John Spencer (politician)
Encyclopedia
John Spencer is the former Mayor
of Yonkers, New York
(1996–2003). He was the 2006 Republican
nominee for U.S. Senator from New York and lost to incumbent Democrat
Hillary Rodham Clinton
.
. He was adopted
and raised by the Ginnane family who had eight children of their own. His adoptive mother died when he was eight, his adoptive father six years later. His sister Noreen Ginnane raised him.
After two years at Westchester Community College
, he dropped out to join the United States Army
during the Vietnam War
. He earned an officer's
commission as an Infantry
Lieutenant and served a tour in Vietnam during 1968 through 1969. He holds the Combat Infantryman Badge
and the Bronze Star
.
Spencer worked in construction
, real estate property management with Cushman & Wakefield,,and as Vice President of Real Estate Management with Bankers Trust Co.
He then entered politics as a member of the Yonkers City Council
in 1991. He served 6 years on City Council,,with 4 years as Republican Majority Leader.
Spencer also was the founder of Spencer Consulting Group, where he uses his personal experience of overcoming alcoholism
to help others defeat their addictions
.
In 1998, control of the city's finances was returned to the city.
His mayoral chief of staff Kathy Spring bore him two children before they married in 2003; they later had a third. Spencer did not publicly acknowledge the affair until 2002. Spring's annual salary started at $52,000, and increased to $138,000 by the time Spencer left office.
In November 2003, Spencer could not run for re-election as mayor due to the term limits law that he himself championed and then tried to rescind. Mayor Spencer's deputy mayor Phil Amicone sought the office of Mayor with the support of Spencer, and successfully defeated Assemblyman Michael Spano in a Republican primary, and then went on to defeat Democratic candidate Joe Farmer in the general election.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
, who was seeking re-election to a second term. Politically, Spencer is opposed to abortion
and gun control
, and a supporter of tighter border security. His support for the Bush administration and its policies is well known, including but not limited to the war in Iraq.
On August 18, 2005, Spencer gave a radio interview where he said Westchester County, New York District Attorney
Jeanine Pirro
, another candidate for the Republican nomination, didn't have a "Chinaman's chance" of getting the conservative line. Spencer was asked to apologize for the comment after an outcry from the Asian community
that the statement was derogatory. Pirro dropped out of the race in December 2005.
On May 31, 2006, Spencer won the endorsement of the state Republican Party organization but did not achieve the threshold of 75 percent he needed to exclude his rival, former Pentagon
aide Kathleen Troia “K.T.” McFarland
, from the primary
ballot. He received 63 percent, and thus faced McFarland in the September 12, 2006 Republican primary, which he won by a margin of almost two to one. Spencer called on McFarland to step aside after the vote, but McFarland told CQPolitics.com she had no intention of withdrawing from the race.
In a June 2006 radio ad, Spencer expressed his disappointment in the national Republicans for not helping his Senate campaign.
In his 2006 election campaign, Spencer came out in favor of a New York Court of Appeals
decision rejecting the claim of 42 gay
and lesbian
couples that same-sex marriage
as constitutional right
. On Kevin McCullough's talk radio program, Spencer said same-sex marriage
is "between a man and a woman" and that a constitutional amendment is needed to enshrine that.
Clinton spent $36 million for her re-election, more than any other candidate for Senate in the 2006 elections. Polls during the general election campaign generally showed Clinton with a 20-point lead or better over Spencer. On November 7, 2006, Clinton won easily, garnering 67% of the vote to Spencer's 31%.
In 2006, former Mayor John Spencer was found guilty in Federal Court by unanimous jury verdict of violating the First Amendment rights of former City of Yonkers employee, Joan Gronowski. Gronowski is currently a Yonkers City Councilmember. Spencer's successor, Mayor Phil Amicone, was recently found guilty of the same violation for seizing newspaper boxes in the City of Yonkers. The jury awarded $8M in punative damages to various plaintiffs.
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Yonkers, New York
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
(1996–2003). He was the 2006 Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nominee for U.S. Senator from New York and lost to incumbent Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
.
Early life, military service and education
Spencer was born in Yonkers, New YorkYonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
. He was adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
and raised by the Ginnane family who had eight children of their own. His adoptive mother died when he was eight, his adoptive father six years later. His sister Noreen Ginnane raised him.
After two years at Westchester Community College
Westchester Community College
Westchester Community College is a public, two-year community college in Valhalla, New York, sponsored by Westchester County, New York, and the State University of New York . The college is one of 30 community colleges affiliated with SUNY....
, he dropped out to join the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He earned an officer's
Mustang (military officer)
A Mustang is United States Military slang for a commissioned officer who began his or her career as an enlisted service member. Mustangs are older and more experienced than their peers-in-grade who earned their commissions from one of the service academies , Officer Candidate...
commission as an Infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
Lieutenant and served a tour in Vietnam during 1968 through 1969. He holds the Combat Infantryman Badge
Combat Infantryman Badge
The Combat Infantryman Badge is the U.S. Army combat service recognition decoration awarded to soldiers—enlisted men and officers holding colonel rank or below, who personally fought in active ground combat while an assigned member of either an infantry or a Special Forces unit, of brigade size...
and the Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
.
Early career
Spencer married Eileen Looney in 1971, and the couple went on to have two children.Spencer worked in construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
, real estate property management with Cushman & Wakefield,,and as Vice President of Real Estate Management with Bankers Trust Co.
He then entered politics as a member of the Yonkers City Council
Local government in the United States
Local government in the United States is generally structured in accordance with the laws of the various individual states. Typically each state has at least two separate tiers: counties and municipalities. Some states have their counties divided into townships...
in 1991. He served 6 years on City Council,,with 4 years as Republican Majority Leader.
Spencer also was the founder of Spencer Consulting Group, where he uses his personal experience of overcoming alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
to help others defeat their addictions
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
.
Mayor of Yonkers
In 1996, John Spencer was sworn in as mayor of Yonkers. The city's finances had been under the oversight of a State Emergency Financial Control Board for more than a decade. Mayor Spencer insisted that the City had met its obligations and called for the removal of the New York State Control Board.In 1998, control of the city's finances was returned to the city.
His mayoral chief of staff Kathy Spring bore him two children before they married in 2003; they later had a third. Spencer did not publicly acknowledge the affair until 2002. Spring's annual salary started at $52,000, and increased to $138,000 by the time Spencer left office.
In November 2003, Spencer could not run for re-election as mayor due to the term limits law that he himself championed and then tried to rescind. Mayor Spencer's deputy mayor Phil Amicone sought the office of Mayor with the support of Spencer, and successfully defeated Assemblyman Michael Spano in a Republican primary, and then went on to defeat Democratic candidate Joe Farmer in the general election.
2006 New York Senate race
In 2005, Spencer announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
, who was seeking re-election to a second term. Politically, Spencer is opposed to abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and gun control
Gun control
Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens...
, and a supporter of tighter border security. His support for the Bush administration and its policies is well known, including but not limited to the war in Iraq.
On August 18, 2005, Spencer gave a radio interview where he said Westchester County, New York District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
Jeanine Pirro
Jeanine Pirro
Jeanine Ferris Pirro is a former prosecutor, judge, and elected official from the state of New York, who is currently a legal analyst and television personality. A Republican from Westchester County, Pirro served as a county court judge before serving as the elected District Attorney of...
, another candidate for the Republican nomination, didn't have a "Chinaman's chance" of getting the conservative line. Spencer was asked to apologize for the comment after an outcry from the Asian community
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
that the statement was derogatory. Pirro dropped out of the race in December 2005.
On May 31, 2006, Spencer won the endorsement of the state Republican Party organization but did not achieve the threshold of 75 percent he needed to exclude his rival, former Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
aide Kathleen Troia “K.T.” McFarland
Kathleen Troia McFarland
Kathleen Troia "KT" McFarland was the deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs at The Pentagon from 1982 to 1985 under President Ronald Reagan and speech writer to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger...
, from the primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
ballot. He received 63 percent, and thus faced McFarland in the September 12, 2006 Republican primary, which he won by a margin of almost two to one. Spencer called on McFarland to step aside after the vote, but McFarland told CQPolitics.com she had no intention of withdrawing from the race.
In a June 2006 radio ad, Spencer expressed his disappointment in the national Republicans for not helping his Senate campaign.
In his 2006 election campaign, Spencer came out in favor of a New York Court of Appeals
New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...
decision rejecting the claim of 42 gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
couples that same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
as constitutional right
Constitutional right
An inalienable right is a freedom granted by a Nature or the Creator's endowment by birth , and may not be legally denied by that government.-United States:...
. On Kevin McCullough's talk radio program, Spencer said same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
is "between a man and a woman" and that a constitutional amendment is needed to enshrine that.
Clinton spent $36 million for her re-election, more than any other candidate for Senate in the 2006 elections. Polls during the general election campaign generally showed Clinton with a 20-point lead or better over Spencer. On November 7, 2006, Clinton won easily, garnering 67% of the vote to Spencer's 31%.
In 2006, former Mayor John Spencer was found guilty in Federal Court by unanimous jury verdict of violating the First Amendment rights of former City of Yonkers employee, Joan Gronowski. Gronowski is currently a Yonkers City Councilmember. Spencer's successor, Mayor Phil Amicone, was recently found guilty of the same violation for seizing newspaper boxes in the City of Yonkers. The jury awarded $8M in punative damages to various plaintiffs.