Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Aleda Gagarin for City Council District 29

Candidate Name: Aleda Gagarin

Office Seeking Election for: City Council District 29

Explain, based on life experiences and accomplishments, why you believe you are best qualified to represent your district

I am a Queer mother of three raising my family in district 29, a nonprofit leader responsible for negotiating and securing resources for my organization, a local CYO youth coach, and activist and community organizer. I have an urban planning degree with a focus on community advocacy, the knowledge and skillset to make effective change, and deep ties to the movement for social justice to hold myself and my colleagues in the Council accountable. My political philosophy is rooted in a deep sense of community and the belief that our liberation is bound. My campaign has the broadest, most diverse coalition of support in my district. Our supporters and volunteers are diverse across race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, age, economic status, and even political spectrum. My experience in community building and organizing has helped me build this coalition, and is reflective of my ability to bring folks in the community together to make real, lasting change. I’ve also earned key endorsements from The Working Families Party, Assemblymember Ron Kim, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, and the Kew Gardens Preservation Alliance, who all support our vision for a just and sustainable NYC, and believe in our ability to do it. We are facing crises across public health, housing, the economy and the environment the likes of which we have never seen. We need big, bold change and someone capable of building the movement needed to support it. We also have a unique opportunity to reimagine what it means to be a New Yorker, and how we take care of each other. This is not a time for incremental change or the status quo. I have the background in urban planning, advocacy, political activism, community organizing, fighting for resources, budget negotiation, and policy needed to work effectively and build power for the radical change we need to ensure that all New Yorkers can live a dignified life.

Please identify any openly LGBTQ candidate for public office you have previously or presently endorsed?

I was a volunteer for Tiffany Cabán’s race for District Attorney, and couldn’t have been more excited to give her whatever time and resources I could. I supported her transformational vision of ending the carceral system, and while I’m not technically making cross-endorsements as a candidate, I continue to be supportive of her campaign as a friend and a WFP slate mate, and am excited to work with her in City Hall.

If applicable, what legislation directly affecting the LGBTQ community have you introduced or co-sponsored? (indicate accordingly)

n/a

What LGBTQ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?

I was a state senate district leader for Marriage Equality New York and worked hard to organize locally in support of marriage equality. I have spent my entire career working towards racial, economic, and social justice, all three of which are inextricably tied to LGBTQIA+ liberation. This summer I had the privilege of marching alongside Revolting Lesbians as part of the coalition working to defund the NYPD.

Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQ community?

Yes.

Have you marched in Pride? Which marches and for approximately how many years?

I marched with all three of my kids with Immigration Equality at Pride in 2019, and brought them to Pride in 2018. I've attended various Pride events in my life.

Have you employed openly LGBTQ individuals previously? Do you employ any currently?

Yes and yes.

What press conferences, demonstrations, rallies and protests in support of LGBT issues, pro-choice legislation, criminal justice issues and the Resist Trump Movement have you attended?

I’ve marched in support of Black Lives many times over the past year, and was arrested along with my Director of Finance while marching with Black Lives Matter back in 2014, so this involvement is not new. I have marched and demonstrated multiple times with coalitions working to defund NYPD. I have marched with my family against ICE and family separation. I have marched against Trump and his policies, rallied to tax the rich. I have marched and rallied against the racist Flushing Rezoning as a member of the FEDUP Flushing coalition, and have been present at local district BLM gatherings. As an activist and community organizer, demonstrations, rallies and marches and direct action are deeply important to me.

Have you ever been arrested? If so please explain why and outcome of arrest.

Yes. I marched with a friend of mine in the aftermath of Eric Garner, at a Black Lives Matter protest when the officer who murdered him was not indicted. We took over the streets throughout Manhattan, and sat in protest outside of Rockefeller Center to disrupt the tree lighting. I was willing to be arrested as an act of solidarity, but when I saw NYPD cuff Natalie first, I was eager to be arrested with her. Because Natalie is a Black woman, I was deeply worried for her safety, and wanted to be with her. We spent a cold night in jail, and were released the following day. We’ve continued marching together and doing work in activist spaces, and she is now my finance director, and one of the women of color who asked me to run.

Do you commit to visiting constituents who are incarcerated in state prisons and city jails?

Yes, I am committed to visiting my incarcerated constituents and learning from them. I am also committed to dismantling the system of mass incarceration. We can take steps in the right direction by working with the state to decriminalize all drug possession, decriminalize sex work and decriminalize “quality of life” issues such as gambling or fare evasion. I am committed to working with the state to fully and completely eliminate cash bail, so our residents aren’t waiting in jail for their court date. And I am committed to both closing Rikers and working to not build new jails, and using those resources to invest in harm reduction and healthy communities. Healthy communities are safe communities. If we accomplish the above steps, there will be far fewer incarcerated individuals who need visiting in the first place.

Will you affirmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals?

Yes.

Describe your legislative and policy vision for combatting systemic racism

My platform understands that ultimately there is no single issue, and that dismantling white supremacy and systemic racism involves putting equity at the center of every policy platform. That’s why my education platform demands that we implement culturally responsive education and desegregate our school system, why my housing platform is based on deeply, permanently affordable housing and includes a moratorium on racist rezonings until we have a comprehensive city plan, and my climate platform focuses on the disproportionate share of noxious industry in black and brown communities. In every policy proposal we build, dismantling racism is present.

Will you not seek, and refuse, the endorsement of Bill de Blasio?

Yes.

In view of the fact that Ed Koch has been documented to have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people with AIDS, and was blatantly racist, would you support and sponsor a bill to rename the former Queensboro Bridge?

Yes.

What is your position on removing the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle and if so, what should replace it?

I support removing it. Not only should we be removing that statue, but we also need to rename anything that has his name attached, such as Columbus Ave in Manhattan. We need to abolish Columbus Day as a holiday and officially make it Indigenous People’s Day. While these gestures in and of themselves will never make up for the history of terror and colonization on this land, they are important first steps. In terms of what can replace the Columbus statue, I would want to hear from the indigenous communities in New York. Something that commemorates Lenape heritage of this land is the general framework I would seek, but the specific answer would need democratic input.

Will you refuse contributions from real estate developers and all law enforcement unions or associations?

Yes.

Do you support reducing the budget of the NYPD and if so, by how much?

I fully support reducing the NYPD's budget. Much of it is government waste and goes towards harming our neighbors and communities. Many police officers don’t even live in New York City, and we cannot divorce the threat of laying off 22,000 of our own municipal workers, who not only keep our city running but actually live here, from a bloated NYPD budget. NYPD should not be able to blow through overtime, we should not spend a quarter of a billion dollars a year on misconduct lawsuits, and we should not be militarizing our police force. Even a recently debuted NYPD robot dog costs $74,500. That’s someone’s salary. We don’t need police officers responding to mental health emergencies, policing our schools, doing homeless outreach, or cleaning up graffiti. There are myriad tasks that are currently handled by the NYPD that are not in any way effectively solved by policing and fail to “keep our communities safe”. I would work to restore resources to our health, housing, education, and community intervention programs. The implications for our budget would be a $3 billion reduction of spending on policing and reinvestment in programming and agencies that will actually make our communities safer. I understand that there are civilian employees that are paid out of NYPD’s budget, and that these city workers are largely from marginalized communities. I believe that we can find a path forward to reduce NYPD’s budget and invest in thriving communities while having the nuance and accuracy in addressing this in a way to protect the livelihoods of those civilian employees.

How would you have voted on the FY21 City Budget?

No.

Are you in favor of removing police from any of the following? a) Schools; b) Mental health response calls; c) Homeless outreach and social services; or d) Traffic enforcement.

A) Yes. In a recent Audit by the Comptroller's office, they found that there's one NYPD/SSA per 228 students. In comparison there is only one social worker for 622 students. As much as 45 percent of all schools had no social workers. This is a rather absurd state of affairs. Not only do we need to remove police, but we also need to replace them with guidance counselors, social workers and support services. This is truly what we mean when we say Defund. It isn’t only about defunding, it’s really about reinvesting. Furthermore, removing police is only a start. To really dismantle the school to prison pipeline we need to think through zero tolerance policies such as suspensions which affect black and brown students at disproportionate rates. We need to think through surveillance and metal detector policies. And we need to consider restorative justice approaches to our educational system. Our youth have been organizing to ask us for police free schools, and it’s beyond time we listen to them. B) Yes. The police are not trained for mental health crises, which ought to be addressed by social workers. For those who need mental health response, police intervention does nothing to address those needs and only amplifies the trauma through a failed criminal justice system. The default response of turning to the police in handling such issues, and the lack of an appropriate alternative in the public’s imagination, is another indicator of the disproportionate investment into policing rather than community mental health response. C) Yes. Having homelessness fall within the scope of the NYPD is entirely backwards. Police harassment and arrests of homeless people only serves to reinforce the cycle of homelessness. Instead, we need to move homeless outreach outside of the scope of the NYPD and invest in models that serve homeless folks instead of criminalizing homelessness. I believe the models that most successfully address the twin challenges of homelessness and mental health are the permanent supportive housing and housing first models. Permanent supportive housing provides affordable housing with vital support services for people living with mental health, HIV or other health challenges. The housing first model moves long term homeless individuals into subsidized housing and then connects them with on-site or community based support services. Numerous studies on these programs confirms their efficacy. Research found the majority of long term homeless individuals who participate in these programs remain stably housed. These individuals have also seen significant improvements in their health and mental health outcomes. And finally, these programs have been shown to ultimately save large amounts of taxpayer money in avoided institutional care (such as hospitals, shelters, emergency rooms or jails/prisons) all of which are rather costly and can be preventatively avoided. I believe in these research backed methods, and want to see their expansion. It is both the morally imperative and financially prudent thing to do. D) I’ve supported removing traffic enforcement from early in our campaign. Policing as we know it is not working, and the breadth, scope and power of NYPD is too large. That said, I do want to flag that there are labor groups that have real concerns with how we go about defunding NYPD and reducing that scope; and many of these workers are themselves members of marginalized groups. For example, traffic enforcement agents have fears revolving around their physical safety if they are moved out of NYPD. It’s important to work with them to understand these concerns, and reduce the scope of NYPD while working towards the well-being of the workers who have not been at the front lines of harming our communities.

Should the NYPD Vice Squad be eliminated?

Yes.

Should Dermot Shea be fired immediately?

Yes.

Should the NYPD Commissioner require confirmation by the City Council?

Yes.

How would you recommend police officers be penalized for refusing to wear masks in public while on duty, in defiance of city and state rules?

They should be sent home without pay for endangering the public they are sworn to serve, or face the fees the rest of us do.

What reforms would you make to the Civilian Complaint Review Board? Would you support state legislation to make CCRB disciplinary determinations binding?

As I mentioned above turning the CCRB into an elected body (as opposed to a body appointed by city hall) is a true priority for me. Additionally, we have to change a newly elected ECRB’s authority so they have the power to subpoena, investigate and prosecute officers. And, we have to ensure those prosecutions are binding; the police commissioner in no way can affect or change the outcomes. We know the current system is blatantly not working, the police cannot police themselves, and we have to implement true civilian oversight.

What is your position on the plan to close Rikers and create four borough-based jails?

I absolutely support the closure of Rikers, and I do not support the creation of four new borough-based jails. The investment of 11 billion dollars in new jails is a deliberate choice to uphold the status quo: mass incarceration, over-policing of Black and Brown communities, and the separation of families. Obviously, the alternative for the billions of dollars in funding is to address community needs such as affordable housing and education, invest in harm reduction programs, health and human services, robust mental health services, and job training. These issues have been advocated for years, but never funded. In District 29, there is opposition to the expansion plan. I support “No New Jails” because policing and prisons are not solving any of our problems Over the long term the system of mass incarceration serves to perpetuate and exacerbate them. I believe that Rikers Island is so morally abhorrent and wrought with abuse, so vile, that it degrades the humanity of both its victims and its perpetrators, that closing it would be a benefit to the city at large. We do not need to maintain systems of oppression in order to maintain certain types of jobs; we can invest in a just transition of labor, including job training instead of incarceration, so that (what will hopefully be former) corrections officers can feed their families without having to keep folks waiting for trial in solitary confinement to do it. A New York beyond prisons is possible. If we lose sight of that possibility, we will never know true freedom or liberation because we will always settle for less.

Will you advocate for the Governor to review sentences of incarcerated individuals over the age 55 who have served in excess of 15 years to determine if they warrant release?

Yes. I am a student of abolition and fully believe in the movement to decarcerate. It is also morally and intellectually dishonest to pretend that a life sentence is not ultimately the same thing as a death sentence when elders die in prison.

It’s common knowledge that New York City’s 311 system is not adequately responsive to the public’s concerns. How would you alter the 311 system to combat these problems?

I’d be interested in working to create a fully integrated 311 to be able to track an issue from the start to end. So for example, let’s say I call 311 because I spot a lamppost light that has blown out. As it functions now, after I make that call, 311 refers that issue to the appropriate city agency, and that's the last I ever hear of it. A fully integrated approach would mean that I could opt in to receive an email or text when the agency responsible receives the work request. I could then get an update as the agency responsible sets a timeline to fix it, and I would get a final email or text when the request is solved. This way, my request is not just going into the void where I am stuck wondering if anything will ever happen with it.

Do you support decriminalizing sex work? Will you pledge to oppose the Nordic model?

Absolutely. Sex work is work. All labor has value. The failure to see sex work as work has led to harmful failures to protect the lives and livelihoods of laborers. Although $4.1 million in the city budget was marked for supporting people in the sex trade, the policy decision would have been more effective if policy makers had sought input from those most impacted: sex workers themselves. Instead, the Council put in charge of “serving” sex workers an anti-traficking organization that wants to eradicate sex work and won’t even use the term. Sex work organizers were left out of power in both decision-making and funding. The spending is not transparent, and the sex workers that they are supposed to serve have no guarantees of personal privacy or data safety. This is a prime example of why “no about us without us” is not just a slogan but an operational imperative for successful policy making. I also firmly oppose the Nordic model. No part of sex work should be criminalized, and criminalizing the buyer still has the affect of pushing sex work underground and making it unsafe.

Do you oppose school screening, which exacerbates segregation? Which screens in your school district(s) will you advocate to abolish?

School screenings have been shown time and time again to be racist and to have harmful impacts on marginalized students. But because we’ve allowed so many of our schools to crumble and so many of our students to lag behind because we fail to address their needs holistically, we do have many working class families that see school screenings as their only hope for a better future for their kids. To that end, we need to work to ensure that all of our kids can get a quality education regardless of zip code, family income, or immigration status.

Describe what reforms you would make to the control of the NYC public school system.

The NYC DOE needs to be in city control, but the balance of power between the mayor and council needs to be shifted. Currently, the city council cannot make appointments to the Panel on Education Policy, a body that holds a fair amount of power in city wide education policy. The city council needs to be able to make appointments to the PEP to have input. The city council does not have consent power in the chancellor appointment which I think needs to change as well. And, the council has extremely limited power in passing laws that affect the DOE. I’m also in favor of police free schools, making sure all of our students have school counselors and support, and robust arts, music, and physical education, and age appropriate extracurricular programs. I support following the 5R framework of integration created by students throughout the NYC school system: Race and Enrollment, Resource Equity, Relationships across Groups, Restorative Justice, and Representation. We also need a pipeline to hire more Black and brown teachers.

Do you support public funding of abortion?

Absolutely. I will fight to fully fund abortion, contraception and outpatient OB-GYN services as part of an expanded NYC Cares program, that also includes free medical and OB-GYN annual checkups. We also need to guarantee universal access to doulas, midwives, physicians and nurses to ensure continuity of care

Do you support the creation of safe consumption sites? Would you support the use of NYC DOHMH authority to establish SCSs without NYSDOH authorization?

Yes. Ultimately I do think we need to advocate for statewide policy changes considering the way the opioid epidemic has ravaged upstate New York, but would be very excited about moving forward with SCSs as a city while we wait on state changes. I view SCSs as a very active step in the right direction of removing drugs from a criminal justice issue into a public health framework that allows use to become safer and more controlled. I come from a family that has been directly impacted by the opioid epidemic. Substance abuse disorder is a public health issue, and we must treat it as such.

Do you smoke or otherwise consume weed?

Yes.

Have you ever supported any of the members of the IDC? If so, who? What did you do to help defeat the IDC in 2018?

No.

What will you do to support nightlife in NYC?

My husband and many of my friends are musicians and artists so music, nightlife and the arts in general are really important to me. Within the context of Covid, I think we should suspend liquor renewal applications since they are costly and time consuming. I want to work to pass the Small Jobs Survival Act, a bill that mandates 10 year minimum leases to all NYC businesses, and works to provide neutral arbitration during lease renewal negotiations. In addition I think we should consider an updated commercial rent control policy. Any commercial rent control policy that I would sponsor includes all music venues, art spaces and nightlife locations as part of its scope to ensure the arts can thrive in NYC. On the state level, I support a rent moratorium on businesses like music venues that have been forced to shutter throughout the entirety of the pandemic. I support the “agent of change law” to put the onus on new buildings to soundproof their buildings. As new condos come into our neighborhoods with long standing music venues, ensuring the developers sound proof their buildings will lead to a more compatible neighborhood dynamic. I also believe we need to increase the budget for the office of nightlife. Persistent nightlife concerns need to be directed to the office of nightlife, not the NYPD for non-safety related concerns. Finally, we need to create a set of standards as to who does and doesn’t receive liquor license recommendations from the community board. My husband was on the Community Board, and would routinely come home frustrated that business owners of color got denied their application while white business owners had their application accepted. The only variable he saw in these applications was melanin. Community boards need clear standards for why applications get accepted or denied when making that decision.

Do you commit to speak with restaurant and nightlife industry representatives before taking a position on any policies that affect their businesses?

Yes.

Will you work to place restaurant, bar and club owners on community boards? Will you commit to not appointing or reappointing community board members who are hostile to food and beverage estalishments?

Yes and yes.

Now that the cabaret law was repealed do you support amending the zoning resolution to allow patrons to dance at more venues and eliminate the restrictions against dancing?

Undoing the cabaret law was an important first step, but it wont do as much as it should until we change zoning resolutions so that dancing is allowed in more venues. For all intents and purposes we are still regulating the ability to dance. We must build upon the important work accomplished last term to fully allow the music industry to thrive.

Did you oppose the de Blasio/Cuomo proposal (and giveaways) for bringing Amazon’s HQ2 to Long Island City?

Yes. I opposed everything about it and everything it represents. I think the HQ2 deal represents a neoliberal approach to economics that has done nothing but facilitate one of the largest wealth transfers in American history. The philosophy that we need to incentivize (in this case by 3 billion dollars) to corporations is an economic model that has essentially no merit in data, and routinely has been shown to do nothing but make the rich richer.

What role do you believe the local member should play in the approval of development proposals before the Council?

I believe the council should move past the tradition of member deference. Any development proposal needs to advance economic justice, racial justice and environmental justice, and be good on labor for it to have my full support. If a proposal did not meet these standards, I would vote against it regardless of how the local member votes. We have seen the foundation of the member deference tradition begin to shake with the Industry City rezoning. Carlos Menchaca (the local member) opposed the rezoning, and yet several council members wrote op-eds and signaled they would have voted for it regardless of how Menchaca voted. If that had happened, it would have had massive implications on member deference for the future. I am interested in seeing the stronghold that member deference has on the council be mitigated. Development should be community driven and provide material benefit to the most marginalized in any community. I have stood with the FEDUP coalition in Flushing throughout 2020 in opposition to the Flushing Rezoning, which will lead to massive displacement and congestion. Peter Koo is likely in favor, but I believe that any councilperson worth their salt will vote against this rezoning and listen to the community. In fact, I don’t think that anyone that would vote yes on that rezoning, in the face of how deeply the community has organized against it, is fit to lead us in these times.

Do you support legislation to prohibit discrimination against formerly incarcerated people in housing?

Yes. The most obvious place to start is NYCHA. Lifting permanent exclusions for criminal conduct from NYCHA would be huge. Leaving formerly incarcerated individuals with few options for housing only furthers the cycle of mass incarceration and needs to end.

Do you oppose the removal of the nearly 300 homeless individuals from the Lucerne hotel due to pressure from some local residents?

Yes, I absolutely oppose their removal, it was cruel and inhumane. My council woman, Karen Koslowitz openly traded a vote in favor of the borough-based jail plan for a guarantee to shift homeless families out of a hotel in my neighborhood. This level of cruelty keeps me awake at night. We can no longer allow leaders who would rather see our neighbors jailed than sheltered. If I had to point to one of the most influential votes in my decision to run for office, it would be that.

What proposals will you advocate for to protect immigrants and further New York as a Sanctuary City?

There are many measures I hope to pursue to strengthen NYC’s status as a sanctuary city, and make NYC ICE free. Abolishing ICE in NYC will take many steps and can include banning ICE from hospitals, homeless shelters, schools, jails and prisons (and all other NYC agencies) . The past city council tried making it illegal for ICE to identify themselves as NYPD which I support. I would also work to try banning the collaboration between the NYPD and ICE. In addition to working to build an ICE free NYC, I am interested in expanding funding for immigration legal counsel, so immigrants at risk of deportation will have expanded access to free legal help. In conjunction with investments into legal counsel are investments into know your rights training.

Do you support a single-payer universal health care system? Please elaborate on what policy and legislative steps the City can take to expand access and affordability.

I am an ardent supporter of universal health care and the New York Health act. I believe healthcare is a human right and no one should be denied healthcare based on their ability to pay. Any universal coverage passed needs to also include vision, dental, mental health services, trans affirming health care and cover our undocumented neighbors. On the city level I will use my perch to advocate and organize my state assembly and state senate colleagues to advocate for the New York Health Act.

Who did you support for office in the following primaries or special elections: A) Mayor in 2013 B) Public Advocate in 2013 and 2019, C) President in 2016 and 2020 C) Governor and Attorney General in 2018?

A) I remember being thoroughly unexcited about any of our choices for mayor, but voted for de Blasio at the time. B) Letitia James in 2012, Jumaane Williams in 2019 C) Bernie Sanders in the primary and Hillary Clinton in the general election for 2016; Bernie Sanders in the primary and Joe Biden in the general (while doing heavy work to boost his votes on the WFP line) in 2020 D) Cynthia Nixon and Zephyr Teachout

Top 3 issues you aim to address locally and legislatively

My overarching top priority is budget justice. New York City’s money should be invested in helping New York City’s people thrive. My top three legislative priorities would be: 1) To strengthen and expand the City’s Green New Deal and bring green collar jobs to the city as we work toward environmental justice and sustainability. 2) End our carceral system and build a care economy that focuses on harm reduction, community safety, health and human services, and long term solutions to our societal problems. 3) A comprehensive city plan that would be created with deeply democratic input, priorities economic, racial, and environmental justice, and overhauls the ulurp process.

Mayor de Blasio has indicated his intent to call a third Charter Revision Commission, what additional reforms would you support to 1) the budget process, 2) the land use process, and 3) the powers and duties of municipal offices?

Budget: 1. Amend the charter to make any mid-year cuts of the city budget a joint process with the council, not an executive decision. 2. The charter should also require a minimum of 30 days notice if the mayor wants to make any significant mid-year budget changes to allow council members and the public time to review the changes. 3. Amend the charter to require that each individual capital project is it’s own separate line item. This way the public can see specifically how much money we are spending on what. 4. We should amend the charter to require the capital budget includes project status, cost and timeline. These statuses should also be routinely updated if the timeline changes in any way. Land Use: 1. The City Planning Commission: require a nine person voting majority to ensure local support of a project for it to move forward to the next stage. 2. Change 197a plans to ensure they have teeth - Since the charter doesn’t outline that these plans are binding in any way, and since community boards don’t have adequate resources in the first place to create these plans, only 12 such community plans have been adopted since 1989. 3. Overhaul the ULURP process - Similar to our goals for city planning, we believe fundamental changes need to happen with the ULURP process to increase democratic control and accountability, and ensure equity and transparency. There should also be impact studies on racial equity, school capacity, and hospital capacity. Finally, the major charter revision we propose for government powers is to provide independent budgets for independently elected officials. Too often we have seen elected officials punished with reduced funding, in retaliation for opposing executive branch proposals. This only goes to hurt constituents, and we should not allow the executive branch this political pawn. By having independent budgets for elected officials, officials can feel freer to fully represent the will of their constituents. That Council Members who voted “no” on the budget this summer were “punished” by the speaker with reduced or entirely withheld discretionary funds was unconscionable. That didn’t penalize the members, it penalized their communities.

Please explain your vision for the present powers of the office you are seeking and how you intend to exercise them?

I am running for this seat because my neighbors asked me to. This is a community driven campaign to the core. A diverse coalition of neighbors, activists, and community organizers asked me to run because they didn’t feel that the bold, progressive values and policies that this moment in time calls for were being represented. I am running as an ally and a community organizer, and will legislate like one, too. I plan to use the power of the office to build power with my community, to drastically expand democratic input and participation, to reinstate participatory budgeting, to have excellent constituent services, and to progracitvel reach out to marginalized neighbors and groups in my district. I will use my office to organize citywide to build the just, sustainable city all New Yorkers deserve, and to put pressure on state and federal elected officials where the Council does not have jurisdiction.

Do you commit to working with Jim Owles during your campaign and while in office? What role can the club and the progressive LGBT community play in holding you accountable?

Absolutely. I’m not only seeking your endorsement, I am seeking your partnership. If I have the honor of serving on the City Council I will treat the LGBTQIA + community writ large, and Jim Owles specifically as key legislative partners throughout my term, will have an open door office for the community, and will proactively seek input on legislation and budgetary issues. I am a queer abolitionist fighting for liberation. I am not a Democrat who will ask for your endorsement and show up for photo opps; I believe in co-governance to build a city that works for marginalized people.

If you receive the endorsement, do you agree to identify the club on all literature and electronic materials where you list endorsements?

Yes, and proudly!

What additional information would you like Jim Owles to consider when we are making our endorsement decisions?

I am a Queer mother of three working for the liberation and well-being of all New Yorkers. I am raising an out LGBTQIA+ child, and will fight tooth and nail for a healthy, just future for all of our LGBTQIA+ children and neighbors. A just and sustainable New is possible if we build power together. I deeply appreciate your work, your advocacy, and your time and consideration.