|
|
|
ON THE ISSUES
|
|
|
AFFORDABLE
HOUSING & DEVELOPMENT
The preservation of viable living space in our city is an issue that
has always been close to my heart. As an owner and provider of
affordable housing, I recognize the challenges that face our city’s
tenants and understand what it means to be a responsible landlord. I
believe this is a moral issue, one I will use all my efforts to
champion once in Albany. As a
lifelong Democrat dedicated to
community service, I am proud of my record of concrete achievements
that have directly benefited New York’s citizens: As chair of the
Health and Social Service Committee of Community Board 2, I secured 107
units of housing for seniors. I was also responsible for nearly 400
affordable apartments for both seniors and working families. And I was
instrumental in the conversion of the Times Plaza Hotel from a center
of social dysfunction into a model of lower-income supported
dwellings.
As Senator, I will continue to fight to:
- Return Home Rule to New York City by repealing the Urstadt
law, which
has been used to exploit and abuse tenants for years
- Impose an 80% tax on Mitchell-Lama housing buy-outs, taking
away the incentive for owners to privatize this valuable program
- Stimulate more affordable housing development by restricting
421-A tax incentives to those developers who allot 30% of their
production to low-income units
- Strengthen tenant associations and empower the city’s
residents through
workforce development, landlord / tenant mediation, and project-based
Section 8 Organizing
- Challenge the decontrol of rents over $2000 and eliminate
the illegal
sign-offs on fraudulent demolitions by the State Division of Housing
and Community Renewal
- Achieve equal rights for gay and lesbian tenants
- Oppose plans to build private housing on public land in
Brooklyn Bridge
Park
- Put an end to inappropriate development and land grabs by
greedy
developers
REFORM
In
recent years I have witnessed the steady erosion of democratic ideals
concerning equal justice and our government's failure to insure a level
playing field. Some of our local politicians have all but
abandoned our core values and seem to pay little more than lip service
to our community interests and needs of families throughout the
city.
Campaign finance reform goes to the heart of these issues. Until we
truly democratize our democracy, we will be stuck with entrenched
incumbents who have little interest in serving the needs of the voters.
We need Albany reforms that reduce the influence of lobbyists and
special interests, returning the power of government to ordinary
citizens.
 As
Senator, I will be an unwavering advocate for these reforms:
- I will support an independent redistricting commission like
that found
in Iowa, which would level the playing field between candidates and
open our elections to increased competition. Currently, our
jerrymandered districts show more interest in the job security of the
incumbent than the concerns of the voters
- I will fight for campaign finance reform. We need
legislation that will
lower the state's campaign contribution limits and provide public
financing to viable challengers, so that the incumbency does not
continue to constitute an insurmountable advantage
- I will support a true ethics reform law that will strengthen
bans on
personal use of campaign contributions and restrict campaign
contributions from lobbyists receiving government contracts
EDUCATION
I have always believed that there is no better insurance policy for the
future of a community than the education of its children. That is why I
created a scholarship program for talented students at a local
conservatory, and why I have made the improvement of our school system
a central issue in my campaign. Every child in New York deserves a
strong education, including smaller class sizes, qualified teachers,
and adequate funding to meet the needs of the underprivileged.
As Senator, I will make education a priority by working to:
- Release the billions in education dollars courts have
ordered be paid
to New York City
- Increase state funding for after-school programs such as
Advantage
After-School and Extended Day/School Violence Prevention
- Provide universal pre-Kindergarten education
- Emphasize core skills of English, Math and Social Sciences
and put a
renewed focus on creative expression through music and art
- Streamline the education bureaucracy to actively and
creatively recruit
talented new teachers
HEALTH CARE
In a society as prosperous and a culture as vibrant as our own, it
should not even be a question that the health care of all citizens is
provided for. I am committed to the creation of a public health
insurance program that will provide affordable, comprehensive coverage
to all residents of New York, and will not rest until we realize this
goal.
As Senator, I will work tirelessly to:
- Provide health care to the uninsured
- Ensure a woman's right to emergency contraception
- Continue State funding through Medicaid of abortion services
- Support legislation to simplify enrollment in Medicaid
- Support the creation of a Prescription Drug Assistance
Program to help
reduce the cost of prescription drugs to those lacking coverage
ENVIRONMENT
I have dedicated my professional career to the protection of the
environment, working tirelessly through the years to find new ways we
as New Yorkers can protect our health, save resources, and cut
pollution.
Throughout my career, I have been an early supporter and longtime
proponent of policies to better the quality of life in our city and
state. As Chair of the Brooklyn Solid Waste Advisory Board, I helped
pressure the Bloomberg Administration to restore recycling and promoted
plans to drastically reduce solid waste over the next 15 years. I
successfully negotiated with a major car company to supply
non-polluting electric vehicles to parks and not-for-profits free of
charge. And I will continue to work for improvements in our
environmental standards, fighting for cleaner air, cleaner water, and
cleaner energy.
As Senator, I will build my agenda around these issues:
- Fight to protect upstate industries through the development
of
inexpensive, non-polluting, renewable energy
- Ensure New York becomes a leader in environmental
stewardship,
preserving our resources, promoting new industries, and rebuilding our
cities with sustainable materials
- Convert New York from a polluting, truck-based economy into
a more
efficient model that takes advantage of rail and shipping to transport
goods
- Promote policies that improve air quality. We can
achieve our
goal of a healthier New York by reducing stationary sources of
pollution, revising building codes to prohibit the use of toxic
construction materials, and revising truck routes to remove them from
residential areas
- Reclaim brownfield properties and require clean-up of the
sites by
those responsible for the pollution
- Implement new conservation measures such as wind power and
solar
installations, preventing the construction of new power plants in poor
minority communities
- Increase the City Parks Department operating budget.
|
|
|
|
Design by Joe Moran and Maintained by Rawlings
Political
|
|
|
