Long Beach City Council to begin vetting candidates

A week after the City Council announced that it was seeking candidates to fill a seat vacated by Eileen Goggin on Jan. 1, a number of potential successors have emerged, including at least two former council members and some newcomers who say they are looking to bring a fresh voice to city government.

As the Herald went to press on Wednesday, City Councilman Scott Mandel said that the remaining four council members, all Democrats, had received 20 resumes and were scheduled to meet this week to discuss the review process.

The council is expected to appoint a successor to Goggin, who was elected a Nassau County District Court judge in November, at next week’s meeting. Council President Len Torres said that the candidate pool includes a mix of Democrats and Republicans. An appointee would serve the remainder of Goggin’s term, and presumably seek election to a full term in November.

“We’re going to do the screenings and go over the resumes and narrow it down,” Torres said. “We’re seeking someone who is willing to run [in November], a person who avoids the political baggage and has a sincere desire to move Long Beach forward.”

The only requirement for the seat is two years’ residency in Long Beach, according to the city charter. Torres and other council members have said they would like a candidate who shares the group’s vision.

Among those who have expressed interest are former council President Jim Hennessy, a lifelong Long Beach resident and a teacher and school administrator in Hewlett, who served on the council from 2004 to 2008. Hennessy is also a former chairman of the city’s Civil Service Commission.

“My diverse background in government, community service and education would serve the City Council well,” Hennessy wrote in an email to the council and the Herald. “I am also a member of the Long Beach Republican Committee and I believe that having a Republican on the City Council would bring transparency and checks and balances, which are sorely needed, to our city government.”

Other potential candidates include Marvin McMoore, 23, another lifelong resident and the national president of the College Democrats of America, who works for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in the Office of Appointments. McMoore, who said he grew up in the North Park area, has been described by some as a rising star in the Democratic Party. If appointed, he would become the second African-American to serve on the council, along with Anissa Moore.

“I think it’s very important now for millennials and young people in town to involve themselves in city government,” said McMoore, who is also vice president of the Independent Democratic Club of Long Beach and worked with the current administration after Hurricane Sandy as a neighborhood economic resource aide.

“I think I bring a fresh and unique perspective to government,” he added. “I think it’s important to make Long Beach attractive to young folks — without having overdevelopment and gentrification. I have relationships and [have] come to admire every single one of the council members. I want to join their team and make it a lot more cohesive.”

Denis Kelly, 53, an attorney and former council member who served from 2000 to 2005, said that the council could use someone with experience, citing its current “dysfunction.”

“I thought I would be a stabilizing factor,” said Kelly, a member of the Long Beach Democratic Committee who has also served on the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Civil Service Commission. “I think that there is an impression in town that the council is not functioning well.”

Kelly also cited what he called looming financial issues, crumbling infrastructure and political patronage. “The worst possible thing that can happen right now is to choose someone who is inexperienced in not only government but Long Beach government,” he said. “I don’t have a personal animus toward any of the council people — I’m not coming in there to hurt them, undermine them or make them look bad.”

Others seeking an appointment include Ray Ellmer, an attorney, volunteer firefighter, lifeguard and former zoning board trustee; Helen Dorado Alessi, an executive consultant for the Long Beach Latino Civic Association; Chumi Diamond, a former Nassau County legislative clerk; Frank McQuade, an attorney and member of the Beach to Bay Civic Association; Joey Naham, a member of the Green Party; Dave Yolinsky, a former Long Beach professional firefighter who is now a firefighter in Scarsdale; and Scott Stark, a teacher at the Nike Work Based Learning Center and the vice president of the Adjunct Faculty Association of Nassau Community College.

“I would like to work with the other people on the council," said Yolinsky, 31, who ran for City Council unsuccessfully in a 2015 Democratic primary. "I would like to clarify the budget, I would like to work with the unions and I'm strongly against any level of corruption. I would also like to work with the art community and beautify Long Beach as much as possible."

Goggin was elected in November amid a rift among Long Beach Democrats, who are divided between the Long Beach Democratic Committee and the Independent Democratic Club of Long Beach. Goggin — who was appointed in 2013 before she was elected to a four-year term — had called for a special election last month, saying she was concerned that a political appointee would toe the party line and not listen to residents’ concerns.

“As someone not affiliated with either of the Democrat clubs and committees,” McQuade wrote in an email, “naming me as a … candidate to the council would help avoid a potential impasse in a possibly divided council.”

Joe Brand, the Long Beach Democratic Committee chairman, said that Torres, Mandel and Council Vice President Anthony Eramo — but not Moore — are beholden to the independent Democrats.

“They’ve all been elected through that club, and their loyalties lie there,” said Brand, who acknowledged that a potential appointee might not be a member of either group. “Political factions aside, we want to make sure that the most qualified person fills that position and ultimately helps this council with good government. The person who is interested and makes the most sense and has the most experience … is Denis Kelly.”

Torres has disputed claims of party influence, and said that the council often disagreed with party leaders. Council members dismissed speculation that an appointment has been predetermined, and said they have been encouraging Democrats, Republicans and others to submit their resumes.

“The responses have ranged from those candidates who are unaffiliated with any political party in the city to candidates representing Republican, Democrats and the Green Party,” Mandel said.