Longtime Community Board 12 Head Adjoa Gzifa Gets the Boot by Clare Trapasso - NY Daily News

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The controversial head of a southeast Queens community board has been tossed from her post by a local councilman.

Adjoa Gzifa, 64, of Jamaica, speculated that City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) decided to end her 16-year run on Community Board 12 due to disagreements on various board issues.

Comrie declined to comment on why she was booted. "I'm not airing that in the paper," he said.

Gzifa, who served as the chairwoman of the board for three years, made headlines when she refused to support renaming a Jamaica street after slain police officer John Scarangella. The board shot down the renaming, which the Council then overrode.

She was also one of only two board members who voted against renaming a swath of Liverpool St. after Sean Bell, a bridegroom killed in a hail of police bullets.

"It stinks," Gzifa said of not being reappointed to the board. "I believe I served my community well. The fact that [Comrie and I] can't agree to disagree is disturbing to me."

Gzifa was quick to point out that she was reelected as chairwoman by her peers in December.

She found out about Comrie's decision on April 8, she said, a day after Community Board 12 District Manager Yvonne Reddick was involved in a car accident. Reddick is recuperating from non-life threatening injuries at Jamaica Hospital.

Jacqueline Boyce, the interim chair, said Gzifa will be missed.

"I'm saddened by the fact that she was not reassigned to the community board," Boyce said. "She proved to be a good leader and a good organizer."

But Gzifa had her detractors.

Valerie Bell, 55, the mother of Sean Bell, said the board could benefit from more sympathetic leadership.

"I know you can't name a street after everyone who's done something in the community," she said. "But it's time to have a heart for these things."

Board members are volunteers who can influence local projects and city budgets. Half of the Queens members are appointed by Council members, while the others are picked by the Borough President.

Gzifa, who is the director of the Workforce Education Center at LaGuardia Community College, said she doesn't plan to fight Comrie's decision.

"Just because I'm not on the board doesn't mean I'm going to shut up," she said. "I'm going to continue to speak out against everything that's ill in our community."

New and Notes from NYC Council Member Ruben Wills - Council District 38

COUNCIL MEMBERS RUBEN WILLS AND LEROY COMRIE JOIN NON-PROFIT HOUSING ORGANIZATIONS TO ANNOUNCE HOMEOWNER PRESERVATION EVENTS

DISTRICT-WIDE EVENTS WILL HELP RESIDENTS BETTER NEGOTIATE THROUGH MORTGAGE DELINQUENCY

Council Member Ruben Wills and City Council Deputy Majority Leader Leroy Comrie join advocates from the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, CHANGER, Inc., and residents to announce two upcoming homeowner preservation seminars on Saturday, April 16 in the 28th district. Free services and homeowner access will be available on Saturday, April 23 at the 4th Rise Up & Stay Put! Home Rescue Fair at York College. (Photo credit: Office of Council Member Ruben Wills)

Council Member Ruben Wills and City Council Deputy Majority Leader Leroy Comrie, were joined today by Mike Hickey, Executive Director for the Center for New York City Neighborhoods (CNYCN); Yeneika Puran, Executive Director of CHANGER, Inc.; Connect Queens Campaign Coordinator, Rick Echevarria, and residents to announce two upcoming homeowner preservation events in the 28^th district that are designed to assist residents at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure or mortgage delinquency, as well as a homeowner rescue fair at York College to connect homeowners with services and information.

On Saturday, April 16, from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at New Haven Ministries in Richmond Hill, and again from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Praise Tabernacle in Jamaica, homeownership preservation events will take place to educate residents about successful strategies and negotiations through mortgage delinquency.

“While the country has shifted its attention to other pressing matters, the neighborhoods that I represent are still struggling with escalating foreclosures, bad mortgage modifications and greedy predatory lenders,” said Wills. “The foreclosure epidemic in Southeast Queens threatens to upset our efforts to improve our quality of life and our chances of owning a piece of the American dream. I am determined to ensure that struggling homeowners in Southeast Queens are educated and no longer vulnerable consumers that continue to lose their wealth as a result of gluttonous lending institutions.”

“I want to encourage Queens homeowners who find themselves in danger of foreclosure to attend the Home Rescue Fair on April 23,” stated New York City Council Deputy Majority Leader Leroy Comrie. “I am proud to join my colleague, Council Member Wills, in continuously raising awareness about this issue. The Southeast Queens community has been disproportionately affected by the foreclosure crisis, due to the increasing number of defaults on subprime mortgages that require homeowners to use a higher ratio of their income. Jamaica, Hollis, St. Albans, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and Ozone Park- primarily communities of color –are consistently among the top neighborhoods in New York City leading in new foreclosure actions and foreclosure auctions. My office has partnered with organizations like the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, Queens Legal Services and Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica to offer free foreclosure counseling in community-wide events and in my district office every Friday afternoon. No one should suffer in silence as they lose their home when there is free assistance available.”

“We recognize Council Member Wills as a local leader who has invested his talent and passion to fight the foreclosure crisis in New York City, especially in Southeast Queens, which remains hard hit by this epidemic,” said Michael Hickey, Executive Director of CNYCN. “Currently, there are 30,000 pending foreclosure actions in New York City and we expect things to worsen in 2011 as general economic conditions remain weak. We are pleased to work with Council Member Wills and other elected officials to offer NYC homeowners access to free services from lenders and housing experts at events like the Rise Up & Stay Put! Home Rescue Fair.”

“South East Queens is a community built around the institutions of church and family,” said Yeneika Puran, Executive Director of CHANGER, INC. “We have organized these homeowner events and designed the CONNECT QUEENS campaign with distraught homeowners in mind. Homeowners who have been wrongfully denied loan modifications, homeowners scammed by fraudulent loan modification consultants, and homeowners who are overwhelmed by the experience.”

Jamaica is considered the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis in New York City. CNYCN and its nonprofit and city agency partners are hosting the 4^th Rise Up & Stay Put! Home Rescue Fair on April 23 at York College in Jamaica, Queens. This fair will provide a platform for homeowners to meet with their lenders and housing experts to seek loan modifications and other financial solutions in order to avoid foreclosure. To date, more than 2,300 homeowners have attended these fairs in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, and 40 percent of the attendees were processed for new HAMP or non-HAMP loan modification applications, while 30 percent of the participants received help on existing applications.

For more information on Center for New York City Neighborhoods, www.cnycn.org

For more information on CHANGER, Inc., www.changernyc.org

For more information on CONNECT QUEENS, please call (718) 596-2010.

Saturday, April 16

1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. New Haven Ministries, Starlite Pavilion

130-05 101^st Ave., Richmond Hill

5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Praise Tabernacle

108-11 Sutphin Blvd., Jamaica

Saturday, April 23

10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Rise-Up & Stay Put! Home Rescue Fair

York College

160-02 Liberty Ave., Jamaica

COMMUNITY MEETING ON SITING OF HOMELESS SHELTERS

Council Member Ruben Wills will join representatives from the Department of Homeless Services, Skyway shelter provider, Basics, and residents at a follow up community meeting to address the growing concerns caused by the lack of proper notification for the conversion of the Skyway shelter in to an adult male-only homeless shelter. It has also come to the attention of the community that more than one convicted sexual predator will now be living at Skyway which is near a public school and park. Basics will discuss the implementation of a new safety plan to further safeguard the community.

Earlier in the day, Council Member Wills will join Council Member Brad Lander, chair of the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses, at a City Council public hearing, regarding the city's "Criteria for the Location of City Facilities" also known as "Fair Share Criteria."

In 1989, voters across the city adopted a City Charter change that attempted to equally distribute city facilities, like homeless shelters, across all neighborhoods. However, after more than 20 years, Council Member Wills and other elected officials claim that certain communities, particularly those in outer borough, urban neighborhoods, are bearing the brunt of an over-abundance of these facilities, with fewer resources and without proper notification to residents.

COUNCIL MEMBER RUBEN WILLS INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO CODIFY CITY LAW TO PROHIBIT THE SALE OF EXPIRED OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATIONS

LEGISLATION IS FIRST FOR WILLS; LAW WILL PROTECT RESIDENTS FROM CROOKED STREET VENDORS

Council Member Ruben Wills plans to introduce his first piece of legislation on Wednesday that will codify the ban on the sale of expired over-the-counter medications.

Currently, New York State law prohibits the sale of expired over-the-counter medications by retailers such as Duane Reade or CVS. However, vendors and other licensees of the city have easily skirted the law by selling expired medications like Theraflu, Tylenol, Nyquil and Robitussin at street fairs and vendors’ markets.

“The sale of expired over-the-counter medications has serious health implications,” said Council Member Wills. “Residents who are purchasing these medications at neighborhood flea markets are unaware that they are ingesting expired medications. The potency of medication decreases over time and using medication after its expiration creates a greater likelihood that a person will take more in order to increase its effectiveness.”

Council Member Wills’ legislation closes this loophole and broadens the law to include “persons” so that there is no distinction between a vendor and a retailer. Passage of this legislation will make the distribution of expired over-the-counter medication by any individual a class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine of no more than $250, a maximum of 3 months of in jail, or both.

In November of 2009, then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced an $875,000 settlement with the national retail pharmacy chain CVS to end its sale of expired products - including over-the-counter drugs, baby formula, milk, and eggs - at stores across New York State.

“This legislation will help prevent the distribution and flow of expired medications,” said Council Member Wills. “It is the responsibility of anyone who is selling over-the-counter medications to put the health and safety of consumers ahead of profits and sales.”

"We Are One" - Queens Solidarity Rally and March - April 4, 2011 04:00pm to 08:00pm

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Dr. King died in Memphis in April 1968. He was killed standing with sanitation workers who were fighting to form a union to bargain for a better life. They were demanding their dream of dignity, respect, and a pathway to the middle class.


In April 2011, that same dream--and those same rights and freedoms--are under attack in Madison and other state capitols. The American middle class is in danger, threatened by a corporate and political assault on the fundamental belief that if you work hard in this country, you deserve a good job with a decent wage, affordable health care and dignity in retirement.


That's why on April 4th in New York, we will rally to show that WE ARE ONE, from Memphis to Madison and beyond. We will remember Dr. King, rally for the rights of all workers, and march for the middle class.


Join Amalgamated Transit Union 1056, SEIU 32BJ, and South East Queens County Young Democrats, and The Jamaica Branch NAACP as we will meet at the Rallying point at 4:30 pm at the bus depot on Merrick Blvd. across from the Queens Public Library;


We will then March To 89th Ave; Go up 89th Ave; To Parsons Blvd.; To Jamaica Ave. to Grace Episcopal Church.


We will enter the church at approximately 6:00 pm.


Grace Episcopal Church, 155-15 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11432 Rev Darryl F. James


Rev. Darryl F. James and Min. Corey Terry will both preach a word, there will be music as well. This will begin at 6:30 - 8:00/8:30.


Sponsored by: City Councilman Leroy Comrie and a host of South East Queens elected officials.

Sponsored by:
Amalgamated Transit Union
Local 1056

Location:
Jamaica Bus Terminal
Queens, NY
11432

Directions:
89-11 Merrick Blvd btwn 89th and 90th Aves

City Council Members Meet with Richmond Hill Indo-Caribbean Community Leaders

Last week, Council Member James Vacca (D-Bronx), chair of the Committee on Transportation, joined Council Member Ruben Wills, Council Member Leroy Comrie and business leaders from the Indo-Carribbean community and the Lefferts Blvd. neighborhood to discuss recent transportation issues affecting Southeast Queens.

Council Member Vacca joined Council Member Wills and Council Member Comrie in announcing a budget agreement reached between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council that prevents a parking meter rate hike which was set to take effect in all neighborhoods outside of Manhattan’s Central Business Core as early as the week of January 10.

The hike, which would have raised the outer-borough meter rate from .75 cents per hour to $1 per hour, would have represented the second increase in meter rates in only 18 months and struck yet another blow to struggling mom-and-pop commercial districts.

Guest Editorial: Department of Education to Blame for Jamaica HS Closure by Council Member Leroy Comrie - NY Daily News

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I wanted to take the opportunity to voice my concerns about what has clearly been the systematic destruction of Jamaica High School by the New York City Department of Education. I speak not only as an elected official, but as the parent of two public school students and a very proud alumnus of Jamaica High School.

I have many concerns regarding last week's decision by the Panel for Educational Policy in voting to close Jamaica. Before the Department of Education makes a decision to close down schools - many of which have deep and storied roots within the communities they serve - we must ensure that these schools have been given adequate resources to properly educate our children and that the Department of Education is using accurate and correct evaluation measures to determine the need for a school closure.

The Department of Education is manipulating schools to fail so that they can clean out the staff and administration through the back door.

Take Jamaica High for example.

Due to the lack of focus by DOE officials and the oversaturation of at-risk children, Jamaica High has not been allowed to evolve to meet the needs of its students. Over the last four years, it has become the primary intake school for last-minute admissions and could not compete with specialized first-choice schools.

The recently appointed principal, Walter Acham, has started to make progress, but has only been on the job for a little more than two years - nowhere near an acceptable amount of time to make an assessment of a school team's capabilities. I stand by my conviction that the dissolution of Jamaica High is not the change that is needed. Jamaica High has not been given the ability to flourish nor the resources that have been legislatively allocated.

It is my contention that the Department of Education has purposely employed a systematic deconstruction of Jamaica High by co-locating three smaller schools within its premises.

These smaller schools were then given incredible resources, such as laptops and smartboards, as well as priority classroom and office space. The original school sees its resources depleted and student-to-teacher ratios begin to increase. The administration and staff are demoralized while the school is designated as low-performing. Ultimately, the school is phased out and replaced with another small school. One new school was given 90 new computers to start out with. Jamaica High now has 1,200 students and is bursting at the seams with nearly 50 students per class utilizing outdated equipment.

It literally is an outrageous case of separate-and-unequal that is being forced upon the students of Jamaica High.

Three of these schools exist in the 21st century, while the largest exists as though left behind in the 19th century. These 1,200 students represent the wanton neglect on the part of the mayor and the Department of Education. Students, who like so many thousands throughout this city, have been abandoned and left behind in the closed off shadows of their neglected classrooms - the unwitting pawns caught up in this grandstanding game of "Improving Our Schools."

It's a scheme so transparent that even the students at Jamaica High School have realized this and were bright enough to incorporate these issues into an adaptation of the Greek play "Antigone."

The students, in a theatrical performance I attended several weeks ago, brilliantly demonstrated how the DOE has pulled resources from Jamaica High and favored the newer, smaller schools in the hopes that Jamaica would die a slow death.

The children in Jamaica High School recognize that, by sharing a space in this same building where the other students get so much more, they are being classified as second-class citizens.

Jamaica High School is an institution that has a great deal of history in the borough of Queens. At the time of its construction in 1925, it was the largest school site in the entire country. Last year, it was designated as a city landmark. It has an impressive list of alumni including Pulitzer Prize winners, a Nobel Prize winner and myriad elected officials.

Today, the school has an award-winning robotics team and a highly successful women's track team. Jamaica High is still a place where the minds and bodies of young people can be properly trained for success in the future, if given the proper resources.President Obama, in his recent State of the Union address, rightly talked about the education of our children truly being successful when "reform isn't just a top-down mandate but the work of local teachers and principals; school boards and communities." The city Department of Education has been absolutely tone-deaf to such advice.

Leroy Comrie is Deputy Majority Leader of the New York City Council.

Education Town Hall on January 13th at PS 30Q

Stop the School Closings - Education Town Hall on January 13th at PS 30 126-10 Bedell Street Sponsored by State Senator Shirley Huntley, Assemblywoman Vivian Cook, City Council Member Leroy Comrie and City Council Member Ruben Wills

What: Education Town Hall

When: January 13th

Time: 6:30 - 8:30

Where: PS 30Q

Address: 126-10 Bedell Street, Jamaica, NY

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NYC Council Member Ruben Wills Inauguration Ceremony at York College on December 11th...

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Expired Medications Sold Illegally at Queens Flea Market | NBC New York

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The FDA says it’s illegal, but it’s being sold to anyone right out in the open, and the people doing it don't seem to care that selling illegal and expired medications put lives at risk.

NBCNewYork.com went undercover at the aqueduct flea market in Ozone Park, Queens, where these kind of medications are sold for a steal.

On a bitingly cold Saturday afternoon, the flea market at the Aqueduct Race Track is packed with people buying everything from makeup, old candy, and clothing.

But taking a closer look at the goods being hawked you’ll find a more nefarious lineup of goods -- expired, over-the-counter medications like Robitussin, Claritin, and even children's medications, like Dimetapp.

The expiration dates range anywhere from a few months past the guaranteed safety date to years expired.

Pediatrician Greg Yapalater says the main concern with meds like these is not so much that they are expired, but rather the uncertainty of where they come from – whether they’ve been stored properly or if they’ve been tampered with.

“Buying junk for a dollar is still junk. Buying poison for a dollar is still poison. Why go that route? There are other ways. Go with the generics in the pharmacy. They're always going to be cheaper”, says Yapalater.

To watch video report...click here

News 4 confronted the vendors and asked why they were selling illegal goods and where they got the medications.

In response the reporter and cameraman were called named and screamed at to leave. No one could tell us the origin of the products.

The Flea Market’s managers told News4 the vendor in charge of stand selling the illegal drugs is a man named Pat Flynn.

Flynn denied he was in charge and would not answer questions.

By the time News 4 alerted the Market’s authorities the goods were quickly swept into a box and taken away.

Aqueduct Flea Market says they will revoke Pat Flynn’s permit. The market maintains that it checks twice a day for illegal products being sold. Still customers say they see the stuff being sold every market day – out in the open for anyone to see. State officials assure us that the proper authorities will be by the flea to stop vendors like Flynn from continuing to sell expired meds.

Wills Begins His First Says in City Council by by Ivan Pereira - Queens Campaigner

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Ruben Wills is welcomed into the City Hall's chambers during his first day in office. Photo courtesy of NYC Council (William-Alatriste-New-York-City-Council)

City Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica) started his term as the new member of City Hall’s Queens delegation last week and he said he has been busy finding ways to solve his southeast Queens district’s biggest problems.

Wills was officially inaugurated Nov. 30 during a special ceremony at City Hall and he will hold a community inauguration this Saturday at York College. Wills said he has had no time to celebrate his election to the seat, which was held by Councilman Thomas White until his death in August, and he has already hit the ground running.

“It’s been incredible. I’ve been going 100 mph,” he said.

Wills has been abstaining from voting on legislation for the time being since he was not part of earlier public hearing sessions associated with bills.

“I would be doing my constituents a disservice by voting on things I didn’t have knowledge about,” he said.

In the meantime, Wills said he is spending time letting his constituents come to him and provide feedback on Council District 28, which includes the neighborhoods of Jamaica, South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill and Rochdale Village.

Wills’ district office at Sutphin Boulevard and 95th Avenue is in the process of being created, so in the meantime he and his staff will operate out of White’s former office at 137-42 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. in South Ozone Park. His office’s current phone number is 718-528-5712.

Wills said he chose the Sutphin Boulevard location as his headquarters not only because it is in the center of the district, but also because it is close to major public transportation hubs such as the Long Island Rail Road.

“We wanted to keep the campaign promise that we would be accessible in the district,” he said.

The councilman has already started work on legislation that he said would help curb the foreclosure problem in southeast Queens. The neighborhoods of Jamaica, St. Albans and Springfield Gardens lead the state in the number of foreclosed homes and the problem is getting worse, according to Wills.

The bill is still in the early stages, but Wills said he would get into the chambers as soon as possible.

“We need to deal with the foreclosure problem now. I don’t want this drafted and looked at for months, I want it passed,” he said.

Wills won the special election last month to fill the seat vacated by White, who was just months into his second term when he died of cancer in August.

The community activist was one of seven candidates who ran in the special non-partisan election for the District 28 seat and won with 3,347 votes, roughly 31 percent of the total vote during the election. Others who were vying for the seat included Nicole Paultre-Bell, the fiancee of police shooting victim Sean Bell, former Councilman Alan Jennings and Albert Baldeo.

Wills will serve the office for a year and face an election next year to keep his seat, according to the rules in the City Charter. The winner of that election will serve out the rest of the term until 2014.

The councilman said he has also received a helping hand from Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) and Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), who have shown him the ins and outs of City Hall. He noted, however, that his years working for elected officials such as Comrie and state Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) have geared him up for this moment and he is ready to take the challenge of leading the community head-on.

“I know the experience I was equipped with … it really has been helping me,” he said.

Wills Prepares His Council Agenda by Ivan Pereira - Queens Campaigner

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Ruben Wills campaigns outside PS 223 in southeast Queens on election day. Photo by Christina Santucci

In the week since he won the special election to the southeast Queens City Council seat, Ruben Wills said he has been hard at work at making sure his constituents’ voices are heard when he enters City Hall.

The councilman-elect for the 28th Council District, which includes the neighborhoods of Jamaica, South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill and Rochdale Village, said he has been visiting with community leaders and constituents to hear their concerns and work on his agenda.

“It is just starting to settle in because we have been working, working, working,” Wills said of his Nov. 2 victory in the non-partisan election. “I haven’t had the chance to absorb it and smile.”

Wills, 39, filled the seat that suddenly opened up when Councilman Thomas White died Aug. 27.

The Democratic former aide said he already has a plan to help the district and has starting working on implementing plans for the community. He has met with the borough president and Aqueduct Race Track developer Genting New York about the jobs that will be created by the racino project.

He is also talking with the principals and parents of PS 30 and PS 40 in Jamaica, PS 147 in Cambria Heights and IS 231 in Springfield Gardens, which are slated for closure by the city.

“The education agenda is something that I have been working out. This is not a one-sided thing. It’s not just about if you have a child in the school. You can have a nephew or neighbor in the school and it affects them, too,” he said.

Wills said he also has long-term plans for the other problems that have been crippling the neighborhood. He is looking into drafting legislation that would curb the foreclosure problems in southeast Queens and has spoken with the NYPD’s chief of community affairs to see what can be done to stop the growing cases of violent crime and murders in the area.

Wills said the best solution was for law enforcement and residents to work together to combat crime.

“We want to let people know what’s going on with the gangs so we can discuss ways on the best possible solution to deal with it,” he said.

Wills won with 31.17 percent of the total vote and beat out Nicole Paultre-Bell, Albert Baldeo, Allan Jennings, Charles Bilal, Harpreet Singh Toor and Martha Taylor Butler, who had 436 votes, or 4.06 percent, according to unofficial results from the city Board of Elections.

Wills said that as of Monday the only challengers who had contacted him were Toor and Baldeo, both of whom congratulated his victory. He did, however, get congratulatory phone calls from U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton), who both endorsed Paultre-Bell during her campaign.

Wills, who was endorsed by former bosses state Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) and Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), said his years of work and trust with the community is what led to his victory.

“I had the confidence of the most important people in the community: the voters,” he said.

Wills Wins Way into City Council by Tonia N. Cimino - The Queens Courier

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"Ruben Wills beat out six other candidates in the non-partisan Special Election and will now serve the 28th City Council District, a seat left open with the passing of Thomas White Jr.

“We intend on getting to work right away,” Wills told The Courier on Tuesday evening, November 2.

With just over 31 percent of the vote, Wills, a former aide to Councilmember Leroy Comrie, won over challengers Nicole Paultre Bell, widow of Sean Bell, 25 percent; Albert Baldeo, 14 percent; Allan W Jennings Jr., 10 percent; Charles Bilal, nine percent; Harpreet Singh Toor, seven percent and Martha Taylor Butler, four percent.

Wills’ agenda, he said, will focus on foreclosures, affordable health care, job creation and education.

“Despite the negativity, the community voted me in,” he said. “I’m a little choked up right now.”

White, a Democrat who represented the 28th District, passed away on Friday, August 27 after battling cancer.

Wills will serve until 2011, at which point there will be another primary and general election for the remainder of White’s term, through 2013."

Wills Outraises Paultre-Bell by Ivan Pereira - YourNabe.com

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Ex-Huntley staffer nets near $51K in race for White council seat

Ruben Wills has a major financial lead over Sean Bell’s fiancee, his chief rival for late City Councilman Thomas White’s vacated seat, who has raised roughly $6,000 for her bid, campaign finance records show.

Although major groups and other elected officials, such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, City Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) and U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica), have been throwing their support behind Nicole Paultre-Bell, only 15 individuals have given her money for her campaign, according to the city Campaign Fiance Board.

Wills — who has the backing of his former boss, state Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica); Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans); and state Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Jamaica) — has the financial backing of 157 contributors and is the only candidate in the race to receive matching public finds, campaign finance records show.

So far, he has collected a total of $50,921, with the largest donation of $1,375 from Local 1182, the union that represents traffic enforcement agents, according to campaign finance records. Wills has spent more than $7,000 on his campaign, with the largest outlays going to former state Sen. Martin Connor, who has been paid $1,500 to act as his attorney, according to the records.

Paultre-Bell, was given the green light to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot by a city Board of Elections judge last week, following a challenge to her petitions by Wills.

So far, she has received more than $6,000 in contributions, with the largest donation coming from New Jersey physician Christopher Kyriakides, who gave her campaign $1,350, Campaign Finance Board records show. All of her other donations are from single individuals and her attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, so far, according to the records. Paultre-Bell has spent $3,185 for her bid as of this week, including $3,000 to Oakland Gardens resident Jesus Ocasio to help with her signature petitioning, according to the Campaign Finance Board.

Albert Baldeo, who ran unsuccessfully for White’s seat in 2005, has more than $46,000 in his campaign coffers, with $27,000 coming from loans and nearly $4,000 coming out of his own pocket, according to the board. So far he has spent more than $19,000 on his current bid for office, including $3,350 to a political voter file vendor known as Prime New York for voter data, campaign finance records show.

Alan Jennings, who held the seat until he was censured by the City Council and forced out in the 2005 Democratic primary, has raised more than $7,000, with the largest contribution coming from a retired Jamaica resident named Norma Taylor, who gave him $1,375, campaign finance records show. He has spent more than $4,276 on his bid, including $590 that was given to Omar McClain for help in gathering petition signatures.

Harpreet Toor has raised more than $9,000 for his campaign, including a $1,001 donation from South Richmond Hill resident Prem Singh, based on the records. He has spent more than $6,000 on his campaign, including a $2,000 expenditure for voter data from the New York Public Affairs Group.

Charles Bilal has raised a total of $370 from $10 donations from 37 individuals, according to campaign finance records. He has not listed any expenditures for the race, campaign finance records show.

Although the city Board of Elections lists Martha Butler as a candidate for the race, there are no campaign finance listings for her as of press time Tuesday.

Back to School - Free Gap Clothing @ Roy Wilkins Park - September 11th, 2010...

What: Free Gap School Clothing

Where: Roy Wilkins Park

119th Avenue @ Merrick Blvd Entrance

When: September 11, 2010

Time: 

Registration: 9am - Noon

Program: 12:30pm - 3:30pm

Assembly Member Barbara Clark Petitions With The Dead In Southeast Queens by Andrew Hawkins - City Hall News

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Twelve-term Assembly Member Barbara Clark is counting on her old friends Gloria Black and Warrington Canston, two state committee members from Clark’s district in Southeast Queens, to help her win another term in office this year. And she did not let the fact that both Black and Canston are apparently dead deter her from putting their names at the top of her petitions.

Clark’s opponent, Clyde Vanel, a 36-year-old lawyer and former candidate for City Council in 2009, filed a challenge to Clark’s petitions with the Queens Board of Elections last Thursday. He said Clark’s indifference toward the petition-gathering process speaks to a wider sense of apathy in the community he hopes to provoke with his candidacy.

“That’s just ridiculous,” Vanel said. “Barbara’s county committee people, a majority of them don’t even know that they’re on county committee. We’re fighting against something that has historically kept a majority of the community uninvolved and outside the process.”

“Is a dead person a Democrat?” he asked. “I don’t know.”

But Clark could end up skating by without much damage to her re-election efforts. According to the Board of Elections, while it may seem odd to include the deceased on a candidate’s petitions, the signatures that are collected are technically counted as separate for each person on them. Therefore, while the fact that they are deceased makes Black and Canston ineligible for the ballot, as long as Clark herself is living (which she is), there is no legal problem.

Vanel said he would be disappointed if Clark got away with just a wrist slap, but noted he would not want to rob residents in the district the chance to choose between their two candidacies.

All the same, he used the opportunity to blast his opponent for doing a disservice to the political process, and to the memories of community leaders like Black and Canston, by turning in petitions that read more like the obituary pages.

“Clark is not getting people in involved and active in the process by using dead people. It’s a shame,” he said. “I have to tell my county committee people, who are working in the sun, working in the hot summer to collect signatures, that they may be running on the ballot against a dead person. It reflects badly on Clark and it reflects badly on the district.”

Vanel is part of a small-scale movement to challenge the political powerbase in Southeast Queens. He ran against and lost to Council Member Leroy Comrie last year in a race that garnered some attention for unveiling some of the dissatisfaction in the community with leaders like Comrie, Rep. Gregory Meeks and State Sen. Malcolm Smith.

Vanel has run into his own difficulties. He only raised $1,250 for the race, though Clark reported just $2,500 on hand, having raised $900. The Board of Elections also has identified a problem with a number of the petitions turned in by Vanel’s ally and mentor, Donnie Whitehead, who, along with his wife is running for district leader. Vanel said they are still mulling whether to contest the Board’s decision to disallow Whitehead and a handful of others from running as district leaders. Whitehead may run for state committee member instead, he confirmed.

“It’s been a struggle to open this process up,” Vanel said.

Clark could not be reached for comment.