Politics on the Hudson

Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick testified today on redistricting the state’s senate district lines and he asked that Yonkers not be split in half by two senate districts.

Lesnick made his statements before the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, where said that a current proposal would create a situation in which a non-Yonkers resident could be elected to represent the state’s fourth-largest city in the senate.

The city is currently divided in two senate districts. Democrat Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins represents most of the city, while Yonkers’ southeastern corner is represented by Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx.

Here is what Lesnick said:

I am concerned that if the proposed senate districts are adopted Yonkers could lose its strong voice in the New York State Senate, and as a result, lose out on very much needed school aide that historically, had been restored by a powerful advocate in the Senate.

For many years, most of Yonkers has been in one senate district and that senator, be it Chippy Flynn, Nick Spano, or Andrea Stewart-Cousins, has worked hard to represent us on matters that concern our City.

The proposed lines, as they now stand, split Yonkers down the middle into two sections, and in such a way, that Yonkers would no longer to hold a majority in either district and thus, weaken our representation in Albany.

Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young announced a celebrity mayoral endorsement from actor Denzel Washington.

The incumbent Democrat faces a challenge from three rivals in the Sept. 13 primary.

Here’s what Young’s email from yesterday included:

“I love my hometown. I am in Mount Vernon often and I see tremendous progress. I am proud of the work Mayor Young has done. I support and endorse him. I ask you to do the same,” Oscar Winning Actor Denzel Washington said in the press release.

Young also announced today that he received endorsements from the Westchester/Putnam Central Labor Body, AFL-CIO and Mount Vernon Federation of Teachers.

Young’s campaign previously announced that the  Mount Vernon Fire Fighters Union Local 107 would endorse Young, but that endorsement has been postponed, according to Young’s campaign.

Young’s ther endorsements include outgoing Mount Vernon Councilman Steven Horton, state Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, D-Bronx/Mount Vernon, Rep. Eliot Engel, state Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx/Westchester, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon, County Legislator Lyndon Williams, D-Mount Vernon and County Legislator Ken Jenkins, D-Yonkers.

State Sen. Jeff Klein’s office announced that Klein, D-Bronx & southern Westchester, will endorse Mount Vernon City Council candidate Richard Thomas this morning.

Thomas, 29, is married and runs his own consulting business. He serves on the board of Amani Public Charter School and volunteers as a Peacekeeper, a group that approaches young people as a violence-reduction effort.

Thomas, the city Democrats’ endorsed candidate, is a former regional director for Gov. David Paterson’s regional office in White Plains.

The 11 a.m. event takes place in front of Ristorante Buona Sera in Mount Vernon’s Fleetwood neighborhood.

No incumbents are running for the two open seats in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary as Councilman Steven Horton will not seek reelection and Councilwoman Diane Munro-Morris was disqualified from the primary ballot.

The Democratic primary winner essentially wins the November election in this overwhelmingly Democratic city.

The Yonkers City Council will hold a last-minute 9:15 meeting tonight to redraw their request asking the state legislature to create a transitional finance authority.

Yonkers officials want the TFA so they can  borrow $20 million to help close a $42 million deficit in the Yonkers Public Schools that threatens more than 700 layoffs on July 1.

Last week city officials said that state officials called their plan unsound, provoking a press conference and finger-pointing.

Although there was no draft resolution on the TFA in the Yonkers City Clerk’s late-Sunday night email announcing the meeting, one significant change in the TFA could be the elimination of a salary freeze.

The previous request sought to freeze Yonkers workers’ salaries, which last week Sen. Jeff Klein’s office likened to a Wisconsin-style attack on public workers.

Last week Assemblyman Mike Spano, who is running for Yonkers mayor, pointed to the state comptroller’s office’s concerns that the TFA proposal is financially unsound. This morning Spano’s office informed that the state comptroller’s office’s concerns were expressed verbally, not in any written form that could be shared with the media.

State senators who formed a minority-in-the-minority Independent Democratic Conference discuss the issues in an Editorial Spotlight interview at 2 p.m. today on LoHud.com.

They are Jeffrey Klein, who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester; David Carlucci, whose district includes all of Rockland and sections of southern Orange County; and Diane Savino, Staten Island.

To watch, go to www.LoHud.com/editorialspotlight. To submit a question, use the CoverItLive blogging feature on the right.

State Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, and Frank Vernuccio, his Republican challenger in the 34th state Senate district, which covers parts of the Bronx, the Pelhams, Mount Vernon, Yonkers and Eastchester, talked Tuesday with the Editorial Board. Here’s a clip that includes introductory comments from both candidates:

To watch session in its entirety, go to lohud.com/editorialspotlight and select the video you’d like to watch by clicking the ‘on demand’ button.

The Yonkers City Council adopted a resolution on Tuesday in support of a state proposal criminalizing carrying a gun while drunk.

The proposed legislation, S6773 or A10332, would make carrying a gun while under the influence of drugs or alcohol a class-A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and up to $10,000 in fines.

“Guns and alcohol are a deadly mix. Putting a stop to carrying while intoxicated is a common sense measure that New York State absolutely must adopt. I applaud the Yonkers City Council for joining me in this fight to protect New Yorkers from gun violence,” said sponsor and state Sen. Jeffrey D. Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) in a statement issued today by Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick.

“Spiderman’s creator Stan Lee penned the phrase, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’” said Lesnick in the press release. “Carrying a firearm is an awesome responsibility and there can be no tolerance for anyone who does so while drunk. The City Council is proud to support this legislation and looks forward to its adoption.”

State Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, who also represents parts of Yonkers, Mount Vernon and several other communities in Westchester, issued a statement earlier today about the troubles facing Gov. David Paterson.

“It is unfortunate that at a time when our state is in the midst of a severe economic crisis and we need to direct our energy to putting New York’s fiscal house in order, we are embroiled in chatter about who will or will not be on the ballot nine months from now. We need to keep our eye on the ball. I’m focused on the budget and finding ways in which we can better protect the people’s money, put more tax dollars back in people’s pockets and restore the financial health of our state. Political conversations can be had after we’ve met our obligations and responsibilities to New Yorkers.”