City Council Horse race

To the Editor:
&#8220And A New Race Begins: Speaker Of The Council” (Pete Davis - November 16) confirms the flurry of activity at City Hall is about the New York City Council's vote to replace outgoing Council Speaker Miller.  Potential future Speakers include Councilmembers Bill de Blasio and Lew Fidler from Brooklyn; Jose Rivera from the Bronx; Christine Quinn from Manhattan along with Melinda Katz, Leroy Comrie and David Weprin from Queens.   
The campaign to replace Miller has been underway for months. Traditionally, the selection of a new Council Speaker is a high stakes poker game between the five Democratic County leaders representing Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island organizations.  They attempt to parlay the votes of NYC Council members from their respective organizations to come up with the 26 votes (out of 51) needed to select the winner. 
Why not move this election out of the smoke-filled back rooms of the five Democratic Party County leaders?  How about an honest secret ballot among all 51 Councilmembers including the three Republican Councilmembers to choose the most qualified rather than the customary deals by the five Democratic County Party Bosses?  This would be real reform.
The position of Council Speaker presides over all 51 members of that legislative body regardless of party affiliation. Sadly, one negative outcome of the recent municipal elections is that there are 48 Democrats and still only three Republicans. Shouldn't constituents of Republican Councilmembers Dennis Gallagher (30th District-Middle Village, Queens), Andrew Lanza (51st District-South Shore, Staten Island) and James Oddo (50th District-Staten Island/Brooklyn) also have a say in who the new City Council Speaker will be?
The winner will instantly become a key spokesperson for the Democratic-controlled City Council.  This position is used as a stepping stone for higher office. Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. ran for Governor in 1998 and Mayor in 2001.  Gifford Miller ran for Mayor in 2005.  It will be interesting to see when the honeymoon between Mayor Bloomberg and new City Council Speaker ends.   
Larry Penner
Great Neck