By Jeremy Walsh
A week after a special committee recommended the state Senate either expel or censure Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D-East Elmhurst), the Queens legislator’s fate remained undecided.
Aides to Democratic Senate Conference Leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) have said in published reports that he will bring the issue to a vote, but amid the heated battle over a charter school funding bill and Gov. David Paterson’s new budget proposal, the Monserrate issue stayed on the back burner this week.
In the meantime, Monserrate’s closest allies, Sens. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx) and Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Bronx), have both gone on the record saying they would vote against his expulsion.
In Queens, Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone) has said she would support expelling Monserrate if it came to a Senate vote. Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) has also said he would vote to oust Monserrate.
Monserrate has vowed to fight the Senate in court if it expels him. His lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, claims such a move would be unconstitutional, although Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan), the select committee’s chairman, said he was “absolutely confident” an expulsion vote would be legal.
“The people of this district — and only them — they are my bosses,” Monserrate said at a news conference last Thursday addressing the committee report. He also rejected the idea that the committee’s decision was prompted by any lack of remorse on his part.
“I don’t think this is an issue of remorse or other things,” he said. “I think there are other issues at hand and I think very soon it will be ironed out.”
A political insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was close to certain Sampson would allow the expulsion vote.
“If they don’t act, the editorial boards are going to crucify them,” the source said, noting the body is primed to face further excoriation for failing to pass the charter schools bill. “It’s a very big difference between wanting to get crucified based on principle [charter schools] as opposed to you’re going to get crucified in the paper because you won’t get rid of a guy who slashed his girlfriend and then covered it up,” the source said.
Sampson’s decision on allowing an expulsion vote is complicated by the fact that expelling Monserrate would cut the Democrats’ majority to 31-30 and would alienate Espada and Diaz. Additionally, Sampson ascended to his leadership post at least in part to placate Espada and Monserrate, who defected to the GOP and temporarily negated the Democratic majority last June.
But if the move to expel Monserrate were made by April 1, state law would allow for a special election to fill the empty seat long before November. State Assemblyman Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights), who declared his candidacy for Monserrate’s seat in October, is the Queens Democratic Party’s favorite to replace Monserrate.
Transcripts of the committee’s meeting minutes show Stavisky, Schneiderman and Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) agonized over how to word the recommendations without appearing to exhibit a bias toward expulsion.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
