Brooklyn Ron

And Then (in Bed-Stuy) There Were Two . . . Griffith Vows to Go 1 on 1 Vs. Vann

All summer long, residents of Bed-Stuy -- those fascinated by the presence of half a dozen challengers to an incumbent -- were wondering if it would happen.

Whether some of the would-bees would band together and stage a final show-down against the sitting Councilmember, Al Vann (photo, right).

Now the news is circulating moment that, in fact, this is what is happening, that Mark Winston Griffith (photo, left) obtained the support of Saquan Jones and David Grinage, and will take on Vann in the upcoming general election.

Jones and Grinage finished behind Vann and Griffith in the Democratic primary last week.

Many had assumed that that was the end of it, that Vann, with the Democratic line, would not face serious opposition in November.

But, carrying the banner of the Working Families Party, Griffith hopes to consolidate those voting residents who feel Vann's time has come and gone, that after 34 years in elective office, new blood is needed.

Griffith represents a younger generation (though clearly there many seniors behind him) who say they want a more aggressive action on issues related to housing, a more hands-on approach to the everday problems of renters and homeowners.

Here's the article in City Hall News, which is reporting that Griffith will soon to issue a press release disclosing his plans to run in the general election against Vann, who will have the Democratic line.

It'll be an interesting political fight.

Read here.

Mark Winston Griffith Wins Key Last Minute Endorsements, of Rev. Sharpton and NY Daily News

Housing activist Mark Winston Griffith picked up momentum over the past few days with key endorsements.

First, the Rev. Al Sharpton criticized incumbent Al Vann for going with Mayor Mike Bloomberg on the extension of term limits, which allowed the mayor and other council incumbents, including Vann, to serve another term -- assuming, of course, they are re-elected.

And then yesterday Griffith got the backing of the New York Daily News, which called Vann "lethargic."

This will be a race to watch. We don't know of polls that have been done at this hyper-local level, but there does seem to have been a groundswell of enthusiasm for some of the challengers, including Griffith, as well as Saquan Jones, a thirty-something bundle of energy who boasts of his rising from a public housing project in Queens; Tremaine Wright, who owns the Common Grounds cafe in Bed-Stuy; and Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., activist who campaigns often with his six children and is the son of a late, prominent minister.

Hear Bed-Stuy's City Council Candidates Speak (Well, Actually, Read Their Transcripts)

Just click on any of the photos below to read the candidate's message. Messages are actually transcripts from videos, though I don't find the videos on the city's Voters Guide site, just audio clips. Whatever. Anyway, the candidates are, clockwise, beginning top left: Robert E. Cornegy (red tie), Jr.; Mark Winston Griffith (dreads); Saquan Jones (yellow tie); Adrian Straker (gray jacket, open blouse); Tremaine Wright (black leather jacket); incumbent Al Vann (black and white photo).

Candidate Cornegy is Music to Ears of Patricia Robinson, Who Leads a Symphony of Pianos, Politics and History in Bed-Stuy

[caption: l-r, Bed-Stuy's historic Patricia F. Robinson Music School; Patricia Robinson; City Council candidate Robert E. Cornegy, Jr.]

Patricia F. Robinson embodies the cultural history of the wonderful place called Bedford-Stuyvesant. Her mother, as you will hear in the below video, started a local music school 79 years ago, and that place of aural learning endures to this day.

Such continuity!

But Robinson does not want to see that kind of continuity in her elected officials.

She believes incumbent City Councilman Al Vann has been in office too long (having served 35 years in elective office, most of it as Assemblyman before switching jobs with then Councilmember Annette Robinson).

And so Music Director Robinson is now playing the renegade in Bed-Stuy's exciting City Council primary race.

She's throwing her enthusiastic energies behind Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., son of a popular minister, about whom you'll hear more in the brief video below.

Robinson says life is music, and music (as any musician knows) needs changes.

[Also, please check out this Sunday, June 28, 2009, at 2 pm, "The 79th Annual Recital" of The Patricia F. Robinson Music Studio.

It's at the Brooklyn Music School, 126 St. Felix St., Brooklyn. $25 at the door; $20 in advance. School can be emailed at pfr_musicstudio@yahoo.com. Or visited at its website www.pfrmusicstudio.org or on Facebook.]

Here's the video:

A Model for Local Politics? Candidates Presented Themselves Without Rancor or Hostility

Host Frantz Cayo, president of the Stuyvesant Heights Parents Association, clearly stated the purpose of the June 6 candidates forum.

"We wanted to allow them to be able to present themselves, and allow you to get to know them," Cayo [standing in photo] told the dozens of attendees at the early Saturday morning gathering, held at Brownstone Books on Lewis Avenue.

First came Tremaine Wright [seated far left] who stood and declared, "I believe I have a duty to my community."

She said she had served on the local Community Board for six years and that Bedford Stuyvesant residents "have an opportunity now to make some changes," to have "new energy, new ideas."

Wright, the owner of Common Grounds cafe on Tompkins Avenue, stressed that she wanted to see more affordable housing for "middle income people" in the neighborhood.

[Wright and the four other candidates are seeking to replace incumbent Councilman Al Vann, who Cayo said was invited to the forum but who "sent his regrets."]

Saquan Jones [second in photo], who is in his mid-30s, said he thinks of community youngsters who are facing uncertain, often bleak futures, in which jail is sometimes "a rite of passage."

He wants "a chance to bring Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights to a level of prosperity," he told the group.

Jones pointed out that he grew up in public housing (in Queens, before moving to Brooklyn) and repeated his campaign theme of seeking now to "turn adversity into advantage."

Next came Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. [seated third from left in photo], whose dad was a prominent minister in Bed-Stuy.

Cornegy mentioned that he has been serving the community in a number of ways. He referred to his experience as an adjunct professor of marketing at Brooklyn College.

He said also that he'd been a campaign manager for State Senator Kevin Parker. Cornegy said that he is interested in crime prevention and making sure essential services are delivered to residents.

Next came Mark Winston Griffith [seated fourth from left],who has the backing of the powerful Working Families Party, and who said, "We need to look at someone who's got a lot of different skills."

He exhorted the audience to look at his "24-year career working in Central Brooklyn," notably at his time with the Central Brooklyn Credit Union, which he founded.

Griffith emphasized his tenant organizing past, particularly is work with NEDAP (the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project), which does advocacy regarding housing policy and its effect on local communities.

[According to City Hall News, Griffith is leaving his recent position as executive director of the Drum Major Institute -- of which former Bronx Borough President and mayoral contender Freddy Ferrer was once the director.

The ending paragraphs from that interesting City Hall News article are worth offering here:]

"Griffith’s race (against Al Vann), many progressives say, will be a bellwether for where the movement is headed in the next several years. And the activists and policymakers who fill the movement’s ranks are looking to him as someone who can help advance the progressive agenda in ways that Bloomberg has not.

"Griffith knows that the hopes of many progressive activists and policy wonks are tied up in his underdog campaign.

“'What I want to do, which is what DMI talks about, is build a real pipeline to new leadership in our neighborhood,' he said. 'And my position as a candidate can affect the progressive landscape in New York City.'"

[To read whole article, click here.]

Last of the candidates to introduce herself was Adrian Straker, who identified herself as a "third generation Brooklyn resident.

Straker said that Central Brooklyn is in the throes of a "health crisis," notably regarding HIV and diabetes.

She also noted community concerns about the Sumner Avenue (Marcus Garvey Boulevard) armory. Some residents complained earlier this year that city officials were using the facility to house homeless men.

Straker said she would respond to such day-to-day neighborhood concerns. "I will be present and accountable," she said.

"Where we are now is not where we need to be."

There was quite a bit more to the June 6 forum, as questions were allowed. But BrooklynRon has to run off at the moment and hope to continue this thread soon.

Democracy Alive in Bed-Stuy, as Candidates Speak with Community

Five candidates hoping to beat incumbent Al Vann and become Bed-Stuy's next City Councilmember kept their hope alive on Saturday.

They appeared at Brownstone Books and summarized their positions, essentially introducing themselves to those who showed up for the early morning event.

They also answered questions and were very civil with each other.

We will post more on the event, culling from our notes, but in the meantime we offer here a little slide show that is hopefully a visual taste of what occurred.

(In photo here, Frantz Cayo, president of the Stuyvesant Heights Parents Association, presides over the gathering, which included candidates, left to right, Tremaine Wright, Saquan Jones, Robert Cornegy, Jr., Mark Winston Griffith and Adrian Straker.)

See slide show below. (Please note that, in dealing with YouTube, the creator does not have full choice in selecting the opening image.)

An Incumbent's Dream: Bed-Stuy Council Challengers Fire On Each Other

Two candidates for Bed-Stuy's City Council seat went at it with (verbal) guns firing.

The duel led one of the candidates, Mark Winston Griffith, to say that if the nastiness continued there would be little chance to defeat incumbent Al Vann.

"We're just going to create a circular firing squad and there'll be no one left but him," Griffith said.

The tiff centered on charges by candidate Saquan Jones that Griffith is "elitist" and unable to "go on the corner with the bloods" and "fight for this city and this district without being intimidated."

Griffith, who acknowledged that he had gone to both public and private schools, has a long history of fighting for the economically disadvantaged, especially victims of predatory lending, and he expressed strong resentment at Jones' allegations.

Jones, in this latest video segment that is offered here below, said he did not want to attack Vann, who has held elective office for 35 years.

Griffith, on the other hand, said he had once greatly admired Vann but that "I think he's lost sight of what he was put in this neighborhood to do."

Griffith maintained Vann has become too comfortable and is not as involved in the community as he should be.

The square-off between Griffith and Jones was videotaped by independent videographer Norman Graham. Ryan Mack, president of Optimum Capital Management, was also in the studio asking questions of the candidates. Graham's webite is http://www.onthespotpro.com/.

Here is the latest segment of the appearance by Griffith and Jones.

[Above gunfight image comes from CreativeCommons.]

On Video: Two Bed Stuy Councilmanic Candidates Present Themselves

  

On a video produced by Bed-Stuy independent filmmaker Norman Graham, two of the candidates challenging incumbent Al Vann offered sketches of themselves, hoping to win over Bed-Stuy residents who get to watch the show.

Relations between the two candidates, Mark Winston Griffith [photo, left] and Saquan Jones [photo, right] have seemed testy, though this short clip below does not evidence that.

Graham, whose company is called Onthespot, will be releasing other parts of the stand-off between Griffith and Jones soon, Graham says.

The testiness between the candidates has to do with Jones' accusations that Griffith is an elitist, though in fact Griffith has a record of fighting for victims of predatory lending.

Predatory lending -- or, better said, strong and vocal opposition to it -- has been a hallmark of Griffith's career as an activist.

Such cruel actions by bankers, brokers and their conspirators -- whether predatory lending or other acts of economic violence against the vulnerable -- should be a focus of this campaign.

Candidates should be, among other things, leaning on District Attorney Charles J. Hynes to move more vigorously against perpetrators of economic violence, especially in communities like Bedford Stuyvesant. Prosecutors should be pushing the statute of limitations to its limits, going after those who thought they'd gotten away free.

As for Saquan Jones, he says in his introductory remarks that he is the one best able to relate to poor, struggling residents of public developments. He cites his own upbringing in a public housing project.

There are, as readers of this site know, some half dozen men and women interested in challenging Vann. It's expected we will be hearing more from them in the coming days and weeks.

Between Griffith and Jones, as they offered themselves in their brief presentations, Griffith seemed to take more direct aim at Al Vann, saying Vann's time had come and gone and that while Vann was once "a hero to many . . . a change is needed" now.

Bed-Stuy Candidate Saquan Jones Turns to You Tube to Reach Voters and Petition Gatherers

It is extremely notable that one of the challengers in the 36th District Councilmanic race is turning to You Tube to get his messages to the public.

This means that Bed-Stuy is coming of age as it experiences one of the most interesting moments in its recent political history.

More than half a dozen men and women are challenging incumbent Al Vann, even though incumbents in New York City have significant (some would say overwhelming) advantages in seeking re-election.

Jones is trying to get voters to learn how to collect petitions, to ensure that he gets on the ballot. He is sponsoring workshops to do this.

To see the dates and places, check out the "36th District Campaign Events" link on the right top side of the BrooklyRon home page, or simply click here. (Other events, such as an upcoming fundraiser for candidate Tremaine Wright, are listed on this page.)

Meanwhile, to see Jones' recent video, click the image below.

 

Uh Oh. Does This Mean Bloomberg May Help Al Vann -- With $ -- in Bed-Stuy's City Council Race?

                                     

Now comes news that Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he of considerable wealth, held a fund-raiser for embattled Queens City Council candidate and incumbent James Sanders.

And what might be the reason that His Honor would host such an affair at His Honor's townhouse?

Well, Sanders was one of the Councilmembers who voted to change term limits, so that the mayor (and Councilmembers) could run for a third term. It was a policy change strongly desired by Bloomberg.

The mayor "knows how to return a favor," says The New York Post of the event for Sanders.

Well, how does this possibly relatedto the 36th Councilmanic District in Bedford Stuyvesant?

Incumbent Al Vann also voted for Bloomberg's bill to up-end term limits.

So, therefore, a question: Might the mayor ring the political Salvation Army bell for Vann?

Interesting to note: Vann does not seem to appear on a recent City Campaign Finance Board list of candidate who have raised money. Mark Winston Griffith is there, as are Saquan Jones and Tremaine Wright and Robert Cornegy. Seems that more than half a dozen folks are geared up to run for Vann's seat.

Apparently, James Sanders was in a similar situation to Vann's, in that he faced serious opposition and "had not raised any money for his re-election" before the Mayor's fund-raiser, according to The New York Observer's Politicker.

The New York Post's little article on Bloomberg and Sanders can be found here.

Of course, it could be that someone like Al Vann would shun any financial help from someone like Bloomberg. Could be that residents of the 36th would be largely offended at any such involvement by the mayor.

Then again, it could be that someone like Vann doesn't need the help, that maybe he has sufficient local pockets ready to empty themselves at a simple request.

What do we know?

All in all, it's a fairly thrilling time in Bedford-Stuyvesant, politically speaking, that is.

So says Frantz Cayo, President of the Stuyvesant Heights Parents Association.

"I don't think I've ever heard people talk this much about a City Council seat this early in my lifetime," he said.

"It's definitely an exciting time for all of us right now."