Two more ads surfaced today calling into question Councilman Charles Barron's record. This ad comes hot on the heels of the previous ad featured in my post CLOWNING AROUND IN THE 42ND COUNCIL DISTRICT.

The first of the two new ads accuses Barron of taking credit for things that he didn't do, with the first being his claim on Gershwin Park. According to the ad, funding for the park's makeover was allocated during Councilwoman Wooten's days, and part of the city budget under Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Click here to download this ad.

The second new ad calls into question his claims to fight for equality and goes on to say that instead he has created division, and that his type of politics has no place in America today. The 2nd ad also quotes his still-controversial comment: "You know, some days I get so frustrated I just want to go up to the closest white person and say, 'You can't understand this, it's a black thing,' and then slap him, just for my mental health." Click here to download this ad.

By the way, FED UP NEW YORK (pull up Mary Alice Miller's blog for more details), a group commited to addressing the shameless overturning of 2 voter referrendums on term limits created 3 groups for councilmembers they take issue with. Barron falls in Group B: Councilmembers that voted NO for overturning term limits, then decided to run for a third term anyway. There are only 3 in this group in total.

Barron does stand out in this group for good reason: An anonymous posting about a Charles & Inez television appearance on NY1 was accurate. He did speak about "Operation Power" and mentioned Paul Washington by name as the person who would run in this year's council election. Mr. Washington did do some fundraising as per the CFB website. The same anonymous poster questions what happened, particularly because Barron's private sector buisness is the leadership development company, "Dynamics of Leadership". Isn't it fair to question the councilman on his ability to develop new leadership?

Another item I researched from that posting regarding his position on term limits. Didn't Barron state publicly to the New York Times:

“'A lot of my colleagues’ perspective on this is self-serving,' he said. 'Many of them don’t know where to go after this. Some can run for offices where they have a shot of winning. But many of them don’t have another place to go politically.'”

Given that Barron has run for Congress, Mayor, Borough President, and Council (and some at the same time), how does the above statement play when applied to him?

One follow-up question to the above that I haven't seen asked and answered yet (and I would have asked it at the Candidate's Forum had I remembered to):

If reelected, will you commit to a full 4 year term?

Special elections cost a small fortune, and last I checked, the city budget is strained as it is.

Another issue that I haven't seen come up: Barron's support of known human rights violator Robert Mugabe, who Barron continues to praise as recently as last year.

These are all valid questions and points to raise by voters when making their choice on Tuesday.

Manny Burgos,
Brooklyn, New York
"Más vale morir luchando, que vivir muriendo."