Una Clarke

Yesterday afternoon at City Hall, Congresswomen Yvette Clarke and Nydia Velazquez announced jointly that they are endorsing Bill de Blasio for Brooklyn borough president.

These early endorsements follow announcements of support for de Blasio from UNITE-HERE and The NY Hotel Trades Council. Combined with the campaign's announcement yesterday of having raised "nearly $1 million dollars" ("$177,454 this filing period and $621,891 this cycle"), de Blasio is looking a bit like a foregone thing. (It's unclear at this point exactly who else is running.

The endorsements were announced on the City Hall steps, with about 25 or so supporters standing behind the congresswomen and de Blasio, squinting into the sun and holding "For Brooklyn '09'" signs.  read more »

The Democratic club home to Representative Yvette Clarke and her mother, Una Clarke, a former City Council member, will hear presentations tonight from State Senator Kevin Parker and one of the Democrats trying to unseat him, City Councilman Kendall Stewart.

Una Clarke said the presentations will be made to the executive committee of the club and are not open to the press. She also said the third Democrat in the race, City Councilman Simcha Felder, has not asked to speak to the club. Felder announced his candidacy for the seat only a few weeks ago, and Clarke says, "There is still a lot of unknown about him in the community.”

When asked which candidate she was leaning towards, Clarke replied, “I am not leaning -- I am standing straight until I get a level playing field and figure out what exactly is happening.”

Clarke said she thinks this primary shares some similarities with the 2006 Democratic primary in Brooklyn's 11th Congressional district-- the contest won by her daughter -- when there was considerable speculation that the district’s African-American voters would be divided among the three black candidates, giving the only white candidate a victory. Clarke thinks Felder poses a threat if he “gets a solid vote in his community, and the other votes are split in many ways.”

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Yvette Clarke, like every other member of Congress from New York, supports Hillary Clinton. But Barack Obama won her Brooklyn congressional district, which could complicate her position somewhat if superdelegates end up having to break an effective deadlock at the Democratic National Convention.  read more »

Former City Councilwoman Una Clarke, a Clinton supporter, is organizing a major event tonight in Flatbush, in part as a counter-demonstration of the strong support Barack Obama seems to have in that part of Brooklyn.

Clarke, who said that the details are not finalized for the event, tried explaining to me Obama’s local appeal.  read more »

Barack Obama has relatively strong support from local elected officials in and around the 11th congressional district in Brooklyn, the heart of his support in New York City.

But the district's newly-elected Congresswoman Yvette Clarke supports Hillary Clinton,  read more »

Here’s former City Council member and current Brooklyn powerbroker Una Clarke, telling me it’s too late for Michael Bloomberg to jump into the presidential race.

“I think it’s far-fetched. I think he can be a real good player to keep people honest,” she said.

When I asked her about Bloomberg possibly running for governor - which, according to this Siena poll, is feasible - Clarke said, “That’s not a bad thing. That’s not a bad thing.”

Here’s Una Clarke, a former City Council woman from Brooklyn and permanent fixture in the city’s political landscape, discussing the resolution of Eliot Spitzer's proposal to allow undocumented residents to obtain driver’s licenses.

“Cowards die many times before their death. Shakespeare says that,” Clarke told me. She went on to say, “If you believe in something, you take it to the end.”

Extra credit question: If Spitzer is Julius Ceasar, who's his Brutus?

I missed this at first, but shortly after the culmination of Mathieu Eugene's tortuous ascent to the City Council, he went up with a web site to promote a re-election campaign that will represent his third run for the same office in the space of a year.

The picture here of Eugene with Rep. Yvette Clarke and her mother, Una, is from Eugene2007.com, which was created on May 3rd. That's just a few days after, as his biography puts it, he "made history when he won two special elections to become the first Haitian-born elected official in the state of New York."  read more »

Mathieu Eugene was just sworn into the City Council, according to a reader who, unlike me, is at City Hall today.

Interestingly, though, Eugene still hasn't signed the Council's official paperwork affirming that he is eligible to hold office. Eugene, you'll remember, had some trouble meeting Council requirements after he first won election to the office.

"They're satisified he met all the requirements to hold office," Eugene spokesman, Scott Levenson, just told me, referring to the City Council.

Speaker Christine Quinn is expected to address the matter at a press conference before today's meeting of the full Council.

And for anybody keeping track, score one for Eugene's main adviser, Una Clarke.

I'm not sure where this is running. But here it is: Una Clarke, Mathieu Eugene and a camera.

(Video after the jump.)

The City Council is doing things a little differently these days, ever since Mathieu Eugene won the vote but failed to prove he met the residency requirements to take office.

After the re-run special election in April, before anybody is sworn in, they'll have to submit documentation to the Council that they meet various requirements to hold office, including not only local residency, but U.S. citizenship.

That last part made one of Eugene's backers, Una Clarke, incensed when I spoke with her recently.

"I would never ever allow him to do that," she told me.

The information is public, she explained, and the Council staff should be able to get it themselves.

Clarke also had this to say: "I am angry about the issue because whenever you are an immigrant you have to go through more scrutiny than anybody else to make sure that you give to America what it gives to you in return. And how many other immigrants have they ever asked? Is it because he's a black immigrant that he would have to do that? Is it because he's a Haitian that he would have to do that? Or is it because he comes from the Caribbean that he be asked to do that?"

A spokesman for Eugene, Scott Levenson, indicated the candidate probably won't be taking Clarke's advice on this.

"Mathieu Eugene will gladly comply with any requests required by the Council in order to fill in the seat," he said.

-- Azi Paybarah

For what it's worth, I'd say this email exchange is an indication that Councilman-elect Mathieu Eugene is well within the sphere of influence of the Clarke family.

Following an earlier email to supporters about a Thursday rally in support of Eugene, this email was just released:

"This email was sent out by staff, in error under Dr. Una Clarke's header. She was not directly involved in the planning and so all enquiries have best to be directed to the organizers at the office - Friends of Mathieu Eugene, at (718) 940- 2006."

-- Azi Paybarah

Certainly, there's been a lot of talk since last year's midterm elections about loosening the ties between lobbyists and members of Congress. But what happens when the lobbyist and elected official in question happen to be mother and daughter?

Here's an email from former Council member Una Clarke, now a registered lobbyist, about an April 1st event to raise money for a bipartisan non-profit group that supports women in government.

Women Celebrating Women with Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke Sunday, April 1st, 2007 Greetings My Dear Friend and Supporter!

We have been extremely busy of late, and have come to a concensus to postpone this great annual celebration to April 1, when we will have a great Brunch/Dinner at the usual venue - The Ramada Plaza at JFK Airport.

Reserve your tickets and your journal advertisements We have this year an extraordinary line-up of honorees, as we continue the tradition of honoring those women who have been drivers in the community. Time is still of the essence, and you need to reserve as soon as possible for your tables, as well as your journal ads. Please send an email to kittyclarke with "WCW RSVP" or "journal ad" in the subjecty line.

Reminder of the guest costs  read more »

* General Admission is $100. * Gold Contributor: $150 * Diamond Supporter: $250

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A reader passes on this image from Representative Yvette Clarke's party on Friday. The photo captures her, somewhat fittingly, stuck between two likely mayoral candidates.

[From left to right: Una Clarke, Representative Anthony Weiner, Yvette, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn].

Rep. Anthony Weiner very publicly endorsed Clarke in the competitive Congressional primary last year, and helped bring her the endorsement of anti-war stalwart Rep. Jack Murtha.

But Clarke also has ties to the Bronx. She worked briefly for the Bronx Economic Development Corporation, and -- according to a person close to Carrion -- she received behind-the-scenes help from the borough president during the campaign when he steered about $10,000 worth of contributions her way.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's Una Clarke, waiting to go upstairs at City Hall to hear Council Speaker Christine Quinn's State of the City speech.

And for those of you who simply can't wait, here's a PDF of the Speaker's prepared remarks.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's a mailer for Jennifer James, one of the candidates running in the upcoming special election for Yvette Clarke's council seat in Brooklyn.

James, who used to serve as Clarke's finance director, makes prominent mention of her former boss's name, though without implying any endorsement. (Both Yvette and her mother -- former Council member Una Clarke -- are supporting another candidate in the race.)

-- Azi Paybarah

There's been some chatter about who exactly will be running for Yvette Clarke's City Council seat, now that she's heading to Congress.

Una Clarke, Yvette's mother, told me recently that more than 20 candidates had contacted her about running for the seat. I'm still waiting for that list. But more than 20?

No way, said Bob Zuckerman, prominent member of Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, a club that will be hosting a candidate forum on January 31. (Location to be determined.)

"I've seen a ton of names too, but there won't be a ton of candidates," Zuckerman said, reminding me also that it's harder to get onto the ballot for a special election than it is during a regular election.

"You have to collect 2,700 signatures in the middle of winter in 12 days," said Zuckerman. He added, "There's not going to be eight candidates."

The candidates I know of so far are:

Jesse Hamilton Ferdinand Zizi Zenobia McNally Dr. Mathieu Eugene

Who else is there?

-- Azi Paybarah

It’s hard to say much about newly elected Congresswoman Yvette Clarke without first talking about  read more »

It’s hard to say much about newly elected Congresswoman Yvette Clarke without first talking ab  read more »

Here is a photo Una Clarke shared with me recently showing her chatting with a slightly disheveled Rep. Charlie Rangel.

She'll surely be hoping that longstanding relationship will come in handy for her daughter Yvette, the incoming House freshman who finally won the seat this year that Una once coveted.

On a related note, here's what Yvette told me a couple of days ago about the notion that it was her mom who got her onto the City Council and, now, into Congress:

"They love it when it's George Bush and his father. They love it when it's Al Gore and his father. They love it when it's the whole damn Kennedy family. But it's just Yvette and Una from Brooklyn, and it's like, 'You think you're owed this and blah, blah, blah.' No, I have to work every single day for each and every vote I can possibly get."

-- Azi Paybarah

The Brooklyn council once seat held by Una Clarke -- and more recently by her daughter, Yvette -- is officially leaving the family now that Yvette is heading to Congress.

Right?

Given all the other names circulating as possible replacements, I thought it was at least worth asking if there was any chance that Una would consider running again for her old seat.  read more »

Here, from an email from a close aide close to Yvette, was the response: "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

-- Azi Paybarah

On June 8, a memo was sent to “Black Elected Officials, City, State, and Federal” from City Coun  read more »

On June 8, a memo was sent to “Black Elected Officials, City, State, and Federal” from C  read more »

Al Sharpton recently explained his support for Carl Andrews in the 11th Congressional race -- or, more precisely, his opposition to Yvette Clarke -- by explaining that he was still annoyed that he hadn't received support from Yvette's mother while he was protesting the shooting of Amadou Diallo.

"Una Clarke didn't support us on Diallo," Sharpton told the Daily News. "Yvette claims it has nothing to do with her, but she was her mother's campaign manager."

I'd be interested, then, if anyone could explain to us the meaning of this old piece of Una Clarke campaign literature.  read more »

(Azi notes that Yvette disputed the claim several days ago. This picture, we presume, is the evidence she was refering to. )

-- Josh Benson

Yvette Clarke's campaign has confirmed that Una Clarke has resigned from her position with the Empire State Development Corporation to assist in her daughter's campaign for congress.

The elder Clarke served as campaign treasurer for her daughter's 2004 primary challenge against Major Owens. However, in this election cycle, that role is filled by Ray Trotman, who served as treasurer to Una in her 2000 congressional bid.  read more »

—Nicole Brydson