Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Dianne Morales for NYC Mayor

Candidate Name: Dianne Morales

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 am a ﬁrst generation college graduate, born in Bed-Stuy to two working class parents from Puerto Ricowho believed in the American Dream — that success was possible for everyone and that those whoattained success had a responsibility to lift others as they climbed. I’m also the single mother of two college students, and the ﬁrst Afro-Latina candidate for Mayor of New York.

My personal experiences, combined with 25 years of leadership experience in the nonproﬁt sector have given me a deep understanding of our city’s dysfunctional education, justice, and health/mental healthsystems. Throughout my career, I served as founding member of Jumpstart – a national early childhood organization, Executive Director of The Door and most recently, Phipps Neighborhoods in the South Bronx. My leadership and advocacy in education, employment, and social justice have improved the lives of New Yorkers in some of the most under-resourced neighborhoods, and created permanent pathways out of poverty for single moms, LGBTQIA+ youth, the formerly incarcerated, and the homeless.

The pandemic has worsened the problems I have dedicated my life to solving: housing, economic andhealth disparities were all present before, but have drastically deepened. As we continue to experience the devastating consequences of our nation’s failed pandemic response, the rich have gotten richer while the poor have gotten poorer. We cannot, and must not, continue to ignore that our city is built on thebacks of Black and brown women, immigrants, disabled people, the LGBTQIA+ community, and theworking poor. They have been the invisible drivers keeping the city going, yet continue to be left behindby our policymakers.

I decided to run for Mayor because I have the experience to understand the root causes of our problems — and I am prepared to make the radical changes we need to ﬁx them. No one like me has ever led our city.My lived experience as a single mother, a woman of color, and my leadership and advocacy experience means I can be a uniquely effective and insightful mayor. As the pandemic has unfolded, and the fabric ofour society frays, it has become clear that this is our moment to make massive structural changes thatwill make real improvements in the lives of all New Yorkers, starting with our most vulnerable and under-resourced.

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

I am proud to have endorsed former City Council Candidate Elisa Crespo and District Leader JessePierce.

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?

During my tenure as Executive Director at The Door, I transformed and expanded the mental healthservices department to include programming for LGBTQ homeless youth, substance abuse counseling andthe only art therapy-based GED program in NYC. While CEO of Phipps Neighborhoods, I oversaw the implementation and operation of several supportive housing programs, including for formerly homelessadults with severe and persistent mental illness, substance abuse and one for young people aging out of foster care, many of whom were part of the LGBTQ+ community. Additionally, my leadership and advocacy in education, employment, and social justice have improved the lives of some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers.

Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQ community?

No, but I am a strong and supportive ally.

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

Yes, from 2005-2010, I was executive director of the Door, and in that capacity I sponsored ﬂoats in the Pride parade for our young people, LGBTQ youth, and participated with my own family as well. As theproud mother of a bisexual child, I have participated in marches every year since my child came out (with the exceptions of times when my son had baseball tournaments). Most recently, I was a marshall at lastyear’s Queer Liberation March or Reclaim Pride.

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

Yes.

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

In the ﬁght for justice and equity, I believe in showing, not telling. In the last few years, I organized aid for Puerto Rico to support those who the federal government left behind (including establishing afoundation to support truly grassroots rebuilding efforts led by women on the island), led a delegation ofstaff at the March for Our Lives, and attended press conferences in solidarity with labor over increasing minimum wage. I spoke and marched at the Women’s March in January, was part of a ReturningCitizens Roundtable in support of rights for the formerly incarcerated, and organized a vigil in mourning for Black lives. I helped to plan and marshal this year’s Reclaim Pride event and helped organize a BlackTrans Joy celebration in September. Last summer I joined my fellow New Yorkers in the streets to demand justice from the NYPD. I was at the protests on the ground passing out PPE, and experienced the immense police brutality and anger unleashed on protestors — some in irreversible ways. My own children were pepper sprayed in the crowds. We were also kettled with other protestors when my son was assaulted by an oﬃcer without provocation. I am deeply devoted to ﬁghting to end police brutality, and will work with movements to defund the police in the ﬁght to allocate at least $3 billion dollars of the police’s budget towards social services. I provided support atAbolition Park during Occupy City Hall and helped to plan a teach in on decriminalizing sex work atAbolition Plaza in Brooklyn. I also provided mutual aid to various other protests in recent months. More recently, I have marched with excluded workers, taxi drivers, and student workers all demanding justice. As Mayor, I would continue to stand and act in solidarity with these activists and movements.

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

No – as a single mother for the last 21 years, I had to ensure I was available to care for my children. Overthe last year, I have also been caretaker for my elderly parents.

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

Yes, as Mayor, I would visit a city jail within the ﬁrst 100 days of taking oﬃce, and plan to visit these facilities regularly and to check-in with those who are held behind bars until we can end the carceralsystem entirely. Under my administration, I am also committed to closing Rikers as quickly as possible and rejecting any plans to build new jails — our goal is to stop jailing people, not build “nicer” jails. Instead,we’re going to systematically and swiftly work to decriminalize New Yorkers, reduce the NYPD’s budget and power, eliminate bail, and give New Yorkers the resources and mental health support they need tothrive.

Will you aﬃrmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals?

Yes.

Describe your legislative and policy vision for combatting systemic racism.

My entire campaign is based on the notion of dismantling the systems and structures of oppression. My platform prioritizes striking at the key pillars that work to maintain the status quo. I will work to create safe communities that increase access and opportunities for low-income, Black and Brown communities by providing housing for all, desegregating education, building a democratized, solidarity economy, anddivesting from police and investing in communities. These measures will begin to address the critical needs of our communities that will allow all New Yorkers to be able to live in dignity.

My career has been dedicated to serving the underserved. I will ensure that all New Yorkers receive fairand equitable treatment from the city government. The implicit bias that pervades our government requires many changes in policy funding, operating culture and attitudes. My administration will shift resources from arresting and incarcerating Black and Brown New Yorkers to supportive and preventiveservices. We will create equity and opportunity in the education system, provide housing for all, andchampion fair wages and worker safety.

In addition, we need deep collective healing, and a full commitment from all of our community members. It starts with centering a racial justice lens in our education system, and it continues by ﬁnding equity inthe leadership of institutions who value and understand the urgent need to eradicate the white supremacy that ﬂows through so many of our systems.

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, I would support renaming the Queensboro Bridge the Munsee Bridge to acknowledge theIndigenous land that we, as a majority settler city, continue to occupy.

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

I support removing it. I would honor the Black people that used to live there in Seneca Village and or Iwould replace it with a statue of Marsha P. Johnson.

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?

It has always been apparent to Black and Brown people that our criminal justice system is broken. It isbecoming increasingly apparent to everyone else. My administration will radically reimagine public safety by defunding the police and funding the people. The Mayor has the most power in the city’s budgeting process, and my ﬁrst proposed budget will include a $3 billion decrease in the NYPD budget. That money will be reallocated towards services that truly promote public safety, including schools and supportivehousing. I will also transition police out of public service work, such as traﬃc work and outreach to homeless New Yorkers. Additionally, in order to reduce New Yorkers’ chance of encountering the policeand justice system at all, I will decriminalize drug use and sex work, explore reducing DA budgets, and close Rikers while rejecting plans to build new jails. The existing criminal justice system is irreparablybroken — we must entirely reimagine public safety. This can begin by decriminalizing normal humanbehavior and investing in services that actually keep us secure and stable. These changes will help provide a foundation to build a more just and equitable city. We have to fully reimagine the criminal-legalsystem and seek to root it in transformative justice. Reform is no longer enough. Last summer I joined myfellow New Yorker’s in the streets to demand justice that we have never received. My own children were assaulted and tear gassed by the NYPD. Enough is enough, and if now is not the right time for change,then when is?

How would you have voted on the FY21 City Budget?

I would have voted no, as the FY21 budget did not suﬃciently defund the police and move resources intocommunities. As a mayoral candidate, I am pushing for a $3 billion cut to the NYPD, and would not have supported a budget that makes no real changes to the size of the police department in this city.

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! Policing in schools, mental health response, and homeless outreach has criminalized so many of our Black and Brown neighbors, oftentimes putting people in a more dangerous situation than before they asked for help. My administration would support moving these functions away from the police and towards a Community First Response Department. The Community First Response Department wouldserve as ﬁrst responders to public safety issues related to non-criminal public safety issues:homelessness, mental health, substance abuse, emotional distress and other behavioral health issues.The department would be staffed by trained professional ﬁrst responders including social workers, crisisresponse workers, medics, mental health counselors and others, all of whom would be trained in crisis intervention and de-escalation. They will connect people to healthcare, social services, mental health services and other critical supports. Police in schools will be replaced with counselors, nurses, and psychologists — professionals who can actually help students. And, rather than suspension or expulsion, I willencourage schools to use restorative justice, conﬂict resolution, and emotional intelligence practicesto resolve disputes.

I would also remove police from traﬃc enforcement. Too often traﬃc stops are the auspice for racial proﬁling, which leads to criminalization and violence against Black and Brown people. Previously, the cityhoused parking enforcement outside of the police department. These are unarmed, civil servants who keep driver’s from abusing their privilege to leave their cars on our streets. We could have a civil-service corps with a similar strategy to enforcing moving violations, with a focus on overall safety, instead of the criminalization of community members. Similarly, street vending should not be regulated by the NYPD. Licensing and regulation should be done by agencies that are focused on the wares of a given vendor, and those licenses and regulations should be enforced equitably and communicated in the preferred language of any who seek permits.

Should the NYPD Vice Squad be eliminated?

Yes. They are a violent, prejudiced group and I will move to immediately disband them. I will also work to effectively decriminalize sex work, and all similar nonviolent behavior such as public drinking, so thework of Vice Squad will no longer be necessary.

Should Dermot Shea be ﬁred immediately?

Yes. He has expanded the NYPD and overseen a violent response to protests against racial injustice. Hehas protected dangerous cops and he needs to go.

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?

When a police oﬃcer violates the public’s trust, they will be forced to forfeit any privileges afforded tothem by the public, including salaries, pensions and other beneﬁts as necessary. The mayor should determine what the penalty should be for refusing to wear a mask, for example one vacation day, and then force the Commissioner to enforce that penalty.

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

To create police accountability, we will implement an Early Intervention System. Infractions by oﬃcers must be tracked, reviewed, be made public, and oﬃcers must be held accountable to the public they serve. This system must identify patterns of inappropriate, violent behavior by oﬃcers, and reportregularly to the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) and the District Attorney’s oﬃce. However, so far the Civilian Complaint Review Board has been demonstrably inadequate in its ability to hold policeaccountable. It should become an elected body, and be given powers to investigate and discipline police oﬃcers. District Attorney’s oﬃces must create separate, independent divisions responsible solely forcriminal prosecution of police. Along with the CCRB, this division will build and maintain a comprehensive, veriﬁed list of police oﬃcers who are accused and found guilty of misconduct. When a police oﬃcerviolates the public trust, they will be forced to forfeit any privileges afforded to them by the public, including salaries, pensions and other beneﬁts. We will end placard abuse, and oﬃcers will face the same consequences as any other person. Offending oﬃcers and their benevolent association will be heldﬁnancially liable for any restitution owed to their victims. I would also support state legislation to makeCCRB determinations binding.

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

I believe that we need to close Rikers immediately. I also believe that we must halt the plans for the new jails. Spending billions of dollars on new jails will not do anything to solve our city’s problem with mass incarceration. As Mayor I will lower the number of people who are held in our City jails by investing in a bail-voucher system, decriminalizing nonviolent behavior such as minor drug posession and sex work, and pressuring the District Attorneys to end cash bail. We need to examine the entire criminal code andrepeal any laws that reinforce racial targeting by law enforcement. We must end the failed war on drugsand, instead, direct and encourage substance users to seek treatment. We should pursue restorativemeans of justice and employ trauma-informed practices, as we move away from a racist culture of criminalization to a higher form ofjustice. Additionally, I support ending the inhumane practice of solitary conﬁnement. I believe solitary conﬁnement compromises human rights and has been shown to result in mental deterioration and illness. If it is still in use when elected, I commit to a timely termination of practices, drawing on researchthat has been shown to be signiﬁcantly more effective in promoting safety and reducing violence.

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, absolutely! Additionally, I fully support the Elder Parole Act in the NYS legislature, which wouldachieve the same goals.

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 inaccessible to many New Yorkers who do not speak English; we need to do all we can to ensure that language access in the 311 system is brought up to compliance with Local Law 30, which mandates that certain agencies appoint language access coordinators, translate commonly distributeddocuments into 10 designated languages, provide telephonic interpretation in at least 100 languages,and develop and implement language access implementation plans. Additionally, I would support ensuring that 311 provides New Yorkers with any and all necessary information they need to connect with relevant agencies like HPD or NYCHA so that people’s issues with these agencies can actually be resolved. By better connecting folks with the agencies they need to eﬃciently address their issues, 311 can help make peoples’ lives easier throughout NYC.

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

As part of my decareral agenda, I will be heavily focusing on fully decriminalizing sex work and creating a sex workers protection bill of rights under the Department of Consumer & Worker Protection. This means that I will wholeheartedly reject the Nordic Model, which ultimately still puts sex workers in harms way. I will also eliminate the NYPD Vice Squad which, alongside the recently repealed Walking While Trans law, has harmed and trapped many trans women of color and sex workers in a cycle of arrests and incarceration. In terms of the mechanics of decriminalizing sex work, I support the infrastructure of the full-decriminalization model proposed in the State Legislature by State Senators Julia Salazar andJessica Ramos, which calls for the creation of red light districts outside of school zones. This is an urgent priority—trans women of color and sex workers have faced decades of harrassment due to thecriminalization of sex work, and I look forward to ending this harmful criminalization of my own neighborsas Mayor of New York City.

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

New York City has the most segregated schools in the country. As Mayor, I would ﬁght as hard as possible to change this by eliminating admission screenings, which drastically exacerbates the already overwhelming impact of segregation in our school system. Instead, I would put forth a comprehensive citywide school integration plan involving zoning reform and open enrollment. This plan would push to redraw elementary school zones to maximize social and racial integration, work to improve and expandD15’s middle school integration plan, and put schools ﬁrst in line for investment in a budget that centers the goal of ALL our students reaching their full, human potential. To me, that is what true educationaljustice can and should look like, and I will ﬁght to win this as Mayor.

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

I believe that parents and (especially) students need more of a seat at the table when it comes to making decisions about education in New York CIty. I ﬁrmly believe that students should have a voice in theirown education, and as Mayor, I would seek to give students substantially more power over the control of the Department of Education. I would center youth leadership in integration and restorative justice implementation plans, and would regularly meet with youth groups and councils forcollaboration/accountability checks. Additionally, I would create voting positions for youth on Community Education Councils and Panel for Education Policy, and would seek to increase parents’power on both of these boards as well.

Do you support public funding of abortion?

Yes. Reproductive healthcare is a human right, and I would seek to continue to build upon the efforts of the City Council, which previously has allocated $250,000 of public money towards abortion care and services. As Mayor, I would hope to increase this funding, so that ALL people who need abortion haveaccess regardless of ability to pay.

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

Yes, absolutely. My administration will establish Overdose Prevention Centers and fully fundprograms to allow safer consumption, and provide resources and harm-reduction services. I fully believe that harm reduction programs like safe consumption siteswould be a vital resource for our city. These programs could help provide services and do outreach to people at risk for overdose who are not connected to services.

Do you smoke or otherwise consume weed?

As the New York Time quoted me saying, “I prefer edibles.”

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 have never supported any members of the IDC.

What will you do to support nightlife in NYC?

Nightlife is a key part of our city’s economy, and COVID-19 has left the nightlife industry absolutely demolished. We will need to work closely with owners of bars, nightclubs, and other establishments to make sure they are getting the support from the city that they need to begin reopening safely as vaccination rates continue to surge and the weather gets warmer. I will work closely with the owners ofnightlife establishments to ensure that they have access to programs such as Open Restaurants.I willalso work to directly aid small businesses, like night clubs and small concert venues, by reducing their commercial rent payments, while we explore permanent commercial rent stabilization. We must make sure that small businesses owners are able to remain in their neighborhoods to continue creating jobsand building community.

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

Yes. My administration will always speak directly with impacted communities before making policy thataffects their lives.

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 establishments?

Yes, absolutely. I will support small business owners, and will work to ensure that the interests of thenightlife industry are well represented on local community boards.

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! Everyone needs to dance more. Our spiritual recovery will be through the arts. After close to a year of non-stop loss and grief, when we ﬁnally emerge from this COVID-19 crisis (since for many, it’s still on-going and we must not forget this), we’ll need to be in spaces and in community together, and will need toﬁnd ways to process our grief through music, dance, art, and more. It’s paramount that we not only see our arts and culture industryrebuilt, but also ensure that workplace conditions center the safety of workers and that we seeconsistent, transparent, and fairly practiced regulations.

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

I opposed the deal. If I had been Mayor, I would have fought giving any City or State money to Amazon,or any other large corporation. In order to build a new NYC, we must invest in our local economy and community. For too long, NYC’s economy and employment has been framed in the context of relying on outside businesses and corporations to provide jobs and “stimulate the economy.” We must prioritize the creation and establishment of a local economy that invests and grows from within. The dollars thathave traditionally gone to outsiders in the form of tax incentives/subsidies must be invested in our local economy instead. These dollars can be prioritized to support small & mid-sized businesses as well as City agencies and services. That is what will actually make the city a vibrant place to live and work.

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

Members should play a signiﬁcant role in shaping rezoning proposals that are proposed in their district.They can, and should, host public forums, work with community groups, and build power with their neighbors to ensure that rezoning proposals both meet city and community needs. As Mayor, I will provide Council Members with supports to facilitate community planning processes during proposed rezonings through the Department of City Planning. However, I am generally opposed to memberdeference, as it prevents council members from effectively opposing bad rezonings, such as the recently passed Flushing rezoning, where only 70-95 of the 1,725 residential units proposed for construction willbe made “affordable” in any way. If we are going to push back against harmful rezonings, council members cannot be bound to vote with the local council member. Thus, while I support councilmembers being extensively involved in crafting rezoning plans with their communities, I would not support the continued practice of member deference, which has led to countless harmful rezonings in New York City.

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

Yes. I don’t believe that a criminal record should affect anyone’s right to safe, digniﬁed housing. I would support legislation that proactively prevents formerly incarcerated people from being discriminatedagainst in mortgage and rental applications. If we hope to break cycles of incarceration, we have to stop creating barriers to employment, housing, ﬁnancial support, and other services for those who haveentered the system.

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

Yes. The decision by the deBlasio administration to evict these residents from their homes was driven by racist and classist fearmongering. Homeless New Yorkers, who are disproportionately poor, Black and/or brown must have the same right to safe, digniﬁed housing as the residents of the Upper West Side. Rather than bending to the will of rich New Yorkers who seek to “solve” homelessness by pushing it out of their neighborhoods, I will create long term strategies that provide permanent, supportivehousing to homeless New Yorkers and create the stability they need to integrate into their new neighborhoods. My administration will construct new deeply affordable and social housing, and will convert shelter units and hotels to create this permanent housing, and this housing will be locatedthroughout New York City, including new units in rich, white neighborhoods like the Upper West Side, so that homeless New Yorkers can ﬁnd housing close to their work.

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

To create a truly just and equitable city, the basic needs of every New Yorker must be met and every right must be protected. This means that New York needs to be a true sanctuary city: all city agencies must bemandated to protect our community members from racist federal agencies that punish people for simplyexisting, and we must work to meet the basic needs of our immigrant communities and enable them tothrive.

In order to do this for our robust immigrant community, my administration would put a hard stop to anyand all cooperation between city agencies and ICE. My administration would expand the detainer law,prohibit NYPD from assisting ICE in arresting non-citizens, ban NYPD from inviting ICE into the city, and ban all City agencies (including ACS) from inquiring about immigration status. Moreover, there must be strict accountabilitymeasures in place to discipline agencies that violate this mandate. This would of course apply toNYPD, but also to all other public institutions and agencies, so that everyone can feel secure and remainable to utilize City services. We must rebuild trust between the City government and our immigrantcommunities.

Further, we must build City services that are accessible to immigrants and serve their needs. I willconnect City services to culturally-competent interpreters and translators. This will mean ensuring thereis properly translated and culturally-relevant information available at public institutions across the city. Iwould also expand funding for services for immigrants, including legal protection services and boosting funding to organizations that work with immigrant communities and City funds to provide support to excluded workers. These trusted community-based organizations have proven records of providing freeand accessible services to immigrants; they are an invaluable resource and will be a powerful way to get critical information and resources to immigrant communities. I would also be eager to partner with these organizations in order to ensure as many people as possible understand their reproductive rights and options.

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

Yes, even the best city-level health program requires the federal and state government for massive,transformational change. I would use my bully pulpit to build public support for the New York Health Actand lobby legislators to pass the bill. I would also work with elected oﬃcials and advocates from around New York State to build support for Medicare For All. Healthcare is a right that must be accessible toeveryone.

On the city level, I will move to address city health inequities in my ﬁrst 100 days as Mayor by launching NYC 5000, a ﬁve-borough culturally-responsive team tasked with identifying and responding to gapsbetween human services and the communities most in need, including those most impacted by COVID-19 and a failed recovery and vaccine distribution response. We can then use that data to continue targetingcommunities for vaccine distribution, as needed, and to create healthcare strategies that target the areasmost in need. My administration will create a network of integrated community health clinics across the city to provide preventative primary care, as part of a wide plan to boost the care economy, which will also include investments in elder care, affordable and quality childcare, early childhood education, homecare, disability and long-term care. I will also invest in education and training for care jobs, includingsupport and training for primary caregivers and strengthening the CUNY School of Medicine. I will do more to protectindependent contractors and gig workers, as well as domestic workers, by expanding beneﬁts such aspaid family and sick leave. My administration would also seek to pilot a program providing access to doulas, midwives, physicians and nurses, and free prenatal care for expecting mothers; this is especiallycritical for Black mothers who are much more likely to die in childbirth than white mothers.

COVID-19 provided clarity on the state of inequality in the social determinants of health. Factors such as access to insurance, employment, language access and culturally relevant intervention strategies allrevealed our city’s unwillingness to shrink the gap in accessible health and address the inequities thatreduce the quality of life for so many. Through work both inside and outside the City government, I will work tirelessly to change that.

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) Letitia James (2013); Jumaane Williams (2019)

C) Hillary Clinton (2016); Elizabeth Warren (2020)

D) Andrew Cuomo and Letitia James

Top 3 issues you aim to address locally and legislatively

Right now, money is not saving us from this crisis, poor and working class people are. My immediate priority, and my guiding principle for my mayoralty, is to center the working-class, immigrants, and theBlack and brown New Yorkers who are the backbone of our city. In addition to enacting my Dignity Nowplatform, my top three priorities are to

1) enshrine housing as a human right in the city;
2) integrate our schools and create educationalequity; and
3) defund the NYPD to fund the people.

In order to enshrine housing as a human right, I will immediately repurpose units to house homeless New Yorkers while working to convert hotels and other units into permanent supportive housing. I will also extend and expand the city’s rent assistance program, shifting power toward renters and small homeowners by making evictions more diﬃcult, requiring more concessions from private developers, and prioritizing non-proﬁt and democratic housing structures over private companies. I will also strengthen NYCHA by immediately ending privatization efforts, piloting resident democracy in NYCHA housing, and requiring more city employment opportunities to be directed towardsNYCHA residents.

As the mother of two public school students (now in college) and a former teacher, integrating our schools and creating educational equity is near to my heart. In my ﬁrst 100 days, I will execute an Educational Equity Executive Order to ﬁnally desegregate schools, eliminate disparities, and hold agencies accountable for inequitable educational outcomes. I will also bring school accountability to the communities they serve by creating accessible spaces for parent and student feedback and decisionmaking. I will fully fund schools, in part by removing the NYPD from our classrooms, and directing that money towards services. I will also make capital improvements to schools, reduce class sizes, and expand pre-K and 3-K. Most critically, I will work to desegregate our schools by ending all racist and inequitable admissions tests and processes, reducing charter schools’ power, and assessing and addressing inequitable funding.

Third, my administration will radically reimagine public safety by defunding the police and funding the people. The Mayor has the most power in the city’s budgeting process, and my ﬁrst proposed budget willinclude a $3 billion decrease in the NYPD budget. That money will be reallocated towards services that truly promote public safety, including schools and supportive housing. I will also transition police out of public service work, such as traﬃc regulation and outreach to homeless New Yorkers. In order to reduceencounters between New Yorkers and the justice system in the ﬁrst place, I will decriminalize drug use and sex work, reduce DA budgets, and close Rikers while rejecting plans to build new jails.

Overall, I will work to address the systemic and structural issues that perpetuate disparity and inequity by race, gender and class. We must center the voices of people who have been systematically disenfranchised by bad policies, some of which go back centuries. We are living in unprecedented times that call for the radical reimagining of what is possible. I am running to create a new social contract thatcenters and elevates communities that have historically been left behind. I am not promising to get NYCback to status quo, I am promising to help us build an NYC that has never existed, but is urgently needed.

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 andduties of municipal oﬃces?

For example, the budget needs to be made more transparent and accessible—not only to oﬃcials outside of the mayor’s oﬃce, but to all New Yorkers. I would advocate for measures that make budgetary Units of Appropriation (UAs) clearer. Currently, a lot of vital funding information can be hidden in overly broad UAs,and I would seek to impose monetary or other limits on the size and scope of UAs. I would also advocate topeg the budget of oversight oﬃces to the oﬃce it oversees. The 2019 Charter Revision Commission didthis for the Public Advocate’s oﬃce and the Civilian Complaint Review Board. I would support expanding this logic to the Comptroller’s oﬃce, the Department of Investigation, and other oversight and watchdog bodies. I also support reforms that would give the Council more information about the budget sooner; thebudget should be a democratic document and the mayor’s oﬃce should not control it by withholding ordelaying information.

On land use, I would support reforms to shift our city’s land use procedure towards a morecomprehensive system that both considers community input and citywide needs. I believe that this change must be done through the charter to ensure that all New Yorkers have an adequate opportunity to ensure that their concerns surrounding a comprehensive plan are heard, and, as Mayor, I would push for a CharterCommission to be formed around the subject. Comprehensive planning will help us build thrivingcommunities in an equitable city, and I look forward to ﬁghting for this change in the charter.

I would also support reforms to make city government more democratic and diverse. The mayor makesthe overwhelming majority of appointments in the city government. I support reforms that give other oﬃces and bodies, including the Council, the Public Advocate, and the Comptroller, more appointmentson critical bodies. I would also be eager to explore ways that community groups and advocates could make appointments to decision-making bodies, similar to the way CEC presidents make an appointment to the Panel for Educational Policy. Importantly, I would ﬁght to make the Civilian Complaint Review Board a democratically elected body and that is given powers to investigate and discipline police oﬃcers.

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

The Mayor of New York is a unique position. On the one hand, it is far and away the most powerfulposition in the city government. But on the other, the power of the Mayor, and of the city government generally, is severely (and excessively) constrained by the state government. My vision is to create an equitable and just city, which necessitates that the city government itself is equitable and just. I will workto make city government democratic and balanced so that we can build sustainable policy and form a strong foundation to pressure the state to grant the city the power we need and deserve.

I believe that mayoral power requires checks and balances, such as term limits for mayoral appointees and protections for those same appointees when they disagree with mayoral policy. Further, the City Council, as a body with citywide perspective but close ties to their districts, should have more say in city policy. I intend to develop a close relationship not only with the Speaker, but with as many members aspossible, so I can develop a fuller sense of the needs throughout the city and work effectively to passpermanent legislation, rather than creating policies through temporary mayoral directives. I will also ensure that my appointees for commissioners and directors are individuals from impacted communities who are committed to building racial and economic equity through their department’s work. I will seek,whenever possible, to hire people who have experience with the problems they are trying to solve. This willnot only help us create better solutions, but also make it easier to collaborate with residents andcommunities currently facing these problems. I will ﬁght to bring New Yorkers, particularly those often overlooked by politics, directly into decision making processes, so communities are empowered inshaping their own city.

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. Many of my initiatives rely on and build upon the work that nonproﬁt organizations and trustedcommunity organizations have been spearheading for decades. Partnering with trusted communityorganizations that have proven track records in responding to the needs of overlooked communities isone of my foremost priorities. It is apparent to me that, to build trust and reach all New Yorkers, we have to work in close partnership with organizations who have been leading the way for decades. Institutionslike the Jim Owles Club will be a vital resource for me in developing policies for the LGBTQ+ community, and I hope Jim Owles and my other partners will hold me accountable for following through on thosepolicies.

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?

questionnaireJim Owles Liberal Democratic ClubJanuary 9, 2021nyc mayor 2021