Government With A Wink & A Smile

By MICHAEL SCHENKLER

Let’s get it on the record: I like James Sanders!

I don’t remember when I last enjoyed a two and a half hour interview so much. James and I had a good time together. He is charming, quick, funny and cares. He and I could be friends — if he’d have me.

With all that said, it seems to this writer/political observer, that James Sanders is a living conflict.

James is a dreamer with images of himself as Don Quixote toppling the unfair windmills of society. He’d call it “being a reformer.”

“We are so overwhelmed by the amount of things that people need,” he said with a quixotic twinkle in his eye.

But at the same time, Sanders is a pragmatist, looking to bring home the bacon for the good people of the 31st District — the people who put him into office.

“We’re playing [the game] in the sense of delivering services to constituents,” he said.

And throughout the morning we shared — he accompanied by a staffer, and me by Trib political editor Angela Montefinise and PRESS of Southeast Queens reporter Shams Tarek — our warm, lighthearted but poignant exchanges were punctuated by Sanders’ laughter and pauses when his political self and ideological self met.

Don’t get me wrong, he is true to his constituents and his mission — he is as dedicated as any elected official to delivering services to the people he represents.

However, he has not fully admitted to himself that he has become one of the politicians who compromise daily in order to get the job done. He plays the political game — very well.

He is, however, embarrassed by it.

Sanders would love to be known as an ideological champion — a man on a mission, righting wrongs, feeding the hungry and toppling the windmills of institutional government.

Instead, he got $24 million from the Economic Development Corporation for storm sewers for Southeast Queens, $400,000 from Pathmark for local community groups, and $300,000 from business for the Rockaways.

But he got the $24 mil by bending the rules as chair of the Council’s Economic Development Committee and the rest of the money by old-fashioned political horse trading — giving his support for cash (for the people).

He appears to march in near lockstep to the tunes played by the Council Speaker and the Queens County Democratic Leader, but works hard to illustrate his independence. However, neither his voting record in the Council, nor his support of candidates indicates he is any more independent than any of his “regular” Democratic Queens colleagues.

No one was saying his, or their, voting record leaves anything to be desired — as a matter of fact, no one was judging . . . except Sanders himself.

Maintaining his independence, Sanders said poetically, “The bad thing about me is that no one can tell me what to do. The good thing about me is that no one can tell me what to do.”

I have always considered myself an insurgent,” Sanders explained, just moments before using County Organization language to justify why he used a Democratic Party attorney to knock his opponent off the ballot.

“Whatever we deem the law to be, it should be upheld . . .I would prefer more inclusive laws,” he said.

Then, why not work to change the system to improve ballot access, I asked.

“One struggle at a time, my friend,” was his way out.

“The one thing I regret is that the people of the 31st, if nowhere else [didn’t get the opportunity to vote]. I would have loved to see their ringing endorsement of me.”

After trying to duck on the Council race in the neighboring 28th District where the Queens Dem organization is opposing incumbent Councilman Allan Jennings, Sanders said, “Of course I’m endorsing all of the County candidates,” but explained, “That race, I must admit, does cause me some personal qualms. On one hand, I relish the opportunity that the Queens County organization has given me—a warm embrace—at the same time I appreciate the camaraderie that I have with Allan Jennings and the Speaker’s endorsement.”

In fact, he made it quite clear that he hopes Dem County does not ask him to do anything in the race. Nor did he give Yvonne Reddick, the County candidate, a good chance to out-work or beat the incumbent.

And then there was the reformer on the boss.

“As long as he [Tom Manton] brings good, smart policies and procedures—good for Queens and the City, moral and upright—then, yes, I will support every one of them [Manton’s requests].”

And as we sat and chatted, it seemed like Sanders had the need to justify his positions to himself.

“Too many public officials have not served their communities well,” he said.

On the other hand, he won’t say a negative thing about anyone and tries to withhold information that may taint his “reformer” or “progressive” image of himself.

However, when pushed, his selective presentation yields to the whole truth — though occasionally off the record.

His principle does come through on some issues. He vowed to lead the fight against the Council trying to again adjust their term limits without a referendum of the people — and added that he expects the Council to revisit term limits.

He also apologized for excluding our reporter from a meeting he held to investigate an incident of potential police brutality.

Initially Sanders asserted, “Elected officials must determine that there is a case before they go forward.”

But when faced by our presentation of the First Amendment and asked whether the people are better off when elected officials determine what the press is allowed to cover, Sanders quickly recanted, apologized and promised complete access in the future.

“I must plead guilty here, and I accept a reprimand. . . Indeed, in my zeal for justice, I may have trampled on a mission of equal value,” Sanders said offering to back a bill to provide the press full and complete access to government.

As an aside, he explained his investigation did produce information suggesting police brutality which he will be delivering to the Queens DA on Aug. 9.

Sanders’ internal conflict was apparent on the issue that first caused us to meet. In a column, I had suggested that it was a mistake that caused him not to file for campaign matching funds. Sanders called me to explain that it was a protest against the mean-spirited NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB). We had agreed to meet so that he could present his case against them.

Sadly, the death of James’ mother caused our get-together to be postponed and time and the lack of any real opponent changed the focus of our discussion.

But when we got around to it, he explained his protest: “In the spirit of the little guy taking that little placard to City Hall . . . I think something is wrong and I want to do something about it.”

But in reaction to his failure to make any public statements critical of the CFB, we inquired what kind of protest could it be if no one ever sees or hears the words on the placard?

“I was in a bind,” he said of his strong support for public matching funds and his dislike of how the CFB was conducting themselves.

“I hate the sin, but not the sinner. I think the issue is not campaign finance. I think it’s one of the best things for democracy,” he explained that he didn’t want to be perceived as opposing public finance of elections.

So the placard he explained, “was aimed at the people who need to know,” referring to the CFB, the Board of Elections and “my friends in good government groups.”

He believes his quiet protest will produce results.

The dichotomy continued as he looked to the future. Sanders said he would rather teach politics at the university level than be in government.

However, it’s government that likely offers him what he really wants.

“I want impact. I want the ability to say “here’s what was before, and here’s what’s here now because of me”.”

James Sanders made me smile throughout the entire interview. As I drove home that day, I couldn’t help but picture Don Quixote with the face of Senator Pothole — Al D’Amato — bringing home the bacon to the good people of the 31st Councilmanic District.

Of course, it would be done with integrity, grace, a wink and a smile.  

Column contributor: Angela Montifinise