Robertson challenging Lesnick in Yonkers
Former Yonkers Councilman Dennis Robertson says he plans to challenge fellow Democrat and City Council President Chuck Lesnick for the Council’s top leadership post at a party convention in April.
Robertson said he would not run a primary against Lesnick if he lost at the party convention, saying he would not have enough campaign money to wage a successful battle against an incumbent without party support.
Robertson said Lesnick is not a strong enough leader on the Council and could prove vulnerable against a challenge by the Republicans. Republican Jim Castro-Blanco announced his attention to seek Republican backing for a City Council President race.
The 48-year-old Robertson is the full-time director of housekeeping at Yonkers Raceway’s Empire City, the video gambling operation run by the state Lottery, and he said he continues to operate an office cleaning consulting business.
Robertson unsucessfully challenged Yonkers Republican Mayor Phil Amicone’s bid for a second term in 2007, a contest that taught him, Robertson said, the importance of healthy campaign coffer.
“If I learned anything in the mayor’s race it was: you need enough money to define yourself for the voters and not let other people define you,” Robertson said.
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The person who will still be defining robertson
is his benefactor sam zherka
Robertson will get crushed, he travels with the wrong crowd and people know it. Lesnick is a nice person who really cares about the people he represents, he may not be flashy but he is effective.
Robertson is lucky he got to be a head janitor. If he thinks he is going to get a better job than that he’s nuts.
watch out for robertson to steal the independence
line due to his close connection to zherka and his
connection to cavalo….that will leave lesnick in
the position of looking like the weaker candidate
in the general…but robertson will not beat lesnick
in the primary..and in the general election the ind
line will help robertson siphon off enough democratic
votes to split democrtats so castro blanco can drive
a truck through the hole
Republican Minority Leader Liam Mclaughlin should run for city council president he is liked by rank and file republicans and he has shown true leadership..
Its clear that amicone is making a power grab on the city council, by supporting candidates who will carry his water, the legislative branch should be the checks and balances in city gov’t not a rubber stamp…
Liam does not win a general election…too many
enemies…too close to former mayor john spencer
who hired him as a “political advisor” during the
senate race….if you want a candidate to undermine
the mayor then liam is your guys..if you want
a bright man who can work with the mayor as well
as have an independent point of view…castro blanco
is your guy….
anyone who is effective and shows leadership makes enemies, castro-blanco is too close to amicone and so are the other respective candidates the mayor is putting up to run. If amicone wants to be the republican party chairman he should resign as mayor..
castro blanco may be the choice of the mayor but
he is a new comer to politics who doesn’t owe anyone
anything…which you certainly can’t say about
liam…and in the last election against robertson
the mayor got over 61% of the vote….so clearly
he is popular…and that popularity hasn;t faded..
McLoughlin is Spencer and that dog won’t hunt
There are may fine republican candidates like barbato and mclaughlin for council president, tubiolo and esposito for district 4 where amicone refuses to support them and that is a shame..
Dennis Robertson has no public policy background, lacks government experience. Chuck’s record is proven he’s got a background in govt, economic development. Republican party of Yonkers might want to get some candidates and send them to Public Policy school and educate them on the how to run an effective govt before sending them out to the wolves to get slaughtered.
Lesnick has sat idle for three years and produced nothing, you call giving out proclamation and self-promoting newletters paid for by taxpayers “public policy”...
lesnick may have a backround academically in
public policy but he is hardly the kind of leader
that yonkers needs as city council presidents..and
to quote a more famous democrat after the failed
bay of pigs invasion JFK “I knew I shouldn’t have
trusted the experts”
Hey GOP & Jeff, why don’t you run instead of the janitor. You both sound more qualified.
just about everyone is more qualified than robertson
can you imagine another city wide campaign where
robertson is once again tainted as the pawn of
sam zherka…I really don’t think he realizes how
badly he comes across as the result of that relationship
so robertson has learned that “you need enough money
so you can define yourself”..but how about where
you get the money….does that count or do you just
decide to take it from wherever it comes
Robertson will spin around a brass pole for campaign funds?
Its a shame that Amicone listens to the advise of John Fleming, who doesnt even live in Yonkers-I hear that John Fleming is going around guarantee the Yonkers Republican Line to candidate-too bad he cant back up his promises-all he has done is make enemies for Amicone-Barbato, McLaughlin, Tubiolo, Esposito, Jacono-Mayor you have always impressed me as a smart, decent man-your making enemies you cant afford to have,
fleming needs to stop trying to orchastrate what
happens in yonkers….he is the one who started
the zherka lawsuit….because of his original statment
on the yonkers tribune….there is no room for personal
invective in politics…so cut it out
jeff
you spell like a zherka.
it’s not orchastrate
it’s orchestrate
it’s not statment
it’s statement
As for ‘invective in politics” can I assume you dislike the invective found in that “so called” newspaper that zherka publishes ?
what zherka publishes is hardly a “news” paper…it is
in fact the political opinion of zherka expressed by his editor richard blassberg..who in his own right has no
claim to being a journalist..since he is active in
politics as the former campaign manager for tony castro
both times that castro lost….the opinions of blassberg
are not news….there is no objectivity in the paper
they fail to report anything negative about zherka..
including his recent arrest in mount vernon…in fact
blassberg appears to have a conspiratorial bent…from
alleging that the last da’s election was stolen to
buying into zherka’s theory that elected and appointed
officials conspired to have him arrested in mount vernon
while he was on his way to an auction…that would have
required prior knowledge on the part of the arresting officer that he was going to be late…how improbable
is that..so to answer your question the rag called
a newspaper is simply a way for zherka and blassberg
to engage in personal invective against those they
don’t care for…(how’s my spelling this time)
Time is passing! Good Bye Phil, we hate to see you go…Council President, Who knows..
Yonkers will smell like roses when Phil is gone.
Fernando Fuentes
Former 2nd District Councilperson
Fernando Fuentes you sound like my kind of politician.
Mr. Fuentes, how is that new beautiful home of yours in Florida? The best things in life are free, huh?
Will you be back to steal more money from the Yonkers Public Schools?
Yonkers smelled terrible with you around (especially around Ludlow Street). Stay away.