Oy. The City Council race in the 33rd district. From my very first candidates forum/debate at St. Francis College, I could tell that this was a seasoned group with a lot of political baggage and history with one another.

Indeed, it was an interesting, contentious and even ugly race for David Yassky's seat in a district that spans parts of Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Navy Yard, Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Indeed, most of the candidates were progressives who agreed on most of the issues. But their  "issues" with each other were personal, historic and much about who was controlling whom in the big picture.

—Evan Thies was portrayed as "Yassky's guy" because he worked closely with David Yassky for years. Yassky however decided not to endorse in this race. A politically motivated—and not very nice—move on Yassky's part. Thies is an independent thinker and clearly someone who is not beholden to machine politics or former mentors.

—Stephen Levin was portrayed as "Vito Lopez's guy" because he was Lopez's assistant for many years and Lopez is an important mentor as is Levin's cousin Michigan Senator Carl Levin (and Congressman Sander Levin).  Levin's ties to Lopez are deep and murky, but he does strike me as a smart guy who will grow as an independent politician over time. For an informative—and plenty opinionated—article about Vito Lopez's powerbroker politics, see this piece by Tom Robbins in the Village Voice.

—Jo Anne Simon has a long history in Brooklyn community politics and is seen as having ties to the Democratic machine. A well-respected disabilities lawyer, she is a tough campaigner who can be very divisive though she paints herself as someone who works well with everyone at the table. She managed to grab many key endorsements from Democratic clubs and even the New York Times. 

—Ken Diamondstone has major issues with Jo Anne Simon, who used to be a friend, because of her ties to "the Democratic machine." He can get plenty angry on the subject of Simon and Levin but mostly he carried himself as a genuine progressive with a very ethical core. He seems to be in politics for the right reasons — the desire to help others and make change.

–-Issac Abraham, a community leader and organizer in the Hasidic community of Williamsburg,  is at odds with Bloomberg, Yassky and many leaders in NYC politics for the way they ignore the needs of the Williamsburg community.

—Ken Baer, a leader in the Sierra Club, was also active in the fight against the Atlantic Yards and less of a political name caller.

And Doug Biviano. Ah, Doug Biviano. He was the true outsider candidate who used his campaign to formulate and articulate many important ideas about reform in city government and even national issues like war spending and healthcare. A very smart, energetic guy with interesting views, he ran a good campaign and was willing to speak truth to power and say plenty of unexpected things. I have a lot of respect for the guy.

The 33s (they're all here except for Issac Abraham):

Breakfast-of-Candidates: Stephen Levin.  A classics major at Brown University,  Levin has wonky good looks and a boyish, disarming
manner. His father's cousins are Michigan's Senator Carl Levin and
Congressman Sander Levin and he currently works as Vito Lopez's chief of staff. Lopez,
who is often portrayed as a Darth Vader figure in Brooklyn politics
taught the 29-year-old Levin about "knocking on doors, talking to as
many people as possible, the
importance of having a command of the issues, and having empathy for
the people," Levin told me. A pragmatist, Levin believes "that for for
every problem there is a solution that is not readily apparent."

Breakfast-of-Candidates: Doug Biviano. Expect the
unexpected from Biviano, who is a civil engineer with BS and MS degrees from Cornell
University. Biviano works as a superintendent in a Brooklyn Heights
apartment building and in 2008 was a New York State Coordinator for
presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich , whose politics of peace are a
strong influence. Biviano has lived the skier's life in Colorado and
sailed the Inter-Coastal Highway with his wife installing solar panels
on a boat he barely knew how to sail.

Breakfast of Candidates: Jo Anne Simon. 
Her career trajectory from teacher of the deaf to disability rights
attorney can make you feel like a slacker  and
wonder how she had time to become such a strong voice in community
politics, the female Democratic District Leader and State
Committeewoman for
the 52nd Assembly District. A proponent of the art of listening, she
believes that there's a place for all viewpoints at the table and that
"someone who is elected to office can work with everyone."

Breakfast-of Candidates; Evan Thies.
A former aide to City Council Member David Yassky, Thies also worked in
Hillary Clinton's upstate senate office and for Andrew Cuomo. Raised in
New Hampshire, public service was the family business and his
grandmother was appointed by NH governor John
Sununu to be the state's Commissioner of Health and Human
Services. Struck as a child with Fibromatosis, a chronic disease, he
was
home-schooled during the worst of his illness. When he was 11, he and
his mother wrote and passed a bill about his disease.

Breakfast-of-Candidates: Ken Diamondstone: A lover of diner food, Diamondstone runs an affordable
housing business with an emphasis on "nice spaces for low prices." He
could have made a killing in the real estate biz but instead stuck to
his principles. Affordable housing is clearly Diamondstone's passion
and through his
business he has been able to translate ideals into action. He is
also a member of three local Democratic clubs and was an early opponent of
Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. For Diamondstone, who is
openly gay and lives with his longtime partner, Joe, the rights of the
LGBT community is high on his list of
priorities. But so is the environment. As chair of the Brooklyn Solid
Waste Council he was involved with the Zero Waste Coalition and passage
of NYPIRG's Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill.

Breakfast-of-Candidates: Ken Baer. 
He majored in psychology and sociology at Kent State University during
the turbulent 1960's and was actually attending the school when four
students were killed by National Guard during an anti-war demonstration
in 1970. At the time, he lived with "a
bunch of vegetarians" and tried to stay out of the Vietnam War as a
conscientious objector (CO). It was during college, that Baer became
aware of food and environmental issues: "answering questions on the CO
form got me to thinking about killing humans and animals…so I became
a vegetarian," he told me. A longtime member of the Park Slope Food
Coop, Baer is also a member of the Sierra Club and has held various key
positions at the city and state level. He was an early opponent of the
Atlantic Yards Project and is a strong believer in community based
development.