Information about the:

Independence Party of Richmond County
Staten Island, New York

This is an UNOFFICIAL homepage, created by a member but not officially sanctioned by the party.
Most recent update: September 26, 2006.

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NEWS:

• County Committee Meeting September 22
  

  Around 24 members attended the biennial reorganizational County Committee meeting, which divided into two simultaneous meetings due to a dispute about proxies, a problem that has plagued the party for several years. Both Frank Morano and Sarah Lyons claim to have been elected County Chair; Frank Morano is recognized as Chair by the party's State Committee. The Lyons groups also attempted to change the rules to prevent the County Committee from calling a meeting itself, while the Morano group attempted to change the rules to limit the use of proxies and to open primaries to independent voters. The dispute may end up in court.

• Candidates Chosen, Primaries Sept. 12
  

  The Independence Party has endorsed several candidates for the November election. In other cases there will primaries on September 12 to decide on the party's nominees.

  There will be a primary for Congress between incumbent Vito Fossella [WON] and party member Anita Lerman.

  In the 23rd district Senate race (North Shore and Brooklyn) incumbent Diane Savino has been endosed by the "Lyons faction" of the party. She has no opponent as of today.

  In the 24th Senate district, the party was hoping for a primary between Bob Helbock and Andrew Lanza, who will be facing each other in a Republican primary. Lanza, unfortunately, was able to knock enough signatures off Helbock's petitions so that he came up about 14 short of the legal minimum. Therefore there will be no primary for this race and Lanza will appear on our line in November.

  In the 60th Assembly District (East Shore-Brooklyn), Janele Hyer-Spencer [WON] will face a write-in primary on September 12. Only her name will appear on the primary ballot but voters can write in the name of Joe Camaratta, Anthony Xanthakis or anyone else they wish. Ms. Hyer-Spencer has been endorsed by the party.

  There will be no candidate in the 61st Assembly District. That district is controlled by the Lyons faction and no candidates wished to interview with them.

  Incumbent Vincent Ignizio will appear on our line in November in the 62nd Assembly District. He has no opponent.

  Incumbent Michael Cusick was endorsed by the Lyons faction and will appear on our line in November in the 63rd Assembly District.

  Incumbent Civil Court Judges Barbara Panepinto (countywide) and Philip Straniere (2nd District) were endorsed for re-election and are unopposed.

  There will be a primary for a second countywide Civil Court seat between Kim Dollard [WON] and former Family Court Judge Frank Porzio. This race will be a preview of the November election where Ms. Dollard already has the Democratic line and Mr. Porzio has the Republican line.

  Due to the party split, there will also be numerous primaries for party offices. Any enrolled Independence Party voter can vote in these races.

  In the 60th Assembly District, former County Chair Steven Isler and Janis Gregory (anti-Lyons) will face Paul Gibilisco and Marta Pabon [WON], put up by the Lyons faction, for the position of State Committee Member (there is one male and one female representing each Assembly District).

  In the 62nd A.D., incumbent State Committee members Frank Morano and Stephanie Morano [WON] will face two opponents nominated by the Lyons faction, Leonard Logatto and Christine Myers.

  In the 63rd A.D., Jeffrey Padell and Rosie Rossitto-Canty (anti-Lyons) will face incumbents Tom Hamilton and Anita Lerman (pro-Lyons) [WON].

  There will also be numerous races scattered throughout the island for County Committee positions. The County Committee meets in September to elect couty officers and pass rules changes. The pro-Morano faction generally wants to limit the use of proxy votes, through the use of which one person has controlled the party in the past. The Lyons faction favors unlimited proxies. If you would like to know about any County Committee race in your Election District, just write to richmond@ipny.org. Include "county committee" in your Subject line and, if possible, either your Election District number or your address in your message. Allow several days for a reply.

• County Committee split
  

  The County Committee met on February 12th, where proxies signed by most committee members were used to change party rules to limit proxies to one per person at future meetings, thereby ending one-person control of the county organization, and to add a recall provision so that the current county officers who were elected by proxy could be removed.

  On February 26th the County Committee met again. This time 41 people attended, by far the most at any county committee meeting ever held, since unlimited proxies were no longer allowed. This was a very contentious meeting. County Chair Sarah Lyons, an associate of Lenora Fulani, was recalled after walking out of the meeting with a number of supporters. Frank Morano was elected to replace her as Chair.

  Sarah Lyons began a court action against the County Committee, but on April 6 dropped it with regard to all respondents other than Frank Morano. Morano and Lyons reached an agreement, but the dispute is otherwise ongoing.

You can get a voter registration form from the Board of Elections at 1 Edgewater Plaza (the old Pouch Terminal in Clifton), by calling (212) VOTE-NYC, from many libraries, some post offices, or by trying the State Board of Elections' on-line request form. Please contact us by e-mail if you have any questions.

Note: It's probably best not to use the so-called motor-voter registration forms at the Department of Motor Vehicles. We've heard of instances of people filling out forms and not being properly registered. You're also taking a chance if you register on the street and hand the form back to someone you don't know. If you use either of these methods and don't get a card in the mail from the Board of Elections within a reasonable period, you should double check with the Board of Elections to make sure you are registered.

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