When I first ran for public office (state assembly) in 1998, I was called for an interview by the Brooklyn leaders of the Independence Political Party; so I showed up. I was reached out to by some people within that party, with whom I was politically connected. We met in a Brooklyn Diner (Lindenwood). I thought it was a strange venue for such an interview, but I held my sometimes-wayward tongue in check that night. There were many candidates seeking office(s) that year, and quite a few insurgents showed up to be interviewed. I thought I did well in the session, and their officials must have concurred since they offered me their line on the November ballot. 

The race for the 40th City Council District: Rock Hackshaw gets the endorsement of the Independence Party. Is this an epic of things to come? 

By now most of you know that I am running for the New York City Council, in the 40th District. That’s one of many reasons why I haven’t been writing much here lately. I have been so busy with this race -and the requirements of campaigning, etc. - that I have been writing very few columns lately. And yet -despite my busy schedule- I hope to intermittently keep you up to date on my campaign and other political developments. So do stay tuned-in folks. 

Everyone knows that I worked on the re-election campaign of congressman Ed Towns last year; and most of you on the blogging scene also know that I have had a long friendship with him, which has helped shield him from some of my wicked political slap downs.  Although I have taken one or two parting shots at him whenever I felt he wasn’t on the right side of an issue or political race (Ken Evans v. Diane Gordon or Inez Barron /for examples), I have been pretty easy on Ed, when compared to say Charles “Chucky B” Barron, Al Vann-winkle or Darlene Mealy-mouse. In some Brooklyn political circles, I have taken big flack for not going after Ed much harder: and probably rightly so. But there are things I do know that are about to show. I suspect that Ed won’t be around in this seat too much longer. For years now there have been forces wanting to replace him. The forces are gaining momentum folks. 

The As, Bs, Cs and Ds of this year’s mayoral race: talking about (Anthony) Weiner, (Anthony) Avella, (Anthony) Soprano, (Billy) Thompson, Michael (Bloomberg), (Barack) Obama, Hilary (Clinton), good old Charlie (Charles “Chucky Bee” Barron), and (Derek) Coleman.

Okay; it’s confession time: this column is dedicated to Norman Siegel -the ardent civil rights attorney and political activist. You see, I want Norman to scratch his head and figure out how I am going to write a column with a headline like this one (before he reads it). As they say in Espanol (Spanish): “vamos a ver (let’s see)”. Okay; so this is an inside joke meant for an esoteric group: go figure. 

THIS IS THE FINAL DRAFT OF CANDIDATE ROCK HACKSHAW’S PLATFORM FOR REAL SOLUTIONS IN THE 40th COUNCILMANIC DISTRICT IN BROOKLYN: ROCK HACKSHAW BELIEVES THAT AS ELECTED OFFICIALS GO, “WE CAN DO BETTER.”  
 

PREFACE:

Too many candidates for the New York City Council tend to focus their campaigns on issues of the district in which they are running; this is a bit too narrow for my liking. As a council member I believe that you are one of 51 members charged with helping the mayor and council speaker run this city, and as such you should always take a macro approach to problem solving and public policy. Accenting only those issues relating to your district -and isolating the potential solutions without sensitivity to the overall impact on the city- is myopic at best; keeping a narrow-minded focus on issues pertinent mainly to your district, and becoming demagogic when the issues are of the “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) variety is exactly what we don’t need in the council. The problems facing us cannot be solved in isolation. We need team players; elected officials with the ability to think creatively, and the willingness to be open-minded. We need people who are both developed and experienced. We need people who have shown independence during their tenures in politics and community activism.  

Let me preface this column by stating (again) that I am a not only a passionate fan, avid supporter and effusive admirer of Barack Obama, I am also one of his honest critics. I hope my past writings on the man have proven this enough. And yet, as I write this column, more than 1.1 million black males are languishing in jails, prisons and penitentiaries all over the U.S.A.; this is about half the number of black males incarcerated worldwide. And as I write this column, President Barack Obama has been in office for more than one hundred and one days. After I post this column, I would like to hear Mr. Obama talk more than 1.1 times, about what’s really going: relative to the state of black males in the USA. His silence on this issue is deafening.  

Politics makes for strange bedfellows they say, and maybe they are right. During the past few weeks I did find two politicians -Charles Barron and Mayor Michael Bloomberg- apparently sleeping in the same bed (politically speaking, of course), and pensively it was a mini-orgy of sorts; one of convenient morality, one lacking in common sense, an immolation of political principles, a flagellation of standards, a confusingly strange devaluation of ethics for self-serving reasons, an unnecessary questioning of professed values, and of course too many meaningless words for radio, television and newspaper reporters -willing be manipulated (and unrepentant too). 

Some historians say that the Organization of American States is presently the oldest functioning regional organization in the world. That may be true. As a history buff, I generally hate to accept things as gospel; however there is evidence that this claim could be legit. If so, it is something to be proud of. 

Somewhere around 1826, Latin-American nationalist Simon Bolivar called for the creation of a regional body, with a multi-national parliamentary assembly, a mutual defense pact and a co-operative military arm. His vision was to unify Latin America against external aggressors and world powers (including the USA). 

Dear Tony: 

Let me get straight to the point and not beat around the george bush; my reputation -quite rightly earned- is that of a person who gives it straight with no chaser: so here goes.

Although I am personally going to wait for your announcement next month -as to whether or not you will run for mayor this year- many others are not going to afford you that luxury. Let me emphatically and unambiguously state that if you run, I will endorse you immediately. And yet, I still think you may have messed up with all this calalloo stuff, about waiting till the end of May to decide what to do (run for mayor or not). 

Since I have gotten so many calls for a platform; and since many of you want to get my rationale for running; and since many of you have been using my lack of a public platform, as a basis for withholding your support (and money/lol) for my campaign for the New York City Council (District#40); I have decided to submit a first draft on some of the issues I feel strongly about. Do note that is not the finished product. Note also that I have deliberately withheld some aspects of my platform for some personal and minor tactical reasons. 

I haven’t talked about my view on term limits in the platform because I have written extensively about it. I am a supporter of term limits for ALL electeds (federal, state, city/local). I believe that the voters have spoken twice on the issue. If the immoral extension passed by some cowardly council members last year isn’t overturned by the courts soon, then we have to take it to referendum for the ratification of a 12 year (3 terms) limit in the next council (2010). We must also put into law that the methodology for overturning term limits in future has to be referendum (plebiscite). 

There are many people in New York who believe that the public defender’s office is antiquated and in need of repair: I concur. One of those working to change the status quo is a young community/political activist named Keith Kinch. Keith is well known in Brooklyn’s political circles (and all over the city for that matter), as one of those up and coming black under-30 activists that you should keep your eyes on. He is a hard worker for his cause. He also deals with politics from a hands-on place: he is unafraid to get directly involved in political races. He is intelligent, competent and personable. He is also a likeable chap (as they say in London/lol). 

(UPDATE: The date of the barbecue has been changed to one week later: Saturday 16th May, 2009.) Political seasons come and go; some call them “silly season(s)”, some call them other names. Some of the terms I won’t repeat here on this ‘family’ blog site/lol. I don’t call them anything other than what they are (and I will keep that a secret). I just try to have a lil fun during the stressful times, that’s all. You’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself folks: otherwise you will lose it. So; now that I am trying to juggle between running for the city council and blogging about things political in New York (and some other places sometimes), I keep getting my sanity tested near everyday. 

I sense that most of us who are active in New York City’s political arena have ambiguous feelings about the need for a public advocate, and I base that on years and years of conversations on this topic with fellow activists. Even people who aren’t very “political” have waded in on the longstanding debate over the utility of this office, and its role and function in city government. In fact, there have been times when the generic conversation(s) appeared to be abolition of this office, and the saving of millions in staff salaries and OTP. Even Mayor Bloomberg has had choice words for the office, and he has at times joined the debate to give his most afforded opinion -negative of course.

So I know that politics isn’t a game: it is serious stuff; very serious stuff. When I call it a game, I am just talking figuratively that’s all. And when I call it “the only game in town”, it’s because I know that if the “politics” of any state or country isn’t right, then society can deteriorate into chaos, confusion, anarchy, civil-war, revolution, hardships and/or strife. Societies go (break down) as “politics” go. Diplomacy is politics without war, and war is surely politics without diplomacy. 

It is known that the United States of America has had its share of the growing pains that accompany political development. Examples abound: The Revolutionary War; the Civil War of 1861 thru 1865; the Great Depression; and also the days of Jim Crow. If those were games then they weren’t enjoyable for many. But people do play games, it’s human nature. And we play games every night and every day. “We never mean what we say and we seldom say what we mean”. And also, some who do say what they mean (and try to mean what they say), hardly ever seem to think of what the fuck they are really saying.  And that’s why I hate “poli-tricks” sometimes. 

One of my two campaign managers is a feisty lil twenty-one year old Russian émigré who once lived in a refugee camp: she is tough as nails; all four feet eleven inches of her. She will be twenty-two in September. She will be graduating in May with a BA in Political Science (from Brooklyn College). She wants me to do the “semi-muzzle: and not write or say stuff without clearing it all with the campaign team. She is one tough lil Jewish cookie. She is itching for a fight with me/lol. It’s going to happen before the campaign is over/lmao.

The other female manager is as cool as cucumber, and as calm as an autumn breeze; but she will take her lil jabs at me whenever she gets an opening. She is probably unaware that I see her lil digs when she shoots them/lol.  She is much older than the first, but together they agree that I should be careful of what I write and say, now that I am a candidate for the city council. And by the way, I was formally and finally registered by the Campaign Finance Board yesterday; so for all those who were doubting my seriousness about this project: chew on it.