1098 C2RQANN3 Bender - Direct 1 A
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1098 C2RQANN3 Bender - Direct 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Did either council member ever refuse to meet with you? 3 A. No. 4 Q. During this time period did you also make attempts to meet 5 with Sandy Annabi one on one to discuss her concerns? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. What efforts did you make? 8 A. Well, we called the office. We reached out to other 9 elected officials. We reached out to trade unions. We reached 10 out to the mayor's office. We reached out to our consultants. 11 We even reached out to where she was employed. We spoke to 12 some board of directors there to see if she would speak with 13 us. 14 Q. Did she agree to meet with you at that time? 15 A. No, she did not. 16 Q. In your experience in politics, was it unusual for a public 17 official to refuse to meet with a developer on a project like 18 this? 19 A. Yes. I mean, in the 30 years I've worked in government and 20 in politics, we were able -- I was able to arrange meetings for 21 my principals with mayors or governors, senators or Congress 22 people, county officials, council members, local legislators, 23 and this was a unique case. 24 Q. What efforts did you make to get Sandy Annabi to support 25 the project during this time period? SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 1099 C2RQANN3 Bender - Direct 1 A. We had a couple of consultants that were -- that we had 2 hired, Pat Lynch Associates and Al Pirro. We worked with them, 3 you know, to try to, you know, get a meeting or to communicate, 4 and then we also used local state senator and council members 5 and anybody else that we could find to have some type of 6 relationship that we can get a meeting. 7 Q. Were you successful? 8 A. No. 9 Q. Please broadcast Government Exhibit 374. We direct your 10 attention to the spring of 2006. Do you recall receiving this 11 email? 12 A. I'm just new with these glasses. 13 Q. Maybe, Mr. Bender, if you just look at monitor next to you, 14 does that help? 15 A. Very much so. What was the question? 16 Q. Are you familiar with this email? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Who is John Swagerty? 19 A. John Swagerty was one of the gentleman who worked on the 20 project with our project coordinators. 21 Q. Did he attach a copy of Judge Colabella's decision? 22 A. Yes, he did. 23 Q. What was the date of the decision? 24 A. It was May 2, 2006. 25 Q. Prior to May 2 of 2006, how many votes did you need? SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 1100 C2RQANN3 Bender - Direct 1 A. Four. 2 Q. Did you have four votes? 3 A. At that point in time, yes. 4 Q. What effect did Judge Colabella's decision on May 2 of '06 5 have? 6 A. What it did essentially was we needed a fifth vote for a 7 super majority. 8 Q. What, if any, efforts did you make during this time period 9 to obtain more information about Zehy Jereis? 10 A. Again, we asked people from the community that we were 11 dealing with from the start of the project, which was in 2002, 12 about, you know, who he is, what his function is, you know, how 13 he interrelates into the politics or the structure of Yonkers. 14 Q. Why were you seeking more information about Zehy Jereis at 15 this time? 16 A. Because what had happened was through a lot of our 17 conversations it seemed that people have told us that all roads 18 lead through Zehy Jereis to Sandy Annabi. 19 Q. Did you have any discussions with any other council members 20 or individuals, lobbyists at the time about whether you felt 21 you needed to contact Zehy Jereis or go through him prior to 22 May 2? 23 A. I believe -- I believe I did. I went through -- I mean, I 24 had asked our consultants if we should, and they said they had 25 everything under control. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 1101 C2RQANN3 Bender - Direct 1 Q. Let me direct your attention to June 2 of 2006. Do you 2 recall that day? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Please maximize Government Exhibit 391A. Maximize the 5 June 2 entry. Is this your calendar? 6 A. Yes, it is. 7 Q. And what does it reflect? 8 A. It reflected my meeting schedule. 9 Q. Did you attend a meeting that day? 10 A. Yes, I did. 11 Q. Where was the meeting? 12 A. There was two on there. One earlier in the day and one in 13 the latter part of the day. In the latter part of the day was 14 with Assemblyman Joseph Lentol at Marco Polo. 15 Q. Who set up the meeting? 16 A. The assemblyman. 17 Q. What was the purpose of the meeting? 18 A. It was to meet some people from Yonkers who could possibly 19 help us with the project. 20 Q. Who attended the meeting? 21 A. It was attended by Assemblyman Lentol, Joe Galimi, Zehy 22 Jereis, Scott Cantone and myself. 23 Q. Had you ever met Zehy Jereis before this meeting? 24 A. No. 25 Q. What, if anything, did you say to him when you were SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 1102 C2RQANN3 Bender - Direct 1 introduced? 2 A. It was somewhat cordial. I asked him why he was against 3 our project. He responded that he really wasn't against our 4 project; that it was a great project. And then I responded 5 that, "well, everybody is saying that you're against the 6 project, and you're the one who is holding it up." And then he 7 responded, "well, maybe you just hired the wrong people." 8 Q. What, if anything, did Zehy Jereis tell you about his 9 background at this meeting? 10 A. He was very involved in Yonkers. I believe he was the 11 Republican chairman of the party over there; that he helped 12 elect or he assisted in the electing of many of the officials 13 in the city of Yonkers, and that he also actually did the 14 campaign for Sandy Annabi, he helped elect Ms. Annabi as the 15 councilwoman. 16 Q. Was the subject of the status of the Ridge Hill project 17 discussed during the meeting? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. What, in substance, did Zehy Jereis say about the Ridge 20 Hill project? 21 A. Once again, he said that he was, you know, he was for the 22 project, and that he didn't have any problems with the project. 23 Q. What, if anything, did he say about his relationship with 24 Sandy Annabi at the meeting? 25 A. He said he had a relationship with her. He actually said SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 1103 C2RQANN3 Bender - Direct 1 that he -- he had knocked her opponent off the ballot when she 2 was running for city council, and by doing that just helped 3 elect that person, you know, to the seat. 4 Q. Was your understanding that he was telling you this was a 5 social or political relationship? 6 A. Political relationship. 7 Q. What, if anything, did Zehy Jereis say about the subject of 8 whether a meeting could be arranged with Sandy Annabi? 9 A. At that point in time he said that he would try -- he 10 didn't give any commitments at that meeting, but he said that 11 he would, you know, come back and he'll see what he could do 12 about it, and we left it at that. 13 Q. Was Mr. Jereis successful in setting up a meeting with 14 Sandy Annabi? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Please broadcast Government 445A in evidence. Maximize the 17 receipt on the right. I show you the receipt that's been 18 received in evidence for a meeting at Jake's Steakhouse. Did 19 you attend this meeting? 20 A. Yes, I did. 21 Q. What was the date of the meeting? 22 A. June 9. 23 Q. Who attended the meeting? 24 A. It was attended by Zehy Jereis, Council Member Annabi, 25 Scott Cantone, Rich Pesin and myself. SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300 1104 C2RQANN3 Bender - Direct 1 Q. Prior to this meeting, had you ever been able to get a 2 direct one-on-one meeting with Sandy Annabi? 3 A. No. 4 Q. When you were introduced to Sandy Annabi, what, if 5 anything, did you say? 6 A. I asked her why she wouldn't meet with us. I said, you 7 know, we weren't bad people. I said I just wanted to get 8 together to explain the project. 9 Q. Where is Jake's Steakhouse located? 10 A. I believe it's on the border of the Bronx, Yonkers line. 11 Q. What, in substance, was discussed at the meeting? 12 A. We actually did discuss the project. We discussed some of 13 the issues that the council member had with the project. 14 Q. And what, if any, reaction did Rich Pesin and Sandy Annabi 15 have at the meeting? 16 A.