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Charles Barron for Council Speaker, Part 2
Barron is serious. At a recent meeting of the United African Movement, Barron told the audience that he would soon make a formal announcement of his campaign to be elected Council Speaker. After two terms in office, Barron says he has the skills for the position: a working knowledge of the budget process, ability to write legislation, and management experience. In the history of the council, Barron said, there has never been a minority speaker. With minorities – Black, Latino, and Asian – in the majority of council seats, Barron said it is time to elect a minority as Council Speaker. Barron does not buy the idea that Council Speaker is chosen by county leaders. (Word on the streets is that another minority Brooklyn council member's name was being floated as the new Speaker; two democratic county leaders were on board. A few days later, that position changed. All five county leaders are behind Quinn, as the story goes.) According to Barron, the current iteration of the powers of the Speaker hold council members hostage – members don't exhibit ownership of “a spine” or vote in the interests of their constituents (or the city as a whole, for that matter) because of the Speaker's power to dole out committee chair assignments and capital and discretionary spending. Barron said he would change all of that, and more. He would allocate a set amount per council member for capital and discretionary spending, freeing members to vote their conscience, instead of having their arms twisted. Assignments would be decided by a committee of several members, not one. Barron said he would allow all legislative proposals to come to the floor for debate and consent, instead of dying in committee. It would be about time. For years, Quinn has stalled Council member Avella's “Good Government Reforms,” as if there is something wrong with council members doing what they were elected to do – represent their constituents. Charles Barron as Council Speaker would serve Bloomberg right. It is the Council that passes the budget, decides land use (except when ULURP was bypassed for Atlantic Yards), and writes legislation. Bloomberg, who has been coddled by a weak press and a solipsistic, undeserved sense of entitlement far beyond that of rational men, would be relegated to ribbon cutting at children's playgrounds. Four years of a Speaker Barron would be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, if only for the drama. Charles Barron knows that he has absolutely no chance at ever becoming Speaker of the Council. Not even Tony Avella would vote for him. Therefore, his "campaign" is really about obtaining another goal. What's he angling for? "In the history of the council, Barron said, there has never been a minority speaker. With minorities – Black, Latino, and Asian – in the majority of council seats, Barron said it is time to elect a minority as Council Speaker."
Put himself up, get someone else in as a compromise?
 In Part 1, I only put together some items on one side of the coin. Anyone who only sees Barron as a "clown" is playing checkers. All humans are nuanced, even Barron. He is not as dumb as some people think. Part of his veneer is deliberate, part not. (He had no control of being born Black in an irrational society; neither did I.) Go ahead and sleep him, but Barron is not the Tin Man looking for a brain. Yes, Barron has made some mistakes, but he knows how to think and collaborate with thinkers.Barron also knows how to count. The new council will have 27 minorities, and 24 "white". Add to that the fact that Thompson beat Bloomberg in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Those council members also know how to count.I believe Larry is right. Barron could be playing good cop, bad cop. If there will be a minority speaker, and you don't want Barron, then choose someone else.The bottom line is Quinn has to go. Playing the role of dust under Bloomberg's shoe, especially since her hand got caught in the slush scandal cookie jar, Quinn has abdicated the council's legislative role as co-equal branch of government -- a check to executive power. She has done this to the detriment of the City. Tuesday's election revealed all are not pleased in Gotham.
BTW, Gate, NYC is already the laughing stock of the country. Even media in Spin City cannot believe how NY media got it so wrong. See “Rotten Apple coverage” in the Wash Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2009/11/05/BL2009110502062.html Everyone in the country knows the brazen propaganda masquerading as news was perpetrated by the big three – Times, Post, and Daily News – who colluded with Bloomberg from the beginning re term limits. The “elite” press corps in NY is lacking. What is needed is investigative reporting. I have been waiting for someone to report on how much of Bloomberg’s billions came from derivatives and credit default swaps, especially considering Bloomberg’s policy positions. Calling Wayne Barrett.There are many who have been saying all along that the emperor has no clothes.The Bloomberg campaign admitted the same post election. They knew all along Bloomberg did not have a mandate. The campaign itself revealed who the Wizard of Oz really is -- a little man surrounded by smoke and mirrors. Take away the money, and what have you got?Speaking of money, in some quarters, there are those who call men who buy people, tricks. I have been trying to find a polite way to describe the utter disdain women have for tricks. Layer this with politics, and it is grist for another post, if I can find the words.More to come.What are the odds Peter Koos wants Charles Barron as his Speaker?
i'm all for it. t'll be hysterical. the papers should love it too. they'll always have a great quote for a fillin. and it'll server bloomy right for his putsch to have one of the great contemporary racial humorists as a thorn. go barron!!
also knows how to count. It will be interesting to watch how this freshman council member votes. We will see how all the new council members feel about the sale of democracy, small 'd', in order to suppress DOI investigations and keep some council members out of jail, where they belong. I'll say this about Charles Barron... At least he's not a boot licking coward! It is this same cowardice that allowed Bloomberg and his loyal Poodle- Christine Quinn (The Slush Fund Queen)- to run all over the minorities in the City Council and run all over working poor. And it is this same cowardice that will leave Quinn and Bloomberg's grip on power in place! Even though the Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus is now THE MAJORITY! Wow! No wonder Bill Thompson lost... We don't stick together LIKE OUR FELLOW CITIZENS DO! Yes! You are right, the Barron run will be an practice in futility and a side show for the media. But it will serve three purposes: 1. Quinn's actions will get further exposure. 2. Systemic racism in "Post- Racial," and "Liberal" New York City will also get some more exposure. And finally... 3. All of these scared cotton picking negro's in the City Council will get smoked out for their constituencies to see... Just because most of the people in their communities are not on top of the issues and don't vote! Does not give these people the right to cut secret deals for themselves and neglect the will of the people and follow Quinn. I doubt very highly that if everyone over the age of 17 were well informed and registered to vote, that they would NOT approve of some their representatives votes! Or non-votes! Or absence! And don't get it twisted! The white media will make fun of Charles Barron, but there are some liberals that will be secretly agreeing with some of the points Mr. Barron will raise.... Charles Barron running for City Council Speaker? (Village Voice) - "I would be an excellent speaker," Charles Barron, the Democratic councilman from Brooklyn said today, and if another person of color doesn't run against Christine Quinn in January, he will. "We need someone to be a check on the Mayor, not a deputy mayor," he said over the phone Thursday afternoon, pointing out that the speaker and the chairs of the two most powerful committees, land use and finance, have been "exclusively white."Barron says that others have told him that they're "afraid to run against Quinn," but he pointed to Thompson's narrow margin of loss "in spite of not having the endorsement of Local 1199, Obama, Reverend Flake, and other prominent preachers" (Obama did end up endorsing Thompson, but SEIU Local 1199 stayed neutral). Wayne Barrett pointed out in September that a minority majority in the council was likely, and after Tuesday, with Deborah Rose's victory on Staten Island and Margaret Chin's in Manhattan, that majority is an official 27-24. Both Rose and Chin replaced white men. Barron said he does not approve of county leaders' influence in selecting speaker candidates, but even looking at things in those terms, the numbers are stacked against Quinn. "You only need 26 votes. There's an African American leader in the Bronx, 8 council votes in the Bronx, an African American county leader, with 10 council votes in Manhattan. And in Brooklyn a lot of us are. So even if you don't have all of those on board, they could pick the next speaker. I think we could do it if we could stick together." Asked when he would be announcing his run, Barron replied "sooner than you think." http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/11/barron_to_run_f.php The pay to play is already going down! Quinn is promising favors left and right to keep her position. I'm wondering what she offered L.James! I thought that sister was strong. She's running around pretecting Quinn! Unless Quinn is promising serious positions of power for minorities I don't see the point. Bloomberg holds out $850G olive branch to de Blasio for office budget- De Blasio, who was elected Tuesday, will take over the office in January, but most of the office's skimpy $1.7 million annual budget already has been used up under Betsy Gotbaum. The funds will help overcome an immediate budget crunch for de Blasio, who was sharply critical of the mayor during his election campaign and had said he would run a more assertive advocate's office than Gotbaum, who did not seek reelection to a third term. Gotbaum's $2.8 million budget was cut by $1.1 million by Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine QUINN during last year's budget process. - Daily News http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election_2009/2009/11/06/2009-11-06_mayor_bloomberg_holds_out_850g_olive_branch_to_de_blasio_for_new_office_budget.html Gotbaum blowing through budget before leaving office- When the city's $59.4 billion budget was being negotiated earlier this year, Bloomberg sliced Gotbaum's share by 40 percent, from $2.8 million to $1.7 million.In past years, the City Council has restored the mayor's reduction from its own share of the budget pot.But this year, it decided not to.Gotbaum protested furiously, without success, claiming the mayor and Council Speaker Christine QUINN were getting back at her for opposing the term limits extension. - NY Post http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gotbaum_blowing_through_budget_before_ZCsYI92CLhC8e8ZwMOhiGP Bloomberg 1 De Blasio 0 Christine Quinn MUST GO! Not only that... During his eight years as mayor, King Bloomberg’s private fortune has gone from $5 billion to over $16 billion, an increase of $11 billion in a time that included the biggest economic decline since the Great Depression. Bloomberg’s deputy mayor, Daniel L. Doctoroff from 2001 to 2007, was made president of Bloomberg, L.P. in 2008. Patti Harris, Kevin Sheekey, and, Ed Skyler: All Bloomberg employees that followed him into city government. The reason that bloomberg spent an obscene amount of money is because he has a lot to hide. If Thompson won, the truth would've came out. It was never about mayoral control for education, it was about having his greedy hands on the 22 billion dollar budget and giving out 9 billion in no bid contracts to his buddies. It is good to be king! No surprise that the bulk of Bloomberg’s votes came from wealthy and white sections of the city. Wake Up NY! Bloomberg is for the $$. Look@ Housing, Property Taxes, Food Costs, Transportation. Taxes on food, clothing, shelter, water, soda.... The pay to play is already going down! Quinn is promising favors left and right to keep her position. I'm wondering what she offered L.James! I thought that sister was strong. She's running around pretecting Quinn! Yep, L. James really did a turnaround and is licking Quinn's pussy. Fucking idiot. James should be ashamed of herself after I stood by her in all the atlantic yard rally and term limit rallies. James is a fucking idiot. Fuck her. hello!,I like your writing very a lot! percentage we communicate more about your article on AOL? I need a specialist in this area to unravel my problem. May be that's you! Having a look forward to see you.
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Your part one, part of your trilogy piece, was so clearheaded and pointed concerning Chuckles the Clown.
I know it is tempting to shake up the works--hell, I supported Rock for Council, but putting someone like Barron in a leadership position would be a national embarassment for New York and the Democratic Party.
That's too great a price to pay for some cheap laughs.