Lucky in love, lucky in City Hall?
Term-limited City Councilman Charles Barron is trying to pull off the ultimate handoff, backing his wife, Assemblywoman Inez Barron, to succeed him in office.
Barron’s support for his 67-year-old wife is drawing charges of nepotism — and worse — from the five rivals for the East New York, Canarsie and Brownsville seat.
Charles Barron has well-studied rebuttals for every charge.
“I can’t give her a seat. She has to earn it,” he said of his wife.
Because of Barron’s long tenure in City Hall, the race to succeed him will inevitably become a referendum on his leadership.
Critics say that for 12 years in the Council, Charles Barron redefined the job of lawmaker from conciliation, teamwork and compromise to one defined only by defiance.
In votes on even non-controversial development projects and land-use, Barron is often the lone dissenting voice, with even Republicans backing the Democratic majority.
He recently voted against the city’s widely supported move to limit Madison Square Garden to a 10-year lease. Barron also was the lone dissenter opposing NYU’s expansion in Greenwich Village.
And his non-voting record is just as divisive.
Barron, a former Black Panther, cried racism in 2010 when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn bounced him from chairing the Higher Education Committee after he got into a an argument with a CUNY trustee at a groundbreaking ceremony. Barron counted late Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy as one of his heroes, calling the despot “an African freedom fighter.” And he also publicly embraced demagogue dictator Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
But Barron has also been a populist and community advocate, getting funding for parks and public housing, despite a chilly relationship to the council’s leadership.
And he earned some local kudos for opposing a proposed Walmart in the Gateway II shopping center in Canarsie, which he fought on the grounds that the Arkansas-based retailer is unfair to workers.
Supporters champion the chain’s rock-bottom prices as a boon to the mostly low-income residents of Barron’s district, but that didn’t faze the councilman.
Or his wife – she backs his positions and virtually all of the other ones.
“For the 12 years Charles Barron has been in office, he’s been effective and has gotten results,” his wife of 31 years said. “I want to continue that legacy.”
Heaven forbid, say rivals.
“A lot of folks have Barron fatigue,” said rival Chris Banks. “The Barron legacy has hurt the East New York community. It’s a lesson of divisiveness. … We can’t live in a segregated community anymore.”
And records show Inez Barron, a five-year veteran of the state legislature serving as her husband’s counterpart, is not the front runner in the six-candidate battle.
She has collected $21,823 in her war chest, according to city Campaign Finance Board filings, placing her second behind rival Chris Banks who has $37,769. Banks, 29, the charismatic founder of East New York United Concerned Citizens, ran against Inez Barron in the 2012 Assembly race and lost.
Others said they would change Barron’s greatest legacy: his opposition to development.
“People want a Wal-Mart. It would open jobs in the community,” said Regina Powell, 57, who first ran for the seat n in 2009 and is running again. “There are no jobs in the community for young people. My community is suffering.”
Naturally, Barron had a response to his – and by extension, his wife’s – critics, saying the battle to keep out developers is not merely politics, but a life’s mission.
“We built East New York back,” Charles Barron said. “It’s rising from the ashes. Now whites want to come back. And we say, ‘It’s not fair.’
“East New York has choice real estate,” he added. “We are one of the few communities where there is land left.”
MEET THE CANDIDATES
City Councilman Charles Barron can’t run again due to term limits. But these six candidates are competing in the Democratic primary to succeed him.
Chris Banks
Founder of East New York United Concerned Citizens.
Funds raised: $37,769
Top backers: Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-Midtown), Taxpayers for an Affordable New York, and real estate developer Steve Green.
Key issue: Pro-development.
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Inez Barron
State Assemblywoman (D-East New York)
Funds raised: $21,823
Top backers: United Federation of Teachers, 1199 SEIU, and Council of School Supervisors.
Key Issue: Anti-gentrification.
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Sean Henry
Financial manager for Hudson Guild
Funds raised: $9,335
Top backers: None.
Key issue: Seniors.
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Nikki Lucas
Community activist.
Funds raised: $5,952.
Top backers: None.
Key issue: Creating more youth programs.
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Regina Powell
Parent coordinator of Junior High School 166 in Brownsville.
Funds raised: $5,335
Top backers: None.
Key issue: Job creation.
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John Whitehead
City sanitation worker and member of Community Board 5.
Funds raised: $17,474
Top backers: Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, Uniformed Fire Officers Association and International Union of Painters.
