(Photo: Facebook)

At a pro-Israel rally earlier today, Brooklyn District Leader Ari Kagan told Politicker that he will file to run for City Council within the next few days, entering what is likely to be a hotly-contested battle for term-limited Councilman Michael Nelson's seat.

And, Mr. Kagan said, he has friends in high places already lined up to support his candidacy, including Frank Seddio, the chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party.

"I'm very happy to have the support of so many of my friends like Hakeem Jeffries, you know like Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, he calls me 'bro,'" Mr. Kagan added, ticking off a list of political allies. "We ran together and we're close, close, close friends and I believe he is a rising star in Brooklyn politics. ... I'm very close to Senator Diane Savino, Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, Councilman David Greenfield and Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny."

Mr. Kagan, who ran and lost a narrow race against Mr. Brook-Krasny in 2006, said that the greatest focus of this campaign will be recovery from Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged the southern half of the district. A graduate of Baruch College's business program, he was quick to say that business is not the only part of his background people should know about.

"I'm a journalist, I have a journalism degree from the Soviet Union too," he pointed out.

Mr. Kagan further claimed he'll be able to unite  the Orthodox Jewish and Russian communities of the district, which have clashed at times during the ongoing redistricting process.

Those two communities also tend to be some of the more conservative segments in the overwhelmingly Democratic city, and as a result, Mr. Nelson's seat is among the few that both parties will likely be targeting this year. Accordingly, former State Senator David Storobin, a Republican, has indicated his own interest in the seat.

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots.

It's primary day in New York City! That means if you go to any polling site in the five boroughs, you're going to see bored workers and low turnout. That is, unless you are in Hasidic Williamsburg, where voters are turning out in throngs to decide who will represent them in an unpaid position in the Kings County Democratic Party. In that race, District Leader Lincoln Restler, a staunch critic of Brooklyn's scandal-tarred Democratic boss Vito Lopez, is trying to win re-election as the establishment moves to try and squash his political career in a battle Mr. Restler has dubbed "Vito's last stand."

We visited a heavily Hasidic polling site off Heyward Street, where indeed, long lines of Orthodox Jewish voters filled a school gymnasium, the atmosphere buzzing with activity. A couple dozen yards outside the entrance, signs in Yiddish urged locals to vote for Mr. Restler or his opponent, community board chairman Chris Olechowski, and young volunteers for Mr. Olechowski sat in a booth, routinely shouting, "Vote!"

Despite Mr. Lopez's woes stemming from serious sexual harassment claims, found credible by the State Assembly, members of the the local Jewish community argue the election is a way to demonstrate their electoral strength for the 2013 elections, where New York City will be electing its next mayor and other top government positions.

"The number of votes for Chris Olechowski in our neighborhood will clearly show the following and support that UJO and Satmar (zalis) have in Williamsburg," an pro-Olechowski email circulating around the neighborhood declared. "Right or wrong, this is precisely how the political world and the media will analyze it and this will form the basis as to how the new democratic party of Brooklyn will form their alliances and loyalty and this election turnout will guide the 2013 Citywide candidates in their quest for Williamsburg support."

It added, "Its a consequential election with the results affecting political calculations for years to come...."

And turn out they did. A poll worker told Politicker that turnout was on par with the June 26th primary election where the two Satmar sects showed up en masse to vote for and against a Lopez-backed challenge to Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez. Because the larger sect supports Mr. Lopez's candidates, at least for now, Mr. Restler will need relatively strong turnout in the other parts of the district in order to have a chance at reelection.

Accordingly, Mr. Restler has parked himself outside of a senior center in Greenpoint for the entire 15 hour period that poll sites will be open today. Many of the passerby recognized Mr. Restler, who slipped in and out of Spanish--and, with a little more difficulty, Polish--to greet them and encourage them to take the time to vote.

"There is terrific energy and buzz in the neighborhood about the race, I think we have two hundred individuals who are volunteering for us today and I'm excited about our ability to turn out every independently-minded voter in the 50th Assembly District," he told us.

Of course, it's strange to see such passion and effort for a district leader's race, where both Mr. Restler and Mr. Olechowski have raised far more money and spent far more energy campaigning than one would typically see for such an election. We asked Mr. Restler if it ever dawned on him that despite the tension, he's still campaigning for a position most people aren't even aware of.

"People are aware of it here," he answered.

(Photo: Facebook)

Earlier this week, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, a likely candidate for mayor next year, waded all the way down into a district leader's race to endorse Lincoln Restler for reelection. Well, add another fellow contender for Gracie Mansion to the Restler column as Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer figuratively went across the East River to do the same this afternoon. Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Stringer don't necessarily endorse in competitive races for more notable elected positions, so the fact that Mr. Restler continues to garner high-level support for his unpaid, little-known position is testament to his ability to raise the district leader post to a bizarrely high level.

"Lincoln is a tireless advocate for his community with a record of delivering real results," Mr. Stringer said in a statement. "From fighting for more green space and better public schools, to expanding transportation options, Lincoln is a proven leader on the issues Brooklynites care about. Lincoln is the right choice for reform minded voters and I am proud to endorse his re-election."

Mr. Restler, of course, isn't in a bad position politically. His political brand is closely aligned with being a fierce critic of Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the outgoing chair of the county's Democratic organization, and Mr. Lopez is as close to being toxic as one can get thanks to his sexual harassment scandal. Nevertheless, Mr. Restler's opponent, community board chairman Chris Olechowski, is likely to be the preferred candidate of Mr. Lopez's eventual successor. On the other hand, Mr. Stringer is probably not the frontrunner to receive the Brooklyn Democratic establishment's support in 2013, so the move is unlikely to cause him much backlash in his political fortunes.

Despite Mr. Lopez's scandal, he still has sway over a huge bloc of Democratic ballots in Mr. Restler's district due to his alliance with Rabbi David Niederman in Williamsburg, who can deliver thousands of Hasidic voters to any candidate that he prefers.

Mr. Restler hopes to blunt that vote with the support of the smaller Satmar faction and high turnout in the other parts of this northern Brooklyn district. As his obscure position will be the most notable race in much of his district on September 13th, it'll be no easy task.

(Photo: Facebook)

District Leader Lincoln Restler, who's still locked in a tight, high-profile race against the Brooklyn Democratic establishment despite the implosion of county boss Vito Lopez, is seizing upon a New York Post report that Mr. Lopez's last aim as county leader is eliminating him on September 13th.

"Dear Friends and Neighbors, Even in the midst of a shameful and potentially criminal sexual harassment scandal, disgraced Boss Vito Lopez is desperately clinging to power for one reason: to halt our campaign to reform the Brooklyn Democratic Party. Vito seems to be obsessed with defeating us," he wrote in an email to his supporters, entitled "Vito's Last Stand."

He then quoted the Post reporting, "A Brooklyn party source said Lopez doesn't want to give up his Assembly seat because he is still hoping to get rid of Lincoln Restler...."

Beyond the ellipsis in the original article is, "...who could challenge Lopez’s protégé, City Councilman Steve Levin," a speculated political path for Mr. Restler in 2013. He insists he's completely focused on his reelection race, however, which is understandable as Mr. Lopez wields a huge percentage of the vote in his district's Democratic electorate in Hasidic Williamsburg.

"The election is two weeks from today and we need your support," Mr. Restler continued, calling for contributions and volunteers. "In spite of Vito's recent troubles, this election will be extremely close."

While there isn't necessarily a direct connection between Mr. Lopez's Assembly seat and his ability to defeat Mr. Restler, the theory could be that  Mr. Lopez hopes to maintain as much political power as possible in order to influence key elections. Indeed, the evidence suggests the race is a priority for him on September 13th. The day before Mr. Lopez's sexual harassment allegation scandal emerged, the Wall Street Journal profiled the race, writing at one point, "Mr. Lopez proceeded to discuss the race that he cares little about for about 30 minutes before hanging up."

For his part, Mr. Lopez declared his innocence and vowed to remain in the State Assembly and clear his name of what he feels is a politically-motivated conspiracy against him.

Mr. Restler faces off against local community board chairman Chris Olechowski, who's working closely with Mr. Levin, in a race that has drawn an incredible amount of attention and fundraising on both sides considering it's all for an unpaid county position few voters have heard of.

Lincoln Restler at his campaign launch earlier this year.

District Leader Lincoln Restler, campaigning for reelection in a little-known, unpaid party position, continues to roll out high-profile endorsements as he fights for his continued role in the Kings County Democratic Party. Adding to that list today is Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, the first citywide official -- and first 2013 mayoral contender -- to weigh into Mr. Restler's race.

"Lincoln is a person of incredible integrity who fights for our families and our neighborhoods," Mr. de Blasio said in a statement. "He is a smart, hard-working reformer - and I am very proud to endorse him for re-election as State Committeeman."

Of course, today isn't an especially difficult day to get behind Mr. Restler, a fierce critic of the county's Democratic establishment, whose leader, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, has become politically radioactive since Friday's sexual harassment findings. However, a source familiar with Mr. de Blasio's endorsement said it had already been in the works before Friday's revelations.

In endorsing Mr. Restler, Mr. de Blasio finds himself in the company of a number of other notable Brooklyn politicians, including soon-to-be Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Borough President Marty Markowitz, and a host of elected officials both supportive and opposed to Mr. Lopez's  leadership, at least before the sexual harassment investigation was announced.

How much all of this political support is up in the air, however, and Mr. Restler's fate might very well be determined by how hard Rabbi David Niederman, who heads the larger Satmar sect in Jewish Williamsburg and controls a substantial amount of votes, works for Mr. Restler's electoral opponent, local community board chairman Chris Olechowski.

Fro his part, Mr. Olechowski is strongly backed by Councilman Steve Levin, who represents most of Mr. Restler's district in City Hall.

Voters head to the polls on September 13th.

Lincoln Restler at his campaign launch.

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, a rising star in the Democratic Party after winning his June 26th congressional primary, has notably straddled the line between the notoriously factious sides of Brooklyn's Democratic Party. On one side, there is the county's Democratic leader Vito Lopez, and on the other, self-styled reformers who strongly oppose his leadership. And earlier this afternoon, Mr. Jeffries offered his endorsement to one of the biggest thorns in Mr. Lopez's side, District Leader Lincoln Restler, who's locked in a tough battle for reelection in a district he won only by a handful of votes in 2010.

"Over the last two years, Lincoln has demonstrated remarkable drive, energy and creativity in helping to improve the quality of life of people throughout the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill communities," he said in a statement. "We have worked closely together on behalf of public housing residents and he has demonstrated the significant impact a talented, progressive and engaged elected official can have in Brooklyn. I am proud to endorse him for re-election."

Of course, that doesn't mean that Mr. Jeffries is suddenly no longer with Mr. Lopez. He recently offered his endorsement to State Senator Martin Dilan, whose opponent is strongly backed not only by Mr. Restler, but also Lopez foe Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

Lincoln Restler on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall.

The district leader position might be unpaid and little-noticed, but Lincoln Restler continued to prove it can be transformed into a noticeable political force this afternoon. Mr. Restler, fighting for reelection against Kings County Democratic Party-backed Chris Olechowski, managed to muscle out a whole host of notable elected officials to endorse him on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall, including Borough President Marty Markowitz, Congressional Members Nydia Velázquez and Jerry Nadler, and multiple politicians from every level of legislative office.

Each elected official proceeded to march to the podium and praise Mr. Restler, describing him with such terms as "energizer bunny," "rock star," and "breath of fresh air," but it was perhaps State Senator Eric Adams -- an ally of the county Democrats and the most surprising guest in attendance -- who was the most effusive.

"I'm a long believer that although many of us tend to believe that we change lives and change history, the winds of change have never been blown by adults," Mr. Adams said. "They have been blown by young people like Lincoln. All across the globe, they've had the lung capacity to blow the globe in the direction that they want it to go into. So I see Lincoln as taking a deep breath and he's going to exhale and move Brooklyn to the place it ought to be."

"Somewhere in Los Angeles someone is sitting in the stands of Dodger Stadium and saying, 'Darn, I wish I was still in Brooklyn to be where Lincoln Restler is our district leader," he added.

Mr. Adams was hardly the only politician to reference the 28-year old district leader's young age either. Both Mr. Nadler and Mr. Markowitz, veteran politicians in their own right, compared Mr. Restler to a young version of themselves.

"Obviously he's got a style on his own, that's for sure," Mr. Markowitz said of Mr. Restler. "In fact, he reminds me of another relatively short Jewish boy from Brooklyn -- minus the horn-rimmed glasses and a few pounds, that's for sure -- who first ran for office nearly forty years ago."

For his part, Mr. Restler vowed to maintain his reform-minded efforts within the county organization in his next term in office, which he described as pushing for transparency and progressive policies.

"This is a fight worth fighting," he said while noting most people haven't heard of his position. "It's time we have a Brooklyn Democratic Party that makes Brooklynites proud, that reflects our progressive values, and we're going to win this campaign September 13th."

Lincoln Restler at his campaign launch

District Leader Lincoln Restler, set to have one of the most high profile reelection campaigns in the city this September, has raised an impressive $55,000 for his campaign in the first six months of the year. This is despite the fact that the race's victor will hold one of the lowest profile elected positions available: an unpaid seat in the Kings County and state Democratic parties.

The total places him on a path to potentially double the relatively astronomical $60,000 he raised for his 2010 campaign, which he won by a mere 121 votes. Unlike those for legislative elected offices, district leader races often attract no money, but Mr. Restler has gained stature through continuously sprinting from one event to the next, as well as his public opposition to Brooklyn's Democratic leader Vito Lopez.

For his part, Chris Olechowski, Mr. Lopez's candidate running against Mr. Restler this year, hasn't been slouching in his own fundraising either. Mr. Olechowski has raised a very solid $21,000 so far.

No matter how much money Mr. Restler can raise, he's destined to have yet another close race, however. A large percentage of the Democratic primary electorate is a sect in Hasidic Williamsburg loyal to Mr. Lopez's political interests, and Mr. Olechowski may attract additional support from Greenpoint's Polish community.

"He's going to need every penny," one source close to Mr. Restler said when asked about the total, pointing to the fact that Mr. Lopez's candidate in a recent congressional race received most of his votes from the Hasidic community in Mr. Restler's district. "Vito is throwing the full force of the Democratic machine into this district leader race."

Mr. Restler currently has $58,000 on hand in his account.

Lincoln Restler at his campaign launch.

“Look, this election is a whole lot bigger than just one person, especially a little guy like me who needs to stand on this chair,” 28-year-old Lincoln Restler declared as he artificially towered over a packed room at the Brooklyn Winery in Williamsburg a couple of weeks ago. “The machine has their candidate, they’re going to pour all of the resources they’ve got into this district leader race. But, for every hack elected official that they’ve got on payroll, we’re going to have to reach out to 10 of our neighbors.”

The “machine” in this case is the Kings County Democratic Party and its chair, Assemblyman Vito Lopez. Mr. Restler sees his re-election campaign as a critical aspect of the effort to topple what he describes as the corrupt status quo in Mr. Lopez’s organization.

Mr. Restler, who has the honor of holding the obscure position of district leader, is very aware of the fact that despite the lofty rhetoric of his campaign, he’s talking about an unpaid office with few official responsibilities.

“Any elected office, even an elected position you’ve probably never heard of, is a platform to advocate for one’s community,” Mr. Restler said in his speech, still standing on the chair. The crowd rightfully laughed after “you’ve probably never heard of.”

New Yorkers have a hard enough time remembering who represents them at the City Council, State Assembly, State Senate and congressional levels, so the idea of caring about who represents your district on the executive board of the county Democratic organization indeed seems a little laughable on the face of it.

However, Mr. Restler has managed to elevate his position and is often mentioned as a potential challenger for the City Council seat held by Lopez ally and onetime-staffer Steve Levin—and the district leader job is a potential stepping stone. In what some of Mr. Restler's supporters see as an effort to head off such a possibility, Mr. Levin has recruited Community Board 1 chairman Chris Olechowski to run against Mr. Restler for district leader.

“Lincoln challenged somebody else, and now somebody challenged him, and he’s crying all over the place, and I guess you have a right. He’s shooting from the hip at everybody, including me,” Mr. Lopez put it bluntly. “That’s the name of politics. If I didn’t do anything, people would say that’s not an active political organization.”

Before he was elected by the barest of margins in 2010, Mr. Restler was simply an activist who organized on behalf of the Obama campaign in 2008. After the presidential election, Mr. Restler’s allies approached Mr. Lopez about getting involved in his organization.

“He brushed off our interest in getting involved and eventually told us joining the community board was the only way for us to get active in our neighborhoods,” Mr. Restler said of their efforts when we talked last weekend over huevos rancheros on a patio near McCarren Park.

“We decided we wanted to recruit emerging leaders in this borough to run for state committee,” Mr. Restler continued. “And I promise you, we asked smarter, better looking, more dynamic people in the 50th Assembly District to run before me, and when they said no, I eventually stepped up to the plate.”

In that race, he ran against Warren Cohn, the son of the man who held the post for almost three decades prior. The election, which Mr. Restler described as “seriously intense,” had a rather intense conclusion as well: he won by only 121 votes despite raising more than $60,000, a gigantic sum for a district leader race.

The closeness of the race can be attributed to Mr. Lopez’s significant political sway in northern Brooklyn. One of the largest constituencies in the district is Williamsburg’s Hasidic community, where the largest sect consistently delivers a huge bloc of votes to Mr. Lopez’s candidates. Additionally, Mr. Lopez chairs the housing committee in the State Assembly and has a significant amount of electoral influence in public housing projects, creating a favorable environment for allies like Mr. Cohn in 2010, or an unfavorable one for ongoing opponents like Mr. Restler.

Mr. Lopez actually occupies a Bushwick-based district that neighbors Mr. Restler’s current one, but the similarities between the two end there. Mr. Restler fashions himself as Mr. Lopez’s chief antagonist, and he frequently points out that three of the last four heads of the Brooklyn Democratic Party have been indicted for corruption and hints the same may be eventually true for the current leader, thanks to investigations into a large nonprofit Mr. Lopez founded.

And outwardly, the two could hardly be more different. Mr. Lopez—a gruff, 70-year-old man whose large frame can dominate a small room, strikes a marked contrast with horned-rimmed glasses-wearing, brownstone Brooklyn-raised Mr. Restler, whom The New York Times once wrote “looks as if he could play Harry Potter.”

And, of course, in terms of power, they are miles apart. Mr. Restler is one of just a few district leaders who passionately oppose Mr. Lopez’s leadership, and Mr. Lopez is working to defeat several of them, including Mr. Restler, in the voting booth this year.

“I do know that more people respect where Brooklyn is now than they ever did,” Mr. Lopez said, defending his party from criticism. After ticking off a list of additional African-American, Haitian, Russian and Dominican officials elected in the borough during his tenure, Mr. Lopez exclaimed, “Brooklyn is back!”

When it came to Mr. Restler’s faults, Mr. Lopez focused primarily on his fundraising abilities and the wealth of his parents, which he felt had an undemocratic impact in the race. Indeed, Mr. Restler’s father works in private equity and contributed just over $10,000 to his efforts in 2010, a significant portion of his overall sum (Mr. Restler counters this argument by pointing to a plethora of small donations to his campaign).

“Say it’s disgusting,” Mr. Lopez suggested for this story’s focus. “The headline should be: ‘Can Lincoln Restler Buy Another Election?’”

Mr. Restler will undoubtedly need every penny he can get, however, as he faces what all observers think will be an incredibly tight re-election battle. His former apartment and part of his electoral base in Fort Greene were cut out of the seat in this year’s redistricting process, and the Hasidic voting bloc will be an even higher percentage of the overall vote than it was in 2010. And, complicating matters further for the incumbent, he faces a very credible opponent in Mr. Olechowski, who has an impressively deep résumé for a district leader candidate.

“He’s an eminently qualified candidate, he’s been in the neighborhood for many years, over 40 years,” said Councilman Steve Levin, who asked Mr. Olechowski to run. “He has a professional track record in the community.”

And, as supporters of Mr. Olechowski are quick to point out, he has deep ties to the large Polish-American community in Greenpoint in particular.

“The Polish community—you’re not going to write about it—are working to elect the first Polish community leader,” Mr. Lopez said of the race, suggesting Polish political empowerment should be the focus of this article instead of Mr. Restler’s re-election efforts. “They’re really caught up in his candidacy.”

Mr. Olechowski also heavily framed the election as a way to encourage the typically apolitical Polish community to participate more in civic life, citing the cause as his campaign’s raison d’etre.

“I found it as an opportunity to energize and empower ... the Greenpoint community, which really doesn’t have a very good track record of voting in local elections,” he explained. “I thought that there’s a constituency that I’ve been involved with for many, many years, people in the Polish community especially, that I would really like to challenge myself to get them to vote—and not only vote for me because I’m running, after all, for an unpaid political position.”

He declined to overly criticize the incumbent, simply saying he hasn’t heard much from Mr. Restler during his short tenure in office.

“I don’t know what Lincoln has really done,” he opined. “I know he’d like to do a lot of things, but I know a lot of people who would like to do a lot of things. I think the question is: what have you done?”

Mr. Lopez described Mr. Restler’s record in less charitable terms, suggesting Mr. Restler’s primary role is that of an acolyte of another one of his rivals, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez.

“Tell me what he’s done,” he said. “Nydia doesn’t represent much of that area, and he’s up her butt—and that’s fine. He’s right next to me as a leader, and we’ve never met, and he doesn’t want to meet.”

For his part, Mr. Restler and his supporters ticked off a long list of tangible things he’s played a role in, including helping to bring a new supermarket into Fort Greene and organizing the initial petition efforts for maintaining the G-Train service on the southern extension of its route.

The irony, of course, is that despite all the talk of accomplishment, district leaders aren’t really supposed to be doing things. Indeed, Mr. Restler’s touted record largely consists of things unrelated to his office’s perfunctory duties. Nevertheless, he insists that the platform of the position is not only important to deliver results but central to his efforts to eventually expand his reform coalition beyond its current base in gentrifying and upscale neighborhoods in northern Brooklyn.

“I can help lead that effort, as an elected leader, as I would never be able to contribute to from the outside,” Mr. Restler said. “Moreover, every day that I’m sitting there at an executive committee meeting, I demonstrate to people, to Brooklynites, this man who is so feared can be beat.”

Mr. Lopez, unsurprisingly, was less than impressed with Mr. Restler’s desire to fundamentally change the course for the local Democratic Party.

“Does that help build the Democratic organization, does that give energy to Democratic candidates throughout the borough?” he asked. “Infighting does no one any good.”

ccampbell@observer.com

Lincoln Restle, standing on a chair, prepares to give his speech

At the Brooklyn Winery in Williamsburg last night, Democratic District Leader Lincoln Restler packed a room full of supporters and announced his reelection campaign. Mr. Restler has carved out a higher profile of an office he admitted is "an elected position that you've probably never heard of" by being a public thorn in Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez's side, which he continued doing in his kick-off speech.

"Here in Brooklyn, we have had an old-school political machine that's controlled politics in this borough longer than any of us have been around," he said. "Three of the four last ... leaders of the Brooklyn Democratic Party have been indicted on charges of corruption, the current boss is under multiple federal investigations."

And, while stressing issues like the need to preserve affordable housing in a rapidly gentrifying, northern Brooklyn district, Mr. Restler embraced his own vulnerability.

"Last time we won by the narrowest of margins, 121 votes, a margin less than the number of people in this room right now, and this time, it's going to be just as close," he said. "They're doing everything they can to take us out."

Indeed, it looks like Mr. Restler will be directly challenged this year. His main opponent will probably be a well-connected community board chair, Chris Olechowski, with ties to Greenpoint's Polish community and the firm backing of the local City Councilman, Steve Levin.

Another thing that will work in "their" favor, Mr. Restler said (rhetorically making his opponent the Democratic establishment rather than Mr. Olechowski), is Mr. Lopez's ties to the larger sect of Hasidic voters in Williamsburg, who constitute a large portion of the Democratic primary electorate in this district.

"They've got a big bloc of votes down in Williamsburg that we can't touch," he said. "Last time around, we won 79% of the vote outside of the Jewish community in Williamsburg. And this time, we're going to have to win by a bigger margin. We'll have to bring out even more voters."

"But standing up to entrenched political power is never easy," he said, clearly ready to make his election a referendum on the powers that be.