By Kathianne Boniello
A Democratic candidate running to succeed City Councilwoman Julia Harrison (D-Flushing) who charged front-runner John Liu with ethics violations last week said she was angry the Democratic Party had endorsed him in the race earlier this year.
On Aug. 28, Democratic candidate Ethel Chen’s staff held a news conference with Harrison’s office and charged Liu with ethics violations during his tenure as a member of Community Board 7.
Chen’s staff said Liu should have recused himself from a September 2000 vote for a Prince Street commercial project because the developer had contributed $7,000 to his campaign in the three years prior to the vote. Liu voted with the majority on the community board to approve the work.
Chen, a veteran librarian and Democratic district leader since 1993, said she would not comment on the details of the ethics charge. Harrison has said she would vote for Chen in the upcoming election, a spokesman for the councilwoman said Tuesday.
“I’m not involved with that at this point,” said Chen, referring questions to her staff members. The charges “are a statement on the truth. People should know.”
Chen said she thought she deserved the nod of the Queens Democratic Party after her nearly 10 years as district leader in Flushing.
“I’ve been a Democratic district leader since 1993, and they endorse somebody else?” Chen said after a candidates debate in Flushing last week. “Why? Because he has more money?”
In May Liu received the support of the Queens Democratic machine, which endorsed several other district leaders in city council races around Queens at that time. Liu has raised nearly $140,000 in the contest, far more than his opponents. Chen has raised about $77,000 in the race.
There are six other candidates running to replace Harrison, including Democrats Terence Park and Richard Jannaccio, Green Party candidates Evergreen Chou and Paul Graziano and Republican Ryan Walsh.
Liu, who has been widely considered as having the best possibility of becoming New York’s first Asian-American elected official, dismissed his competitors’ attempts to derail his campaign.
“In politics I believe everything is fair,” Liu told the TimesLedger recently. When asked about the ethics violation, he said “they don’t have anything — it’s a desperation.”
“My actions on the community board have been with the utmost integrity and that’s how I will run my city council office,” he said.
Liu said there have been several times when he did abstain from votes at Community Board 7 in Flushing because of possible conflicts of interest but said he could not remember the Prince Street vote offhand.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
