Politics on the Hudson

With former Council member Dennis Robertson challenging incumbent Council President Chuck Lesnick for Democratic Party backing, one might have expected some direction from party leaders at their executive committee meeting last week. The executive committee, however, did not recommend either of the candidates. Instead a choice will be made at the Democratic convention on April 30

Party chair Ken Jenkins downplayed the significance of the no-decision decision, saying the executive committee decided to leave the matter for the committee’s more numerous ward leaders. It was not the first time that the executive committee didn’t back an incumbent, Jenkins said. Back in the early 2000s, the party passed over endorsing Fernando Fuentes in his unsuccessful re-election bid in the Council’s second district, Jenkins said.

The Republicans already have one candidate, James Castro-Blanco, and considering a race is Councilman Liam McLaughlin, whose second and final term expires at the end of this year.

Yonkers Councilman Liam McLaughlin’s legal limit of two terms in office runs out at year’s end, but the Republican attorney is planning at least one more race. McLaughlin says he hopes either to challenge incumbent County Legislator Bernice Spreckman for GOP backing in that district race, or else make a run for the Yonkers City Council President’s post.

The latter race would pit him against Jim Castro-Blanco, an attorney and first-time candidate, for the Republican nomination. McLaughlin’s dabbling in the Council President’s race follows a decision by fellow Council member Dee Barbato, who is also term limited, not to enter the race.

All of this follows a brief but failed behind the scenes effort in City Hall to do away with term limits.

Not to be outdone, the Democrats have a race brewing for the same seat. Democratic Council President Chuck Lesnick is being challenged by former Councilman Dennis Robertson. More on that contest soon.

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.

The contest for Yonkers City Council President could wind up as a show down between two 49-year-old Westchester lawyers, each of whom is the father of two children.

Jim Castro-Blanco is seeking the Republican nomination for that post and would likely face Democratic incumbent Chuck Lesnick, who is expected to seek re-election in November. An attorney in the White Plains office of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, Castro-Blanco announced his candidacy with an e-mailed press release today.

Castro-Blanco’s announcement is critical of Lesnick without mentioning his name. He says the city’s “progress has been stalled” under the Council’s current leadership, “opportunities have been squandered, and now people are starting to lose faith in the vision of a great city.” He lives in Northwest Yonkers with his wife Edie and their two children, who attend the PEARLS Hawthorne School.

If he gets the GOP nomination, Castro-Blanco’s announcement says, he would be the first Hispanic candidate for citywide office for either major party. Castro-Blanco’s father is from Colombia. Blanco had worked as an assistant U.S Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, before going to work for Wilson, Elser, a lawfirm with offices across the country and in London.

Lesnick had worked for the law firm Smith, Buss & Jacobs in Yonkers, but left to comply with the city’s ethics codes since the company represents co-ops in the city. He rents space from the firm. Lesnick’s two children had attended the PEARLS Hawthorne School.  The Council President said he’s met Castro-Blanco. “He seems like a decent guy,” Lesnick said, adding that he looks forward to a good campaign once the Republicans have settled on their candidate.

Yonkers is preparing to celebrate the swearing-in of Barack Obama with at least two inauguration-viewing events on Tuesday. The gatherings are scheduled for the Yonkers Riverside Library and the Nepperhan Community Center. Both start at 10:30 a.m., one hour before the commencement of swearing-in ceremonies.

As of earlier today, some 200 people had registered for the library event, which is sponsored by City Council President Chuck Lesnick. Since the library, which is located off Larkin Plaza, can accommodate up to 450 people for the event, Lesnick’s office suggests those who want to attend to register by email at yonkersinaugparty@gmail.com. Lesnick, however, won’t be at his own party. He will be watching the inauguration in D.C. The Nepperhan Community Center is located at 342 Warburton Avenue.

Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick had this reaction to Gov. David Paterson’s State of the State address delivered earlier today:

“I applaud Gov.Paterson for his leadership on creating an economic recovery and development plan to help us navigate these difficult economic times. We must all work toward the goal of doing more with less. We have begun to take that painful but necessary step in Yonkers.

“Still, there is a green lining in every cloud and I applaud the Governor’s proposed efforts to increase clean energy by having 45 percent of its electricity produced through energy efficient and renewable energy measures by the year 2015. This initiative will not only put more than 50,000 New Yorkers to work but will also provide our children with a cleaner environment in the future. In addition, his plans to provide incentives for companies that go green and clean up polluted sites within an Empire Zone is a great way of promoting business and the environment together.

“Finally, I wholeheartedly support Governor Paterson’s Healthy Food/Healthy Communities initiative which addresses childhood obesity with incentives that encourage healthy foods sold in urban areas. This will not only help individuals lead healthier lives but address our long-term health care cost goals.”

It’s hard to know which is in tougher financial shape, New York state or Yonkers. So maybe it’s in the spirit of financial misery seeking company that Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone and City Council President Chuck Lesnick are headed north for Gov. David Paterson’s State of the State address tomorrow.

One thing’s for sure, Paterson won’t be announcing any plans to come to Yonkers’ financial rescue with megabucks for the city’s school system, something Amicone said last April, was needed or else the city was “headed toward a cliff” financially by July 1, 2009.

Paterson’s grim accounting of conditions in New York just might resonate with Amicone, however. The mayor announced plans in December to lay off 76 full-time workers to eliminate a $16 million budget gap, and then spent much of the last month seeking union givebacks to save as many as 60 of them.

Despite the city’s financial problems, however, Amicone, a Republican, and Lesnick, a Democrat, have no plans to car pool to Albany for Paterson’s 1 p.m. speech. Lesnick is headed to Albany tonight; Amicone leaves tomorrow.

Yes, the wine and cheese will be there, but Chuck Lesnick’s campaign fundraiser set for Friday looks to be a political science class – with a definite Democratic perspective.

The Yonkers City Council President has lined up Andrew J. Zambelli, a chief of staff for Gov. Mario Cuomo and a market research consultant specializing in polling; Shelley Meyer, senior council to the state Senate Minority, soon to be Senate Majority, and a past Democratic candidate for the 93rd Assembly District; and David Pollack, the New York State director for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

The event is set for 5 to 7 p.m. in the common room of 1 Alexanders St., on the Yonkers waterfront. Donations can be made out to Chuck Lesnick for City Council President. Additional information is available from Kim DiTomasso at 917-991-8276 or kditto31@yahoo.com.

The Yonkers City Council President’s post isn’t up for re-election until November 2009, but Chuck Lesnick moves into campaign mode tonight when he holds a major funding raising event. Lesnick faces a challenge from City Council member Patricia McDow, D-1st District, who was not happy when Lesnick voted against her January bid to continue as the City Council’s majority leader. As a result, Sandy Annabi, D-2nd District, won the Council’s Majority Leader job. But McDow said today that her disappointment over the leadership position is not motiviating her challenge to Lesnick. “He’s not a good leader,” McDow said.Meanwhile Lesnick is still hoping for more RSVPs for his party, which he describes as “a night of elegance featuring cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, live music, and special friends.” The event will be held at the Hudson riverfront home of Ali and Peter Hegener and has been extended one hour, from 6 to 9 pm. Donation categories are $2500 – Host; $1000 – Sponsor; $500 – Friend; $250 – Guest; $99 – District Leader. RSVP to Kim DiTomasso at 917-991- 8276 or email her at kditto31@yahoo.com.

This blog entry began yesterday when Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone’s spokesman David Simpson told The Journal News the mayor was angry that the City Council may be distancing itself from a timetable leading for the eventual approval of the huge Struever Fidelco Cappelli development in downtown. The mayor might even hold a press conference. That sounded like a news story.

Simpson then released a letter from two City Council members to the developer’s attorney Alfred Delbello, citing what they said were problems with the quality of some of the developers’ data. Because of those problems, the letter continued, the timetable should be considered provisional. The letter also cited delays in paying the city’s consultants. Later the Mayor and Simpson said a three-month spread between payments was not unusal for government or business. The letter was signed by City Council President Chuck Lesnick and Council member Patricia McDow, in whose first district the $1.6 billion project would be built.

After the idea of a press conference was dropped, we spoke to the mayor today. He sounded angry and worried that missing the target dates could cause the SFC project to collapse, especially in the current economy, dashing the biggest piece of the city’s downtown renewal effort.Republican Amicone called the concerns raised by Lesnick and McDow, both Democrats, ”minutia” and said their calling the timetable “provisional” showed a lack of commitment to the project. For his part, though, Lesnick said he thought the timetable could still be met, but the city needed better data from the developer’s consultants to approve the project’s environmental impact statement on Sept 19. That approval would mark one of SFC’s most important milestones.

Near the end of today’s 18-minute interview with the mayor, we asked the obvious question: ”What do you think is going on? What is the cause of the problem?” This is what he said:

“I don’t know. All I know is that the problem is that it’s not getting done. That’s what I know the problem is. And right now it’s in the hands of the consultants for the city and consultants from the developer. And I know that they know that it’s not getting done. And in the end it’s in the hands of the Council to approve.”

Huh? We might be wrong, but the mayor seemed to be offering us a multiple choice:

a. He doesn’t know.

b. The Consultants for the city and consultants for the developer.

c. The City Council

d. B & C, but not the contradictory A.

The mayor was not eager to elaborate, and that’s why this is a blog entry.