After reading Matt Taibbi’s review of Dennis Kucinich’s new book, “The Division of Light and Power,” right here on Substack, I am convinced that we are dealing with the defining work on the current state of American governance. If you believe rigging starts with the electoral college and gerrymandering, you may agree. If it seems far fetched that every legislative vote and administrative decision is bought and paid for by special interests, your beliefs may finally succumb to reality. Matt’s companion interview with Dennis on this site will reveal that the heart of America is still beating warmly.
This event has forced me to rush ahead with my personal story because for one brief moment in my career I had to joust with those very same forces. It was a battle I won, but it caused me to turn away from public life forever and devote myself to the one-time honest profession of journalism. If we can’t live a Kucinich life, we should at least strive for a Kucinich moment.
While I was adjuncting at Brooklyn College, my English Department mentor, Lou Breglio, moved into Administration as Dean of Students and his chair, George Peck, as president pro-tem of the college. They asked me to become the familiar face in the Office of Public Relations. PR was the dark side, and I hesitated. But the importuning of my wife and brother clarified that as head of a family I was duty bound to provide the income and insurance that would secure our lives. And so I did, convincing myself the the product -higher education- elevated the calling. I will recount the BC experience later, meanwhile for today’s purpose I’ll fast forward to Bronx Community College.
The accelerated implementation of Open Admissions at CUNY in 1970 demanded that experienced PR admins be at every campus to handle the mayhem. Hank Paley, CUNY’s PR Director, asked me to to go to Bronx Community College to help there. I figured that three years would be enough, but when BCC acquired NYU’s old Morningside Heights campus in 1973, President Jim Colston asked me to stay on. He had been the first Black president of an all-white college until the enrollment profile flipped upon open admissions. He saw the new campus as an opportunity to restore diversity.
Our outreach to competitive students started with a full color insert in the weekend edition of the New York Daily News, a first for any CUNY unit. It became known as “The Million Dollar Brochure” because its impact increased NYU’s asking price. We also managed a front page photo and lead story in the New York Times Weekend Magazine. We topped that with an award-winning array of recruitment film and full color departmental brochures - all a first for CUNY. The Caucasian focus came with programs aimed at ethnic communities, such as Italians in the Fordham area with our “Avanti BCC” program.
My favorite piece of maneuvering involved the “Hall of Fame for Great Americans” that featured bronze busts by famous sculptors of Americans who were still considered important 25 years after their deaths. Robert Moses, New York City’s building czar (Jones Beach, Verrazano Bridge, etc.) decided that the Hall should be relocated to Washington D.C. I and my assistant, Dolores Magnotta, were summoned to his Triboro Bridge and Tunnel Authority Office. There was a circle of desks around a huge open space that he inhabited. Instinct told me to reach under the table at my position and unplug the microphone before us. We had things to say. We sat through his elaborate presentation and simply told him that the people of the Bronx and the college students would physically resist any attempt to move the facility. And so it died.
But the real challenge came in dealing with the empty dorm that our commuter school acquired along with a stunning traditional campus. The development wolves were howling at the city and borough halls doors. However, we were not about to let the last prime piece of real estate in the West Bronx go to waste. We formed the University Heights Development Corporation to acquire and renovate the dorm into senior housing. There was no precedent in university, city or state annals. A flabbergasted CUNY admin looked on as we got enabling legislation passed by the City and the State. And after that came HUD approval for federal funds to do the project, using a provision of law that had previously only been available to church based organizations.
Then came the onslaught of developers wanting a contract from us. We are talking about $5 million in 1970’s dollars ($25 million today). Luckily I had a young Maurice LaBonne to help sort out the situation; on the strength of his success with us he went on to become Director of Community Development at Montefiore Hospital. The very first developer I met with removed a gun from his shoulder holster and placed it on the table, muzzle facing me. And so it went until I finally met wit a big time construction outfit that was well connected to NYC Mayor Abe Beame. Top professionals met with us in their Manhattan offices and with a presentation that included architectural renderings. As the meeting concluded, the head of the company motioned me to stay back. “Look,” he said, “ since we don’t have a salesman on this project, you can have the 10% commission.” Without hesitation I responded, “I’m a public employee and we cannot accept any commissions or other payments.” That was equivalent to $2.5 million in today’s dollars.
They didn’t get the contract, but I searched for a way to expose their chicanery. I couldn’t go to the local prosecutors because they were all feeding out of the same Democratic trough. Instead, I went to one of my contacts at The Times, but there was no interest there in working on the story, even with my full cooperation.
Eventually we settled on an honest developer and as soon as the contracts were signed we were besieged by Bronx banks offering us defaulted apartment buildings, most in need of repair. UHDC could have become the biggest developer of rehab properties in the city.
That’s when I stopped to assess my place in life. I did not go to Columbia Journalism to become a politico, a real estate tycoon, or a PR maven. Some years ago when I turned down the #2 post on John Lindsay’s mayoral campaign, I had rejected the claim that”he is going all the way to the White House.” I was never one to hitch my wagon to someone else’s dreams.
My opportunity to get out came shortly when budget reductions hit my department and I faced the prospect of reducing staff. Instead I cut my pay 50% to preserve jobs, but had to take a partial leave to preserve my position, which as a full HEO was the highest admin position in CUNY. President Colston retired while I was on leave, and I was then free to resign having given him my commitment to stay on as long as he was president.
I re-emerged in journalism as editor and publisher of the Jersey Business Review. And my career was back on track again. And the opportunity for untold wealth and riches never came my way again. PHEW!
Read Taibbi’s Interview Here
https://scheerpost.com/2021/06/02/interview-with-dennis-kucinich-on-his-new-book-the-division-of-light-and-power/?