A little more than 300,000 people live in the 33rd Senate District, which includes the entire readership area of the Norwood News.

The incumbent, State Senator Efrain Gonzalez, is charged with stealing more than $400,000 in taxpayer money from nonprofits he controls. Sure, a jury could possibly declare him innocent, when he finally gets to trial, but that doesn’t absolve Gonzalez from the sin of setting up and funding ghost groups that do virtually nothing for constituents, wasting precious taxpayer money. Court papers and reporting by the Norwood News found zero evidence of any work the nonprofits have done.

Gonzalez’s legal troubles blew a cavernous opening in the usual Machine-erected brick wall protecting incumbents.

If you thought a small army of young, ambitious pols would be jumping through, ballot petitions in hand, you’d be wrong.

Instead, we get Pedro Espada, a former south Bronx state senator, who at least deserves credit for identifying a district where the ethically challenged excel.

Espada heads a group of south Bronx health care centers. Three of his executives pleaded guilty to diverting $30,000 from family care and AIDS treatment programs to Espada’s 2001 bid for Bronx borough president (he lost by just a few points to Adolfo Carrion). The state attorney general’s office said the health center officials even took food “intended for AIDS patients and [gave] it instead to Espada campaign workers,” according to a New York Times report. 

In recent weeks Espada has been pushing free food giveaways, including one on Gun Hill Road and DeKalb Avenue in conjunction with his Burnside Medical Center.

What a coincidence that these events overlap with his Senate bid!

Espada is a newcomer to the area. He says he moved to Bedford Park with his wife when suddenly his neighbors begged him to run for Senate.

“People started asking me to get more involved in community activities, from visiting schools to participating in Little League activities.”

Yeah, right.

Espada did buy a co-op in Bedford Park, but residents say they rarely see him there, and Espada himself admits to owning a home in Mamaroneck.

And this is the choice we get as to who will represent us in Albany?

Why is it this way? Why are our choices so lousy? Where are the young up-and-coming Bronx politicians that are legion in other boroughs like Brooklyn and Manhattan?

They’re around, but as soon as they show a little gumption, Democratic Party regulars bat them down like a game of political Whac-A-Mole.

Not to mention the fact that most of the seats are reserved for the political veterans’ children (see Riveras, Diazes, Arroyos, et al.)

But there are some signs of hope. A brainstorming session at Lehman College about the Kingsbridge Armory a few weeks ago turned out a couple of hundred people — some of them familiar faces — but also many people who probably had never been to a meeting like that before. Seven hundred members of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition packed St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in June to get answers from elected officials on housing foreclosure, school safety, and immigration.

A newly invigorated community board — something Carrion deserves credit for – has introduced many new residents from diverse backgrounds to public life.

We hope it isn’t too long before some new candidates emerge from these ranks.

In the meantime, what can you do?

First, learn what you can about elected officials, candidates, and community issues. Attend and participate in community meetings. You’re already on the right track if you’re reading this newspaper and newspapers in general. If there are things in the political sphere you’d like to know more about, let us know and we’ll try to respond either in the paper or on the West Bronx Blog.

Second, run for office yourself, or encourage a friend or colleague to do so. We’re serious.

Third, and most importantly, vote — even if you have to write in your mother’s name! More voters mean more accountability.

Learn and participate. Run. Vote. It’s that simple.

The primary election is on Sept. 9. See you at the polls!