Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Shaun Donovan for NYC Mayor
Candidate Name: Shaun Donovan
Office Seeking Election for: NYC Mayor
Explain, based on life experiences and accomplishments, why you believe you are best qualified to represent your district
I believe I am the most qualified, experienced candidate in this field because I was the Secretary for Housing and Urban Development in the Obama-Biden Administration, and subsequently served as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, managing the $4 trillion federal budget. My past service taught me what it means to lead in moments of crisis, much like the one New York is facing today. I became Housing Commissioner here in New York City after 9/11, and helped to rebuild our City. Early in my career and then during my tenure as Housing Commissioner, I helped the Brownsville, East New York and South Bronx communities build Nehemiah housing, one of the most successful housing efforts in the nation that created more than 5,000 affordable homes. I also created the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, the nation’s first response of its kind to the foreclosure crisis to save New Yorker’s homes and preserve Black and Brown wealth. President Obama asked me to be Housing Secretary in the midst of the worst housing crisis of our lifetime and then tasked me with leading this city back after Hurricane Sandy hit our shores. As HUD Secretary, I helped families across the country rent or buy affordable homes, revitalized distressed communities, fought discrimination and dramatically reduced homelessness. Three weeks into my time as Director of the Office of Management of Budget, Ebola hit the US. And we worked to make sure that a global threat did not become a pandemic that would cost hundreds of thousands of American lives. And during my time managing the federal budget we invested in a broad range of progressive priorities, like the Affordable Care Act, while still bringing down our budget faster than at any time since World War 2. I deeply believe that in order to properly serve and lift up all New Yorkers, my Administration must not only apply a lens of equity to all of our policies, but also create a structure of accountability where we consistently engage with communities and measure our progress. One of my principle policies aimed at achieving this is the designation of our City’s first Chief Equity Officer to set goals, keep track of our progress, and coordinate across all NYC agencies to ensure progressive achievements. At the individual issue level, my campaign has committed to including equity-focused recommendations within each one of our comprehensive policy platforms, from establishing a School Diversity and Integration Office within the Department of Education and applying an equity review to short-term budgetary and staffing reductions and adjustments within schools to ensure each New York City student has a chance at a good education, to launching Equity Corporate Commitments meant to drive substantially higher Black, Latinx, and Asian job participation in high-wage and middle-income work. Underlying all of these efforts is a deep belief that collaboration and open conversation are vital to helping a community thrive. I look forward to discussing specific policy questions and partnering with you to address your community’s most pressing challenges.
Please identify any openly LGBTQ candidate for public office you have previously or presently endorsed?
N/A
If applicable, what legislation directly affecting the LGBTQ community have you introduced or co-sponsored? (indicate accordingly)
While I’ve never served in a legislative body, I have spent my career dedicated to fighting for fair housing for all. That includes working on the Equal Access Rule that prohibits discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation for housing. I also worked on the Affirmative Furthering Fair Housing Rule. Additionally, I was the first Cabinet secretary to publicly endorse marriage equality.
What LGBTQ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?
N/A
Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQ community?
No
Have you marched in Pride? Which marches and for approximately how many years?
When I was HUD Secretary, I marched in the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island and was the first Cabinet Secretary to represent the President at The National Center for Transgender Equity Awards gala in 2011. I also participated in the BLM/Pride event at McCarren Park last summer. I’ve been going to Pride since I was in my 20s.When I was HUD Secretary, I marched in the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island and was the first Cabinet Secretary to represent the President at The National Center for Transgender Equity Awards gala in 2011. I also participated in the BLM/Pride event at McCarren Park last summer. I’ve been going to Pride since I was in my 20s.
Have you employed openly LGBTQ individuals previously? Do you employ any currently?
Yes to both!
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?
As I said above, I’ve been to countless Pride marches including in June 2020 that was a Pride/BLM event in McCarren Park. Last night, I stood with supporters to remember George Floyd after the Derek Chauvin guilty verdict and earlier this year, I celebrated Eric Garner’s birthday at the Barclays Center. I spent my time in the Obama Cabinet fighting for fair housing and access to health care that supported the right to choose. I was also the first Cabinet Secretary to come out publicly in support of marriage equality.
Have you ever been arrested? If so please explain why and outcome of arrest.
No
Do you commit to visiting constituents who are incarcerated in state prisons and city jails?
Yes!
Will you affirmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals?
Yes
Describe your legislative and policy vision for combatting systemic racism
We are focusing attention and action toward turning racial inequity on its head—reaching a point where race does not determine or predict the distribution of resources, opportunities, and burdens among members of a society—because we recognize that the creation and perpetuation of racial inequities has been baked into American culture and government, and that racial inequities across all indicators for success are deep and pervasive. At the same time, we acknowledge the broad range of identities used to marginalize people, helping us take a more intersectional approach while always naming the role that race plays in people’s experiences and outcomes. I am the only candidate who combines decades-long commitment to racial justice with a record of real progress on racial equity at the highest levels of government. Helping build over 5,000 affordable Nehemiah homes as a means of attaining home ownership and building wealth, and then helping New Yorkers protect that wealth by creating the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, the nation’s first response of its kind to the foreclosure crisis and predatory lending that stole two thirds of our country’s Black wealth and half of Latinx wealth, are just a few examples of how I have worked to close the racial gaps in opportunity that have persisted in our city. After this work caught President Obama’s attention, he asked me to serve in his cabinet as Housing Secretary and then Budget Director, where I worked to advance fair housing all the way to the Supreme Court and make investments at the federal level to ensure everyone would have a chance at a good education, secure housing, high-quality health care, and a clean environment. As mayor, I will combine his experience, the perspectives of the city’s residents, and the lessons learned from activists and allies from across the nation and the globe to ensure that racial equity is embedded in City policies, programs, and services. This work will make tangible differences in people’s lives through the application and integration of best practices, training of City staff, development of equity tools and action plans, and tracking and measuring of our progress along the way. Through these efforts, we will work toward a future where a child born in any zip code can have the same great school, hospital, park, and prospects as any other child in our city. Our plan will focus on: Ensuring an Equitable COVID Recovery Applying an Equity Lens to the Way the City is Governed, and Establishing the Infrastructure to Set and Meet Goals Pursuing Equity-focused Policies as Part of Every Platform
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?
Yes I support the removal of Christopher Columbus’ statue in Columbus Circle. I’d want to hear from all New Yorkers about who is important to them before coming to a decision on who we should replace it with.
Will you refuse contributions from real estate developers and all law enforcement unions or associations?
I will refuse contributions from law enforcement units and any individual on the Public Advocate’s Bad Landlord list. In order to have the most equitable recovery from COVID, we must have all stakeholders represented at the table.
Do you support reducing the budget of the NYPD and if so, by how much?
We will use police and incarceration as last resorts and will focus on solutions that get at the heart of New Yorkers’ needs, empowering our residents instead of obstructing their paths toward better lives. As a starting point, we will invest at least $500 million annually in these solutions, including community- and health-based anti-violence efforts, reentry and supportive housing programs, and other initiatives aimed at providing communities with the resources to build safe neighborhoods. These investments will be funded primarily through savings from reduced corrections and police spending. These initial commitments will set the floor for a broader effort to direct roughly $3 billion—at least 20% of our City’s public safety budget—to community-focused initiatives that advance public safety and racial justice, guided by a process of public input and an advisory committee that will include directly impacted people and community representatives. These investments are only part of the administration’s overall vision for a safe and equitable city, and are part of the broader citywide agenda for public health, housing, education, and economic opportunity.
How would you have voted on the FY21 City Budget?
As Mayor, I do not vote on the city budget but rather present it. That being said, I would not have proposed the budget Mayor DeBlasio did. Rather than make tough but prudent decisions like hiring freezes, wage freezes, and attrition, the Mayor continued the trend of burning down reserves and left the next mayor with a mess.
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.
Yes; b) Yes, unless the individual poses a risk to others’ safety; c) Yes; d) Yes
Should the NYPD Vice Squad be eliminated?
I wholeheartedly agree that the VICE Squad requires massive reform, and my administration would seek to bring voices from Jim Owles and other stakeholders and advocates into planning conversations about how best to achieve that. In my criminal justice plan (shaunfornyc.com/issues/criminal-justice) I have committed to redirecting $3 billion in NYPD funding towards community-focused public safety programs, and focusing NYPD's efforts on serious crimes and gun violence, rather than social challenges they are not equipped to solve.
Should Dermot Shea be fired immediately?
Yes
Should the NYPD Commissioner require confirmation by the City Council?
No
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?
All public employees need to have public health interest in mind while they are doing their jobs. There would be a progressive punishment system in that any public employee who doesn’t follow CDC guidelines should start with getting a verbal warning and punishments will escalate from there.
What reforms would you make to the Civilian Complaint Review Board? Would you support state legislation to make CCRB disciplinary determinations binding?
I support an empowered and independent CCRB. The Commissioner should follow CCRB determinations.
What is your position on the plan to close Rikers and create four borough-based jails?
New Yorkers deserve to live in a city that is safe, inclusive, and equitable for everyone. And yet, protests against racial injustice, repeated instances of unjustified police force, tragic increases in gun violence, and the longstanding over-representation of people of color and individuals with mental health challenges in our courts and jails demonstrate that the current system is not working as it should. The way forward is to reimagine a public safety system that is accountable and community-driven, reduce over-policing and over-incarceration, and reinvest in services that provide safe and healthy communities for all New Yorkers. Closing the jails on Rikers Island is an essential part of this vision, because the location and condition of the jails there contribute to the dysfunction, inhumanity, and incredible costs to the City—nearly $500,000 per incarcerated person per year. Closing Rikers is the only acceptable path forward for our city and a smaller, more humane, more accessible, more accountable jail system will ultimately save lives, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars each year, if not more, that will be reinvested in communities. For those who must be incarcerated as a last resort, we need to ensure that our jails are places of rehabilitation, not just retribution. Placing imprisoned individuals in jails, far away from their families and communities, will only further isolate these individuals, making recidivism all the more likely. It also places an undue burden on their families and loved ones who may not be able to afford traveling unreasonably long distances if they wish to visit them. For these reasons and others, I have been very vocal about the need for neighborhood-based jails in every borough. Isolating imprisoned individuals in jails, far from their families and communities, is cruel and will not make our city safer. As Mayor, I will support a movement to decentralize our jails so that imprisoned individuals and their families can remain close. The decentralization of our jails into neighborhood-based jails will also help to undo much of the systemic issues that persist in our current system.
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
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?
Based on community input, and led by the Chief Equity Officer, we must develop a citywide equity plan that serves as a roadmap for action and change and prioritizes strategies that are targeted toward specific issues and communities. This plan will go hand in hand with an increased focus on data as a tool to understand inquiry as it exists and identify the metrics that need to be measured to have real, substantive change. The City has already taken a big step in this direction with the launch of the EquityNYC online platform, and we must work to expand these efforts to all City agencies. At the same time, we must be critical of the potential biases in the data gathered through service delivery tools like 311, and work to address these.
Do you support decriminalizing sex work? Will you pledge to oppose the Nordic model?
I support decriminalizing sex work and have sought guidance on this issue from experts in the area, including those from the DecrimNY movement. I recognize that the status quo is untenable and that there are issues with the Nordic model. I want to continue to study the effect that full decriminalization would have on vulnerable individuals in our communities. As mayor, I would use the resources of my office to work with experts, including organizations like yours to come up with solutions that will improve the lives of sex workers and those in the sex trade.
Do you oppose school screening, which exacerbates segregation? Which screens in your school district(s) will you advocate to abolish?
While residential housing patterns substantially contribute to segregation, the assignment and screening practices of New York City’s elementary, middle, and high schools exacerbate the challenges. We must rethink school admissions policies at all levels, starting by making permanent each of the changes the current administration has proposed, but also going further to put in place affirmative policies. At the middle school level, we would make permanent the current administration’s temporary elimination of screens, but eliminating screens is just a first step—an open lottery alone will not lead to more diverse schools without intentional efforts to integrate middle schools.We would also work hand in hand with communities to put in place affirmative, pro-equity, district-wide policies at the middle school level like the weighted lottery approach already yielding positive results in District 15. A weighted lottery model can promote more representative distributions of students from low-income households, multilingual learners, students in temporary housing, and/or students with disabilities in all the schools in a district. In addition, as with high school enrollment, we would encourage districts to ensure middle school enrollment is not limited by residential segregation by limiting seats reserved for students within zones, and opening up more seats for other students in the district and/or from historically underrepresented groups in neighboring districts through a weighted lottery. At the high school level, we support and will ensure that the elimination of geographic priorities recently announced by the de Blasio administration are continued. But that is not enough to tackle the systemic segregation of our high schools. We will work to reform and improve the high school admissions system so that entrance criteria are fair and transparent and include specific mechanisms, such as weighted lotteries, to ensure all high schools, and especially our highest performing high schools, are more representative of students from all demographic groups. This will include examining screens, academic and otherwise, to revise the ones that have discriminatory impact on low-income students, students of color, multilingual learners, and students in temporary housing; utilizing weighted lotteries or other approaches that provide additional weight in admissions for students from low-income households, multilingual learners, students in temporary housing, and/or students with disabilities; ensuring more transparency and uniformity in the use of academic screens, where they exist, so families do not have to sift through a confusing hodgepodge of individualized rubrics for every high school they are interested in; and reviewing admissions policies to make sure multilingual learners are given proper supports and accommodations on admissions tests and auditions so that language is not a barrier to admissions to high school.
Describe what reforms you would make to the control of the NYC public school system.
I support mayoral control continuing and being made permanent, with tweaks to strengthen it and ensure the Panel for Education Policy (PEP) is more representative of communities, and that the Mayor, Chancellor and PEP are more accountable/responsive to communities’ priorities. Improved mayoral control should be made permanent by the NYS legislature. The perennial battles to renew it are a waste of political time and capital, and have held the needs of New York’s school system hostage to sometimes unrelated political battles in Albany.
Do you support public funding of abortion?
Yes
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 to both
Do you smoke or otherwise consume weed?
Not anymore
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?
The economic pressure related to the collapse in tourism has been immense. Coming out of the COVID pandemic, New York City will again be one of the top tourism destinations in the world and we will work vigorously to extend the prosperity that tourism brings to all parts of New York City. To speed along our recovery in the critical tourism industry—the hospitality industry alone provided as many as 400,000 jobs before the March shutdown—we will work hand-in-hand with industry partners and the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). Before full-scale international and business travel has returned in full, we will drive visitor activation with a campaign to encourage locals to go out again. As the COVID pandemic wanes, the City must also promote regional visitors and eventually the essential international and business travelers. Working to sustain the rich cultural life of our city and support the tourism industry, we will make sustained investments in arts and culture and will work closely with philanthropy to galvanize private contributions to this essential sector to the New York City economy. Another key piece in attracting visitors will be publicizing our “NYC Safest City Commitments,” a comprehensive set of policies geared toward fostering safer streets while growing local economies.
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?
N/A
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?
Yes
Did you oppose the de Blasio/Cuomo proposal (and giveaways) for bringing Amazon’s HQ2 to Long Island City?
The Amazon deal envisioned significant land use actions and should not have been exempted from public review. As a result, significant questions about congestion and the need for more transit and more public school capacity were not adequately addressed, resulting in unnecessary public distrust. We will lead robust public engagement in land use actions of this consequence. Jobs matter, and jobs in the fastest growing segments of our economy matter greatly. We will work ceaselessly to make sure that our economy grows and that all New Yorkers are able to participate fully in a thriving economy.
What role do you believe the local member should play in the approval of development proposals before the Council?
N/A
Do you support legislation to prohibit discrimination against formerly incarcerated people in housing?
Yes - as HPD commissioner, I worked to give housing vouchers to individuals coming out of Rikers.
Do you oppose the removal of the nearly 300 homeless individuals from the Lucerne hotel due to pressure from some local residents?
Yes - earlier this year, I stood alongside Shams DaBaron and residents of the Lucerne Hotel to advocate for their right to stay there.
What proposals will you advocate for to protect immigrants and further New York as a Sanctuary City?
Safety and security are fundamental requirements of building a stable life in our city, and our immigrant neighbors deserve these rights just as much as any other New Yorker. This involves meeting the health needs of our immigrant communities—needs that are often neglected, as we’ve seen through our city’s inadequate COVID response efforts. We will direct contact tracing funding toward launching a more robust vaccine distribution effort and target these toward the communities that have been hit hardest by the virus. Many of these are immigrant communities and communities of color that, despite the deep need, have not received the proportion of doses that they should. At the same time, we must not lose sight of the long-term health needs of these communities. About 600,000 adult New Yorkers currently lack access to health insurance, about half of which are undocumented, and many of which are on the frontline of the fight against COVID. We must work with the federal government to scale national efforts to provide coverage through the Affordable Care Act and Medicare, while working with New York State to expand eligibility for the Essential Plan to all low-income New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status. And, where they fall short, we must fill in the gaps with a New York City public option that leverages the strength of our Health + Hospitals system. Read more about our efforts to ensure immigrant New Yorkers have access to quality, affordable, and accessible health care in our Health Platform. Meanwhile, we must also prioritize the physical safety of all New Yorkers, everywhere in the city. In our Criminal Justice Platform, we outline our plans to reimagine public safety as accountable and community-driven, reduce over-policing and over-incarceration, and reinvest in services that provide safe and healthy communities for all New Yorkers. We strongly believe that by properly investing in community-focused approaches to violence reduction while rethinking police responsibilities to free up their time and resources to investigate serious crime and gun violence, we can better protect the wellbeing of our immigrant communities. As part of this commitment, we have announced plans to stop police crackdowns that disproportionately impact immigrant New Yorkers. Additionally, we will severely restrict the coordination of New York and federal police forces in communities of color. New York is a proud sanctuary city, and we will continue to refuse to turn over to ICE any immigrant who is in the custody of New York City. We want all New Yorkers to trust the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies in keeping our communities safe—without fear that an interaction with the police could result in deportation—and we trust that our plans for Criminal Justice will keep New Yorkers safe without relying on federal agents. Deportation is a penalty as serious as a criminal punishment, and all New Yorkers deserve legal representation in immigration court, regardless of their ability to pay. We will end the policy of refusing to fund legal representation for immigrants based on their conviction records. We believe everyone deserves their legal rights, regardless of their background, and we will stop the practice of turning away some New Yorkers who are facing deportation because of their backgrounds. We will also continue to mobilize the city’s rapid response to ICE raids, as they happen, to ensure that detained people have access to legal and other support to preserve their rights and avenues for relief. And, we must continue to expand the resources dedicated toward the legal protection of our immigrants. In 2014, the City made a historic investment in funding for immigration legal services that has steadily increased over the last six years, including the pilot and expansion of the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project—which provides public defender-type services to immigrants appearing before New York City’s detained immigration courts—the Immigrant Children Advocates Response Effort to provide representation to unaccompanied children, and the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative—which provides legal services to non-citizens to assist with applications for citizenship, permanent residence, and many other immigration-related legal services. These and similar efforts should be further promoted through adequate financial support from the City.
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 do not support a single-payer universal health care system unless it is administered by the state or Federal government. Well-funded primary care has been found to lead to high-quality care and better health outcomes for patients and improved experience for clinicians, at lower costs. Because of its potential benefits, primary care continues to be one of the main drivers of health inequity in our city—people of color have less access to primary care and have more preventable hospitalizations and emergency department visits than other New Yorkers. Not only is addressing the issue of inequitable access to care a responsibility our city has toward its most vulnerable, it is a necessary step toward rebuilding our economy and strengthening our city. By ensuring that all New Yorkers are healthy—particularly those that put themselves at risk every day to carry out essential tasks—we can truly commit to the all-hands-on-deck approach to recovery that this crisis demands. To this end, we will fill in any gaps in federal- and state-level coverage through a New York City public option that prioritizes providing access to high-quality primary care. Every member will be assigned a primary care doctor who will manage their care, including prevention, chronic disease management, behavioral health, and referral for care. The program will offer a three-tiered system of primary care physicians on a sliding fee scale based on network chosen, and members will enroll in a specific institution within their network. The three networks are: Health + Hospitals: in addition to primary care, members will receive full service, including pharmacy, specialty care, imaging, inpatient care, and others, for additional co-pay Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs): in addition to primary care, members will have access to a wide range of services, including dental and behavioral health, while referral to specialists, imaging, inpatient care and others will not be covered in the program Community Doctors: members will have access to services offered by their local primary care physician Networks of FQHCs and community doctors will be established through agreement to set criteria including managing care and referring patients as needed, and will receive annual grants to do so. In order to supplement the services available through FQHCs and community doctors, specialist visits and hospitalizations for all New Yorkers in the program will take place through Health + Hospitals. Voluntary hospitals will also have the option to be enrolled through agreement to provide secondary and tertiary services, including imagining, specialty care, emergency care, and inpatient care for enrollees. The program will have no additive cost to the City, with investment continuing through the $100 million annually spent on NYC Care. After the establishment of philanthropic partnerships with the City to launch the program, costs should be offset by savings to Health + Hospitals due to increased primary care access—including reduction of uncompensated preventable hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
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?
I was not a resident of New York in 2013 as I was serving in the Obama administration and so I did not vote in that election. I voted for Secretary Clinton in 2016 and President Biden in 2020. As my boys were finishing school in DC, I was registered there and did not vote in NY elections in 2018 or 2019.
Top 3 issues you aim to address locally and legislatively
The top priority for the next mayor must be the social, economic, and physical recovery of our city and its residents. The damage caused by COVID will be felt for years to come, and it will take considerable investment to not only return to what we had before, but to use this crisis to build back something better. To do this, we will need significant relief from the Federal government. My strong personal relationships with President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Congress and the Senate puts me in a unique position to get the federal support that New Yorkers need and have been cruelly denied by the Trump administration. I will work to ensure we receive the necessary business and infrastructure aid, personal protective equipment, and other essentials as we rebuild and reimagine our economy as one that works for all New Yorkers. My second, longer-term priority is to address the systemic lack of equal opportunity and access to services that many New Yorkers face. In order to help families across New York City build economic mobility and generational wealth, I will launch Equity Bonds, which will provide $1000 to every child in New York City and up to an additional $2,000 based on family income. Through this program, the parents of a baby born in poverty will be able to send their child to school knowing that roughly $50,000 will be waiting for them if they graduate. Another landmark policy in my platform is 15 minute neighborhoods, whereby every New Yorker will have access to a great public school, fresh food, rapid transit, a good park, and a chance to get ahead within 15 minutes of their front door. We will make the necessary investments in neighborhood business corridors to support local business owners, and invest in expanding local primary care facilities so people have access to high-quality care near their homes.
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 and Municipal Offices: When I was Director of the Office of Management and Budget for President Obama, I worked to bring down the federal deficit while enacting huge landmark policy change like the Affordable Care Act. All of that was done without eliminating offices and drastic budget cuts. I will bring that same management experience to City Hall. As I said previously, I will reduce the scope of the NYPD budget. I’d also work with my Chief Equity Officer to assess city agencies and contracts to make sure they are operating efficiently and equitably before making any further cuts. ULURP: Discretionary land use approvals of all types—from a parking waiver for a luxury condo development to a neighborhood rezoning, to a special permit for a single affordable apartment building—require several layers of review, public hearings, and extensive documentation under the City Charter. It is extremely rare that an application under the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) can be approved in less than a year, and often the process stretches to three or four years. We would seek legislation to significantly shorten ULURP and expedite environmental review for any project comprising 100% affordable housing.
Please explain your vision for the present powers of the office you are seeking and how you intend to exercise them?
The role of the Mayor is to lead the City and ensure that it is working efficiently for every resident. Given the multiple crises currently facing our City, our next mayor will need to be an exceedingly capable crisis manager and administrator. The Mayor also has a unique opportunity to act as a bully pulpit both on the state and federal levels. I will work with the state government to receive more power over the MTA. My experience at the federal level will be particularly valuable in terms of working with the Biden Administration to bring much needed federal aid to our City. I plan to bring this mindset to my role as Mayor, opening the doors of Gracie Mansion, listening to and speaking with experts and leaders from across the City and country, and getting real change accomplished.
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?
Yes! The club and the LGBT community can and should be vocal advocates for issues that are important to them and I look forward to inviting them into the decision making process around city policies.
If you receive the endorsement, do you agree to identify the club on all literature and electronic materials where you list endorsements?
Yes
What additional information would you like Jim Owles to consider when we are making our endorsement decisions?