Tensions ratcheted up to a new high within the City Council‘s Republican Caucus on Tuesday.
Half of the six-member conference held a Jan. 28 afternoon meeting where those present elected Council Member David Carr (Staten Island) as their new minority leader. The other half did not show up and are now not only contesting the vote but asking City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to reject the results.
The noon Tuesday meeting was held in the City Council minority leader’s office inside City Hall and was attended by outgoing minority leader Joe Borelli (Staten Island) — who is resigning to become a lobbyist, Carr and Inna Vernikov of Brooklyn. The members also had an open Zoom link for the meeting.
Council Member Joann Ariola (Queens) — who was running against Carr for the position — along with Vickie Paladino of Queens and Kristy Marmorato of the Bronx, was not present.
During the short proceedings, Borelli resigned his minority position and nominated Carr for the role. The three members then all voted for Carr, with the other three not getting a vote, given their absence.
Both Paladino and Marmorato were expected to vote for Ariola, which would have tied the vote three to three. But Borelli said that according to the caucus bylaws, Carr would win a tie because he is the more senior member, due to be sworn in a couple of months before Ariola.
“The vote to elect the leader of the minority conference is three with three absences, none abstaining, pursuant to our bylaws, in the event of a tie, the senior member has the results,” Borelli said. “Congratulations David Carr.”
Borelli made clear that he was backing Carr for minority leader because he wanted to keep the position in Staten Island’s hands.
Carr, who has represented the mid-section of Staten Island since late 2021, said he wants to continue Borelli’s work. While the minority has limited power in the Democrat-controlled City Council, it serves as the voice of Republicans in the chamber and traditionally sits on the Budget Negotiating Committee.
“I think that we need to continue to be a voice for common sense conservative values as we have been for decades,” Carr said. “I think we’ve been doing great work under the leadership of my now predecessor, Joe Borelli. So we’re going to continue to do that, [while] at the same time empowering our conference members to fight and advocate for their districts, their neighborhoods and their community needs.”
However, in their missive, the three members who sat out the GOP meeting Tuesday argue that the meeting was illegitimate because it did not have a quorum of a majority of members. They further claim Borelli was told ahead of time that they could not make it, and that he did not provide 24 hours notice of the meeting.
They also contend Carr was elected without a clear majority, violating city law.
“Upon information and belief, Mr. Borelli, is/has/will file a certificate that alleges that Mr. Carr was elected by a majority of the Republican Caucus as the Minority Leader of the City Council,” they wrote. “Such a certificate should be rejected by the Speaker, the [City] Clerk and the office of General Counsel. Should the certificate fail to state that Carr was elected by a majority vote (which he was not) and/or that a quorum was present (it was not) then the certificate is facially defective and should be declared void on its face.”
They requested that the speaker take up the matter at the council’s next Stated Meeting, scheduled for Feb. 13, if the caucus cannot resolve it beforehand.
According to Borelli, the Republicans’ bylaws do not mandate a majority for a vote on a minority leader or that they even hold a meeting. Instead, he said they are simply required to submit the votes to the speaker and the clerk.
The outgoing minority leader added that he does not think the speaker will get involved.
