After the 2000 fiasco and the refusal of many Green Party members to recognize their abysmal mistake that year, most liberal Democrats I knew turned against the Green Party. I for one couldn't vote Green for years.

Well, once the Greens refused to follow Nader, the architect of the 2000 fiasco whose ego only grew even more giganormous after that fiasco, into further oblivion, some of us started to watch the Greens with some renewed interest. Even many former Greens I know won't vote Green in any race where there is a close race between a Republican and a Democrat. Eight years of Bush is a high price to pay for a protest vote.

But there are some cases where voting Green starts to make sense, particularly in NYC where lousy, corrupt or right-wing Democrats coast to victory because they have machine backing and the Republican Party in NYC is about as pathetic as you can find.

Take David Pechefsky, Green Party candidate for the 39th City Council district in Brooklyn. Pechefsky, from what I can tell, fits the district perfectly in where he stands on issues. He is honest and up front and personable. In every way he would represent the majority of the 39th City Council district as well as anyone could. By contrast, Pechefsky's opponent, Brad Lander, differs from the majority of local voters on several levels: he has made strong, public anti-Israel statements, he has allied with anti-gay Dov Hikind who is known for supporting racial profiling, and he has been caught up in this year's Working Families Party campaign finance scandal. Pechefsky is solidly liberal while Lander, though similarly liberal himself, is willing to cut deals even with the likes of Dov Hikind to further his ambition. Pechefsky is solidly against Ratner's Atlantic Yards scheme, while Lander has been all over on this issue, following in the footsteps of many candidates who try to play both sides. Pechefsky was at this year's DDDB Walkathon, supporting the legal challenges to Ratner's scheme, while Brad was no where to be found. Brad is a typical politician and I personally don't know how far I can trust him. Both have extensive experience working in city politics. But with Pechefsky, you know where he stands. With Lander, well, his campaign paid for anti-gay ads in Boro Park (probably against Brad's wishes, but he never took responsibility for what his campaign did) while he played up his pro-marriage equality stands in Park Slope. You don't know what he will do. Room 8 blogger Gatemouth went further than I have, calling it a "moral imperative" to defeat Brad Lander. I am not sure I see it that strongly. But with several scandals dogging him, none of which did Brad take any responsibility for, Brad is an unappealing candidate. David Pechefsky is a better fit for most of the voters in the district, has more integrity and will be honest with you about where he stands. For this reason, I have quietly endorsed David Pechefsky for the 39th City Council district.

But it seems there is another Green Party candidate who is getting attention this year, this time over in the 22nd City Council district in Queens. Peter Vallone is one of the City Council rats who sided with Bloomberg in reversing term limits against voter's express wishes, and he thought he'd have an easy time winning a third term. The Vallones are among the most conservative DINOs in the City Council. And it seems he has a very viable Green Party candidate running against him. Lynne Serpe, Green Party candidate looking to oust Peter Vallone, has actually out raised Vallone, making her challenge one to be taken seriously. From the City Hall News:

Vallone, who holds the same Queens seat his father held for almost three decades, had only $40,000 on hand a few weeks before election day, and decided to forego matching funds, figuring that they were a waste of taxpayer money.

But that was before Lynne Serpe, a 38-year-old environmental activist and Green Party candidate for the seat announced that she had $100,000 on hand and qualified for over $70,000 in matching funds.

“There are people in the district who have wanted resources that they haven’t gotten in 35 years,” she said. “I think people are ready for a change...”

“My goal is to win,” she said, explaining that she was buoyed by the surprise primary wins of other left leaning candidates like Danny Dromm. “It’s possible that we’re looking at an entire shift in Western Queens.”

I cannot speak to whether Serpe is a better fit for her district than Vallone. I know the 39th district well, so I know Pechefsky is a better fit there than Lander. I don't know the 22nd, so I will endorse Serpe, but largely because Vallone's term limit betrayal and the fact he is more conservative than some Republicans in NYC. I leave it to others who know the district better to say whether she fits the voters of that district or not. But she certainly has the funds to make her case.

I want to explicitly state that I am endorsing Democrat Bill Thompson for mayor. The Green Party candidate for mayor may be entertaining, but he is nothing but a protest candidate who does nothing but help Bloomberg, making him more of a Nader style Green that I cannot support and actually grew sick of after 2000. Bill Thompson would make an excellent mayor. Rev. Billy Talen is more qualified to be Boro President, I would think, and I would greatly prefer if he chose the right moment to make his point, then bow out and endorse Bill Thompson. Otherwise his run will do little but remind those of us still angry about Nader's stupidity in 2000 of why we were angry.

But for the 22nd and 39th City Council districts, I think people should seriously consider a vote for the Green Party candidates Lynne Serpe and Dave Pechefsky. They represent an appropriate role for the Green Party and would make excellent City Council reps. Both have been heavily involved in their communities and would take that commitment to City Hall. By comparison, their opponents are business-as-usual politicians whose ambitions trump any commitment to the community they may once have had.