Starting tomorrow, some court proceedings dealing with the 2015 Kings County GOP Convention have been scheduled in the Brooklyn Supreme Court; and on Friday, the scene will shift about a fifth of a mile away to Monroe Place where an appeal is already pending
There are many expectations on both sides in what some have referred
to as a legal contest between the Golden and Eaton factions of the Brooklyn
GOP. Many people in "the Marty Golden
faction" are expecting big things to be coming out of the Brooklyn Supreme
Court this week, with an evidentiary hearing scheduled for April 28th
and a pre-hearing conference on tap for tomorrow. However, goings on in the
appellate court on 29 April 2016, including a motion for a stay, might throw all of that well off-schedule.
On the other hand, “the
Marty Golden faction” is probably thankful for any delay at this time. That’s
because one of Golden’s main witnesses will have to be the now-infamous Diane
Haslett-Rudiano, who is named as the Golden’s faction’s lead petitioner. She is a particularly important witness,
because not only did she reconvene the rump County Committee Convention as its “Chairman”; she is the foundation witness for almost
every document tendered to the Court by the Golden faction in support of Rudiano's petition to [among other matters] remove Arnaldo Ferraro as "County Chairman" and replace him with Ted Ghorra.
Lately, there have been many in the Golden faction who have
tried to put distance between themselves and Ms. Rudiano, but that doesn’t seem
possible in the context of this lawsuit.
SUPREME COURT CALLED CASE BROUGHT BY DIANE HASLETT-RUDIANO
AS THE ONE BROUGHT BY “THE GOLDEN FACTION”
Even in Justice Edgar Walker’s decision of March 21, 2016,
he referred to the petitioners in the lead action (Kings County Index No.
700004/2015) the first-named being Diane Haslett-Rudiano, as being aligned with State Senator Martin Golden of the 22nd
Senate District to such an extent that he called all of it “the Golden faction.”
Given the cross-examination that is likely (and, some have
said, has been planned) for Ms. Rudiano at the Edgar Walker hearing, it is
unlikely that her personal attorney would allow her to appear on this case.
FRIDAY'S CASE AT THE APPELLATE DIVISION
The appeal by the Eaton faction to the Appellate Division is
aimed at several rulings and findings by Justice Edgar Walker in his interim
decision of March 21, 2016. In addition
to their appeal, the Eaton faction has also sought a stay of the case(s) in
front of Justice Walker until his initial decision has been reviewed by the
appellate court, which is also located in Downtown Brooklyn.
Well I'm glad the good part buried in the fine print.
ReplyDeleteDiane Rudiano testimony would be something Golden would not want the press to see.
Just the fact her testimony might happen would be a story in tabloid.
UPDATE & BACKFILL: OR THE “DIANE HASLETT-RUDIANO SUSPENSION & BETTY ANN CANIZIO WARNING LETTER” EDITION
ReplyDeleteBOARD OF ELECTIONS COMMISSIONERS VOTE TO CONFIRM BOE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MIKE RYAN’S SUSPENSION OF THE BOE’S CHIEF CLERK FOR BROOKLYN DIANE HASLETT-RUDIANO
IN A “RELATED” MATTER DATED ON MONDAY, THE DAILY NEWS SAID DEMOCRAT BETTY ANN CANIZIO RECEIVED A “WARNING LETTER” FROM THE BOE FOR GETTING RIDES TO WORK FROM DAVID ANNARUMMO --- THAT EARLIER NEWS ARTICLE ALSO MENTIONED SOURCES SAYING "[DIANE HASLETT-RUDIANO] TOOK THE FALL FOR [BETTY ANN CANIZIO]"
According to a report in the Daily News, “A week after the city’s Board of Elections bungled the hotly contested presidential primary, its head apologized Tuesday — and promised that every eligible vote cast by affidavit would be counted…. BOE executive director Michael Ryan said he wanted to ‘apologize’ if the screwups ‘caused any amount of the public trust in the voter process in New York City to erode.’... ‘Despite what others may think, we run a clean shop here, and I can vouch for not only for my own integrity but for the integrity of our staff,’ he said at the BOE’s weekly Board of Commissioners meeting…. The BOE’s commissioner meeting was its first since the primary day debacle that led to many voters being turned away, and included over a dozen members of the public complaining about the problems.” (See “Board of Elections boss apologizes for presidential primary debacle in NYC” by Jennifer Fermino, 4/26/16, NY Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-board-elections-boss-voter-debacle-article-1.2615524]).
However, this was the key passage for those of us interested in “the inside game” in Brooklyn GOP politics --- “…. The board voted to uphold the unpaid suspension of Brooklyn Chief Clerk Diane Haslett-Rudiano, who was blamed for many of the problems on Election Day….” The specific vote of the individual Commissioners isn't available at this time --- so who knows what SSMG's guy, GOP Commissioner SS from Dyker Heights, did on the vote.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Erin Durkin a reporter at the News reported that “A deputy clerk at the embattled Brooklyn office of the Board of Elections got a warning letter Monday from the city Conflicts of Interest Board for having an underling drive her to work…. Betty Ann Canizio broke rules by taking rides from a subordinate who lived near her, the board found…. Canizio is the deputy of Diane Haslett-Rudiano, the chief clerk in Brooklyn….” (See “Board of Elections deputy clerk under fire for having subordinate drive her to work” by Erin Durkin 4/25/16, Daily News [ http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/brooklyn-board-elections-worker-warned-misuse-position-article-1.2613621]).
The Durkin-Daily News article also made particular note of the following information: “…. Canizio’s staffer, David Annarummo, was previously slapped with a $500 fine for using bogus parking placards while driving his boss to work. At the time, he said he thought the practice was condoned because the deputy clerk was in the car with him…. Some insiders believe Canizio shares the blame for the voter roll purge, which left many Democrats showing up at the polls to vote in the presidential primary only to find they’d been mysteriously unenrolled…. Canizio was ‘being called onto the carpet for whatever went down on Tuesday’ but has so far avoided punishment, a source said. ‘She took the fall for Betty,’ the source added [talking about Diane] Haslett-Rudiano....”
Gail, stick to the law suit. I know that you are holding back info that you got from at least one of the main defendants. Why are you doing that?
ReplyDeleteUPDATE: THE "FOCUSING ON THE SOFT-FOCUS" EDITION
ReplyDeleteDAILY NEWS EDITORIAL NAMES NAMES & SLAMS BOE COMMISSIONERS FOR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY FIASCO
AN INTERESTING SMALL CIRCLE OF SOUTHWEST BROOKLYN POLITICAL TYPES NAMED IN DAILY NEWS EDITORIAL -- SIMON SHAMOUN -- BETTY ANN CANIZIO -- MARY ROSE SATTIE
Here's how the News' editorial writer started the RAZZ on behalf of that paper's Editorial Board: "And you thought the wrongful purge of 125,000 eligible voters from the primary day election rolls would drive the Board of Elections to purge the responsible morons on its payroll?... Never, because the board is a patronage fiefdom dedicated to protecting nincompoops who have the right political connections.... The 10-member panel, split between Democrats and Republicans, went only so far Tuesday as to ratify the suspension of Brooklyn GOP clerk Diane Haslett-Rudiano, who helped engineer the cleansing of voter registrations.... Firing Haslett-Rudiano was out of the question, not least because dismissal would have made her even more of the fall-girl...." (See "Dirge for the purge" DN Editorial Bd., 4/27/16, NY Daily News/ Opinion/ Editorials [http://m.nydailynews.com/opinion/dirge-purge-article-1.2615475]).
The editorial went on to say this: ".... Haslett-Rudiano crafted the purge scheme with her Democratic counterpart, Clerk Mary Rose Sattie, who retired shortly after the purge began. Sattie’s replacement Betty Ann Canizio joined as it was well underway.... They failed to follow the multi-part process for identifying and alerting voters eligible for being dropped from the rolls.... Meanwhile, the people responsible for providing oversight of the clerks — Brooklyn BOE commissioners Simon Shamoun (Republican) and John Flateau (Democrat) — failed in their main job, completely failed.... By all rights, Shamoun and Flateau should face a public grilling as to how they allowed their underlings to create yet one more BOE debacle.... Meanwhile, Executive Director Michael Ryan is, by design, hapless in the face of the political hacks...."
COURT UPDATE: THE "SAME STORY -- DIFFERENT DAY" EDITION
ReplyDeleteIN SPITE OF BEING TOLD THAT ONE OF THE SIDES HAD APPEALED HIS EARLIER INTERIM DECISION AND HAD MOVED FOR A STAY -- JUSTICE WALKER HAS DECIDED THAT THERE WAS NO REASON TO DELAY THE NET STAGE -- A HEARING ON THE ISSUES RAISED BY THE PARTIES IN THEIR COMPETING PAPERS
Today, a pre-hearing conference before Justice Edgar Walker came and went without any alteration to his previously established hearing schedule. That hearing is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 10:00 AM in Judge Walker's courtroom in the Supreme Court, Kings County.
Let's see what happens next.
Yeah Gail why are you holding back on the lawsuit?
ReplyDeleteI bet you are turning it into a movie
Maybe we can get a little deeper into the topics raised in this article while under oath?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brooklyndaily.com/stories/2016/18/pl-party-line-2016-04-29-bk.html
UPDATE: THE "NOT EVEN THE HALF OF IT" EDITION
ReplyDeleteJULIANNE CUBA DOES SOME REAL HEAVY LIFTING --- SPOTLIGHTING DIRECT MARTY GOLDEN LINK TO BOARD OF ELECTIONS CORRUPTION & PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY SCANDAL
RESPONSIBILITY FOR "INCOMPETENCE" OF DIANE HASLETT-RUDIANO HUNG ON BROOKLYN REPUBLICAN BOE COMMISSIONER SIMON SHAMOUN AND HIS "PUPPET MASTER" REPUBLICAN STATE SENATOR MARTIN GOLDEN
Julianne Cuba gives this overview in several salient paragraphs at the top of her almost perfect inverted pyramid article in the Courier: "The Brooklyn Board of Elections chopped more than 120,000 Democratic voters from borough rolls last Tuesday, just in time for New York’s presidential primary, and Republican insiders claim the scandal has ties to Kings County’s reigning conservative — state Sen. Martin Golden (R–Bay Ridge).... Republican chief election clerk Diane Haslett-Rudiano was the only official to take heat for the mysterious Democratic purge — the Board of Elections suspended her last week. But elections officials incorrectly passed over the borough’s Republican Board of Elections commissioner Simon Shamoun and the man who put him there — Golden — conservative politicos charge.... Shamoun is Haslett-Rudiano’s superior and should be held responsible for her role in the purge, critics say.... 'People should call for his resignation,' a party honcho said. He should have known what was going on.'... An ongoing internal investigation probably won’t come up with anything more than Rudiano’s pure incompetence, but if investigators look hard enough, they will find that Golden is pulling the strings, another conservative politico said....” (See "Republican sources claim Marty Golden behind Dem voter purge" by Julianne Cuba, 4/28/16, Courier-Life/ Brooklyn Daily [http://www.brooklyndaily.com/stories/2016/18/pl-party-line-2016-04-29-bk.html]).
The article follows with many details and quotes by those willing to go "ON THE RECORD".....
Here's my favorite --- " 'This goes back a couple of years and at the end of the day, Golden could be in some trouble if people look deep enough,' said longtime member of the party’s county committee Russell Gallo. 'Simon is Marty’s puppet — he’s not making any decisions on his own. He has no skin in the game. For the most part, he has a nice title and he’s good friends with Golden and he does what he wants him to do.'...”
Although Ms. Cuba did reach out to me through an intermediary, I did not participate in the preparation of her Courier-Life article in any way. I'm sure that with a little more digging she'll find even more "connections" to Golden than those she presented in this article.
LATER UPDATE: THE "AND THE MARTY GOLDEN FOLKS SAID....." EDITION
ReplyDeleteLIKE THEY PLEADED TO "SHOELESS JOE" JACKSON OF THE BLACK SOX --- "SAY IT AIN'T SO..."
A while ago, I received an E-mail from my "intermediary" with Julianne Cuba informing me that ".... Golden did not respond to multiple requests for comment prior to publication. His office did call after this article was published to say that it was wildly inaccurate, but a spokesman declined to comment further...." And that a later version of the Julianne Cuba article cited above would contain that poignant "response"; I checked and it does.
I hear things went very badly for Ferraro, and Eaton in Court today. Can you update us
ReplyDeleteI hear that there are some surprises in store for Rudiano and Golden.....stay tuned....some new stuff which will turn this whole case upside down......
ReplyDeleteWhat is 3:28 pm even talking about Eaton for. He isn't named in anybody's lawsuit. If the court didn't affirm Arnaldo Ferraro as Chairman of the Brooklyn Republican Party, doesn't Eaton still have the authority & duty to reconvene the 2015 Brooklyn Republican County Convention to conduct a new election for the next Chairman of the Brooklyn Republican Party.
ReplyDeleteit seems that Eaton's conduct at that convention is what is on trial. When the Judge rules against him and Ferraro you can expect this to be clear in the decision. Highly unlikely Eaton or for that matter Beradelli will continue to play a meaningful role in any future convention which will certainly be conducted by either the Court or State Party.
ReplyDeleteBut if Eaton & Berardelli weren't properly NAMED, and it's THEIR official duties that are being questioned to be set aside, it all seems like that whatever the court does or says can be set aside as a nullity any time they want to make a motion -- even after judgment.
ReplyDeleteGail, weren't you some kind of law guy? What do you think about all of that?
RESPONSES -- SORT OF: THE "MAYBE THINGS AREN'T WHAT THEY SEEM IN COURT" EDITION
ReplyDeleteREADING A JUDGE TO SEE WHAT HIS OR HER FINAL DECISION(S) MIGHT BE IS HARDER THAN READING TEA LEAVES
Let me address all of the comment makers from "Anonymous said... April 28, 2016 at 3:28 PM" through "Anonymous said... April 29, 2016 at 8:17 AM" as a group.....
I've had lots of experience in seeing judges -- both in front of the curtain and behind. Trials and all kinds of other hearings, proceedings and/or a variety court conferences have their own tempo and feel; none of the comments that I've read above gives me any kind of feel about what's going on in front of the Election Part judge, Justice Edgar Walker.
I have heard a few views of what's happening from the parties and some people close to them. All I can say now, is that things are far from over for the current Brooklyn GOP leadership; and that the so-called "Marty Golden Faction" is still on the outside looking in, no matter how much Marty Golden, Ted Ghorra & Company call Ghorra the Brooklyn GOP Chairman.
Meanwhile, in court, the case in front of Justice Walker is put over until next Thursday; and his prior interim Decision & Order in the case is already the subject of an appeal at the Appellate Division in and for Brooklyn.