A scary man appears before a gathering of people just wanting to go home. His face and booming voice fills the large room, as he spews terrifying words that fill some with fear.

If the above reminded you of the scene in the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy and company appear before the Wizard of Oz, you're right.

But it's also a good description of what happened at the Community Board 5 meeting in Brooklyn on 3/24/10. And as the scary man continued to speak, for many of us, only one thing came to mind--a line from that very same movie: "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. Go - before I lose my temper! The Great and Powerful ---"

Great and Powerful Hack is how the quote should end, because it's time to pull back the curtain on our own Wizard, the man known as Councilman Charles "Chuck" Barron.

Here's what happened: As locals know, Chuckie has been making regular appearances at the CB meetings of late. He does his usual routine:

1. Rails about some terrible injustice being perpetrated that only HE is capable of stopping
2. Tells everyone, "people we need to come together"
3. Makes the obligatory "caucasians-are-all-evil" comment
4. Fingers another elected official as the culprit
5. Makes sure we are grateful that ENY has the hardest working man in the council

So what did Chuckles talk about at the CB meeting? Some pressing city issue like ENY having the worst roads in the city, and an "asfault allocation formula" that is a bigger secret than the Colonel's 11 herbs and spices or Area 54? A lack of sewer systems south of Linden Blvd, so when it rains it makes locals go shopping for kayaks instead of automobiles? Or how about how DOT has spent tens of thousands of dollars painting a bike icon and directional arrows that no one wants, no one asked for, and does double duty injustice by also offending bikers, who the DOT figures are too STUPID to figure out how to read a ONE WAY sign to figure out which way to ride our bikes?

No, readers, the Chuckster had something else in mind: a diatribe on FEDERAL heathcare reform. We sat quietly, foolishly hoping he would keep his comments to only a few minutes. After 10 minutes passed we noticed several people had their heads down, in what appeared to be silent reflection and reverance for the "Great and Powerful" Councilman...but when they also started rubbing their temples we realized they had their heads down because they were experiencing an exorbitant amount of pain.

On and on the wizard went, talking about socialism, the Canandian and European healthcare systems, how the new legislation doesn't go far enough, how we should not fear criticizing President Obama, and more.

Now before the ENY TRUTH SQUAD addresses that, let's fast forward 20 minutes into the meeting, where representatives from NYCHA came to discuss the recent influx of money to several of ENY's housing developments. And that's desperately needed money for repairs and upgrades. So the Chuckosaurus runs back behind his curtain, begins to pull his levers, and goes into a fear-mongering tirade that would make the Republicans jealous, talking about how we should be afraid of things that appear to be too good to be true, and that he voted NO against it on the council and his wife, the stunningly ineffective Assemblywoman Inez Barron also voted no. He then added that she was the only one in the Assembly to vote no.

Not exactly true, Chuckorama. There were a whole TWO Assembly members that voted NO. You go, Inez! You show them ignorant 148 other Assembly members! Everyone else of the Assembly's New York City delegation saw fit that this was a very good idea and it solved a great many problems. Thank you Inez Barron, for casting your worthless vote, which will surely incur the wrath of the speaker, and ultimately culminating in East New York's continued punishment, an 8 year tradition that Chuckorrino has kept alive and well in the city council.

Now to be fair, let's not leave out the Barrons' principal public mouthpiece, the ever-obnoxious Viola Plummer, recent appointee of Chucko Barron, who once lovingly stated her intent to assasinate Councilman Comrie, and later stated that she was talking about a POLITICAL assassination, an attempt to run behind her own curtain to control the levers of what was perhaps an historically new low in the never-ending stupidity that comes from the mouthpieces of the Barrons.

But let's get back to Plucky-Chucky, because We promised you a visit behind the curtain.

While he was rambling on and on about a federal heathcare program and a state-sponsored housing initiative, let's talk about a few issues more on the local side:

• It's 2010 and hard to believe but there is a large part of East New York that has no sewers.
• ENY is plagued by more than never-ending potholes, it also has major sinkholes, or long stretches of a block that inhibit police cars from responding to crime scenes, and ambulances from responding to medical emergencies, and fire trucks from responding to fires.
• The same trecherous roads make those of us that have cars shell out hundreds of dollars a year in repairs.
• Money which some of us don't have, thanks to the city's HIGHEST UNEMPLOYMENT RATE.
• Because the local councilman is clueless about forming an economic development strategy to help create jobs.
• Perhaps because he was spending so much of his time out of his district and forgetting about his committe chairmanship duties. He keeps making trouble instead.
• Like disrupting a CUNY ceremony becuase he wasn't happy with his place in the program.
• Leading to his ouster as chair of higher ed on the council, despite his pleas stating how much he did for CUNY.
• As if anyone REALLY wanted to hear him speak to take credit for things he didn't do.
• Such as claiming he secured the funds for the renovation of GERSHWIN park, something his predessor did, not him.
• Yes GERSHWIN park, even though he spent more tax-payer-funded time trying to convince people that the park was now named Sonny Carson park.
• With the only ones calling it that name are the Barrons and their acolytes.
• And the name didn't take when he tried to give the same name to a room at a CUNY school.
• But he did make a name for himself when he babbled about wanting to slap a white person for his own mental health.
• Along with sponsoring one of the world's leading human rights violators at the council.

We at ENY TRUTH SQUAD can only be embarassed. And when we're not embarassed we're terrified of the future because thanks to Councilman Charles Barron, East New York will probably receive no capital funds. And not to be undone, his wife Assemblywoman Inez Barron has pretty much insured that we'll get nothing but a pocket of lint for her district as well.

East New Yorkers, stop fooling yourself! This man is destroying our community every single time he opens his big mouth. The economy is begining to show signs of recovery. Where will we be when it does?

ENY TRUTH SQUAD knows where: We'll be putting our neighbors kids through school, because we'll have to keep leaving the neighborhood for jobs. Leaving the neighborhood for groceries and clothes and medical care. Let's hope we won't need our cars to get to these places because of the potholes and sinkholes.

Hmmm, maybe it IS a good thing we have all those new bike directional signs in the neighborhood.

 

ENY TRUTH SQUAD

Helping to wipe away bulls--t