The Campaign for State Senate
By HANNAN ADELY
Since 1986, State Senator
Guy Velella has represented the 34th Senatorial Velella, though, expects his seniority and track record to carry him to victory in the Nov. 7 general election. "I think this [election] is about my record and what I've achieved in this district," said the 56-year-old lawyer and former state assemblyman. Velella considers some of his most important work to be "taking on insurance companies and energy companies," including his sponsorship of a bill that prevented Con Edison from passing on to customers the expenses of a leak at the Indian Point nuclear power plant. On health issues, he proudly cited his shepherding of legislation into law, including the 48-Hour Maternity Bill, which requires mandatory coverage for 48-hour hospital stays for new mothers and infants, and the Community Rating and Enrollment Act, which requires insurance companies to accept all customers, regardless of their state of health. The law also mandates payment by pooling, where all customers pay flat fees not based on claims, a measure aimed at reducing costs for the sick and elderly. Asked why insurance companies continue to support him with campaign contributions despite this type of legislation, Velella said, "When they need legislation to help them with their business to help them be competitive in the marketplace ... I give them a fair hearing." A potential bump in the senator's reelection bid came when investigators with the Manhattan district attorney showed up at the senator's east Bronx law offices earlier this year with a search warrant, but the DA is not commenting on the matter and it is unclear if Velella himself is the target of a probe. Velella denied any wrongdoing and said he is cooperating fully with the DA. Velella, a Bronx native who serves as chairman of the Republican Bronx County Committee and the New York State Senate Campaign Committee, said one of his top priorities is reshaping the education aid formula, which gives urban areas a disproportionate share of funding according to student population. "We've moved the percentage closer and closer each year," Velella explained. "It was much more disproportionate years ago. The problem really is that we need to revise the education aid formula to make it fair for the urban areas." He also rated his primary concerns as crime, particularly auto theft, graffiti and firearm violations, and prescription drug costs. "We need to address the root cause of high prescription costs," he said. "[The attitude now is] we'll help you pay them, but they are doing nothing to bring the cost down. This is nonsense." Velella's seniority and membership in the majority party in the Senate, gives him considerable clout to pass legislation and get funding for his district. Locally, he has secured money for the 52nd Precinct Community Council, the Bronx Dance Theatre, the Norwood Street Fair and the Mosholu branch library. He also gets about $900,000 annually for the North Bronx Westchester Neighborhood Restoration Association, which sponsors programs such as a cancer support group, a summer concert series, and a senior citizens group and distributes funding to other community groups in his district. By making his wishes known to Mayor Giuliani, a fellow Republican, Velella was instrumental in getting a Beacon School, a comprehensive after-school program and community center, assigned to MS 80 in Norwood, after Riverdale spurned the project. On two issues simmering in the northwest Bronx - the fate of the Kingsbridge Armory and the proposed filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park - Velella said both matters are now largely out of his hands. Asked whether he would support plans to build schools in the Kingsbridge Armory in Fordham Bedford, he replied, "That is not my district and I would yield to the senator in that district." State Senator Efrain Gonzalez, a Democrat, represents the area that includes the armory.) Meanwhile, the Giuliani administration is moving forward with plans to build an entertainment and sports complex at the facility. Velella said he doubted much could be done now outside of the judicial system to stop the construction of a controversial filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park in Norwood, which for years has been protested by community members who fear that the construction and operation of the plant will wreak havoc with the area's quality of life. "I believe the only way that will be won is in the courts," he said, adding that if the judge who is reviewing an appeal of the siting decision, asks the state legislature to weigh in on the matter, he will vote against building in the park. For years, Velella has been able to work closely with the Bronx Democratic Party to the extent that the party hasn't fielded its own serious challengers (Koppell's entry into the race was discouraged by the party's head, Roberto Ramirez). The party has even given Velella the Democratic line on occasion. Even many traditionally Democratic unions have supported Velella's campaign bids. But now, Velella faces a strong challenge from Koppell and from Democratic allies, mainly in Riverdale, who want their party to regain control of the Senate. Velella's is unapologetically pro-life regarding abortion but he advised constituents with different views not to focus on one issue. "If you don't like that one particular issue, I think there's enough good I do to offset that,"Velella stated. Velella could be vulnerable in this election because of his party affiliation, but come Nov. 7, he is counting on his Democratic constituents to step over party lines to reelect him once again. Koppell Stresses Education, Environment in Senate Bid By HANNAN ADELY Lorraine Coyle Koppell
said she never longed for political office, but when the Koppell, the wife of former assemblyman and state attorney general Oliver Koppell, said she knew it was time to jump from the role of political wife to politician when, in March, State Senator Eric Schneiderman, head of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, asked her to run. "I was the right person at the right time for this job because I was willing to do it,"Koppell said. "I have the legal degree and the resources to do it. I have name recognition. I am known in the district and I am right on the issues." Most of all, Koppell said she wants to help take back the Senate seat from Republicans who control the State Senate with a six-seat advantage. Koppell, a private practitioner of elder law and real estate law, said she has taken to the streets to get to know constituents of the 34th district - which covers parts of Norwood, Bedford Park, Riverdale, Westchester and several neighborhoods in the east Bronx - by visiting schools, subway stations and apartment buildings. "I have walked virtually every street in this district," she said. "I have knocked on thousands of doors." Still, Koppell has been criticized for lacking significant community involvement before her campaign. But Koppell, a Riverdale resident for 20 years, said she has been active with several Riverdale and Kingsbridge organizations and as a volunteer lawyer at shelters for abused women. The former president of the Bronx Women's Bar Association said she also has helped organize annual fundraisers for the Bronx Opera. By meeting and greeting constituents, the 53-year-old candidate said she has learned about the district's needs and identifies her top issues as education and tenants' rights. She supports amending the process of distributing education funds, since New York City gets an unequal share of state education dollars according to its student population. "How do you change things?"Koppell asked. "You need a rational education formula - one that people can understand." With funds that she would receive as senator, Koppell proposes appropriating money for books and computers in schools and to improve public libraries. She also supports measures to maintain rent control. Koppell, a licensed tree pruner, also wants to bring environmental issues like recycling and renewable energy to the forefront. "We're talking about education and health care - very important issues- but the environment has taken a second seat to all this and I think the environment has to be on the front burner." On the local front, Koppell said she supports plans to build schools in the now-abandoned Kingsbridge Armory, which the mayor is proposing to turn into a shopping and recreation center. She also opposes the construction of a filtration plant in the Norwood section of Van Cortlandt Park. "We should put enormous pressure on Congressional delegations to pressure the Environmental Protection Agency to stop the filtration plant," she said. "... We have to do something dramatic - lying-in-front-of-the-bulldozer type of action." Koppell said voters shouldn't worry that she'll pay more attention to Riverdale, which represents just 10 percent of the district. If she is elected, she said, her offices (she plans to have more than one) will not be in Riverdale but in others areas of the Bronx and Westchester. She also plans to hold evening hours and deploy a mobile van so she can be accessible to her working constituents. Koppell faces tough competition in the November general election, since Velella has the advantage of being an incumbent and has raised $1.3 million for his campaign, according to the New York State Board of Elections. Koppell, who has raised $207,420, is confident of a win, particularly because of the district's Democratic majority. "I think Velella is absolutely vulnerable," she said. "The numbers are on my side."
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District, which covers
parts of Norwood, Bedford Park, (see map for these sections of district)
Riverdale, Westchester and east Bronx neighborhoods. But the Republican
lawmaker now faces his toughest challenge yet from Lorraine Coyle Koppell,
a Riverdale lawyer and Democrat who is betting that the district's
Democratic registration advantage favors her bid.
opportunity came
knocking, she couldn't pass it up. Now the Riverdale lawyer is in the
midst of a heated State Senate race in the 34th Senate District, trying to
oust Republican incumbent Guy Velella, who has held the seat since 1986.