Brooklyn Ron

Griffith Says Bed-Stuy Residents Overwhelmingly Want to Replace Vann

Mark Winston Griffith (photo) points out that more than 70 percent of voters in the Democratic primary voted for someone other than Al Vann, the incumbent Councilman.

That fact helped convinced Griffith that he could take on Vann and win in the general election this November.

Yes, Vann will be on the Democrat line and, yes, an incumbent always holds an enormous advantage, being able to turn out hundreds whose jobs are linked to the sitting official.

(Recall the former Councilmember who said an incumbent in New York can totally "fuck up" the job, and he will still be elected.)

Calling himself a "Democrat" who will be on the Working Families Party line in November, Griffith says he believes Bed-Stuy guys and gals (okay, those are our words) want change, which is a word that Griffith uses very prominently and frequently.

Herewith, in fact, we offer you Griffith's "Open Letter to People Seeking Change in Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant," announcing his candidacy.

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.

Al Vann Backers Upset That He's Being Called Lazy and Out-of-Touch

But the truth is that in my own wanderings through Bed-Stuy, many long-time residents have been saying that they hardly ever see Al Vann, that he doesn't seem to care about what happens on their block.

And I write these words as one who, years back, was in awe of Vann's willingness to take on the cultural and political powers of the days.

The rap against him these days is that, having been in elective office 35 years or so, the clinking of the pension register may be what motivates most.

Many are upset also that Vann went along with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and, against the will of the people as expressed in referenda setting eight-year term limits, voted to give Hizzoner and Councilmembers (including Vann himself, of course) a shot at another four years in office.

Daily News columnist Errol Louis lashed out at Vann in a passionate piece last week, setting off outrage among Vann backers who have accused Louis of partisanship unbecoming a journalist. The column by Louis was headlined "A Sorry Excuse for a Leader," and, as I indicated, it essentially repeated what's being said up and down many blocks of Bedford Stuyvesant.

That said, I have wondered about Errol Louis's past partnerships with candidate Mark Winston Griffith (who I think has marvelous credentials for a seat on the Council).

Clips show that they worked together, effectively as partners, in the 1980s.

I have seen nothing from Louis about their connections and have wondered if maybe there was a falling out or something, and they simply went their separate ways and felt no need to talk about it.

But, as Vann's people say, this should have been publicly aired, ideally by Louis himself, certainly before the debates at which Louis was a host and questioner, and at which Vann apparently chose not to appear.

Seems to me there's a grave ethical breach here and The Daily News (a paper I love and where I once worked) has sunk to very low levels in professional standards, if it doesn't insist on disclosure of this kind from its columnists.

Granted, columnists are held to looser standards than reporters, but there are times when omissions of this type do a disservice to journalism and to its consumers, and are a reason why trust in the mainstream media has been falling as it has been.

(If there have been such disclosures that escaped the attention of the public -- or if the argument is being made that was never a substantive relationship between Louis and Mark Winston Griffith -- please let us know, Mr. Louis and Daily News.)

And now I'm going to link to the letter sent by Vann supporters complaining strongly about Louis.

But I have to add, before I hand you the link, that I feel there is likely some self interest and even perhaps conflict of interest with some of these signers, in that some on the list are connected with public institutions that have relied on elected officials like Vann for their funding.

Call me naive.

Anyway, here's the statement of complaint. (Click 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.

Al Vann is All but Sure to Win Bed-Stuy Council Race, One 'Objective' Observer Says

 The race for the City Council seat in Bed-Stuy (the 36th District) is one for the books.

Some half dozen challengers are trying to unseat incumbent Al Vann. And they are taking this all very seriously, turning deaf ears to the (here) oft repeated truism that incumbents win 97 percent of the time.

This truism is true whether incumbents have done a good job or whether they have "fucked up."

Excuse the language, but that was the phrasing, more of less, of a former Councilmember quoted anonymously in City Limits magazine.

Regarding the crowded field in the 36th, it is a testament to the ambition and/or character of the would-bees that they plow ahead, despite the odds.

And, in truth, there are some grounds, in virtually each case, for hope.

For example, one would think that challenger Mark Winston Griffith -- with the backing (and presumably accompanying money and manpower) of the Working Families Party and of ACORN -- could be putting fear into the heart of Councilman Vann.

After all, challengers do sometimes end up pumping their fists up in victory.

But a big problem for Griffith -- or for the others -- is precisely that there are so many of them, and that they are so seemingly sincere.

Their determination can be seen, said our source, in the way they are going through the petition process, with due diligence, gathering signatures that will allow them to be on the Democratic primary ballot this September.

And there's the rub: The more of them on the ballot, the greater the chances of Vann sailing to the finish line first.

All of this would be less an issue if one of the challengers -- particularly Griffith -- could draw more attention, raise more hell.

But that's just not been happening, so far.

[The "objective source" referred to up above, by the way, is about as knowledge (and honest) as they come, with respect to Bed-Stuy politics.]

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 [email protected]. 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.)

Al Vanns Says, I'm Keeping This Seat. Question now is Whether Challengers Will Go Home

So we've arrived finally at the point where the incumbent in the 36th Councilmanic District, Al Vann, relieves the watching world of its suffocating suspense.

He wants another four years.

The truth, of course, is that almost everyone assumed Vann would swish his hat into the ring.

Presumably, the desire for another four years was the reason he voted (along with the majority of Councilmembers) to end the two-term restriction on city office holders.

(Unless the motivation was that he deeply believed the city needed to have Mayor Mike Bloomberg in office for another term.)

Speaking of which, we are certain Vann and other black Brooklynites will be giving at least strong verbal support to Bill Thompson in Thompson's race against Bloomberg.

After all, Thompson is a black Brooklynite himself.

Now this takes us to an interesting irony in this political episode, which is this:

The loudest backing of Thompson seems to be from across the river, in Harlem, where bigshots Charles Rangel, David Dinkins and others have announced their support of Thompson -- with great fanfare, including Dinkins shouting his endorsement loudly the mountaintop (or rather, steps) of City Hall.

This should not necessarily be a cause for celebration on the part of Bill Thompson.

You see, the Harlem crowd does not have a good track record when it comes to endorsements of black candidates in prominent contests.

There was, for example, the fiasco of a quarter century ago when they backed Herman Denny Farrell against another Herman, surnamed Badillo, in the mayoral primary.

In one fell swoop, the Harlemites sabotaged the best chances for a Black/Latino alliance the city had ever seen. (And, in so doing, they also fired a wounding bullet into Al Vann and Vann's Brooklyn cohorts, who were lined up with Badillo.)

The outcome of that drama is well known, as Ed Koch sailed to victory and continued the race baiting rhetoric for which he was celebrated in certain corners at the time.

And while we're with the Harlem crowd and their endorsement history, how can we forget the recent presidential race, that saw the Harlemites siding (aggressively and till the very end) with Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama.

Which brings us back to the Councilmanic race in Bed-Stuy.

Among those slated to be present when Vann announces his candidacy this coming Saturday on Fulton Street is none other than Comptroller Bill Thompson.

And the list of others scheduled to be there is daunting. No doubt it's all intended to show the strength of incumbency. The expected attendees are (according to a note from Vann's campaign):

Governor David A. Paterson, State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith, Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Borough President Marty Markowitz and "other local elected officials".

This all brings to mind a City Limits article (quoted previously in a BrooklynRon post) in which a former Councilmember confided the following to newcomers on the Council:

"You can do anything you want and you will be re-elected. You can fuck this up and you will be re-elected. You can do an excellent job and you will be reelected."

(Read the BrooklynRon post.)

And so the real question is whether any, all or some of the half dozen challengers will continue their quest for Vann's seat on the City Council.

If they do stay in, it could possibly be a very exciting summer in Bed-Stuy.

Activist Sharonnie Perry Believes Incumbent Al Vann Has Planted Seeds of Business Growth

Sharonnie Perry [photo] is a blend of activist and insider, and her allegiance is to her community, the place where she was raised, where she has worked and where she is now unemployed.

Her status among the unpaid gives her a curious mix of feelings these days, as more than half a dozen Bed-Stuy residents challenge long-time elected official Al Vann, hoping to take his seat on the City Council.

While Perry likes the idea of taking on the powerful and making them work hard for their constituents, she also feels there is some value in incumbency, particularly when the incumbent has the wherewithal to accomplish substantive things  -- like following through on a new Business Improvement District being established in the community ("Now you're going to see upscale stores coming in," Perry says approvingly) and like seeing through the housing projects being developed by the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the Bridge Street Development Corporation and others, with Vann's backing.

"There are some major things on the table now pertaining to Bedford Stuyvesant," Perry says, "and we have to make sure that they happen."

It is not as likely these things will happen if any of the challengers win Bed-Stuy's Council seat, Perry says.

"From what I've looked at, there's nobody right now I see who's going to be able to do that," she says.

She has a cautionary note to sound at this point, however, and it is this:

That she likes and respects Tremaine Wright, the young lawyer who owns the Common Grounds cafe on Tompkins Avenue and who is one of the challengers.

Perry believes Wright, who has served on the local community board, stands out among the challengers for her history of active involvement in the community.

(Needless to say, other challengers would disagree vigorously with that, but we'll save their replies for another posting.)

"If I was to support anybody other than voting for Al Vann, it would be Tremaine Wright," Perry says.

"I think she's the most articulate . . . She has a head. She's not egotistical and she's a person who might be able to be groomed."

Perry once had -- and still, in fact, has -- ambitions for public office; but she's putting them on hold. She would likely have tossed her hat into the ring if, as many had hoped, Vann and other City Councilmembers were barred from running for another term. But Vann and a majority of the Council went along with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and they overturned the two-term limits that voters had put into place.

So Vann is now able to run for a third term in the Council. (Vann goes back 35 years as an elective office holder, having won a seat in the State Assembly in 1974. He gave up that seat in 2001 in an apparent arrangement with then Councilmember Annette Robinson, who was prevented from seeking another four years by the term limits then in effect. Robinson then won the Assembly spot that Vann had relinquished.)

Sharonnie Perry has a long history in activism and working with elected officials. She was for a time Chairperson of Community Board 3 that covers Bed-Stuy. Perry says that several years ago she was fired from the staff of Congressman Ed Towns when it was perceived that she was planning to run for Al Vann's seat. She was not actually planning to do so, she says. (Perry says she does not blame Towns himself but staffers who were under pressure to get rid of her.) 

Perry, who has had good relations with Assemblywoman Robinson, says that Congressman Towns actually has a strong staff that represents him well in community meetings.

Notably, perhaps, Perry says that Councilman Vann (like a number of other elected officials) is not as well represented at such gatherings.

In fact, a number of Bed-Stuy residents complain that Vann is not personally connected to them and does not get sufficiently involved in issues affecting them.

Here a bit of disclosure: I went (oh, more than forty years back) to the same grammar school as Sharonnie, and over the years I've come to admire the work she's done on behalf of the homeless and others in Brooklyn. These above views are, of course, her own.

Till next time.