Sunday, August 7, 1994

The City of BROOKLYN; Chock Full of Integrity

"Feldman also looks at his petition challenges as a public service. "There's no policeman out there," he said. We can only be thankful that the Brooklyn Democratic Organization is so diligent about rooting out fraud."

August may be vacation time for you and me, but it's when our Brooklyn politicians work hardest. Their goal is to make sure that when you vote in the Sept. 13 primary, you have as few choices as possible.

Joseph Cardieri is finding that out. A 30-year-old lawyer who went to Lafayette High School and Brooklyn College, he is running in the Democratic primary for Assembly against Frank Barbaro. Brooklyn has a lot of community activists who'd make good candidates for public office, but few of them have the money or the will to put up with the legal obstacles Cardieri and most other challengers must face.

Barbaro, who has held the Bensonhurst-Gravesend seat for 22 years, has teamed up with the executive director of the Brooklyn Democratic Organization to challenge Cardieri's nominating papers. The 1,340 people who signed Cardieri's papers started getting calls from the "Election Integrity Service." The callers wanted to know if there was any pressure to sign the petitions, or if witnesses were present. Cardieri said every person who signed his petition was called - some, twice."
Newsday, August 7, 1994