Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Shekar Krishnan for City Council District 25

Candidate Name: Shekar Krishnan

Office Seeking Election for: City Council District 25

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

I am a longtime community activist in Jackson Heights & Elmhurst, a public school parent, and a civil rights lawyer for low-income tenants fighting harassment and eviction in some of the poorest neighborhoods in our city. Through my work and activism, I’ve seen firsthand how this pandemic has devastated our most vulnerable in my communities and in our city. I am running for City Council because it is time to radically restructure NYC so it works for everyone. My communities of Elmhurst and Jackson Heights -- and Elmhurst Hospital, a public safety net hospital -- were the epicenter of the COVD-19 pandemic. This was no accident, but the result of decades of disinvestment in our neighborhoods. I’m running because my neighborhoods deserve a leader who will be fearless in standing up to powerful interests. We have a plan to address the systemic and chronic problems plaguing us, built on years of listening to and organizing within our community. Our campaign will put forward the most comprehensive platform of policy solutions to address the interlocking, triple crisis of affordability, racial justice, and public health that we face. As a child of immigrants from India, who came to Jackson Heights often when they first arrived in this country because it was a place that reminded them of a home 10,000 miles away, I believe that representation is critical. And we have never had a South Asian in the City Council in the history of NYC. It would be historic for it to happen from Jackson Heights, Queens.

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

Council Member Danny Dromm Tiffany Caban for Queens District Attorney

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?

Lesbian & Gay Democratic Club of Queens (5+ years)

Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQ community?

No, but I am a staunch ally.

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

I have marched in our Queens Pride parade, alongside its founder Council Member Danny Dromm and our New Visions Democratic Club, for close to 10 years. I have also attended and strongly supported Winter Pride and the work of the Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee each year as well as worked closely with many of the LGBTQ activists who have led this historic organization. Each year for most of the last decade, I have also marched in the inclusive and incredible St. Pat’s for All parade, and worked closely with Brenday Fay and Kathleen Walsh D’arcy, its fearless leaders.

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

Yes, I am the co-founder of Communities Resist, a legal services organization dedicated to fighting for housing justice as an issue or racial and community justice. Throughout my career, I have hired and worked closely with LGBTQ individuals in my work. I have also worked extremely closely with LGBTQ activists here in Queens as part of my community activism for years.

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 have actively participated in a great number of advocacy actions around the issues for many years: From marches and press conferences against LGBTQ hate crimes in my community of Jackson Heights; to a historic vigil in Diversity Plaza led by CM Dromm that brought Muslim and LGBTQ leaders together after the Pulse night club massacre; working at a LGBTQ+-centered food pantry; attending trans remembrance vigils; immigrant justice rallies; housing justice rallies; defunding NYPD rallies; and reproductive rights actions.

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, I will affirmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals in my City Hall and district offices, as I have done in my career as well. This is a crucial way to fight, as Michelle Alexander has said, against a system of incarceration that locks up and locks out of society so many, especially so many low-income people of color.

Describe your legislative and policy vision for combatting systemic racism

We must completely dismantle the Jim Crow system of policing and incarceration in our city. As Michelle Alexander has so powerfully explained, our criminal injustice system locks up and locks out of society countless Black and Brown people. Its entire history is predicated on the subjugation and devastation of Black lives. So-called reform efforts do not address the racism and violence underlying the criminal institutions of our society, nor do they keep New York’s communities safe. Instead, we must defund the NYPD and decarcerate. We must end the school-to-prison pipeline by supporting, not punishing or policing, students. Then we must invest significantly in the communities that have been policed and prosecuted under this abhorrent system for decades. We must remove police officers from all social services and child care agencies, such as HRA, ACS, the MTA, and NYCHA. This is how to truly keep communities safe and promote wellness and accountability. In our education system, with the guidance of mental health professionals, educators, youth, and parents, the DOE must implement in all schools a restorative justice model for creating a safe, accountable, and supportive learning environment. We must end the reliance on harsh punitive measures like suspensions and expulsions, which criminalize Black and brown students.

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

I will neither seek nor accept the endorsement of Bill de Blasio

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. Our public infrastructure should celebrate individuals and entities who fight to make our city fairer and who fight for human dignity, rights, health, and justice. Mayor Koch’s legacy of racism and homophobia does not deserve celebration, and the Queensboro Bridge should be renamed in consultation with our communities.

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

I support the removal of monuments to white supremacy and genocide and strongly support tearing down the Columbus statue and removing his name from our city map. We must stop valorizing figures like Columbus and instead build monuments to the human rights and civil rights leaders that so often go unrecognized. Working together with stakeholders and our communities, we should seek to replace monuments to hatred and ignorance with figures representing the continuing struggle for equity and dignity by people who have been disproportionately impacted by the white supremacist legacy of Columbus.

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

Yes, I will refuse all contributions from the real estate lobby and from all law enforcement unions/associations. We are also refusing money from the fossil fuel industry, corporate PACs, and lobbyists.

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

I support significantly reducing the NYPD’s budget, ending the status quo of underfunding necessary services and the over-policing of Black and brown communities. It is critical and urgent to defund the NYPD by at least $1 billion, as well as defund the Department of Corrections, and redirect those divested funds to communities of color that have been overpoliced and denied countless city resources for years. Investing in low-income communities means, for example, providing mental health services, training local mental health and social workers, instituting community education around conflict resolution, implementing restorative justice, and building transformative justice community centers (especially for youth) that adopt these strategies, and increasing funding for public benefits and vouchers as well as repairs to public housing. Funding must be significantly increased for the work of violence interrupters on the ground who know their communities and streets best and support their tactics around outreach, de-escalation, intervention, and anti-gun violence work. Building these kinds of support systems requires direct funding to community groups and efforts on the frontlines of this work on the ground as well as to government programs (and corresponding agencies), from housing to education, that can help provide and implement these services in poor communities of color. Budgeting is a reflection of our city’s values and should be prioritized for social services. Hence, it is critical and urgent to defund the NYPD and Department of Corrections each year and redirect those divested funds in communities of color that have been overpoliced and denied countless city resources for years.

How would you have voted on the FY21 City Budget?

Based upon my vision of the city’s budget in the previous response, I would have voted no on the FY21 city budget. The supposed “cuts” to the NYPD that the Mayor and the City Council touted were not meaningful cuts to the NYPD’s budget, and any such cuts have already been erased by NYPD overtime pay, much of which was paid out to officers executing the NYPD’s incredibly violent, disproportionate campaign against the peaceful protests organized in response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other unarmed Black people and victims of State violence. My organization's work quadrupled during the pandemic due to the absolute crisis that tenants face across the city. Yet, the city budget reduced funding for our services and for many organizations similar to mine. A budget is a moral document. Re-framing the budget in this way, especially given how critical the need is for these services in communities that have been devastated by COVID, is not just a reflection of our city's values; it is actually providing what is necessary, at a minimum, for essential services at this time to help those struggling the most. As a Council Member, I will work hard to dramatically change our city’s budgeting priorities and will only support a city budget that invests significantly more resources into underserved communities. It is time for our city to stop tasking law enforcement with solving problems that they are not interested in solving. It is well past time for our city budget to reflect our values.

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 to all of the above. We must remove police from our schools. Schools must be involved in the education of the “whole child,” from academic to social and emotional well-being. Police in schools directly undermines this, especially as it leads to the criminalization and punishment of Black and brown students in particular. Our education system has to totally re-orient its approach to students to create a supportive learning environment that fosters the education of the whole child. Key measures to end the school to prison pipeline include: removing police officers from schools at a cost of $450 million and using those funds to hire social workers, counselors, and therapists trained in restorative justice and trauma-informed practices as well as conflict mediation; with the guidance of mental health professionals, educators, youth, and parents, implementing in all schools a restorative justice model for creating a safe, accountable, and supportive learning environment, rather than relying on harsh punitive measures like suspensions and expulsions to discipline students; removing metal detectors from schools, which make students feel unsafe and policed; holding charter schools accountable, which are some of the worst offenders of student discipline and student shaming; significantly reducing the role of ACS in policing families; and dissolving the relationships between public education institutions like CUNY and the NYPD. All of these advocacy points must be developed, coordinated, and implemented under the leadership of grassroots groups on the ground doing this work every day to end this pipeline, such as Alliance for Quality Education, Dignity in Schools Campaign, and Coalition for Educational Justice to name a few. The City must also end the criminalization of the homeless. Homelessness is a direct product of severely unaffordable housing, created by rampant and unchecked private development, rezonings in only low-income communities of color, and skyrocketing rates of gentrification and displacement due to these development and land use decisions enabled by the City. I have worked with so many individuals and families on the brink of homelessness or rendered homeless because they were forced out of their homes due to landlord harassment and destruction. To criminalize and police them is inhumane and utterly unresponsive to the real reasons for homelessness. Instead, I will advocate for the creation of a 24/7 rapid-response system of mental health professionals, medics, and crisis workers, independent of the NYPD and ACS, who can be called to intervene and humanely, non-violently help those in need of assistance. Broken windows policing of low-level misdemeanor offenses must also end. Instead, government should employ a harm-reduction approach that provides community-based treatment and services for drug addiction, decriminalizes sex work, and ensures that vulnerable individuals, especially transgender women of color are not harassed by police and forced into the criminal system through loitering-related offenses. We also have to combat gender-based violence through a racial/gender/LGBTQ-centered approach that meaningfully protects survivors of domestic and sexual violence. We must support Black families with meaningful services rather than policing them and separating them through ACS and family court, which is destructive and especially harmful to Black mothers. Following the lead of movement groups and impacted communities who have been doing this work for years, these are the strategies of how to truly keep communities safe and promote wellness and accountability.

Should the NYPD Vice Squad be eliminated?

Yes. We must eliminate the NYPD Vice Squad and repeal the Walking While Trans Ban, both of which trap many trans women of color in a cycle of discriminatory arrests and incarceration. We should also eliminate other costly, violent, and ineffective specialized squads like Gangs and Narcotics.

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?

Suspension without pay and dismissal for repeated offenses.

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

We must bring the NYPD under civilian control. This means creating and empowering an elected Civilian Complaint Review Board, and holding officers accountable who do not comply with CCRB process. The Police Commissioner must be required to accept the disciplinary findings of that Board and the outcomes of administrative trials. Further, following the state repeal of Article 50-A, which shielded police disciplinary records from public view, immediately terminate any officers that have a serious disciplinary history.

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

I believe that Rikers should be closed without the opening of new jails. Instead, we need to pressure District Attorney offices, state legislators and the courts to end pretrial incarceration. Pretrial incarceration is one of the main reasons for our enormous jail population in New York City, and it disproportionately locks up poor Black and brown New Yorkers. We also need to explore the creation of a bail voucher program as a city public benefit while pretrial incarceration persists, and ensure funding parity between District Attorney’s Offices and public defender offices. It is critical we fight to truly end cash bail in New York State. These practices will significantly help reduce the incarcerated population and help obviate the need for additional jails upon the closure of Rikers. This pandemic has also shown further how the carceral state in this country is, has always been, and is intended to be brutally inhumane. My goal in the Council would be to steadily dismantle these systems of oppression that currently exist and work with impacted communities to build support systems to move to this future. A key component of this work is to not build borough-based jails. I am also a strong supporter of Renewable Rikers, transforming the notorious jail complex once shuttered into a central source for green and technology. It is the most sensible solution.

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. Using the privilege of the office, I will fight every day for those who have been disproportionately impacted by systems of criminalization, including individuals over the age of 55 who have served long sentences.

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?

311 is a notoriously dysfunctional system, as a housing lawyer for tenants, I have seen this over and over again. 311 should be a comprehensive service that integrates seamlessly with all other agencies. We should also and especially improve 311's ability to log and track fair housing issues, integrate a 24/7 non-law enforcement emergency system dedicated to mental health services, and improve complainants' ability to track their cases. Proactively, 311 should also be completely plugged into data analysis systems that allow the city to understand, predict, and intervene in clusters of problems. The 311 app integration should also be invested in, as more and more people use smart phones to access or send information.

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

Yes. Sex work is work! We must fight to decriminalize sex work at the state level. This will help protect the civil rights and safety of sex workers, including many in our trans community. It will also direct more governmental resources to combating sex trafficking and protecting victims. I pledge to oppose the Nordic model and fight for true sex work decriminalization.

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

I oppose school screening, which has played a central role in segregating our schools. New York City public schools are among the most segregated in the country, and we must enact sweeping reforms of school admissions processes now. School districts, such as District 30 here in Queens, must develop an integration plan to address entrenched segregation at every level of education. We must end screening in our schools and create admissions processes that are more transparent, that expand opportunities for all, and that promote equity and diversity.

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

One of the most urgent crises in NYC right now is our public schools, especially for Black and brown students. For years even before the pandemic, New York State and City have consistently underfunded public education in violation of court orders. This systematic disinvestment in public education has been accompanied by appalling levels of government support for the expansion of charter schools, which further siphon money away from public schools. As a result, with chronically aging infrastructure, overcrowded classes, and a major shortage of teachers, nurses, counselors, and social workers, it is no wonder that NYC and the DOE have utterly mishandled the challenge of re-opening of schools during this pandemic. More fundamentally, however, how education looks in our schools needs to be transformed. The only way to disrupt the student-to-prison pipeline and provide a true progressive education for all is to begin by making schools a far more positive and supportive environment for learning. Education has to focus on the “whole child” from a social, academic and emotional standpoint, in a manner where students see themselves in the material they learn. To achieve this necessary objective, NYC public schools must be fully funded and receive the extraordinary amount of state Foundation Aid that they are long overdue under court order as a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity litigation. These are badly needed resources to which public schools, especially in low-income communities of color, are entitled under law. DOE is the largest city department and occupies about one third of the entire city budget. However, the City Council lacks sufficient authority over DOE. The Council cannot make appointments to the PEP, does not have advice and consent power over the chancellor’s appointment, and cannot pass laws substantively affecting DOE functions. The Council is thus limited to exercising its power during budget negotiations to force the city to institute needed reforms. I would join efforts to grant the Council additional oversight and regulatory authority over DOE.

Do you support public funding of abortion?

Yes. I am a strong and vocal advocate for the protection and expansion of reproductive rights. Abortion and contraceptive care should be free for everyone. It is also critical to ensure that abortion clinics are readily accessible to all communities, as well as reproductive care in hospitals or other clinical settings providing ob/gyn services, contraceptive care, and abortion services. All of this care must be approached through the lens of reproductive justice. The City also has to adopt a comprehensive, evidence-based, and community-based approach to prenatal and perinatal care in order to track and combat the severe racial disparities in pregnancy-related complications and maternal health outcomes. This includes supporting community-based doula programs in low-income communities of color that center especially the Black maternal health crisis in this city, expanding the availability and access to such programs in poor neighborhoods. The City must also invest far more in perinatal services and midwifery services for birthing people, especially in communities of color.

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

Safer drug consumption services have existed for over thirty years and are proven to prevent overdose, HIV and hepatitis C transmission, injection-related infection, and public disposal of syringes. Safe consumption sites promote engagement and referrals to other support services, including housing placement and drug treatment, and they save municipalities millions of dollars each year. I would promote the establishment of safer drug consumption sites and would push to have DOHMH establish SCSs without prior NYSDOH authorization. The Council should invest more resources in such services across the city and especially in poor neighborhoods, including community-based treatment centers.

Do you smoke or otherwise consume weed?

No but I am in full support of legalizing weed so long as it addresses longstanding racism in drug enforcement policies over decades and the criminalization of low-income communities of color.

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. I was a vocal opponent to the IDC given that my former State Senator Jose Peralta was an IDC member. And I was a strong supporter of his challenger, now State Senator Jessica Ramos. My New Visions Democratic Club, of which I was president, expelled Jose Peralta from the Club due to his IDC actions. Advocacy against the IDC was an issue I was intimately involved with, both here in my community of Jackson Heights as well as citywide.

What will you do to support nightlife in NYC?

Nightlife - entertainment, hospitality, dining, and so many other industries - is in critical danger now because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of support from city, state, and federal governments. I will fight hard for broad and comprehensive COVID relief packages including emergency funds for employees, freezes on rents, mortgages, and evictions for small businesses, and coordinated efforts to make nightlife safe for all - including and especially workers.

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

Yes. I pledge to always seek input from individuals and organizing groups that stand to be the most impacted by policies the Council is considering. This issue is even more urgent now given the pandemic and how such businesses are struggling so much.

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 to both

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?

Yes, I strongly and vocally opposed the proposal and continue to oppose corporate welfare, including writing an editorial against it in City Limits. I have organized and marched in opposition of various giveaway schemes and rezoning and I will continue to fight against such schemes that prioritize profits over people. I have also sued Mayor de Blasio and Bloomberg over their rezoning proposals which, like Amazon, would have devastated communities of color.

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

We must place a moratorium on all luxury rezonings and development in NYC. The city’s rezoning process must be completely redone to account for residential segregation. First, we must require the City of New York to study whether a proposed rezoning affirmatively furthers fair housing or perpetuates segregation before it can be approved. We must further establish a tenant anti-harassment task force in Elmhurst to: 1) combat the unchecked luxury development that is harming our historic neighborhood; and 2) connect tenants with organizing and legal resources to defend their housing rights. Next, it is critical that the incredibly historic properties in Elmhurst are landmarked so they are protected from the grave threat of luxury developers. These properties include the African American Burial Ground. We must repeal the developer-friendly/community-exclusionary Uniform Land Use Process (ULURP) to approve land use decisions (such as rezonings) in NYC. Finally, we must design a community-rooted, comprehensive land use process that stops displacement and remedies racial and environmental disparities in urban planning.

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

Yes, I strongly support such legislation. As a fair housing lawyer for my carer, fighting housing discriminaton in all its forms, this is really important to me. Our carceral system victimizes people before, during, and after their incarceration. We need to end post-release discrimination in housing, in jobs, and in services. It's this kind of discrimination that traps people in a downwards spiral of incarceration, destroying lives and communities in the process.

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

I strongly oppose the callous removal by the Administration of homeless individuals from the Upper West Side. This is a reflection of our city’s total failure when it comes to the homeless and its accommodation of dangerous NIMBYism. Amidst the pain of the pandemic and a housing crisis that existed well before the pandemic began, the Administration bowed to pressure from a small but vocal minority of residents. For too long, our society has sought to make homelessness invisible to the wealthy and privileged so that such people can continue to ignore this crisis. We must commit to permanently rehousing homeless New Yorkers and providing social housing for all New Yorkers. NYC must address the glaring lack of supportive housing, establish comprehensive voucher programs, and aggressively combat widespread source of income discrimination (discrimination against tenants with vouchers or other public benefits). The ongoing homelessness crisis, which COVID-19 has only exacerbated, can only be addressed through meaningful and dramatic reforms, and we must all work together as communities to support our homeless neighbors.

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

It is one of the gravest and most urgent problems in our city right now; so many of our essential workers are undocumented immigrants, and yet they are left out of every form of government relief at the city, state, and federal levels. I have worked with many undocumented tenants who are struggling so much because they cannot pay rent and also feed their families, yet also have no avenue of government relief whatsoever to help. It is simply devastating. We must continue to fight for resources and services for our immigrant communities, and ensure they have the right to vote in city elections. We should supply full funding to the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project so that all detained immigrant New Yorkers can access a public defender for removal proceedings, regardless of their criminal history. Additional funding should be allocated to immigration services, particularly for underserved Asian immigrant communities. The Council must also maintain oversight over NYPD and ensure that local law enforcement does not cooperate with ICE or other entities that engage in and promote the criminalization of immigration and of immigrants. Finally, we must establish a COVID-19 emergency relief fund for immigrant workers, gig workers, street vendors, freelancers, and small business employees.

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.

Yes, I support a single-payer universal health care system. One of the most important pieces of legislation that we need to pass in New York State is the NY Health Act, and I would support any advocacy at the state level to make that a reality. Coverage must be universal, free, and comprehensive. Universal, single-payer health coverage is urgent in this moment. What is not talked about enough is that universal coverage under the NY Health Act would actually reduce costs significantly by eliminating the astronomical and wasteful expenses associated with private insurance companies as well as the administrative expenses, provider costs, and individual co-pays/deductibles of a private health care system. A city/state tax on the ultra-wealthy or a progressive payroll tax on the wealthy can help pay for this single-payer system as well as, on the city level, defunding police and law enforcement activities more generally. Changing our tax and budget priorities in this way can easily free up the resources to establish universal health care coverage, which is the only way to treat health care as the fundamental human right that it is.

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) Bill de Blasio B) Tish James - 2013; Jumaane Williams - 2019 C) Hillary Clinton - 2016; Elizabeth Warren - 2020 D) Cynthia Nixon - 2018; Tish James - 2018

Top 3 issues you aim to address locally and legislatively

My most immediate priority is comprehensive COVID-19 relief. Long term, my top three priorities are Housing Justice, Immigration Justice, and Community Safety & Justice.

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?

The budgeting process should be far more transparent especially in that the largest city agencies - in particular the NYPD - should have their budgets open to examination. The city council should be empowered to make detailed spending cuts and priorities especially so that defunding the NYPD can be prioritized and done correctly. We also need better reporting and accountability for major capital projects and mid-year changes with more control, advice and consent being given to the City Council. The land use process must be significantly overhauled. First of all, we should enshrine the right to housing in the charter. The ULURP process as it stands is a discriminatory process that empowers developers and the ultra-rich over the people of affected communities. I would support the repeal of ULURP and the complete revision of that process, giving greater power and deference to community concerns over corporations/developers and ensuring that city land use policies affirmatively further fair housing as required under the law.. I would also support comprehensive city planning so that we can work together to make sure that public lands are used to make the city as a whole more equitable.

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

As a City Council Member, my job will be to faithfully represent the voices of our community members and fight for a far more just and equitable city. Accessible, extraordinary constituent services is critical . I intend to bring in stakeholders and community organizations for their advice and input on major decisions because I firmly believe the movements should lead politics and not the other way around. I will use my position to be a loud advocate and even agitator, joining with grassroots groups and supporting their organizing in city hall and on the streets for change and so that the voices of the most marginalized communities can be heard loud and clear. I intend to use every legislative tool to make sure that our city centers equity and justice - especially for marginalized communities like POC, immigrants, LGBTQIA+, and working families - above all else.

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. I am excited to work with you during this campaign and while in office! As a community advocate and lawyer, I have always been on the outside of government holding electeds, even those I support, accountable and pressing for real justice on the streets (not just laws on paper) If elected, I would expect and desire nothing less from grassroots groups, organizations, and supporters.

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?

Thank you so much for your consideration of our candidacy!