Jun 10, 2009 1:41 pm US/Eastern
Many New Yorkers Upset About Coup Outcome
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Sens. Dean Skelos (l) and Pedro Espada (r) are sworn in in the New York Senate chambers on June 8, 2009. (File)
CBS
If this week's overthrow of the New York state Senate manages to stick, the person sitting a heartbeat away from Gov. David Paterson is a man battling legal troubles, election violations and questions about whether he even lives in his district.
Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., a Bronx Democrat, would be the temporary president of the Senate, the top spot in the chamber. His Democratic partner in the coup, Hiram Monserrate, is facing a felony assault charge on accusations he slashed his girlfriend's face with a broken glass last year.
Espada, who hasn't settled two pending election violation cases, is caught up in a state attorney general investigation into a health clinic he founded. Meanwhile, the Bronx district attorney is examining whether Espada actually resides in his Bronx apartment or in his house outside New York City, which the senator says is a second home.
Espada recently complained to the Gotham Gazette about reporters staking out his residences at 6 a.m. and points out that other legislators, mayors and judges have second homes. He said his house in Westchester County represents "a kind of life my wife wanted to experience."
But the people he represents in his Bronx district are "completely fed up," says Gary Axelbank, a resident and host of a weekly cable talk show, "BronxTalk."
"Dear God, please let nothing happen to Gov. Paterson," Axelbank said in an interview.
"What you're hearing from people around here is total exasperation," he added.
Residents of Monserrate's Queens district shared a similar disgust about their leader, who joined Espada in the brazen attempt to reverse the powerhold in Albany this week.
On Monday the pair of senators put into motion a scheme that had been plotted for weeks. They sided with Republicans -- who were in the minority -- to pass hastily introduced measures that changed the leadership structure and essentially handed control of the Senate back to the GOP.
Neither Espada nor Monserrate left the Democratic party, but their votes helped the measures pass 32-30.
Monserrate's constituents have been e-mailing and calling his district office to express their dismay.
The Rev. Lisa Jenkins, a Queens resident who has supported Monserrate, said she e-mailed his office Tuesday to say she was "appalled at what he had done."
"It's disloyal, I feel. It was a stab in the back," she said in an interview. "When you're elected, you're elected to serve those that elect you and you're not to go out on your own agenda."
Since the takeover, Monserrate and Espada have maintained that they made the move in the name of bipartisan unity and that the result will be a more equal Albany. So far, it has only been chaos, with the Democratic majority refusing to give up control.
Before the coup this week, Monserrate was already facing the assault charge that could cost him his Senate seat and land him in jail for up to seven years.
He has maintained his innocence and called his prosecution politically motivated.
Monserrate, who was a city councilman last year before his election to the Senate, also angered many in his council district when he reversed himself and ended his long-held opposition to a major development plan near the Mets stadium.
After months of leading the resistance, Monserrate signed off on the project that displaced dozens of local businesses.
Espada and Monserrate were both elected last year. Espada's opponent was an incumbent who had been indicted and accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars intended for charity.
Espada's unresolved election matters include $13,000 in fines that he and his campaign committees owe the state for not filing contribution records related to his 2008 campaign. Separately, a court ordered him in December to pay the city Campaign Finance Board $60,000 in fines related to his 2001 campaign for Bronx borough president.
Espada is poised to gain tremendous power in the Senate just as Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced he is investigating managers at the Soundview Health Clinic that Espada founded. Cuomo is looking into allegations that state money for programs serving poor women, children and people with HIV and AIDS were instead diverted to political campaigns.
And just before the takeover, the Democratic majority rejected $2 million worth of pork-barrel grant requests by Espada because the various companies listed a Bronx address linked to Espada's employees.
Espada maintains that Senate Democratic leader Malcolm Smith was using the grants as a weapon to get senators to vote his way, and says he rejected them on his own out of principle.
The coup occured on Monday when Espada and Monserrate joined Senate Republicans to give them a 32-30 edge over Democrats.
Then Democratic Majority Leader Malcolm Smith was immediately replaced by Rep. Dean Skelos.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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