Standing near the entrance to the downtown 4-train at the Mosholu Parkway station, Councilman Oliver Koppell is making a valiant attempt to shake hands with commuters and ask for their support. It’s 8 a.m. and the straphangers are loaded down with bags, purses, babies, coffee cups and egg sandwiches. Some stick out their hands. Others hurriedly offer whatever they can.

A wrist. A forearm. A pinky.

In 2005, Koppell cruised to reelection victory. But this year, be it pinky or forearm, Koppell will take what he can get from voters as he attempts to fend off a well-funded upstart challenger in Tony Cassino, the former chairman of Community Board 8. The two are going toe-to-toe in a bid to win the Sept. 15 Democratic primary, tantamount to victory in the heavily Democratic district.

He’s also battling the backlash from the Council’s unpopular decision last fall to overturn two public referenda limiting Council members (and other city elected officials) to two terms. Backed by Mayor Bloomberg, Koppell spearheaded the effort to get term limits extended to three terms. 

Because of this, the Riverdalian is taking no chances and campaigning vigorously throughout his district, which includes parts of Norwood, Bedford Park, Woodlawn, Wakefield and Riverdale.

“I’ve been out here [campaigning at train stations] every morning,” Koppell said proudly last Thursday morning.

Koppell has also spent heavily on mailings and advertisements (you may have seen him smiling at you from a bus shelter). On Monday, in an effort to drum up more support, a group of bagpipers trailed Koppell and his wife as they walked through the district’s neighborhoods, shaking more hands.  

The 69-year-old Koppell may have more handshaking and baby-holding experience than any member of the Council, having spent much of the past 40 years in public office.

The first 23 years were spent in the state Assembly where he wrote or sponsored 280 bills, including the returnable bottle bill.

In 1993, Koppell, a Harvard educated lawyer who attended the Bronx High School of Science, was appointed state attorney general by the Assembly after Robert Abrams resigned to run for U.S. Senate. The next year he lost the Democratic primary to Karen Burstein.  In a 1998 bid to reclaim his old job, Koppell lost to Eliot Spitzer.  Koppell later chaired Community School Board 10 and was elected to the Council in 2001. He still maintains a private law practice in addition to his Council work. But he’s not ready to leave to public life.

“I still have the passion and energy to represent this district,” Koppell said. Later he added that he still has unfinished business in the Council. “I’ve provided effective leadership over a number of years, but there are always a number of issues that need to be addressed.”

Term Limits

In an interview last week, Koppell addressed the issue of extending term limits, which his opponent, Cassino, is trumpeting as the biggest reason why it’s time for a change.

Koppell says he’s against the term limits in general. He doesn’t think they should exist. “If someone’s doing a good job, then they should be allowed to keep doing that job,” he says.

But what about the two public referenda that implemented the term limits in the first place? “I don’t believe in referendums,” he says. “I believe in a representative democracy.”

The public can’t be trusted to make good decisions, Koppell says, pointing to “all the mischief” going on in California, where they outlawed gay marriage and constricted education spending through referenda.

“Many people are not sophisticated enough to make some of these decisions,” Koppell says. “That’s why I believe in electing people who spend the better part of their lives working on these issues.”

Referenda are often determined by expensive and often inflammatory advertising campaigns that cause people to vote with their emotions, Koppell says, leading to bad policy. Koppell realizes, however, that there may be some resentment about the Council overturning the two-term limit. “And if they want to vote against me on that basis, they can,” he says. 
  
Record in Council

District Democrats should vote for him because of his experience and accomplishments, Koppell says. But Cassino says Koppell is one of the weakest Council members in the city. He’s only authored a handful of bills, didn’t hold a committee chairmanship during his entire first term, couldn’t stop the controversial and intrusive Croton Water Filtration Plant from being built in his district and brings in less money to his district than the majority of Council members.

Koppell says the lack of legislation or committee chairmanships, the filtration plant construction and the money he receives for programs and projects has been beyond his control. During his first term, Koppell says he was hamstrung by a personal vendetta being carried out by former Bronx Democratic Chairman Roberto Ramirez.

Koppell says Ramirez was upset that Koppell’s wife had run for the Council against Bronx Republican Guy Velella with whom Ramirez had a non-aggression pact.

Although Koppell’s wife lost her bid, Koppell says Ramirez used his influence to keep Koppell from getting valuable chairmanships and the legislative power and discretionary funding that comes with them. He says the filtration plant was a done deal he couldn’t prevent. (The city secured the borough’s Assembly approval by promising $200 million in parkland improvements.)

Koppell says his positioning in the Council has improved since the first term. He is now chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Disability Services and has worked to gain funding for mental health programs for youth and seniors. He also sits on seven committees.

The two pieces of Council legislation he’s most proud of are his rechargeable battery recycling bill, which mandates that toxic rechargeable batteries be recycled; and the Fire Safety Bill, which forces public places, like movie theaters, to announce where exits are if they aren’t clearly marked.

Last Thursday at the Mosholu train station, Koppell was joined by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. The two were colleagues in the state Assembly for years. At one point, Stringer reminisced about campaigning with Koppell back in the 1970s. “I think I still have a pin from one of your campaigns,” Stringer said. “It’s black and yellow.”

The two political veterans traded stories during lulls in the waves of commuters.

“I’m Oliver Koppell,” the candidate announced, shaking a wrist, in hopes of securing what would likely be his final term as an elected official. “I’m counting on your support on Sept. 15.”