Democrats getting uppity in 38th Assembly District

From City Hall:

When Gov. David Paterson reversed course last summer and decided to call a special election to replace now-jailed Assembly Member Anthony Seminerio, three candidates who wanted to run in a Democratic primary for the seat were forced out of the race.

The special election instead allowed the Queens Democratic Party to get its favored candidate for the seat, Mike Miller, on the Democratic line and avoid a contested primary. Miller went on to easily win a special election victory in the southwest Queens district over a Republican opponent.

Now, two of the Democratic candidates who could not run last year are teaming up to try ousting Miller in the fall. And Miller is not the only person who has raised their ire: they claim that the circumstances surrounding the special election were all part of a political deal to help Council Member Elizabeth Crowley.

Nick Comaianni, president of Community Education Council District 24, will announce his primary challenge against Miller at a meeting of the newly-formed Southwest Queens Democratic Club on May 6, he said.

Comaianni said he would draw on support of the parents he has come to know as the local school board president, as well as the sizable Indian and Latino communities who he says felt disenfranchised by the special election maneuvering last year.

“They don’t like it when a few people out of 125,000 get to determine who represents them in Albany,” Comaianni said.

In January, Comaianni founded the Southwest Queens Democratic Club with Farouk Samaroo, a young Afghan war veteran who, like Comaianni, wanted to run to replace Seminerio. The club had some 45 people at their first meeting, a number they attributed to anger over the special election.

In fact, Samaroo said the club will try to run a candidate not only for Assembly this year, but for every district leader, state committee, judicial delegate and county committee seat in the 38th Assembly district, which covers Glendale, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood and Woodhaven.

Samaroo asserted that the minority populations who make up the majority of the primary electorate were left behind last year by a deal cut between the Queens Democratic Party and a small group of mostly white, conservative Democrats in Glendale, who wanted Miller to replace Seminerio.

In exchange, according to Samaroo, these conservative Democrats promised to support Council Member Elizabeth Crowley — who was running for re-election against Republican Tom Ognibene — and who is the cousin of Queens Democratic Party chair Joe Crowley.

“The Hispanic and Indian populations got sacrificed for a little political deal for Liz Crowley,” Samaroo said. “Frankly, we’re a little upset about it.”

On the one hand, I like thumbing the eye of the machine with this move. On the other hand, Miller has introduced some good legislation, such as with the railroad.

Comaianni LOVES making sure schools are shoehorned into Maspeth and Ridgewood, not because Maspeth and Ridgewood need them, but so kids from Corona and Elmhurst could be bused in. Not once do I recall him begging for a school to be built in Middle Village or Glendale, which are also in School District 24. In typical political fashion, he made sure he protected his home turf at the expense of someone else's neighborhood. A political NIMBY who calls everyone else a NIMBY. Of course, the smarter thing would have been to make sure the schools were built where the kids actually come from, meaning Corona and Elmhurst. (See today's other post about apartment buildings in Corona.)

Judge upholds Paterson's special election call

(AP) An Army veteran has lost his legal battle to get onto the Democratic ballot for a New York state Assembly seat.

A federal judge in Brooklyn rejected Farouk Samaroo’s bid to block the special election in a Queens district where the candidates were chosen by party bosses.

The 26-year-old Samaroo recently served in Afghanistan. He represented himself at a hearing on Thursday, arguing there should be an open primary. But the judge told him the special election was valid, and that he could still run as an independent.

The special election was ordered by Gov. David Paterson, then rescinded, then made again on Friday in an embarrassing series of edicts. Paterson said the special election was set because it was cost-effective and expeditious.

Assembly District 38 candidate sues Paterson

Farouk Samaroo, a Democratic candidate for the New York State Assembly in the 38th Assembly District will have his day in court to defend the rights of the voters of the 38th Assembly District against Governor Paterson’s illegal Proclamation issued on August 14, 2009 canceling the scheduled Primary Election and giving party hacks the right to pick the next Assemblyman from this community.

WHEN: THURSDAY AUGUST 20, 2009 @ 10:00 AM
WHERE: ROOM N4F
U.S. DISTRICT COURT – EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
225 CADMAN PLAZA EAST
BROOKLYN, NY 11201

A novel idea: Let the VOTERS decide

Farouk Samaroo, a Democratic candidate for the New York State Assembly in the 38th Assembly District filed suit today in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Samaroo asked the Court to set aside Governor Paterson’s proclamation of a special election to fill the seat vacated by the disgraced Anthony Seminerio, who pled guilty to charges of influence peddling.

“Let the voters decide”, said Farouk Samaroo, a decorated combat veteran of the Afghanistan campaign. “Our right to vote in a free and fair election is being violated by the Governor’s action. I am suing under the Voting Rights Act and asking the Court to set aside this bad joke played on the electoral process.”

Thousands of voters signed petitions to enable five candidates to appear on the September 15th Primary Election Ballot, with the winners to compete in the November 3rd General Election. The Governor’s Proclamation claims the right to cancel an already scheduled election, which was to be conducted under normal rules allowing voters enrolled in political parties to choose who represents them in a General Election. Governor Paterson’s action replaces the will of the voters to choose who will run as the Democratic candidate with the whims of the District Leaders of the 38th Assembly District - including the disgraced and convicted Seminerio.

The unelected Governor previously has shown confusion over this election, first proclaiming a special election, then rescinding it, and now re-proclaiming it. The earlier actions have been reported to have been provoked by a feud between competing party bosses.

Somehow I doubt that when Mr. Samaroo enlisted in the army he thought he was doing so to protect and defend the rights of Crowley's Clubhouse. But that's what is happening here.

"I don't care who does the electing, so long as I get to do the nominating." - William Marcy "Boss" Tweed

Hey, Dave: EVEN FRIENDS SINGING, 'BYE-BYE, GOV'

Maspeth wants fewer trucks and more parks

This past Saturday, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, Councilman Tony Avella, representatives of Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and State Senator Joe Addabbo, 3 Assembly candidates, local residents and civic groups gathered at the Clinton Diner in Maspeth to protest Waste Management's plan to truck garbage to the neighborhood instead of loading it directly onto the rail next to their property for shipment out of state.

They also called on Mayor Bloomberg to acquire the former site of St. Saviour's Church as a public park. Interestingly, the site is listed on PlaNYC's website as an ideal potential site for a park as identified by respondents to surveys.

The Assembly candidates suggested using eminent domain to acquire the park and filing an environmental lawsuit to stop the WM plan.

Although WM has been stating publicly that 50 sanitation trucks a day would enter their transfer station on Review Avenue and 65 a day would truck garbage to the Maspeth Railyard, the EIS for the project mentions 81 and 144 respectively.



The cockamamie WM plan is no surprise as members of the Vallone family, including Peter Sr. and Paul, have thus far accepted $1M from Waste Management to lobby the city for the project. Here's a sample lobbying report from 2005; they have represented the company from 2002 until now.

Meet the Assembly District 38 candidates, part 1

“I am running for the Assembly” announced Farouk Samaroo, “My experience in the Legislature, and on the battlefield make me uniquely qualified to serve the people in our neighborhoods of Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Glendale, Maspeth, Ridgewood, and Middle Village. We deserve an Assemblyman who will serve us with honor, experience and skill.”

The 38th Assembly District seat became vacant when the previous incumbent, after 30 years in office, resigned following his guilty plea to charges of influence peddling. By every objective measure, the district has suffered during his tenure. The lack of basic government services, aging or inadequate infrastructure, and absence of advocacy for economic development and revitalization of the district’s small business base have cost us dearly.

Samaroo said: “I am an ordinary Soldier, the son of working class parents, and I grew up in this district. I have had the great privilege and high honor of serving my country in battle. I found it to be the most rewarding experience of my life. Our Assemblyman resigned in disgrace, the State Legislature is failing us, and our country needs the service of committed young men and women to lead at all levels of government. I promise to serve this district well and with honor.”

He returned home after spending the past 12 months serving as a Soldier in the U.S. Army in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. For his service in Afghanistan with the storied 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One), Farouk was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for “military merit,” as well as six other decorations. Farouk’s unit, the 3rd Infantry Brigade, saw heavy combat in the four provinces of Eastern Afghanistan which border Pakistan’s lawless frontier provinces where Taliban and al-Qaeda forces are concentrated.

Farouk Samaroo has lived in Richmond Hill for the past 19 years. He has been very active in local civic affairs. Before his Army service, Samaroo served as a Community Liaison in the New York State Assembly, and on the boards of local non-profits. He also attends Mass at St. Benedict Joseph Labre Roman Catholic Church in Richmond Hill. Farouk is a Knight of St. Peter Claver, a national Catholic fraternal organization.

Supporters of Samaroo today announced the formation of “Friends of Samaroo” to seek the Democratic Party nomination for the Assembly vacancy.