Budget + Taxes

How would you prioritize these elements of or changes to the city's contracting and spending processes?

1: Living wage requirements for city contracts, with cost of living adjustments (COLAs).
2: A Database of Deals for all economic development projects.
2: Minority and women owned business enterprises (MWBE) programs.
3: Council and borough president discretionary funding process.
3: Greater limits and oversight for campaign donations for companies and individuals who contract with the city.
3: Participatory budgeting at the executive level.
3: Participatory budgeting for all council members and borough presidents.

Which proposals would you support to change or study changes to the city's tax system?

• Constitute a new tax commission to study and make recommendations on tax rates.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address the budget and taxes in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

we need better more responsible and visibly transparent usage of city funds on all levels

Workers + Economic Development

How would you improve jobs for CITY employees?

• Improve evaluations and disciplinary processes
• Limit outsourcing of city jobs
• Constitute a new commission to study and make recommendations on this issue, give more security and all around support to all workers

How would you prioritize creating and protecting job opportunities for NON-CITY employees?

1: Change street vendor permit rules, such as the Street Vendor Modernization Act.
1: Expand job placement services for veterans.
1: Expand transitional jobs programs for the homeless and formerly incarcerated.
1: Provide workers with the right to advance notice of schedules, greater flexibility of scheduling, and access to full-time hours.
1: Support training programs to bring workers into emerging sectors.
3: Expand summer youth employment.

How do you rank these initiatives to spur economic development throughout the city?

1: Develop ports and waterfront jobs.
1: Develop the technology sector, including campuses such as Cornell, and incubators for the sector as a whole.
1: Support film and TV productions, including in the form of credits.
1: Support manufacturing expansion and protection.
2: Reform of Scaffold Law (requires change to state law).
3: Support the sharing economy.
4: Implement Midtown East Rezoning.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address workers and economic development in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Transportation + Infrastructure

How would you prioritize upgrading NYC's aging infrastructure?

1: Rail and bus service
1: Roads and bridges
1: Water and sewer system
2: Airports
2: Gas lines

How would you prioritize proposals to address transportation and mobility in NYC? (Note that many of these proposals require state level advocacy.)

1: Increased funding for Access-A-Ride and ADA compliance for subway stations
2: Bus Rapid Transit
2: Ferry Service
2: Increased Ride Hailing
2: LaGuardia AirTrain
3: Brooklyn to Queens Streetcar
3: Half-price fares for working adults at or below the poverty line
3: Second Avenue Subway Phase 2
3: Triboro RX Subway Extension
5: Bike Lanes Expansion
5: CitiBike Expansion

Many subway riders - and associated MTA data - would argue that subway service is getting worse. At the same time, city and state officials disagree about who is responsible for fixing the system and paying the bills. What proposals would you advance to improve the subways and their governance?

• Audit MTA finances, including contracts with vendors and maintenance costs, to find opportunities for savings
• Develop mechanisms for community input in MTA spending plans
• Get more NYC representatives on the MTA board - and seek state approval to accomplish this change
• Move the MTA, or its NYC-specific services, within NYC control - and seek state approval to accomplish this change.

cm-subway-yes

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address transportation and infrastructure in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

put more emphasis of tracking on all money obtained and used by MTA

Land Use + Real Estate + Housing

As a council member you'd have influence over land use decisions and the process for decision-making in your district, and competing concerns may arise in the process. How would you rank various land use priorities as you make these decisions?

1: Increase affordable housing units.
1: Keep/grow community spaces, including parks and gardens.
1: Keep/grow small businesses, including mom and pop retailers.
1: Make sure development and zoning is in line with a DISTRICT-wide land use plan.
1: Preserve landmarks and/or institute neighborhood review to recommend which landmarks matter most.
2: Expand infrastructure, such as transportation and utility capacity, at pace with the increase in housing units.
2: Increase market rate housing units.
3: Expand classroom seats at pace with the increase in housing units.
3: Expand presence of chain and big-box retailers.
3: Increase luxury units.
3: Limit building heights to stay close to those of surrounding buildings.
3: Make sure development and zoning is in line with a BOROUGH-wide land use plan.
3: Make sure development and zoning is in line with a CITY-wide land use plan.

Do you support any of these proposals to reform ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure)?

• Increase transparency and refine procedures before ULURP applications are filed and/or during the certification stage
• Make community board input binding, rather than advisory
• Make borough president input binding, rather than advisory
• Change the ratio of mayoral appointees to the City Planning Commission, or change the term lengths or limits of commissioners
• Increase oversight of community benefits agreements between developers, community groups, and government officials - and make them enforceable.

What proposals do you support to address housing costs?

• Preserve affordable housing units by subsidizing physical repairs to property
• Preserve affordable housing through financing arrangements with owners, ie tax subsidies
• Establish a commission and take suggestions

Which proposals do you support to change the city’s homelessness service delivery?

• Increase accessibility of shelters to those with disabilities
• Offer permanent supportive housing with links to social services to address mental illness and other health issues
• Remove the programization of people by allowing them complete assistance to get to a point of self sustainability and develop a committee to develop suggestions and recommendations

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address land use, real estate, and housing in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

i look to unite my community and those in charge of community organizations to negotiate better dealings and contracts with each other while allowing revenue, growth,safety, and love of the neighbourhood remain the priority

Environment + Sanitation

What proposals do you support to address the environment and environmental justice in the city?

• Expand green infrastructure to prevent storm runoff
• Expand green energy usage for public facilites, such as solar and natural gas
• Increase transparency of facilities siting through online publication of Fair Share Statements and mapping of facilities
• Update the city's Fair Share criteria, and reform the city's statement of needs process for siting of facilities
• Tax credits for private green energy usage, such as solar and natural gas.

How do you prioritize proposals to improve NYC's waste management?

1: Improve education about residents' role in waste management.
1: Increase compost collection sites.
1: Increase e-waste recycling facilities.
1: Recycle styrofoam.
3: Expand commercial waste zones.
I do not support this initiative: “Pay as you throw” charging for collection of waste other than recycled materials, similar to charges for utilities and water (estimated to raise $337 million annually, by the Independent Budget Office).

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address the environment and sanitation in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Public Health + Safety

What public health and safety issues do you believe are in most need of addressing?

1: Access to healthy food.
1: Community-police relations.
1: Emergency preparedness.
1: Epidemic of addiction, including opiates.
1: Funding for safety net hospitals.
1: Integrity and proper management of buildings and construction inspections.
1: Keeping hospitals and emergency care in neighborhoods.
I do not believe this is a health/safety issue: Continuing sanctuary city policies.

What do you think is the greatest health, safety, or emergency preparedness challenge facing NYC, how does it impact your district, and how would you address it?

mental health is a huge issue in my district and city and it has not been appropriately acknowledged as such. the lack of free time available to people which causes them to become inactive or overburdened with work which can lead to weakness, stress, and obesity, and funding issues community hospitals are facing that need to be addressed.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address public health and safety in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

better more precise policies and guidelines need to be created by organizations to help allow proper powers to be given and transparent while keeping people safe and comfortable.

Education + Children + Youth

How would you rank the significance of these alleged problems in NYC schools?

1: Class sizes are too big.
1: Not enough classrooms and/or seats.
1: Parental involvement mechanisms, such as Community Education Councils, need strengthening.
1: Restrictive environment for children with disabilities.
1: Too much student testing.
1: Too much testing to measure student and/or teacher performance.
2: Student achievement gaps based on race and income.
3: Inadequate racial and ethnic diversity.

What solutions would you advance to solve the problems you marked in the previous question?

develop a better system that will allow students to learn more efficently

Where do you stand on charter schools?

• The number of charter schools should be expanded
• Charter schools offer students great educational opportunities that they wouldn't have otherwise
• They should be co-located with public schools.

Should the city subsidize any of these services for children and their families?

• Universal free school lunch
• Expanded alternative education/GED programming
• Longer library hours
• After-school programming for all students
• More youth employment and apprenticeship opportunities.

What proposals do you support to ensure the safety of children under the purview of the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) in the foster care and juvenile justice systems?

• Caseload reductions of front-line workers
• Increased resources for parent and family advocacy in navigating these systems
• Increased oversight, beyond court-appointed monitor
• Increased use of city council's oversight authority.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address the children, youth, and education in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Arts + Parks

Which proposals do you support regarding arts and cultural institutions and initiatives in NYC?

• Increase the city's overall arts budget
• Increase funding for small and/or community-based arts and cultural organizations
• Increase funding and/or partnerships for art and music education in schools
• Allow the city's cultural institutions that have free admissions - such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art - to charge admissions for non-city residents
• Improve education and/or ease requirements for applications for cultural funding, while ensuring integrity and proper use of funds.

What proposals do you support regarding the management and funding of city parks?

• Give the Parks Department its own discretionary budget, to give parks discretionary funds that are separate from those distributions from council members
• Redistribute privately donated funds from well-financed to lower-financed parks conservancies
• Standardize financial data reporting from private partnerships that care for parks - such as the Central Park Conservancy and Prospect Park Alliance
• Institute shadow laws to prevent parks from losing sunlight because of shadows from new, tall buildings.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address arts and parks in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Constituent Groups' Needs

The city offers services to address constituent needs - how would you address funding for these services?
Increase funding:

• Additional staff, including social workers, for senior centers.
• Extended hours at senior centers.
• Additional meals at senior centers.
• Education regarding availability of Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE).
• Education regarding availability of Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE).
• Education regarding availability of evaluations for Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for students with disabilities.
• Education and job training for individuals with disabilities.
• Drug abuse and addiction services.
• Mental health training for city employees.
• Department of Veterans Services.

Fine as is:

• LGBTQ community centers.
• Housing for homeless LGBTQ, particularly youth.
• Sexual health/HIV and AIDs services.

Decrease funding:

• (Candidate didn't select answers in this category)

Do you support any of these changes to NYC's human rights law?

• Prohibit employer retaliation if an employee requests a "reasonable accommodation on the basis of a religious observance, disability, pregnancy, childbirth, medical condition, or their status as a victim of domestic violence, a sex offense or stalking, among other possible reasons" (City Council Intro 1479)
• Clarify which employees are protected by the human rights law, including interns and particular independent contractors (City Council Intro 1016).

NYC provides a variety of services and information to immigrants, but not always in the languages spoken by the city's many immigrant communities. In which of these areas do you believe the city should provide resources in more languages?

• Health care
• Educational and youth services
• Senior services.

The current city budget supports funding for legal services for immigrants facing deportation. What do you think about that?

it should be a condition that upon receiving legal services acknowledgement of citizenship becoming a future requirement for services to remain funded and user remain uncharged..

Women make up half of the population, but are slated to make up less than one-third of the NYC Council's next class. Do you think this is a problem? And if so, what would you do about it?

before running i actually sought to back a female candidate and be her campaign manager but found no one reasonable/acceptable enough to do so, which caused me to become running candidate and my own manager. i saw the need for more female representation and hope more do come out to run for office.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address the needs of constituent groups in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Policing + Criminal Justice

Which of these strategies do you think NYC should implement to prevent crimes?

• Reduce youth exposure to violence
• Invest in education and workforce development for young New Yorkers, to steer them away from making money through criminal activity
• Strengthen partnerships between the police, government entities, and community organization working with at-risk youths.

Which of these proposals do you support to change policies of the New York Police Department (NYPD)?

• Improve existing oversight structures such as the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) and Inspector General
• Pass the Right to Know Act, which requires police officers to identify themselves and the reason for the interaction, and obtain fully informed consent before conducting searches
• Publish data regarding when the Police Commissioner declines to discipline or reduces recommended penalties for officers, particularly for use of force cases
• Release incident level and geographically-coded data on summonses and misdemeanor arrests
• Assess NYPD's quality-of-life policing tactics in terms of reduction of higher-level felony crimes.

Which of these proposals do you support to address pretrial detention, case processing, and trials for criminal defendants?

• Simplify the process to pay bail
• Develop risk assessment tools to measure defendant's possible risk of re-offense, violence, and domestic violence
• Institute best practices to manage the timeline of criminal cases, including triage for cases likely to go to trial and speedy resolution of other cases, courts monitoring the timelines of cases, and holding attorneys accountable for moving cases along
• Use specialized courts that deliver services to address recidivism and provide alternative justice models, such as Community, Youth, Reentry, Drug, and/or Mental Health Courts.

If Rikers Island were to close, where do you think a jail should be sited in your borough, how would you discuss this with your constituents, and what do you think should be the use of Rikers Island?

i dont agree with closing Rikers. it should be all around updated to be better efficient.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address policing and criminal justice in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Government Structures

How do you think NYC's system of checks and balances is working?

• New Yorkers are not appropriately represented by their elected officials
• Elections are not enough to keep government accountable
• The mayor's office has too much power and the other branches of government cannot adequately counteract or check it
• strict party allegiance is whats causing the corruption to persist in the city, rather then being for the whole community and city they cater more to party narrative and special interest groups.

How would you fix NYC government's system of checks and balances and keep officials accountable to the public?

• Give the public advocate more powers, such as power to issue subpoenas and prosecute officials' violations of the city charter
• Change COIB and DOI leadership appointments, so that they are not only appointed by the mayor but also by other branches of government that check the mayor and the city's agencies, such as the city council, public advocate, and/or comptroller
• Have the city council review COIB and DOI internal rules, procedures, and findings
• Conduct an extensive review of the city charter to balance and update government structures
• Build on NYC's OpenRECORDS by publishing documents in response to Freedom of Information Law requests.

Over the past several years, NYC has developed an Open Data Plan and has been releasing datasets about select city services and operations to the public through the Open Data Portal. Is there any data about city services or operations that you think should or must still be shared with New Yorkers?

all city organizations data should be available to see by new yorker

All cities, including NYC, are "municipal corporations" of state government - and state law dictates what authority cities have over their own government and operations. State law limits NYC government's control over rent regulation (Urstadt Law), mayoral control of city schools, transportation and traffic (the MTA and subways, bridge tolls, and speed cameras and speed limits). As a council member, how would you deal with state government when it gets in the way of your city policy goals?

• Meet with state legislators, the governor, and other state officials to collaboratively find solutions
• Protest with other council members and constituents in Albany
• Battle it out with state officials in the press
• Sue the state
• Develop public-private partnerships and other solutions outside of the law
• Meet with officials from other cities in NY state, to collectively change municipal home rule to expand cities' self control.

In 2016, the NYC Council voted to remove special stipends for chairs of council committees (which had been used as a political tool by the council speaker), while giving all council members a raise from $112,500 to $148,500 - the raise was signed into law by the mayor. If elected, how would you handle this issue if it comes up again?

• Advocate for legislation that requires salaries of council members to be tied to inflation and/or median income.

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address government structures and accountability in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

Elections + Campaign Finance

Where do you stand on these proposals to change voting and municipal elections in NYC?
Support - and would like to be prime sponsor on this legislation:

• Nonpartisan elections

Support:

• Instant runoff voting
• Expand use of poll workers working shorter shifts (less than the current 15 hour shifts)

Oppose:

• Extend the vote to permanent residents
• Extend the vote to non-citizens who have applied and are waiting for green cards
• Extend the vote to non-citizens who have been lawfully present for a specified period of time
• Extend the vote to all non-citizens, including undocumented residents

Not sure:

• (Candidate didn't select answers in this category)

Should these elements of the public matching system be higher or lower?
Make it higher:

• Contribution limit ($2,750 for council candidates)
• Doing business contribution limit ($250 for council candidates)

Good as is:

• Threshold of donors to participate in public matching system (75 for council candidates)
• Spending limits in years prior to the election year ($49,000 for council candidates)
• Spending limits in the primary election ($182,000 for council candidates)
• Spending limits in the general election ($182,000 for council candidates)
• Maximum public funds payment ($100,100 for council candidates)

Make it lower:

• Threshold of funds raised to participate in public matching system ($5,000 for council candidates)

Not sure:

• (Candidate didn't select answers in this category)

What do you think about the role of bundlers in raising campaign funds, lobbyists making donations, and nonprofits of elected officials taking donations from lobbyists?

fine as is but is why caps and assistance should be given more to those that do not have the same capabilities

Please use this space if you'd like to share any other thoughts and proposals to address elections and campaign finance in NYC, or expand your answers to the questions on this topic.

public tv commercial advertising should be given and restricted evenly amongst candidates of same office, to keep exposure fair and cause candidates to be more publicly present in the community to achieve more recognition and advertisement