City Hall marriage clerk selection causes Council disagreement
BY FRANK LOMBARDI
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
Thursday, February 14th 2008, 4:00 AM
There's a new man in charge of City Hall marriages, but his selection Wednesday caused an unusual divorce in the normally happy bedfellow ranks of the City Council.
Hector Diaz, 63, a Bronx Democratic stalwart, was confirmed by a 34-to-16 vote as the new city clerk, a $185,700-a-year patronage plum whose functions include heading the Marriage License Bureau.
(Jose Rivera in photo)
The entire 16-member Council delegation from Brooklyn voted against Diaz because of a patronage turf war between the respective Democratic bosses of the Bronx and Brooklyn - Assemblymen Jose Rivera and Vito Lopez - who each wanted the job for one of his own.
Caught in the middle was Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who became speaker in 2006 with significant help from Rivera and who backed Diaz's appointment.
She tried and failed to assuage the Brooklyn rebels, including during lengthy back room talks Wednesday over potential Council patronage.
Finally, Quinn brought Diaz's confirmation to a vote and won it by a veto-proof majority, but with an unheard-of solid borough delegation against her.
"I want to say that this is a disagreement we will have today and then we will move on and be a united City Council," she said.
For his part, Diaz calmly bore up under some gentle grilling by members of the Rules Committee, whose members included Brooklyn delegation leader Councilman Erik Martin Dilan, who had sought the clerk's job for himself.
He praised Diaz as highly qualified but told him that "for my own reason" he and the Brooklyn delegation would vote against him.
A smiling Rivera, who filmed the committee proceeding with his ever-present video camera, commented, "This is a great day for the Bronx."
BY FRANK LOMBARDI
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
Thursday, February 14th 2008, 4:00 AM
There's a new man in charge of City Hall marriages, but his selection Wednesday caused an unusual divorce in the normally happy bedfellow ranks of the City Council.
Hector Diaz, 63, a Bronx Democratic stalwart, was confirmed by a 34-to-16 vote as the new city clerk, a $185,700-a-year patronage plum whose functions include heading the Marriage License Bureau.
(Jose Rivera in photo)
The entire 16-member Council delegation from Brooklyn voted against Diaz because of a patronage turf war between the respective Democratic bosses of the Bronx and Brooklyn - Assemblymen Jose Rivera and Vito Lopez - who each wanted the job for one of his own.
Caught in the middle was Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who became speaker in 2006 with significant help from Rivera and who backed Diaz's appointment.
She tried and failed to assuage the Brooklyn rebels, including during lengthy back room talks Wednesday over potential Council patronage.
Finally, Quinn brought Diaz's confirmation to a vote and won it by a veto-proof majority, but with an unheard-of solid borough delegation against her.
"I want to say that this is a disagreement we will have today and then we will move on and be a united City Council," she said.
For his part, Diaz calmly bore up under some gentle grilling by members of the Rules Committee, whose members included Brooklyn delegation leader Councilman Erik Martin Dilan, who had sought the clerk's job for himself.
He praised Diaz as highly qualified but told him that "for my own reason" he and the Brooklyn delegation would vote against him.
A smiling Rivera, who filmed the committee proceeding with his ever-present video camera, commented, "This is a great day for the Bronx."
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