Observer » Alan Flacks

Another Manhattan Judicial Seat Opens

Azi Paybarah — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:40:50 -0400

Alan Flacks, who obsesses about the under-appreciated world of judicial politics even more than I do, emailed this morning to say that Judge Shirley Werner Kornreich has been confirmed by the State Senate to fill an interim vacancy in the Appellate Divison.

Kornreich, who was appointed by David Paterson last month, will have to resign from her current position as a Manhattan Civil Court judge.

Which means there's an open, countywide judicial seat.

Flacks also notes that because her confirmation came before June 1, Kornreich will be considered an incumbent under New York County Democratic Party rules when the election comes around in November. That means she'll have a good shot at getting the party’s endorsement.

I'm not that familiar with the field of candidates in either of these races, so any insights are appreciated.

Paterson Hires Counsel, Senior Adviser

Azi Paybarah — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:19:04 -0400

David Paterson is starting to fill his administration.

The governor has a new lawyer on staff, James Yates. Yates announced yesterday he’s stepping down from his job as State Supreme Court Justice in Manhattan. According to Alan Flacks, Yates was “counsel to the Democratic majority in the Assembly (1979 to 1989) and legislative counsel to the Speaker of the Assembly afterward (1989 to 1992), when he was appointed by Gov. Cuomo to the Court of Claims in 1992.”

This morning, the administration announced Jon R. Cohen will serve as a senior advisor. According to Paterson's office, Cohen is currently managing director of PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P., focusing on health advisory services.

UPDATE:A reader reminded me that Cohen ran for lieutenant governor.

Also, in only somewhat related news, Travis Proulx is leaving Liz Kreuger's staff and joining Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith's communication team. Proulx seems to be replacing Fernando Aquino, who emailed friends just now to say he’s taking a job as director of market development for the New York Mets [added].

Dispatch: Manhattan Clubs Vote for Hillary, Edwards (Sort of) and Nobody

Azi Paybarah — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:00:52 -0400

Manhattan activist and judicial delegate candidate Alan Flacks is a writer of countless emails about local political happenings (sort of a pre-blog blogger) and a permanent fixture in the local Manhattan political scene (updated).

Usefully, he's kept tabs on the presidential-endorsement votes of three Manhattan political clubs which, perhaps typically of Manhattan political clubs, showed signs of tension among the members between straight party loyalty amd reformist idealism.

According to Flacks, the Broadway Democrats endorsed Hillary Clinton after two rounds of voting. (Barack Obama didn’t make it past the first round). The Three Parks Democratic Club didn‘t have enough members for a vote, but among the ones who did vote, John Edwards came out on top with 25 percent. He was followed closely by “no endorsement,” Al Gore and Bill Richardson. And the Community Free Democrats decided not to endorse anyone.

UPDATE: A reader on the East Side emails: "The Lex Club endorsed Hillary on 10/25. She got 69% of the vote."

Here' s Flacks' full write-up:

B’way Dems Endorsement Vote (18 Oct. ‘07)

The Broadway Democrats may have held "the first-in-the-County" Presidential endorsement vote, which went to a second ballot, on October 18th; videlicet,
First place votes (50% plus 1 needed for endorsement):

Clinton 22 (47%)
Edwards 15 (32%)
Richardson 3 (6%)
Obama 2 (4%)
Kucinich 2 (4%)
Biden 1 (2%)
Gore 1 (2%)
No Endorsement 1 (2%)

Final results (after Gore, Biden, Kucinich, Obama, and Richardson were successively eliminated and second and third choices allocated):

Clinton 25 (53%) [Endorsed]
Edwards 17 (36%)
No Endorsement 5 (11%)

On another note, this club continues its control-freak, anti-political and anti-democratic attitude that candidates' political literature may not be distributed to people sitting down, or to those walking in, or even placed on chairs well before the start of its meetings. Sad.

Three Parks Dems. Preference Vote (10 Oct. ‘07)

The Three Parks Ind. Democrats, Inc., held an insignificant (since 60% of those in attendance left before the poll was held) straw-poll vote at their Ten-Ten Day meeting. The few remaining people, members and non-members alike, "skewed" as follows. Edwards: 25%
No Endorsement: 18.8%
Gore: 16.6%
Richardson: 14.6%
Clinton: 12.5%
Obama: 10.4%
Kucinich: 2%
Biden: 0%
Dodd: 0%
Gravel: 0%

C.F.D. non-Endorsement Vote (25 Oct. 07)
Community Free Democrats, Inc., chose not to endorse a candidate for President at this time at their October 25th, 2007, endorsement meeting.

If anyone has any more information about what the clubs are doing about 2008, please let me know.