d the County Democratic organization.The County Democratic organization also offered to review, bind and deliver the completed petitions of every incumbent Democrat to the Board of Elections, according to Joan Millman, District Leader from the 52nd A.D. (Heights/Carroll Gardens/Bay Ridge).BRUSHED ASIDE SIGNIFICANCE Vann brushed the significance of the offer aside. %u201cKeep in mind, there has been a constant battle with the County organization,%u201d he said. %u201cOne would have to be stupid to turn the petitions over to the ones you%u2019ve battled.%u201d Party officials call this response %u201cpure paranoia%u201d and pointed out that others had brought their petitions in to be reviewed and they were never out of the hands of the candidates or their supporters.The disagreement reached a steamy level at a meeting of Brooklyn Democratic District Leaders Aug. 4. The meeting, which had been called to discuss ways to book the Lt. Governor candidacy of Stan Lundine, was interrupted by Ed Hightower, the 57th A.D. Dikrict Leader, who said he wanted to discuss %u201cplantation politics%u201d in Brooklyn. Lundine%u2019s representatives were asked to leave the room and, according to Golden, the District Leaders told Hightower that the %u201caccusations were outrageous.%u201dJoni Yoswein, District Leader from the 44th A.D. (Flatbush/Park Slope) said, %u201cI defended Howie Golden this time. At other times I have not.%u201d Last year, Yoswein assisted State Senator Marty Markowitz in his campaign for Borough President against both Golden and Vann and said she had just as much to fear, but that didn%u2019t deter her from taking prudent steps to get the best advice.THIS WASN%u2019T ONE OF THEM %u201cTTiere have been other times that the County needed a kick in the pants, but this wasn%u2019t one of them,%u201d she said. Yoswein added that even last year she took her petitions tothe County for their inspection, though she said she did not trust the organization to leave them overnight.%u201cThe County%u2019s offer to do the petitions did not mean they had to leave them with us,%u201d says Matz. %u201cWe were just saying, let us take a look to make sure they were bound correctly.%u201dDespite the accusations, Vann and Green do appear, barring a reversal on appeal of the top State Court%u2019s own 1985 ruling, to be casualties of the kind of election legal battles that are fought every year to try to remove opponents from the ballots before the voters have the opportunity to choose.The two incumbent Assemblymembers are being challenged by a slate of Black candidates including: Hunter for Assembly and Richard Tfcylor and Sylvia Fuel, Democratic District Leader candidates in the 56th A.D. Stanley Frere is challenging Green in the 57th, but there were no challenges of the leadership team in this district. These challengers filed their petitions along with Civil Court Judge John Phillips and former State Senator Anna Jefferson, who is again running against now-incumbent State Senator Velmanette Montgomery in the 22nd District.NEVER EVEN MET HIMHunter denies any connection with the Borough President or the County Democratic organization and says he has never even met Golden to discuss his candidacy and %u201cresents being tied and packaged in this manner%u201d by Vann.With the help of his attorney, Robert Muir, Hunter appears to have been just as successful as other incumbents were this year with his attempts to knock opponents off the primary ballot. Incumbent Assemblymember Eileen Dugan of West Brooklyn%u2019s 52nd A.D., brought the same kind of case successfully against a primary challenger, Anthony Labe!!?, and now has no race.%u201cThe requirements of the election law were adhered to by us and we have beat validated;We offered to give them adequate and competent legaladvice, but they chose to ignore it. Mr. Vann should beasking questions about why his people didn *t know the law.Vann and Green must comply with these same laws,%u201d said Hunter in a statement released after the two incumbents were removed from the Democratic ballot.In contrast to Vann%u2019s accusations that Hunter and his supporters are working with the County organization, Hunter%u2019s slate appears to be made up of a more independent Black political group that has ties to Roy Innis, the former chairman of the Congress on Racial Equality who is challenging Central Brooklyn Congressman Major Owens in the Democratic primary election. Muir is the attorney for all members of this slate.NO TIME FOR CAMPAIGNSWith all the publicity that has been generated by the Vann and Green removal, the two legislators have successfully kept their names in the headlines obscuring the fact that they have Democratic challengers. They have also managed to bring several leading City politicians into the fight who have condemned the State Supreme Court election law that was responsible for the decision.At Vann%u2019s Aug. 12 press conference, City Council President Andy Stein said, %u201cIt is undemocratic to remove someone like Vann or Green from the ballot.%u201d The following day, Mayor Ed Koch said he intended to try to make sure the election law was changed so that candidates could not be removed for a technicality. Koch even began an election law hearing Aug. 18 on the problem. For his part, Borough President Golden said he would also like to see the law changed.The legal action has also allowed little room for attention to any actual campaign by either the incumbents or the Democratic challengers. It is doubtful whether the names of Hunter and Frere, the two challengers, are gaining familiarity with voters as the attention is being placed on Vann%u2019s and Green%u2019s problems instead. The gamble, as is the aim of most election law situations, is to win by default, by being the only name on the ballot.Both incumbent legislators say they are certain that they will be returned to the Democratic primary ballot by a higher court. Appeals are now pending in the Appelate Division of the State Supreme Court. U they are unsuccessful, they can then try to raise the issue in the Court of Appeals, the State%u2019s highest judicial body, though a recent change in that court%u2019s rules will require at least two dissenting opinions by the Appellate court in order for the case to be heard once again.If Vann and Green choose to argue their cases before a Federal Court judge, they will be arguing a case under which no legal precedence has been set. Veteran election lawyers say that Federal courts have begun to erode cases in this area. %u201cThey don%u2019t want to hear New York election law cases,%u201d was the comment of one attorney who has successfully pursued this Federal route in the past.If Vann and Green remain out of the Democratic primary, they still can seek reelection on the Liberal Party line they both have assured in the General Elections in November %u2014 a route Vann successfully followed once before after earlier petitioning problems.Green Makes PeaceAnimosity between Ft. Greene Assemblymember Roger Green and Howard Golden over the accusations that the borough president was plotting to remove Green from the primary ballot cooled August 18 when they held a joint press conference at City Hall.Golden and Green were joined by East New York Assemblymember William Boyland, Bush wick City Councilmember Victor Robles and North Brooklyn Rep. Ed Towns, who were all attending a special hearing convened by Mayor Ed Koch on reforming the current election law.%u201cI have agreed to attend this press conference with the Borough President and County Leader Howard Golden because I believe there are times when those who represent the public must set aside partisan politics,%u201d said Green.Golden said he thought it was %u201cnot fair%u201d that Green was removed from the Democratic primary ballot calling the legal precedence mat was responsible for the ruling %u201ctrivial.%u201dNoticeably absent from the event was Bedford-Stuyvesant Assemblymember A1 Vann, who was reported not to have attended the mayor%u2019s hearing.August 21,1986, THE PHOENIX, Pag* 35