Eaton Vindicated — Many see a major setback for State Senator Martin Golden, which will have repercussions that will be felt for the remainder of Golden’s current term in the state senate
State Senator Golden threatens legal action against the Brooklyn GOP – Glenn Nocera, President of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club and Republican District Leader of the 44th AD holds a key piece of evidence for any lawsuit
[ First of Two Posts about the 2013 GOP County Convention ]
Earlier today, after a long and tortuous 2013 Convention of the Brooklyn Republican County Committee, incumbent Chairman Craig Eaton was declared the winner over another nominee, Timothy Cochrane, by a score of 442 votes to 330. After tallying all of the votes, both present and by proxy, Mr. Gerry O’Brien declared that the incumbent had again been re-elected as Chairman of the Brooklyn GOP. O’Brien had been duly appointed as temporary chairman to conduct the convention for the purpose of the election for Kings County Republican Party Chairman for 2013 through the primary of 2015. Attorney Aaron Maslow was also named as Counsel to the Chairman
According to reports from many of my Baker Street Irregulars, things were not nearly so simple as the numbers above indicate.
It should have been obvious from the beginning that those “Republicans for Change” supporting Marty Golden’s flavor of the month choice for Brooklyn Republican Chairman, Timothy Cochrane, were going to have major problems getting the bulk of their proxies to count for anything.
To start with, when it was getting close to the time for the cut-off of the submission of proxies to the credentials committee for review and certification, at about 10:00 AM Monday, none had been submitted by Golden’s “Republicans for Change.” It seems that the Golden-backed forces had turned over “all their proxies” to Party Secretary Diane Haslett Rudiano, who is aligned with the faction backing Cochrane, but she hadn't turned them over to the credentials committee in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, merely giving proxies to Diane Rudiano isn’t the sufficient, necessary and proper procedure to submit proxies for review and certification by the credentials committee. After several bitter recriminations, the credentials committee and the temporary chairman of the convention agreed to accept the late-submitted proxies held by Ms. Rudiano. That wasn’t the end of it.
Several additional proxies were brought directly into the convention hall by Marty Golden operatives that had never been turned over to Rudiano. Several members of the credentials committee said that the newly turned in proxies were late and not within the concession and ruling about accepting the submission of the proxies held by the Party Secretary. In spite of the clear distinction between the categories of late-submitted proxies, the chair and the committee agreed to accept them for review as well.
It took hours for the credentials committee to go over the proxies that had been brought in at the 11th hour by the “Republicans for Change.” However, it soon became obvious that the Golden faction was trying to slip in almost 250 invalid proxies. Ultimately, about 220 to 230 proxies submitted by the Golden forces were ruled invalid by the credentials committee. (According to a comment below, " over 200 Golden proxies were invalidated because they predated the convention notice." In addition, those proxies apparently were largely executed before the County Committee members had been certified by the Board of Elections [Information added on 10/1/13 after initial posting]).
When the final vote on Eaton and Cochrane was being taken, it looked to many of those counting votes that Cochrane was apparently ahead in the count of about 330 to 323 for Eaton, however there remained a block of about 100 votes being held back by Lucretia Regina-Potter of the LaGuardia Club, by passing on its turn in the final vote. When the votes from the LaGuardia Club were cast for Craig Eaton, a former nemesis of that club, everybody in the hall knew that his election was locked in.
What had often been an indecorous gathering broke down into several shouts and threats of all manner and description ( Including threats of a lawsuit by State Senator Martin Golden, himself [Information added on 10/1/13 after initial posting]). Much of that action was recorded on a video-cam by Glenn Nocera.
When things calmed somewhat, Gerry O’Brien the temporary chairman of the convention returned the Chairmanship of the Brooklyn GOP to Craig Eaton as the duly elected Chairman of the Kings County Republican Party.
37 comments:
Proxie voting should be eliminated. If you cant be bothered to show up to vote than the hell with ya.
Marty Golden should also be eliminated.
Major fuckup by Marty Golden's braintrust: over 200 Golden proxies were invalidated because they predated the convention notice. That's what happens when you surround yourself with yes-men and inexperienced staffers. As one of the Eaton mailings noted, Golden is entitled to hire as many Democrats and other non-Republicans as he chooses ... but they are not serving him well, and perhaps a staff shakeup is needed.
Yes, Ray Riley and Georgea Kontzamanis certianly took a hit here. They were responsible for Golden;s proxy effort and were both at the convention submitting Golden proxies. What a win for Eaton's "braintrust"
I must say this all needs to stop. Republicans against Republicans. We are outnumbered in every borough in NYC and Golden, an elected official for 20 years, chooses to take out a Chairman, who has been a friend, neighbor, supporter, and good leader, all because of power, greed and ego..there must have been over 50 K spent on that race when it could have been used to help Lhota and the City Council candidates get elected.
I really hope team golden sues team eaton.
From what I saw yesterday team eaton is almost completely made up of lawyers, those that paased the bar as well as those that practice mostly in bar rooms.
Any lawsuit would likely not be adjudicated until some time in 2014. There are certainly other things that our elected officials should be worrying about in 2014...
Anonymous, your post make absolutely no sense. It says you hope Golden sues and then state that it would not be adjudicated until some time in 2014 - so let me get you straight, Golden should fight in Court when he should be working on getting re-elected in 2014....he will be dragged into the mud in a litigation which will only hurt his re-election chances. This is such a stupid post I just want to SCREAM....like Timy Cockrane.....PS I hear he did a lot of SCREAMING yesterday. Must be the Napoleonic complex.
The RFC crew were disgraceful. They submitted hundreds of fraudulent proxies and packed the room with loud and obnoxious people.
All the pro-Eaton BOE employees were stuck at work while RFC friendly BOE workers were given time to attend the convention the day before an election!
Cochrane, Golden, and Rudiani (as Golden called her) interrupted the chair numerous times to get the crowd riled up.
In addition there were about a dozen people with RFC in attendance that were not even on county committee and some were not even republican!
Among the most embarrassing were:
Henry Lallave
Diane Rudiano
Belinda Lindros
Glenn Nocera
One of Golden's sons
Frank Voyticky (don't think he knew he was there)
Sandra Chase
Victor Best
I will be emailing you soon to dissect each of these characters and their shameful acts along with a few pictures that sum up the day.
I can say for certain that Golden was utterly embarrassed by the team his staff assembled. I truly hope Glenn makes the entire video he took available. He was probably the worst person there.
Soon the courts will rule and the results of this rump convention will be tossed to the heap. The struggle has only just begun.
UPDATE AND BACKFILL: In a telephonic interview that one of my operatives had with Glenn Nocera earlier today, Mr. Nocera confirmed that he had a video of virtually the entirety of the proceedings of the 2013 County Committee of the Kings County Republican Party at their County Convention. This includes a substantial part of the announcements and comments of the Credentials Committee for the County Convention.
It is also Nocera's opinion that any court would have to set aside the result if can see what is on his tape and has the proof that over 200 elected County Committee Members were disenfranchised by the Craig Eaton dominated Convention. Credentials Committee.
And Glenn's law degree is from where again?
Please, please, please release the entire tape!!!!
Put it on the YR site or the site where Glenn sings those catchy tunes.
Clash of the Legal Titans:
Aaron Maslow said the results of yesterday's election will stand. Glenn Nocera says it will be overturned.
Who would you bet on?
Impossible. Glenn left before hours before the meeting was over. He can't have the "entire" meeting.
I have heard reports that the then-Secretary of the Kings County Republican Party, Diane Rudiano, had a motion on the floor to poll the members of the Credentials Committee for each and every disallowed proxy; and wasn't that motion ignored by the temporary Chairman of the 2013 Convention ?
Did anything like that happen ? If so, what is the explanation for failing to submit the motion for a vote ?
Was Rudiano recognized by the chair? Did she have the floor? Or did she merely stand and attempt to hijack the proceedings like a certain Senator who shouted out, telling individuals exactly how to vote on specific votes. Party rules state that the Credentials committee is the sole authority in determining issues pertaining to votes cast. There is no provision to poll them, question them, overrule them.
Why not just reach out to Gene Beradelli, Gale? Go get the story from the source!
Show me in the bylaws of the kings county Republican party that a proxy can not be signed before the convention was called by the chairman. The proxys had the proper date of the Convention on them. To throw out 242 votes is disgusting. This will certainly be won in a court of law. The people's voices will be heard. As the crowd chanted at the convention count every vote Mr Eaton.
I reached out to whomever knew anything about the attempted motion, the aborted motion, the hamburger lodged in Ms. Rudiano's throat and the Vulcan Mind-Heimlich maneuvered by Gerry O'Brien --- whatever happened of whatever description....
btw, why would anybody think that Gene B. might be the source ? I heard about this from two very different people who gave two very different versions; one called it a motion, the other did not; and neither of them was Mr. Berardelli.
How could the proxies have the proper date of the convention on them if they were signed before the convention was called?
Rudiani couldn't stand. She was sitting in a walker as were most of the republicans for change that were there.
Time for these rino-sauruses to go extinct!
Its funny how I heard Craig eaton say this is a lynch mob when there were a whole bunch of african-american members in the audience. don't you think that was all a little bit insensitive. or maybe perhaps racist of him. well we all know he doesn't care. He treats all the county committee members as a bunch of slaves anyway.
Eaton's supporters were quiet and respectful when Cochrane spoke. But when Eaton made his speech, the Cochrane supporters shouted and screamed at him, interrupting him repeatedly. It was a lynch mob, which knows no racial boundaries. So stop being a liberal pussy concerned about political correctness.
Marty Golden is a worthless leader, who has not accomplished a single thing in his time as Senator. He forced his board members to sign proxies, while kissing Cochranes ass simply to get Eaton of his current position. Too bad that didn't work, even after all of Golden's sad attempts. He has no respect and will soon learn his position is going to be lost - he is a pathetic excuse for a public figure.
Sue team Eaton - Ha. Marty Golden and his RFC team are a bunch of cowards - remember the shredding by his friend Simon Shamoun? Remember the slander that Marty Golden tried to throw at Eaton? Cochrane cant manage a hot dog stand rather than run the republican party in Brooklyn. STICK TO HOTDOGS COCHRANE!
So, all in all, it looks like everybody is getting along and ready to put all of this behind them.
Or, am I missing something ?
I thought Glenn Nocera was a security guard at a college? We will definitely consult him if we have a question about underage drinking or parking regulations. Otherwise, why is this clown getting involved.
PLEASE GOLDEN - I AM SCREAMING - GO TO COURT: If Golden goes into Court, Eaton would file his own action and all the idiots would be brought into Court to discuss (1) petition shredding - I hear D Annarumo has his fingerprints all over that; (2) the threats and intimidation of BOE people - some by the Senator himself; (3) the fact that BOE employees were given time off from work during business hours to collect Proxies; (4) the fact that many BOE employees attended the Convention the day before the runoff election and BOE people who sere supporting Eaton were not allowed to take off - that is why Golden has more people at Convention than Eaton; (5) Golden telling everyone "I control the BOE now - you guys dont want to go against a sitting senator, do you?; (6) the party raiding that Kassar has been doing, especially setting up, suppporting and attending Rep For Change events and in his column in the newspaper urging people to do things; (7) the fraud perpetrated by Golden, Kassar, Cochrane and the RFC group; (8) the libel slander and deffamation by Golden of Eaton, when it all came out that Eaton was not involved in the Smith case - it was Isaacs all along; and (9) the libel slander and deffamation by Cochrane telling a lot of DL's and others that he has personal knowledge of Eaton and criminal behavior....wow I just want to SCREAM at all these bad things these criminals did.......I almost hope Golden does sue - so that I can watch ALL these issues come out into the mix...
Ray riley really screwed golden this time. This was more dumb than the allegretti campaign he ran.
Does Golden hire complete idiots on purpose - or are they the only type of people that are attracted to Golden? I think the latter.
I am a member of County Committee and received a phone call from Simcha Felder asking to sign a proxy for Tim Cochrane. From my knowledge, Simcha Felder is a democrat - does the Golden campaign have democrats making phone calls in an effort to desperately win the County Chairman election? Very sad if you ask me.
Interesting story, but that's not the way that my BSI told me that it was done...
Who are you ? When was this alleged call made?
What if Simcha Felder was not directly involved -- then how could your version have happened ?
Marty only works with Dems. He makes deals and steals to keep his seat. He truly is a disgrace to the Brooklyn GOP. Glenn should sing a song for the end of Goldens' career as a phony.
In regard to the Oct 2 comment made at 12:54, Mr. Marty could not have been more wrong about the Dan Halloran scandal and Eaton's involvement. There was an article that came out a few weeks ago clearing Eaton's name and pointing Dan Isaacs as "Chairman #1." Marty is too much of a coward to apologize publicly and too busy kissing Kassar's ass. One day he will realize that everyone in Bay Ridge cannot stomach his whiny voice. Hey Golden - maybe you can ask Cochrane to hire you as a hotdog boy - you will do better there.
I dont think you should give Golden that much credit.
I bet on glenn
BACKFILL: MISSED IN THE SHUFFLE IS THE STATEMENT THAT APPEARED ON THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE BROOKLYN GOP CONCERNING THE RE-ELECTION OF CRAIG EATON AS THE KINGS COUNTY REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN
The Kings County Republican Party’s official home page contained the following statement announcing the events at the Brooklyn GOP County Convention: “Yesterday’s Convention of the Brooklyn Republican Party at Remsen Hall in East Flatbush was the site of a dramatic victory for Chairman Craig Eaton, who defeated his opponent by a margin of 442 votes to 330 votes. *** Eaton, whose chairmanship oversaw the historic victories of Bob Turner for Congress and David Storobin for State Senator in districts which had not elected Republicans in a century, thanked the assembled delegates. ‘Your support and enthusiasm for me is gratifying, and I intend to work harder and bring the Brooklyn GOP to new levels of activism and outreach in the next two years.’ *** Joining Eaton among the new officers is former Assemblyman Arnaldo Ferraro, who will serve as Vice Chairman of the Brooklyn Republican Party, and Russell Gallo, a former State Committeeman who will serve as Party Secretary.” (See “Craig Eaton re-elected as Brooklyn GOP Chairman” by Uncle Abe, 10/1/13, BROOKLYNGOP.com [http://brooklyngop.com/?p=1021]).
Marty started a war and despite his desperate efforts to oust Eaton, he failed. Eaton wasn't the all time best Republican leader in the history of the party, but he did a damn good job. Electing Republican Congressman and Senators, as well as generally expanding the Republican party in Brooklyn as well as other boroughs. The heat Eaton took the last few months was unwarranted and it is sad to see that Marty has turned into such a coward, or at least he is now showing his true colors. Marty has alienated a lot of Brooklynites and he is going to get destroyed in 2014.
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