By SYLVIA O'HAGAN

Attorney Judah Shapiro wants to be the third part-time justice for the Town of Greenburgh, a newly created position, but is claiming his efforts to campaign for the position, starting with a primary process, are being thwarted by party and town politics. Shapiro is now vowing to fight the Greenburgh Democratic Committee (GDC) and the Greenburgh Town Board for his - and several other interested candidates' - right to a fair election.

Shapiro is a litigation attorney in practice for 19 years with offices in Manhattan and New City. He has lived in Hastings for 11 years with his wife, Dr. Barbara Baer-Shapiro, a neuro-psychologist with a practice in Ardsley, and children Ariel, 14, and Ben, 10. An active, lifelong Democrat, Shapiro is a GDC district leader and has served on the GDC as executive vice chair and was chair of the Hastings Democrats.

Shapiro, however, seemingly does not have the support of the GDC. As it stands now, Hubert, a former prosecutor with the Queens District Attorney's Office and now an attorney in private practice in White Plains, is the committee's endorsed candidate. The actual ballot line for the position will be officially filled at the GDC's Sept. 14 convention, which will be followed by the general election in November.

The GDC's endorsement of Hubert was made at a June 21 meeting of the GDC Executive Committee after all interested candidates, including Hubert, Shapiro, Assistant Greenburgh Town Attorney Tim Lewis and local attorney Marty Tackle, had been invited to meet with the executive committee and be part of a question-and-answer session with the members.

GDC chairperson Suzanne Berger disputes Shapiro's claim that the process which led to Hubert's endorsement is unethical.

"Because of Mr. Hubert's superior qualifications, the executive committee [of the GDC] decided to endorse him again [Hubert had run for a similar position five years ago with the party's endorsement]... there is nothing untoward about that - in almost every election for judge, for state Senate, for Assembly, for town board, the party endorses one candidate over others... Mr. Shapiro lost the endorsement vote and has chosen therefore to characterize it as unfair," said Berger.

Greenburgh Town Councilman Steven Bass denies any collusion, either between town board members or the members and the GDC. "James Hubert has never asked me to support or endorse him... and I have never had a conversation about this with my colleagues... no one told me who they are supporting... [not having a primary] was not the intention of any of us," said Bass.

Hubert said he does not understand why Shapiro is claiming the process is unfair. "This is the process... it's as unfair to me as it is to him... he's the insider guy, I'm not," continued Hubert, who called himself "far and away the most qualified candidate."

The timeline of the official approval by the town board of the judgeship, and subsequent actions by the GDC, are the factors, Shapiro alleges, that illustrate a push for Hubert on the part of both entities. He contends the town board rejected his request for an early enough public meeting to "rubber stamp the position" (a mere formality as they had actively sought it, and it was signed into law by Gov. George Pataki on June 30, Shapiro notes) to allow any interested candidates enough time to collect the 1,000 signatures necessary to get on the ballot for a party primary. By scheduling the town board meeting at which the resolution would be passed for July 14, a day before the deadline, Shapiro says the board made it impossible for a primary to be held.

At the same time, Shapiro says the GDC's actions ensured that Hubert was the instant front-runner for the new justice position. He explains that though at a June 3 GDC convention the rank and file voted not to make a candidate endorsement for the new judgeship position until the position was officially created, at the June 21 meeting of the GDC's Executive Committee the endorsement was made. Berger responded that "the committee is a democracy... two of the members took action [to make the endorsement] and I let it proceed... things don't always go as the chair intended."

Shapiro contends that if the meeting to resolve the position had been held before July 9, it would have given the candidates the minimum one-week time frame stated by election law in which to canvass for petition signatures. Speaking for the town board, Bass maintains that the July 14 meeting was the first regularly scheduled meeting to be held after the judgeship position was signed into law by Pataki. And, Bass says, Shapiro sent the letter requesting the earlier meeting be notified (meetings must be notified to the public 48 hours before the scheduled date) the Friday before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, implying it would be have been difficult to accomplish then. After being contacted by Shapiro, Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner said that he supported calling a special meeting, but was overruled by members of the town board. However, he noted, even if a special meeting had been called it would have given candidates less than one week to get the necessary 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot, a "very difficult" task. Bass agreed. "It would have been good to have been able to have a primary, but it was more important to have a fair election," Bass explained. "It would have been very unfair to ask all the candidates of all the parties to collect a minimum of 1,000 signatures in 10 days... when they usually have five weeks."

When asked what recourse Shapiro has at this point, Hubert noted that the recommendations of the GDC's Executive Committee do not bind anyone to have to endorse him in September, explaining that Shapiro does have the opportunity to campaign to district leaders in a bid to get on the ballot line at the GDC's September convention. "Judah should know this - he has been intimately involved with the GDC... he certainly has friends within the party," said Hubert. Berger said that "any interested candidate may have their name placed in nomination at a party's September convention." Bass said that the Greenburgh Town Clerk had spoken to the New York State Board of Elections to see if they could extend the time period for obtaining petitions, but did not get a response either way. Feiner suggested that "if Judah is not happy with the process, he could go to court and seek a court order authorizing him and others to get on the ballot if they collect signatures. A judge would have the power to provide candidates with a reasonable period to get the signatures."

As for Shapiro, he says he is "energized" for the fight and chance to run fairly. "I am determined to do a great job, sincerely," said Shapiro. "I am getting support from friends and family, concerned voters and a nice young and dedicated staff who believe in fair elections and my ability.