Walker Not Running For District Leadership

Assemblywoman Latrice Walker (Brownsville) will not be running for the female 55th Assembly District Democratic leadership seat against incumbent district leader City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy (Brownsville, Bed-Stuy) as reported in KCP yesterday.

This was reported after two known sources in the community told KCP Walker was running. KCP tried to reach out to Walker yesterday and the call was not returned until today. As readers will see in Walker’s comments below, the assemblywoman said she loves representing her constituents in Brownsville and intends to stay only in that role.

Mealy, who will be term-limited out of the city council seat next year and who is currently the district leader, has spoken to KCP about retirement, but political sources in the community say she will very likely challenge Walker for her assembly seat.

However, considering that these political sources include some of the same people that said Walker was running for the Democratic district leadership, one never knows.

Nevertheless, KCP regrets the error and wishes both Walker and Mealy well.

De Blasio To Get a One-Year extension Of Mayoral Control, Senate Sources Say

Senate sources tell KCP that it is very likely that Albany will give Mayor Bill de Blasio another one year extension of mayoral control over the city schools instead of the seven years that de Blasio is seeking.

While Senate Republicans remain miffed at de Blasio’s attempts to unseat them through shady funneling of city-based campaign contributions to upstate county committees and then to Democratic opponents, they see this as endemic of de Blasio’s character overall.

The question of his character comes into play the longer he stays in office, and that makes it harder to trust him with control over the city’s schools, said one source.