RSS Feed
|
||||||||||||||
|
The Quandary Of A Councilman Who Is Not A Councilman - Yet After winning a special election to the New York City Council two weeks ago, Canarsien Dr. Mathieu Eugene has just two more steps to make the election official: He has to be officially sworn in after the ballots are certified and he has to move out of Canarsie. Not in that order. Eugene was opposed by eight other candidates for a seat in the Council's 40th District, which covers parts of East Flatbush, Flatbush and Crown Heights - but none of Canarsie, where the candidate is a resident on East 87th Street. If his election is authorized, he will be the first person of Haitian descent to be elected to the Council. He would replace Yvette Clarke, who was elected to Congress in the November election. A controversy arose at the Board of Elections when some authorities said candidates must reside in the district where the voters elect them, but others say the election won't take effect until the board certifies the votes - which could take as long as three weeks. Published reports indicated Eugene had signed a lease for an apartment in the 40th District as of February 1. A swearing-in ceremony was scheduled for last Thursday at City Hall but, because the ballots were not fully counted by that time, Eugene and Councilman-elect Vincent Ignizio of Staten Island's 51st District, another contender in the special election, postponed the ceremony. Ignizio released a statement saying he and Eugene will have their ceremony at a later time, but "meanwhile, it doesn't detract from me and my staff starting work at 9 a.m. tomorrow." In a general election, candidates must be a resident of the district he or she would represent for at least a year, but there is a stipulation that, in a special election, they are allowed to be a resident until they are nominated and put on the ballot, according to the Associated Press. An election official said it would be up to the City Council to rule on the case. Eugene's office did not return recent phone calls.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||
