Banned by Belinda, I cannot work in the Bronx Board of Elections
At 5:30 AM today, I showed up at the Bronx Board of Elections at 1780 Grand
Concourse, Bronx, NY, to work as an election inspector, just as I had
worked on primary election day, except that then I had worked in Brooklyn.
Not long after registering my name and taking a seat in the waiting room,
my name was called out. gYou have been dismissed, as per the district
leaderh, the election worker informed me.
I know immediately exactly what had happened. I already knew that I had
been banned from working in Brooklyn by Belinda Lindros, the Republican
Female District Leader in the 40th Assembly District in Brooklyn. However,
I was mildly surprised that her ban in Brooklyn extends all the way to the
Bronx.
Accordingly, this morning, I went down to the Kings County Board of
Elections to plead my case. Ray Brigada, the manager there, informed me
that my information was correct, that Belinda Lindros has banned me from
working. In other words, Belinda fired me.
I worked as an Election Inspector in the Primary Election on September 13.
However, even before I reported to work that morning, I was informed by
someone who knows her well that if Belinda Lindros saw me working at a
polling place, she would have me thrown out.
Sure enough, at about 6:00 PM, Belinda walked in. She recognized me right
away, said hello, and then called over the coordinator, whose name was Pat,
and they went into a big huddle.
Their conversation lasted more than a half hour. The moment Belinda left,
Pat called me over and told me that I could not work there any more. She
did not throw me out. In fact she said that she needed me until 9:30 PM and
that I would be paid my $200 for the days work, but I could not work there
and more.
Just before Belinda had arrived, the same Pat had told me that she was very
happy with my work, especially since I could speak Spanish, and she was
putting my name down as a worker for the next election. She told me that
next time, just come directly to her polling place, without the need to
check in with the Brooklyn Board of Elections first.
However, after Belinda had left, Pat told me that this was rescinded. I
could not come there to work any more.
I told Pat frankly that I had already been told that if Belinda saw me
working I would there, be thrown out. I asked Pat if that is what happened.
Pat did not admit this, but she did not deny it either.
The reason is obvious. In 2004, I ran for election against the official
candidate designated by the party. Even before I announced that I was a
candidate, I was introduced to Belinda by a party regular. I was shocked to
observe that Belinda is a far left-wing Democrat in her political views, to
the left of Ted Kennedy if such a thing is possible, so I could not
understand how she came to be a Republican District Leader. Now, I know the
answer. There are few Republicans in Brooklyn and yet by law the
Republicans get to give out 50% of the Board of Elections jobs. The
Democrats get the other 50%. Thus, being a Republican gets Belinda a job,
and, like so many workers for the Board of Elections, just about nobody
else would be willing to hire her for any other sort of job.
I had always thought I had cordial relations with Belinda. True, I had run
for election last year against her candidate, but I had not thought that
she would take that personally. Also, although my political views are
considerably to the right of hers, I did not think she would go so far as
to ban me from working in a simple poll workers job.
But she did. I have been speaking all day long to persons familiar with her
and with the Board of Elections and nobody has expressed any doubt that
Belinda has in fact banned me.
I feel that there is a legal issue here. There are four district leaders in
each Assembly District. One male Democrat, one female Democrat, one male
Republican and one female Republican. I find it odd that there is the
politically correct system of having an equal number of male and female
district representatives, but why not also have one green, one purple and
one polka dot person?
There are not only Republicans and Democrats in New York City. There are
also Greens, Reds, and even (gasp) Libertarians. Why do only the
Republicans and the Democrats get the jobs?
Belinda gets to appoint 15 poll workers at each polling place. However, at
the polling place where I worked on September 13, NONE of the workers
Belinda had appointed showed up to work. This should not be a surprise. A
election inspector must show up for work at 5:30 AM and then work all the
way through to 9:30 PM, and for this 16 hours of unpleasant work only gets
paid $200. Not many people are willing to do this work any more, so the
right to appoint poll workers is no longer a political plumb.
In my case, if I had not shown up for work on September 13, my polling
place would have been in severe difficulty. There were only ten election
inspectors who came to work for seven election districts. Pat, the
coordinator, did not call headquarters for reinforcements because she felt
that she could handle it with what she had, which is admirable and which
she did. However, I was the only election inspector there who could speak
Spanish and since many of the voters could not speak English, having me
present there was vital.
My election poll worker number is 165833. Anybody can look it up on the
Board of Elections computer and see that I have been banned from working.
I do not believe that a REPUBLICAN District Leader, who is merely a party
official, not a public official, should be allowed to ban me from working
anywhere in New York City.
Sam Sloan
917-507-7226
347-869-2465
Y 340100 LINDROS BELINDA
1325 17C PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE 70330 30261614511239
1957121219950707RFA2003R
04/17/200410190742 1325 000000001995070719
B00530100000000000000000 0 0
Y 340100 LINDROS NORMAN
C 1325 17C PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE 70330 30549020911239
1951010120030627RMA2003R
04/17/200410190742 1325 000000002003081119
B00680120030811000000000 0 0
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/KlSolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
