Sound Shore

The debate over how to fill a New Rochelle council vacancy just got kicked up a notch. I finally heard back today from the GOP council members about the Democrats’ proposal yesterday to temporarily fill the seat with the widow of late council member James Stowe, who died in early August. A special election to fill the remainder of Stowe’s term will be held in November.

To recap what’s been called for so far:

• The three GOP members of the council have proposed appointing former county legislator Pearl Quarles to the seat, pending the special election in November through the end of the year. They have not responded to inquiries from The Journal News as to whether they expect Quarles to be a candidate in the election.

• The three Democrats, including Mayor Noam Bramson, initially proposed leaving the seat open until November, then appointing the winner of the election to serve the remainder of the year, before the person’s elected term formally began in January. They suggested at first the seat be left vacant until November.

• Yesterday the Democrats changed gears, saying that until November, they were proposing filling the seat with Stowe’s widow, Roxie Stowe. She said in a press release sent out by the Democrats that she was willing to take the appointment but step down after the election in favor of the victor. She said she did not intend to run for the seat.

Here’s the GOP council members’ response, which I will be seeking to clarify. The subject line of the email, which arrived this morning from Councilman Richard St. Paul,  is “Councilman blast colleagues for using JiM Crow tactics to gain political advantage.” (As a point of information, Pearl Quarles is black, as is Roxie Stowe and as was James Stowe).

Update: St. Paul, in a phone interview around midday today, said Republicans are not willing to agree to appoint the winner of the November special election to serve out the rest of the term because they believe someone should be seated now and serve through the end of the year to maintain continuity during the budget process.

He said he had invoked the term “Jim Crow” because the Democrats’ refusal to vote on Quarles’ appointment would potentially leave the seat open and disenfranchise voters of the traditionally minority-represented district. He also said the Democrats making their own proposals “are not people who are from the community, are not minorities who represent the community.”

He also said he did not expect, at this time, that Quarles would be a candidate in the special election.

Update 2: Democrats plan to meet tonight to discuss the matter and who their council candidate might be.

Update 3: The Democrats have responded to the GOP’s comments today, calling their invocation of Jim Crow “repugnant.”

To see more details on the 2nd and 3rd updates, click on the links.

Here’s the original GOP release from this morning:

For Immediate Release

New Rochelle, NY- A coalition of New Rochelle City Council members have expressed their shock and dismay at the actions of a group of their politically motivated colleagues who have decided to deny the voters of District 3 the right to choose their own representative through the Nov. 2nd special election process.

“These Council members, led by Mayor Noam Branson, are exploiting a tragic situation for their own political benefit to the detriment of city residents” said Councilman Richard St. Paul. “Our hearts go out to Mrs. Stowe for her tragic loss, and have no doubt she is being exploited for political gain.

As the only African-American member of the Council, I feel strongly that the minority voters who comprise most of District 3 should not be disenfranchised and treated as second-class citizens. Frankly speaking, I suspect these political opportunists would not have attempted this in another council district.”

“The business of the people is serious. There is no place for political games in these challenging times,” said Councilman Lou Trangucci.

Additionally, Councilman Albert Tarantino cautioned his colleagues about playing politics and political games at the expense of the serious needs of the citizens of New Rochelle.  “Just last week, our colleagues called for a special election and urged that the winner immediately fill the vacant seat.  Unfortunately, like typical politicians, they have decided to go back on their word and pull a stunt.  These kinds of conniving actions are fueling voters’ discontent with elected officials and I predict will lead to them possibly losing this seat, hence the political gamesmanship,” he added.

Councilman St. Paul noted that this is not the first attempt by the Council to attempt to manipulate the District 3 seat, only to have their actions and decisions overturned by a Federal Court.“As one of the attorneys in the federal lawsuit against some of the current members of the council who are once again engaging in Jim Crow tactics, I specifically recall the testimony of a former council member, who said the decision to remove a percentage of African-American voters out of District 3 was made by some of the members of this same group,” Councilman St. Paul said. “These wrongful actions of that council led to the victory of Councilman Stowe, who ironically, was not backed by this group at that time. For these same people to once again try to oppress the African-American community in New Rochelle is an insult to Councilman Stowe’s legacy.”

Councilmen St. Paul, Trangucci and Tarantino have placed the appointment  to District 3 as a matter for discussion at the upcoming September 15, 2010 council meeting. The public meeting begins at 7:30 p.m.“We encourage District 3 and all New Rochelle residents to voice their concerns and participate at this important meeting,” Councilman St. Paul said.

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