By Courtney Dentch
The Jamaica city councilman who compared himself to Jesus Christ was resurrected last week and restored to the ballot for the Democratic primary election by a unanimous decision from the New York State Appellate Court in Brooklyn last week.
The five-judge panel overturned a ruling Aug. 20 by State Supreme Court Justice Janice Taylor removing maverick Councilman Allan Jennings (D-Jamaica) from the ballot in his own re-election bid in a court battle with the Queens County Democratic Organization and party choice Yvonne Reddick earlier this month.
In her Aug. 13 decision, Taylor found Jennings did not have the required 900 valid signatures to make the ballot and said that his campaign had committed fraud by filling out the petition sheets improperly, according to court documents.
“I feel personally vindicated by the higher court’s decision to put me back on the ballot and their findings of no fraud in regard to me or my campaign as charged by my opponents,” the councilman said in a statement.
Jennings rejoins two challengers on the ballot for his seat — Reddick, the Democratic Party favorite and Community Board 12 district manager, and Inderjit Singh, a Democrat who worked in city agencies for more than 30 years.
Reddick and the machine lawyers challenged about two-thirds of Jennings’ signatures in a court proceeding that began July 30, said attorney Mike Reich, a party leader and partner of Tom Manton, Queens’ party chairman.
“He had a flawed process,” Reich said. “They allowed the sheets to get mixed up. They always went out in teams and by the time they got back to headquarters, they didn’t know whose was whose.”
Reddick and her attorneys were still deciding whether to challenge the appellate court decision, she said.
Singh was pleased by the decision, he said.
“I’m happy for him,” he said. “This makes it now a three-way race. I still think I’m the better candidate. I am better suited to the needs of the constituents.”
Jennings was not endorsed by the Queens County Democratic Organization during his campaign in 2001, but he remained on the ballot and overcame his underdog position to win the primary nod and the general election. Reddick received the party’s blessing in May over Jennings, making him one of the first city council incumbents not to get machine support in Queens, he said.
Jennings has earned a reputation as a wild card since he assumed his council seat in January 2002. He placed ads in two Chinese-language newspapers earlier this year touting his love for the Chinese community and detailing his relationship with a Chinese-American folk dancer and his failed marriage to a Taiwanese woman.
Jennings drew the council speaker’s wrath over his vote against the 18.5 percent property tax hike. The vote went against a compromise between the Republican mayor and the Democratic City Council and as a result Jennings was removed from his seat on the Finance Committee.
After that decision, Jennings likened himself to Jesus Christ, saying he too was being persecuted for standing up for what he believed.
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
