Eugene Should Pay

Mathieu Eugene has done a tremendous disservice to the people of the 40th Council District and the taxpayers of New York City.

I remember during the 2004 presidential election when voters said that they didn't like Senator John Kerry (D – MA), but that they'd vote for "anybody but Bush." This became known as the ABB campaign. Three years later I want to start a new crusade - the ABE campaign, "Anybody But Eugene" in the special election for the 40th Council District.

I am generally one to encourage public service and to support the rights of candidates to run for office, even when I vehemently disagree with their politics; but Mathieu Eugene has become the rare exception. After winning a Feb. 20 special election for the 40th Council District seat recently vacated by Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D – NY 11), Eugene made headlines and prompted a legal battle over the fact that he may or may not have lived in the district on election day. Now he has cost New York City taxpayers a lot of money and extended the period during which the people of the 40th district remain unrepresented.

For starters, Eugene needs to get his story straight. First he said that he didn't live in the district on Election Day, but had moved there following the election and before the vote was certified. Then, when he realized that wasn't going to fly, he called a press conference at his apartment and said that he had lived in the district on Election Day. Either way, when asked to produce evidence of residency, he refused and as such the Council rightfully refused to swear him in last Thursday.

Instead of handling the situation appropriately by either bowing out or proving residency, Eugene showed up at City Hall Thursday and demanded to be sworn in. When the Council refused to, Eugene and his supporters held a protest rally in which he backed away from his previous threats of suing the city and instead called on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (R) to hold a new special election so that the voters could re-elect him.

"I don't want to win [through litigation]," said Eugene. "I call upon the Mayor today to call for a special election so that the voters can re-elect me to represent them." On Friday Bloomberg appeased him and scheduled a new election for April 24. Eugene, who now irrefutably resides in the district said that he will run again and win.

Not so fast…

This is a man who has just cost taxpayers an estimated one million dollars in election expenses and matching funds for an election that he now wants a do-over on. A man who has left the people of the district he seeks to represent unrepresented for at least another two months. And he now expects those people to go out and vote for him? Come on! I wouldn't vote for this guy for dog catcher.

First and foremost, Eugene owes an apology to the people of the 40th Council District for leaving them without representation. Secondly, the way I see it, he owes the New York City taxpayers $1 million for a wasted election.

Eugene wants a second election and, by law, Bloomberg did the right thing in calling for one, but Eugene, not the taxpayers should get the bill for it.

There is an old saying in politics that voters are stupid. Well, I sincerely hope and believe that the voters of the 40th Council District are not stupid enough to vote for Eugene again. I sincerely hope that the people of the district will join with me in the "ABE" campaign. This man is not fit to hold public office and should not be permitted to do so.