By Dee Richard
There was so much going on last week there wasn’t enough room to include all of the events. The following announcement was left out, so we will make it first this week.
Contrary to the various rumors that seem to be circulating, President Gary Bonelli and Vice President Sal Bacarella of the North East Queens United Group wish it to be known that at this time they are not endorsing any candidate for any political office — the only exception being their unconditional support for state Sen. Frank Padavan’s re-election.
Mostly all of the prospective candidates now are out running around trying to drum up support and interest in their campaigns to assess the possibility of a personal win before they officially toss their hats into the ring.
Most of the candidates take for granted the support of their own political party, but it’s the other parties like Conservative, Independence and Working Families that can have clout at this time because their support can make a difference in winning or losing.
The largest, most influential group are swing voters, meaning they have no party affiliation or allegiance, assess all candidates and have a tendency to vote for the individual rather than a party.
In order to obtain the support of a party other than your own, you must obtain what is known as a “Wilson-Pakula,” which can only be given by the officially recognized officers of that particular group according to their by-laws. This gives the candidate another line to run on.
The obvious benefits are not only the extra votes, but also the ability to run in the election on that secondary line if you have lost the primary and therefore the ability to run on your own party line. It is a valuable asset to secure. It looks like we are going to have lots of fun in this election cycle, just like we did in the last.
This week was another interesting and busy week, the highlight of which was the induction ceremony of Diccia Pineda-Kirwan as justice of the New York State Supreme Court for Queens. The oath of office was administered by Faviola Soto, judge of the New York State Court of Claims. The robing was done by her three children, Shannyn, Christopher and Lauren as well as her sisters Alfida and Lourdes and brother Jorge.
Others involved were Administrative Justice Jeremy Weinstein and Associate Justice Jaime Rios of the Supreme Court, the Rev. Arthur Rojas, U.S. Rep. Joe and Sean Crowley, Honey Miller, state Assemblyman Jose Peralta and Michelle Anderson, dean of the CUNY School of Law. I hope we didn’t overlook anyone; it was a lovely ceremony and well-attended.
Diccia deserves a lot of credit for so many things and is living proof that if you hang in there despite all odds you can do it, especially with the help of your friends and family. Good luck, Diccia, I know you will make us prouder of you than we are now.
Sunday was a double-header. At 12:30 p.m., the North East Queens Republican Club held its annual induction of officers ceremony combined with a brunch at the Reception House in Flushing. Janet Malone was re-elected president for the umpteenth time. The oaths of office were administered by Padavan.
Bacarella received the first Machiavelli Award Plaque. This will be an annual event. The award was given by the D.M.J. Media and Image Consulting Group and presented by Malone. If you know of anyone deserving of this particular type of award, e-mail us at deerrichard@aol.com and we will see it gets to the right sources. With all the political types in Queens, there should be no shortage of candidates to receive a Machiavellian type of award.
The last Sunday event was the inauguration ceremony of City Councilman Eric Ulrich at the Scholars Academy School in Rockaway Park. The master of ceremonies was Tom Ognibene and the oath of office was administered by Judge John Ingram.
The event was a veritable who’s who in southeast Queens. Some of the luminaries were U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Anthony Weiner, Councilwoman Audrey Pheffer, state Sen. Joe Addabbo, Mike and Tom Long, Bart Haggerty, Grant Lally, Molly Honigsfeld, Mike Niebauer, Assemblyman Michael Miller, Councilman Dan Halloran, Councilman Peter Koo, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, Councilman Leroy Comrie, Councilman James Sanders and Phil Sica as well as may others.
That’s it for this week.
I look forward to receiving your voice mails at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and your e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com.
Don’t forget to check out the Focus on Queens page.
Till next week, Dee.
