Photo: Courtesy of the New York State Senate
State Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr.
By Ed Forbes and Steven BeardsleyMay 02, 2008
Federally indicted state Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr., D-Tremont, will run for re-election this fall, his campaign manager confirmed, making this the second election the legislator has participated in since being charged with money laundering and fraud in 2006.
“Yes we are running,” said Miguel Ponce, Gonzalez’s campaign manager, in a phone interview. “We’re gearing up right now.” Gonzalez’s trial was scheduled to begin last month after Judge William H. Pauley III postponed it from November 2007. Instead, in an April 1 pre-trial conference, Pauley again postponed jury selection, this time until Oct. 6.
Gonzalez’s lawyer, Murray Richman, said he requested the delay after receiving more than 20 boxes of materials from the prosecution.
The new trial date allows Gonzalez, 60, to run in the Democratic primary in September, a race that, in the heavily Democratic borough, essentially determines the winner of the general election. State senators serve two-year terms.
State Assemblyman Jose Rivera, D-Fordham, the chair of the Bronx Democratic Party, said that Gonzalez has both his personal backing and the endorsement of the party.
“I believe in supporting him,” Rivera said.
Gonzalez easily won re-election in November 2006, more than two months after the original charges were announced.
In two separate indictments released in August and December 2006, the federal government charged the senator with funneling more than $400,000 in member items—public money that legislators use to fund organizations in their districts—into a sham nonprofit organization that paid for Gonzalez’s personal expenses, including credit card bills, Yankees tickets and college tuition for his daughter.
The 10-count indictment carries a maximum prison time of 130 years. If convicted, Gonzalez would become ineligible to serve in the Legislature.
Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, a political watchdog group, said a second re-election campaign for the indicted Gonzalez is troubling.
“Citizens need to know quickly the outcome of this trial,” he said. “For there to have been one and possibly two elections going through, with Democratic Party support, is disappointing.” Indeed, the support of the Bronx Democratic Party is key for Gonzalez’s re-election. The party has long been considered a kingmaker for those competing in any borough election.
Barbara Bartoletti, legislative director for the League of Women Voters in Albany and a longtime observer of state politics, said legislators from New York City often work on a long leash from voters back home.
“Albany legislators are rather invisible in New York City, unlike the City Council and mayor,” Bartoletti said. “They don’t worry much about what they do up [in Albany] as far as ethical challenges, as long as they have the primary support.”
Rivera adamantly defended Gonzalez’s decision to seek re-election, saying the senator was popular in his district and had yet to be proven guilty in his trial.
“I think we’re all supporting him in the re-election, until there’s a trial and he’s found guilty,” Rivera said. “Then we’ll move on and find someone else.”
Former state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., a longtime adversary of the Bronx Democratic Party organization and one of Gonzalez’s potential Democratic primary opponents, believes he can mobilize voters without party support.
“People will be engaged, and it won’t be a coronation,” Espada promised.
He said if he runs, he will address broader issues than Gonzalez’s alleged crimes, including the Yankee Stadium redevelopment. “There are these major strategic opportunities,” Espada said. “But at the same time there is a political leadership that is all too eager to sell the community down the drain.”
Espada, 54, has had legal troubles of his own. In 1998, he was charged with using money from his health clinic, Soundview Health Center, to repay an earlier failed state senate campaign. He was later acquitted of all charges.
The veteran politician drew a distinction between his case and Gonzalez’s. “It’s the difference between being falsely accused and exonerated,” he said, “and someone who will likely spend a number of years in jail for spending taxpayer money.”
Richard Soto, a Bronx community activist, said he intends to run against Gonzalez. While Soto said he will focus his campaign less on Gonzalez than on the needs of the district, he said the charges against the senator were emblematic of larger problems in the borough.
“Unfortunately, what’s been exposed with his legal problems isn’t just Efrain,” Soto said. “You can call it Bronx politics.” Ponce, Gonzalez’s campaign manager, said the re-election campaign would deal with the indictment issue as it arises.
“If it’s brought up at a public event then naturally we’ll address it,” he said. “But we’re not going to go out in front with it.”
sjb2139@columbia.edu
ejf2133@columbia.edu
Original Link
http://www.bronxbeat.org
“Yes we are running,” said Miguel Ponce, Gonzalez’s campaign manager, in a phone interview. “We’re gearing up right now.” Gonzalez’s trial was scheduled to begin last month after Judge William H. Pauley III postponed it from November 2007. Instead, in an April 1 pre-trial conference, Pauley again postponed jury selection, this time until Oct. 6.
Gonzalez’s lawyer, Murray Richman, said he requested the delay after receiving more than 20 boxes of materials from the prosecution.
The new trial date allows Gonzalez, 60, to run in the Democratic primary in September, a race that, in the heavily Democratic borough, essentially determines the winner of the general election. State senators serve two-year terms.
State Assemblyman Jose Rivera, D-Fordham, the chair of the Bronx Democratic Party, said that Gonzalez has both his personal backing and the endorsement of the party.
“I believe in supporting him,” Rivera said.
Gonzalez easily won re-election in November 2006, more than two months after the original charges were announced.
In two separate indictments released in August and December 2006, the federal government charged the senator with funneling more than $400,000 in member items—public money that legislators use to fund organizations in their districts—into a sham nonprofit organization that paid for Gonzalez’s personal expenses, including credit card bills, Yankees tickets and college tuition for his daughter.
The 10-count indictment carries a maximum prison time of 130 years. If convicted, Gonzalez would become ineligible to serve in the Legislature.
Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, a political watchdog group, said a second re-election campaign for the indicted Gonzalez is troubling.
“Citizens need to know quickly the outcome of this trial,” he said. “For there to have been one and possibly two elections going through, with Democratic Party support, is disappointing.” Indeed, the support of the Bronx Democratic Party is key for Gonzalez’s re-election. The party has long been considered a kingmaker for those competing in any borough election.
Barbara Bartoletti, legislative director for the League of Women Voters in Albany and a longtime observer of state politics, said legislators from New York City often work on a long leash from voters back home.
“Albany legislators are rather invisible in New York City, unlike the City Council and mayor,” Bartoletti said. “They don’t worry much about what they do up [in Albany] as far as ethical challenges, as long as they have the primary support.”
Rivera adamantly defended Gonzalez’s decision to seek re-election, saying the senator was popular in his district and had yet to be proven guilty in his trial.
“I think we’re all supporting him in the re-election, until there’s a trial and he’s found guilty,” Rivera said. “Then we’ll move on and find someone else.”
Former state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., a longtime adversary of the Bronx Democratic Party organization and one of Gonzalez’s potential Democratic primary opponents, believes he can mobilize voters without party support.
“People will be engaged, and it won’t be a coronation,” Espada promised.
He said if he runs, he will address broader issues than Gonzalez’s alleged crimes, including the Yankee Stadium redevelopment. “There are these major strategic opportunities,” Espada said. “But at the same time there is a political leadership that is all too eager to sell the community down the drain.”
Espada, 54, has had legal troubles of his own. In 1998, he was charged with using money from his health clinic, Soundview Health Center, to repay an earlier failed state senate campaign. He was later acquitted of all charges.
The veteran politician drew a distinction between his case and Gonzalez’s. “It’s the difference between being falsely accused and exonerated,” he said, “and someone who will likely spend a number of years in jail for spending taxpayer money.”
Richard Soto, a Bronx community activist, said he intends to run against Gonzalez. While Soto said he will focus his campaign less on Gonzalez than on the needs of the district, he said the charges against the senator were emblematic of larger problems in the borough.
“Unfortunately, what’s been exposed with his legal problems isn’t just Efrain,” Soto said. “You can call it Bronx politics.” Ponce, Gonzalez’s campaign manager, said the re-election campaign would deal with the indictment issue as it arises.
“If it’s brought up at a public event then naturally we’ll address it,” he said. “But we’re not going to go out in front with it.”
sjb2139@columbia.edu
ejf2133@columbia.edu
Original Link
http://www.bronxbeat.org
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