Council To Officially Pick New Speaker, Weeks After Winner Named

NEW YORK, NY — The City Council will likely elect Corey Johnson as its new speaker on Wednesdsay, two weeks after he reportedly secured the votes to win New York City's second-most powerful office. But his behind-the-scenes victory hasn't deterred two other Council members from vying for the job.

Johnson, a Greenwich Village Democrat, reportedly won the support of the two county Democratic committee leaders who hold immense influence over the quadrennial speaker's race.

Six of the other speaker candidates have fallen in line and ended their bids since those leaders, U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley of Queens and state Assemblyman Marcos Crespo of the Bronx, secured the votes for Johnson.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was reportedly instrumental in Melissa Mark-Viverito's ascension to the post in 2014, also quickly threw his support behind Johnson. Mark-Viverito was term-limited out of her East Harlem Council seat last year.

But two candidates say a black speaker should follow Mark-Viverito's historic tenure as the Council's first Latina leader, and reject the idea of white men holding three of the city's top four offices.

Councilman Jumaane Williams of Flatbush has stayed in the race, decrying the backdoor deals that he says shut out candidates of color. And Councilwoman Inez Barron of East New York jumped in last week, saying the other black candidates weren't resolute enough in resisting the political fait accompli.

"The whole system as it exists is the old-boy network, and it’s not just at this point maintained by skin color, but it’s maintained by buying into what the network says, which perpetuates the racist policies that exist," Barron said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Elected by the 51 Council members, not the voting public, the speaker has significant control over the body's policy priorities, internal rules and specific legislation. The post is considered second only to the mayor in terms of power. The person who holds it can act as a foil to the mayor and plays a big role in negotiating the annual city budget.

Only three women have ever led the Council, and Mark-Viverito was the first person of color to get the job.

Johnson was not available for an interview on Monday. He acknowledged the Council's diversity issues in a recent interview with the Village Voice, decrying the lack of women and LGBT members (Johnson himself is gay). But he told the paper he doesn't think his whiteness should block him from the job.

"It's going to be incredibly important that the leadership team and high-profile chair positions in the Council be reflective of the diversity of the City Council and of the City of New York," Johnson told NY1 on Sunday. "This is the most diverse municipal legislative body in the country and maybe in the world, and we still have a lot further to go."

Before Barron entered the race, this year's field included five candidates of color, all men: Williams, Ritchie Torres of the Bronx, Donovan Richards of Queens, Ydanis Rodriguez of Manhattan and Robert Cornegy Jr. of Brooklyn. Williams and Cornegy stayed in the race after victory was declared for Johnson, but Cornegy subtly conceded in a tweet on Friday.

Williams, now entering his third term, was unavailable for an interview Monday. But he said the clandestine process of selecting a speaker marginalizes black candidates, who he says are wrongly dismissed as unqualified.

"I think those questions, people have to be forced to answer," Williams told reporters in a Dec. 22 conference call, according to the New York Observer. "Why did you believe out of that diverse background field of candidates that none of them were qualified."

Barron, though, jumped into the race last week because she couldn't get a firm enough commitment from Williams that he'd see his candidacy through to Wednesday's meeting. She suggested he was holding out for a committee chairmanship — a charge Williams denied.

Barron has been lobbying Council members in recent days, she said, but so far has not secured any votes. She plans to make her case in a speech before the Council on Wednesday. Her husband and predecessor, Assemblyman Charles Barron, also ran for speaker in 2010.

The Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus should have united behind a single black candidate, she said. She didn't criticize Johnson personally, but said it's important for the city's black population to have representation at the highest levels of city government.

“He’s had privilege," Barron said of Johnson. "He’s not been subjected to any of the harsh realities of people that are black."

Johnson told NY1 he would never compare his life as a white man to a black person's, but he said his working-class upbringing and experiences as a gay, HIV-positive make him sensitive to the concerns of oppressed groups. He pledged to listen to an array of voices as a leader, including Williams' and Barron's.

"I recognize the privilege that I receive every day because of the color of my skin," Johnson told the network. "But I'm also really proud that my career and my time in the Council has been one that is focused on supporting communities of color and marginalized communities."

(Lead image: City Councilman Corey Johnson, the Council's likely next speaker, is pictured outside City Hall. Photo by William Alatriste/New York City Council)