Newsline - April 2009

About 500 “early birds” gathered at 8 a.m. on April 18 in the Hilton New York Hotel to do their part in changing the future of this city for the better. Shop stewards, members, retirees, union staffers, and friends were guests of 237’s first-ever Political Forum. Also in attendance were the NYC Press Corps, the Daily News and NBC and CBS News. The event provided a private preview of city candidates for mayor, comptroller and public advocate, who addressed union members and answered their questions.

“We came here because we care about this city,” affirmed President Gregory Floyd in his welcoming remarks.“As the largest Teamster Local in the nation, it is our obligation to lead. We worked tirelessly to get Obama elected, and we did.”

Floyd assured the audience that 237’s voting muscle is flexed for city elections in November, when we will work tirelessly again to elect worker friendly candidates.

New York City Candidates Forum

The forum was moderated by Errol Louis, host of “The Morning Show,” WWRL Radio, and columnist for the New York Daily News, who also broadcast segments of the forum on his radio program following the event.

Following are highlights of the candidates’ comments:

Mayoral Candidates

William C. Thompson Jr., New York City comptroller, recalled that he was the underdog in 2001, but was elected to the post because “I h237 with me!” He had 237 with him again in 2007 when President Floyd joined him in the Save Our Homes Initiative, providing help to homeowners facing foreclosure.

“We realized then that the first people to lose their homes were African Americans and Latinos,” said Thompson, who attended our May 1 rally at City Hall last year to protest cuts in public housing funds. He noted that he and Patricia Stryker, Local 237 trustee and chair of the Candidates Political Forum, both members of the board of NYCERS, have pressed the board for greater investment in affordable housing. He said that more has been invested in the past seven years than in the last 20 years.

The Brooklyn born son of two civil-service workers and a product of public school education, Thompson says he wants to be “a mayor for all New Yorkers.” To that end he plans to focus on small business, growing jobs, and progressive tax increases for the wealthy. “Working New Yorkers need someone to stand up for us,” said Thompson. Referring to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who passed up the opportunity to address Local 237 members,Thompson said, “How do you beat the richest person in New York? With you!”

New York City Candidates Forum

 Tony Avella, a city councilman representing Bayside, Whitestone and College Point, said he would be “a hands-on mayor,” who will attend negotiations.

“There should never be a situation where a union goes years without a contract,” said Avella, who also called for eliminating waste in government, and proposed two alternative sources of revenue for the city. One is legalized sports betting, which may generate between $15 and $20 billion a year. “I’m not encouraging gambling,” he said, “but all of this money is now going to organized crime.” The other is to bill people who cause damage to city property.

Comptroller Candidates

David Yassky, a city councilman representing Brooklyn neighborhoods including Brooklyn Heights, Greenpoint and Williamsburg, said, “I know how to use tools.” He said he would fight for additional stimulus funds for public housing; invest in pension funds to stimulate the local economy, seek diversified industries to boost the city’s economy, and enact a plan, which he credited Comptroller Thompson for, to add an extra charge to car registration fees to boost the MTA.

John Liu, a city councilman representing Northeast Queens, including Flushing and Kissena Park, said that as comptroller he would “be on top of the numbers, but it’s people we rely on to keep our schools and hospitals safe.”

Previously a manager at Price Waterhouse with a math physics degree, Liu notes his experience is “as fiscal as it gets.” He says he will use it to look at all developer deals that did not deliver jobs and affordable housing as promised.

Liu also would reform the city’s practice ofbilling NYCHA for services private buildings get for free. When asked if he would question workers when conducting an audit as comptroller, the Taiwan-born councilman replied that he held more oversight hearings inviting public employees to testify than any other councilmember. Candidates for Public Advocate

Bill de Blasio, a city councilman representing Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Borough Park, Carroll Gardens, and Park Slope, served in the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton. He was also Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager in her successful run for the U.S. Senate.

De Blasio emphasized that he is “passionate about child care,” adding, “if city workers have child care, they will be more productive.” He also noted “a major imbalance of power in the city,” where layoffs are part of continued efforts to reduce a union’s former power. “Layoffs should be a scandal,” he said. He also called the NYCHA budget a scandal, and credited Floyd as “one of the first to call attention to it.”

New York City Candidates Forum

 Norman Siegel, a civil rights attorney and former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, called for “freedom, justice and equality for all,” adding, “I love shaking it up….That’s what an advocate does.”

Siegel proposed more activism, saying he was involved in a protest against Yankee Stadium’s use of Bronx parkland. He said “We should have acted” when Mayor Michael Bloomberg extended his bid for a third term without a referendum.

Mark Green, a Brooklyn-born lawyer, author and commentator, was elected the first public advocate for New York City in 1993, and was re-elected in 1997.

“I’m back seeking a position I love,” said the president of Air America Radio, a familiar face on TV talk shows.

Green brings strong name recognition to the race and narrowly lost his bid for mayor against Bloomberg in 2001. “I help people who can’t hire big lawyers,” he said, underscoring that he did the first investigation of NYCHA elevators breaking down.

Eric Gioia, a city councilman who represents communities in Queens, an area which includes NYCHA complexes in Ravenswood,Woodside and Queensbridge, said his commitment “is personal.”

Gioia grew up in Woodside and was the first family member to graduate from college. “I know what it’s like to struggle,” said the son of a Woodside florist. “People in public housing are too often ignored,” he said, adding that as public advocate he will “take action.”

He set off some fireworks when he told Mark Green, “I don’t hold it against you that you’re wealthy, but it’s offensive when you look at this audience and pretend that you have any idea what they’re going through, because you don’t.” Green shot back that it was a “petty personal attack,” adding, “I think it’s odd.”

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