Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Amit S. Bagga for City Council District 26
Candidate Name: Amit S. Bagga
Office Seeking Election for: City Council District 26
Explain, based on life experiences and accomplishments, why you believe you are best qualified to represent your district
I'm on the only candidate in this very crowded field that has an extensive track record of delivering real results for the working people of NYC. Most recently, in the middle of the pandemic and amid near-daily attacks from the White House, I ran the City's first-of-its-kind census campaign, the nation's largest, through which we assisted in counting more than 470,000 households, thereby achieving a historic response rate for NYC that outpaced most major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, and several others. This campaign set national records and was the first time ever that the City invested in communities in this way. It is now being considered a model for public investments in communities all across the nation, is a demonstration that I know exactly how government must function to truly empower the people of the city. Over the course of the last ~15 years, I've delivered notable results for New Yorkers in the margins. These include: -reuniting hundreds of immigrant New Yorkers stuck in the Bush immigration system -getting IDNYC approved for banking, opening up access to financial stability for hundreds of thousands of immigrant New Yorkers -negotiating, passing, and implementing Paid Sick Leave, Fair Workweek, Freelance Isn't Free, the Office of Labor Policy Standards, Fair Fares NYC, and much more. I’m a native New Yorker, and proud to be queer, South Asian, the son of immigrants, and a product of our public schools. In the context of our city facing a $9 billion deficit and 35 members of the Council being brand new, I am one of very few candidates out of the hundreds running across the city that knows how to build coalitions, get results, negotiate budgets, and make sure that New Yorkers, not special interests, are at the heart of our work. There has not been a time in decades in this city where such experience will be critical on the Council, and I am running to represent this district so that we can build a NYC with economic opportunity for all, where we can all live with dignity, and build power - together.
Please identify any openly LGBTQ candidate for public office you have previously or presently endorsed?
Cynthia Nixon; Ritchie Torres; Jimmy Van Bramer; Yetta Kurland.
If applicable, what legislation directly affecting the LGBTQ community have you introduced or co-sponsored? (indicate accordingly)
During my time in Congress, I worked extensively on legislation that renewed the Ryan White law, as well as legislation that would have forced the FDA to reverse its ban on gay men donating blood.
What LGBTQ organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?
SALGA NYC; Khush DC; Stonewall; among others.
Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQ community?
Very proudly queer.
Have you marched in Pride? Which marches and for approximately how many years?
Untold number of marches since the year 2000, including dozens of times in Queens Pride, Brooklyn Pride, as well as St. Pat's for All.
Have you employed openly LGBTQ individuals previously? Do you employ any currently?
Yes, several in many jobs. NA currently.
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?
No Muslim Ban; Womens March multiple times; multiple pro-choice rallies as a young person; multiple BLM marches and actions all over NYC; multiple weekday Stonewall 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.
Describe your legislative and policy vision for combatting systemic racism
We have all watched in horror what has been unfolding in our nation and our city, not just recently, but over the course of many years. Police racism and brutality are issues that are extremely personal to me, as my father faced very significant profiling (he is a practicing Sikh) in the post 9/11 NYC (constantly pulled over or prevented from crossing bridges, for example), and my people (Punjabi Sikhs) are currently being tear-gassed and beaten to a pulp for peacefully protesting the Modi government’s dangerous deregulation reforms that will destroy farmers’ livelihoods and lives (I have taken a major public stance on this; please refer to my Twitter account for the campaign I am leading with a few other candidates). I strongly believe in the dismantling of the specific type of police state we live in and believe that the police need to get out of most of the businesses of what we consider “policing.” My platform calls for significant divestment from all that is broken about the NYPD by offering specific solutions for how that can be done. The FY 2021 budget did not outline any meaningful changes to the PD’s budget and I would not have voted for it. I do want to be clear, however, that what essentially amounted to a one-month conversation about how to divest from PD and re-invest in communities was woefully insufficient. Having been a veteran of City government and many budget cycles, I can assure you that issues that are far less important have been the subject of much more extensive conversation and analysis, and if we are to re-purpose let’s say even a minimum of $1 billion of PD’s budget, we need to have a very serious conversation about how we are doing that and what we are funding. Communities need to be leading that conversation, not just politicians, and especially when one considers that the communities whose Council Members voted in favor of the budget are often the ones who are the most over-policed and whose people are the most criminalized, we must ask ourselves: for whom are we making these changes and how? To be clear, I want to see PD’s budget very significantly reduced, and if we are indeed to that in a way that is meaningful, supports communities in the ways the need to be supported, and does not potentially backfire on us -- remember, we do not want the long-overdue call of Defunding to turn in to Refunding -- then we’ve got to get the process and the outcomes right. It is clear that there are many aspects to policing in New York City that are broken, mismatched, or just plain wrong. There is no need for our police department to spend millions on maintaining or buying weapons of war developed for battlefields, not the streets, and there are near-daily examples of police officers far outstepping the bounds of respectful, anti-racist communication and action. Police cars have no right to plow into peaceful protestors, and it is unconscionable for officers to be violent in the process of making a routine or standard arrest. This said, the police are also asked to take on an enormous array of work that should not be their job descriptions and for which they are ill-suited. By putting police officers in the business of wellness checks, responses to emotionally distressed persons and other mental health calls, and the like, we are not only asking officers to do a job they are not meant to, we are also endangering the lives of our fellow New Yorkers, who, especially if they are Black or Brown, run the risk of being criminalized simply as the result of being the recipient of a visit. (We need a robust Mental Health Response Corps that is independent of PD that is deeply trained in responding to situations of severe mental health distress where the subject could also present physical danger to themselves or others). There is also no question that the nature of the criminal justice system and the carceral state is one that is rooted in the original sin of slavery, and that the system itself is weaponized to criminalize, impoverish, and murder Black Americans in particular. That said, the Police Department is also vast, and many of its functions are critical functions that all New Yorkers, regardless of ideology or race, can agree must continue effectively: investigating rapes, murders, and other major crimes; supporting the staff of experts, such as criminologists, that are the backbone of this work (in one just lab!); and working to eliminate gun and sex trafficking.
Will you not seek, and refuse, the endorsement of Bill de Blasio?
I will not seek and refuse.
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, it should be removed. I would consider replacing it with Marsha P. Johnson, Bhagat Singh, or Shirley Chisholm.
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?
Yes - and by as much as is necessary for only critical functions to remain (special units to investigate murders, rapes, human trafficking, and the DNA processing staff to go along).
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.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
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?
Possibly. I am neither fully in support nor fully opposed to this idea. Much of this will depend on what the scope of the NYPD will be moving forward.
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.
What reforms would you make to the Civilian Complaint Review Board? Would you support state legislation to make CCRB disciplinary determinations binding?
The CCRB was formed in 1950 when a group of civil rights and community organizations responded to rising police hostility against Black and Puerto Rican New Yorkers. What was meant to be a check on the police was flawed by design right from the start. Members of the board are elected by, and have close ties with the police department and the Mayor. When people on the board are appointed by the police commissioner and the mayor, it is necessarily not an independent agency. In 2018, over 90 percent of all complaints adjudicated by the CCRB resulted in no action against the officers. Even in rare cases where officers have been found guilty, the commissioner can dismiss their findings and decide the disciplinary action--most often, the discipline is the loss of vacation days. As such, the CCRB is a failed institution. The CCRB must be replaced with a body elected by the people it serves. An Elected Complained Review Board would have the power to issue binding rulings on disciplinary actions against police officers as well as pursue investigations of criminal misconduct through an independent special prosecutor. Council Member Inez Barron has announced that she will be introducing a bill proposing an elected board, which I would support. Yes, I would support state legislation to make CCRB disciplinary determinations binding.
What is your position on the plan to close Rikers and create four borough-based jails?
I support closing Rikers; I do not support the current borough-based jail plan.
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?
There are a couple of issues relating to the City’s 311 system. First, parts of New York operated by both city and state-run authorities (such as Battery Park City, Roosevelt Island, and NYCHA developments) are not fully integrated into the system. This means that NYCHA tenants must call NYCHA’s in-house maintenance line rather than 311. This also means that their complaints may never be acknowledged and data is not tracked. Disconnecting NYCHA residents from 311 has enormous consequences. Another issue that must be addressed is that of language access. When a non-English or Spanish speaker calls 311, the call is diverted to a language line, which translates the inquiry. 311 must be responsive to all New Yorkers, so I would advocate for hiring more native speakers.
Do you support decriminalizing sex work? Will you pledge to oppose the Nordic model?
Yes. Yes, I will oppose the Nordic model. Sex work is real work with dignity and we must repeal the Walking While Trans law.
Do you oppose school screening, which exacerbates segregation? Which screens in your school district(s) will you advocate to abolish?
Yes, I oppose school screening a general matter. Today (12/18's) announcement requires further analysis of how this impacts D26.
Describe what reforms you would make to the control of the NYC public school system.
In short --- mayoral control must be made permanent; parents must occupy a permanent and enhanced role within each school's decision-making structure; police will be taken out of schools; restorative justice will be expanded and universally applied; and screening end (among many other reforms).
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. Yes.
Do you smoke or otherwise consume weed?
No.
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 - never. In fact, I worked very extensively on Jessica Ramos’ 2018 campaign. I helped to run field operations for her in Queens, and also fundraised for her and Alessandra Biaggi. In my capacity as deputy commissioner of consumer and worker protection, I worked with the NO IDC coalition to help fight several bills being pushed by the IDC that would have encouraged predatory lending and check cashing in New York.
What will you do to support nightlife in NYC?
Nightlife is the beating heart and soul of our city. I actively participated in it prior to Covid, and plan to again when it is safe to do so. I helped draft the legislation to repeal the cabaret law and led the internal advocacy that ultimately led to the passage of the repeal of the cabaret law despite the Mayor’s plan to veto it. I have a very long history of working with the New York Hospitality Alliance and various other nightlife groups. We need to do everything we can to provide financial incentives to businesses that are struggling with closures. This includes transferring a portion of sales tax into grants for restaurants and bars. It also includes a path to commercial rent relief. I will also use my relationships with members of the state legislature to fight to repatriate control over liquor licensing directly to NYC. Finally, the city should partner with businesses in nightlife so that city employees, which make up 350,000 consumers, are incentivized to patronize nightlife in NYC. What that means is that businesses that can afford it can give discounts to city workers to go out and patronize their establishments.
Do you commit to speak with restaurant and nightlife industry representatives before taking a position on any policies that affect their businesses?
Constantly.
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?
Prioritize them, yes, and yes I will make such a commitment.
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?
I was instrumental in dismantling the cabaret law here in NYC. After significant opposition from the Mayor, I served as the lone voice in favor of its abolition inside the Administration, and utilized my position as Deputy Commissioner at DCWP to fight vociferously to have to repealed. In cooperation with former CM Espinal, we were successful. I absolutely support amending the zoning resolution to allow patrons to dance and more venues and eliminate all relevant restrictions.
Did you oppose the de Blasio/Cuomo proposal (and giveaways) for bringing Amazon’s HQ2 to Long Island City?
Yes, vociferously.
What role do you believe the local member should play in the approval of development proposals before the Council?
In general, I support a move away from member deference. Irrespective of whether or not that move happens, there are values that the council should adhere to: if we’re creating jobs they must be good jobs; if we’re creating housing, it must be truly affordable; if we’re building on public land, we must not accept anything short of using a non-profit developer which will bring money back into our communities, and we must insist that 100% of the units built are affordable.
Do you support legislation to prohibit discrimination against formerly incarcerated people in housing?
Yes.
Do you oppose the removal of the nearly 300 homeless individuals from the Lucerne hotel due to pressure from some local residents?
Yes.
What proposals will you advocate for to protect immigrants and further New York as a Sanctuary City?
began my career in public service by fighting the notoriously incompetent and discriminatory Bush immigration system to directly help nearly 1,000 families reunite, adjust status, gain asylum, and become citizens. Then, as Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Consumer & Worker Protection, I led the team that successfully negotiated with more than half a dozen federal regulators, including the U.S. Treasury and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, to have IDNYC accepted for banking purposes, opening up access to financial stability and mobility to tens of thousands of immigrants in New York City. This week marked a huge step in furthering New York as a Sanctuary City. A State law was passed, with tremendous work from Make the Road, that prohibits any law enforcement officer, including ICE, from making an arrest in or near state courthouses. Here in the City, I would advocate for reducing the number of offences that permit the NYPD from cooperating with ICE. This would be an important step in decriminalizing immigrants and furthering New York as a Sanctuary 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.
Philosophically, I very much support the idea of single payer. It is an issue I’ve worked on extensively, beginning as a congressional aide. However, I understand that there are important drawbacks when considering the implementation of such a program, because there are a lot of people, including public service union employees, who have excellent health care that they should not be at risk of losing. My vision of universal healthcare in the State of New York is more along the lines of creating a public option, where anyone who has insurance either through an employer or a union has the option to keep it and everyone else should buy into one, truly publicly-managed option.
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) Anthony Weiner B) Tish James and Jumaane Williams C) Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren (then Joe Biden in the general) D) Cynthia Nixon and Zephyr Teachout
Top 3 issues you aim to address locally and legislatively
In short (4 issues; hope you'll forgive me): 1. Building a Fair Economy that is truly inclusive of all, including immigrants, low-wage and gig workers, delivery and taxi drivers and all of the types of workers that RWDSU represents, along with small business owners; 2. Creating and implementing Affordable Housing for All: renters, small homeowners, NYCHA residents, and folks experiencing homelessness; 3. Fighting climate change by New Yorkers back to work with green jobs that offer good wages, ladders for growth, and all the protections that workers deserve; 4. Bringing healthcare to Western Queens by opening a H+H facility in my district to finally bring Western Queens long-overdue hospital beds and preventative care.
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?
1) I would make participatory budgeting mandatory in every district 2) Adopting a comprehensive plan for the city, and ensure that communities are at the table from the very beginning of the development process 3) The Council and mayor don’t currently have equal power in the budget process and the Council should have more.
Please explain your vision for the present powers of the office you are seeking and how you intend to exercise them?
We need to make sure that the New Yorkers for whom the Council is working are those who have been excluded from the economy as a result of racial or ethnic criminalization. The Council must be hyper-focused on the needs of these individuals. As such, I would exercise the powers of my office by creating a Fair Economy Fund, the City’s first-ever initiative dedicated to establishing economic stability and creating economic mobility through community organizing, extensive training, and direct financial support. My approach also includes dealing with the inequities in healthcare access by fighting for an expansion of the public healthcare system. Today, Queens has just 140 beds per 100,000 residents--the least of any borough. As such, I would fight to bring a public hospital to Queens. Crucially, I would also ensure that the housing we’re building is truly affordable, and that my colleagues in the Council and the Mayor’s office understand that housing and homelessness are two sides of the same coin.
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, of course. It’s always important to listen to what real New Yorkers have to say about what their priorities are--that’s how effective governance works. Consulting with Jim Owles on issues of importance will be a top priority of mine. I’ve had a lot of respect for Jim Owles since I began my career in public service nearly 15 years ago, and I believe strongly that Jim Owles has created an important role of carving a progressive space within the LGBTQ community. That, to me, is the true value of Jim Owles.
If you receive the endorsement, do you agree to identify the club on all literature and electronic materials where you list endorsements?
Yes, absolutely.
What additional information would you like Jim Owles to consider when we are making our endorsement decisions?
In the face of a $9 billion budget deficit, Western Queens need someone who knows how government works. I have long been an advocate of doing things differently from the inside, and a lot of what I have ended up accomplishing in my career has been unconventional. For instance, the Mayor was not initially approving of the Freelancers Act, the repeal of the cabaret law, or lifting the cap on street vendors, all bills that ended up passing and making a significant difference in the lives of New Yorkers. When I know the right policy outcome, I know how to advocate for it. Having also worked on such a wide variety of issues at different levels of government, I have a nuanced perspective that helps me build coalitions and get things done. As mentioned previously, in the context of our city facing a $9 billion deficit and 35 members of the Council being brand new, I am one of very few candidates out of the hundreds running across the city that knows how to build coalitions, get results, negotiate budgets, and make sure that New Yorkers, not special interests, are at the heart of our work. Last but certainly not least, we have never had a Queer, South Asian person in the Council. The liberation of communities is rooted in this representation, and while this matters, I also know that it’s not the only thing that matters. Queerness deeply defines my progressivism and these two things are deeply linked. Being queer is not simply a badge I wear--it guides my thinking and informs my views and the way in which I lead.