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Board votes to spare elex boss
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DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Despite a City Department of Investigation probe that found she lied about her voting address, an embattled Brooklyn Board of Elections honcho will keep her job, the Daily News has learned.
Board of Elections officials declined to punish Diane Haslett Rudiano - even though city investigators said she lives in Forest Hills, Queens, and not at the East New York address listed in voter registration records.
"Her attorney made a case and gave supplemental documentation that wasn't part of the DOI investigation," said Board of Elections Executive Director John Ravitz.
"And [election commissioners] decided that the residency issue DOI raised wasn't sufficient enough for disciplinary action against Rudiano."
Board of Elections commissioners unanimously voted to clear Haslett-Rudiano of the election law felony charges at a closed Tuesday hearing.
Haslett-Rudiano, who earns $76,817 as the borough's top Elections Board employee, is responsible for making sure election laws are upheld.
"I think it's a disgrace," said Sam Sloan, the political gadfly who notified the investigators of Haslett-Rudiano's address flap last year.
"I went to her supposed house," said Sloan. "I talked to 30 of her neighbors who had never seen her there. The idea that she claims she's been living there all these years is just preposterous."
Haslett-Rudiano represents East New York, Bushwick and Cypress Hills as an elected district leader in the Brooklyn Republican organization.
According to her voter registration records, Haslett-Rudiano has lived in a modest two-story Schenck Ave. house since 1988. The owner of the building, Theresa McGovern, 99, said Haslett-Rudiano lives on the second floor.
Property records show Haslett-Rudiano owns several properties, including an upper West Side townhouse and two Queens homes.
The Investigation Department report wasn't made public, and a Freedom of Information Law request to reveal its contents was rejected.
Originally published on January 26, 2006
The other is a proceeding to put you back on the ballot after your opponents have filed an objection and had the Board of Elections kick you off the ballot. This is called a "Validating petition".
I was listed as a candidate on the New York City Board of Elections website until a few days ago when my name was taken off. This is because the Board of Elections kicked me off the ballot. Now, I have filed validating petitions with the Brooklyn Supreme Court. I expect to take this case up, possibly even to the highest court of New York State and then to the highest court of the United States. Many other candidates were kicked off the ballot but so far none of the others have filed an appeal. My appeal will apparently be the first. Of course, if I win, the other candidates who were kicked off the ballot for similar reasons will probably file appeals as well.
I have posted and will continue to post my court filings to my websites. This is for the convenience of other candidates who may want to copy and use them.
Here is what I hope to achieve from my petition.
Here are the petitions I have filed in the United States Supreme Court, in HTML Format: