Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Jaslin Kaur for City Council District 23

Candidate Name: Jaslin Kaur

Office Seeking Election for: City Council District 23

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

I was born and raised in this district and have seen it grow and transform before my own eyes. While I have a deep love and commitment for the places that have nurtured me here, I also want to see it be better. My family was directly impacted by the 2014 taxi medallion market crash which resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and additional student loan debt on my end. I have seen families across the street sell their homes or sell their medallions just to keep their families from sinking into further debt. And as a former caretaker, I know what it’s like to be a student and the person my family relies on for income, all while taking care of my grandmother and translating for her at hospitals. Whether it’s my lived experiences right here in Glen Oaks, or my organizing experiences as a survivor advocate doing political education and Title IX policy advocacy for survivors of sexual violence, fighting against detention and deportation of our immigrant families, and supporting summer educational programs for young women of color - I know the struggles of people in this district. I have been the only candidate to publicly refuse police, real estate, and fossil fuel donations. I am the youngest woman running in this race in a district that has never been represented by a woman or a person of color. I am not limited by people’s perceptions of Eastern Queens; I am instead motivated by what Eastern Queens should be and I will build that with a multiethnic, multiracial, multilingual coalition of organizers.

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

I proudly canvassed for Tiffany Caban, a queer, Jim Owles-endorsed candidate for Queens District Attorney, in 2019.

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

While I am not an elected official at the moment, I deeply believe that members of the LGBTQIA community deserve support and protection from our city government. Despite this, programs aimed at providing my LGBTQIA neighbors with services and resources have been underfunded and ignored for years. Additionally, I hope to bring the presence of key social services that serve homeless LGBTQIA New Yorkers to my district. To do this, I would propose the allocation of funds towards housing for homeless and at-risk LGBTQIA+ youth and LGBTQIA+ centers in Eastern Queens during the city budget process.

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

I have worked with Know Your IX and Advocates for Youth as an organizer.

Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBTQ community?

No, I do not identify as part of the community.

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

Yes, I attended NYC Pride in 2019!

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

I have not been in a position to employ other people prior to this campaign, but we have not hired anyone openly LGBTQ *yet*. However, we have only hired a treasurer thus far and plan to solidify our initial round of campaign employees in early 2021.

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 worked with the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) in 2018 and 2019 on reproductive justice issues, including defeating the public charge rule that would harm immigrant women and families reliant on programs like CHIP and WIC. I advocated in favor of ending anti-Prenatal Non-Discrimination Acts (PRENDAs) that have incarcerated Asian women based on right-wing, anti-abortion laws. I also testified in front of the City Council (virtually) with NAPAWF-NYC on anti-PRENDA laws. With NAPAWF, NARAL, and Planned Parenthood, I also attended several rallies and protests at the Supreme Court on the NIFLA v. Becerra case regarding “crisis pregnancy centers” and how they had falsely advertised abortion services. Additionally, I have worked with Know Your IX to protect Title IX rights for queer and trans students, co-leading teach-ins and supporting on communications items. This has been especially important, recognizing that sexual abusers have threatened survivors on outing them to their family and peers, and this retaliation disproportionately harms low-income queer youth of color who cannot secure the adequte legal counsel in Title IX retaliation lawsuits. Lastly, I have attended several press conferences and rallies to #SaveSCOTUS, protect Roe v. Wade, fight against Trump’s Muslim ban, and #FamiliesBelongTogether actions to fight family separation, incarceration, and deportation of immigrants in the US.

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

No, I have not been arrested.

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

Absolutely. Prisons and jails serve to put people away from the purview of our society, and do not address issues of poverty and homelessness and mental health crises head on. I would like to follow the lead of some of our new electeds in visiting state and city jails, especially folks that organizations like Survived and Punished have advocated for - Black and brown folks incarcerated from fighting domestic violence and sexual violence. As someone committed to decarcerating our city through budget commitments and legislation, I need to understand the plight of those impacted by the current system. I commit to not only visiting these constituents, but also do all in my power to fight and advocate for them.

Will you affirmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals?

Yes, I will hire formerly incarcerated individuals. The system that exists tries its hardest to pretend that incarceration is about reform. But with an unemployment rate of over 27% for formerly incarcerated people, we know that reform or resolve is far from its end goal. I commit to opportunities for folks to work, live, and pursue their dreams regardless of their records of incarceration.

Describe your legislative and policy vision for combatting systemic racism

As an anticarceral organizer who has worked to end the school-to-prison pipeline and the survivor-to-prison pipeline for many youth who cannot report sexual violence to another entity aside from the police, my vision is for decarcerated New York City. However, currently carceral systems are at every corner of our city. The NYPD alone has an operating budget of $6 billion, but total city spending is estimated at $11 billion. This bloated budget has contributed to ongoing instances of racist policing in low-income neighborhoods and school grounds, especially at CUNY and community colleges, relentless police brutality, and the criminalization of homelessness, sex work, and gender identity for our trans and gender non-conforming neighbors. The next City Council must absolutely defund and divest from the NYPD and I envision a future for NYC that achieves dignity without incarceration, policing, surveillance, and laws applied unevenly to the most marginalized people. We can and should aspire to a city where everyone has what they need because we have collectively fought for it. I support fully funding NYCHA, ending segregation in our K-12 schools, decriminalizing sex work, fighting for climate justice, funding our hospitals, and eliminating austerity from our budgets.

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

Today(12/18) Mayor de Blasio released a 6 minute video full of platitudes and rhetoric around police brutality, in an effort to not only cover up the DOI report regarding the George Floyd protests, but to whitewash his complacency in police brutality. This is not the first time he’s covered up for the NYPD, and it won’t be the last. Bill has blood on his hands and I would never accept, and rightfully refuse any attempt, at Bill de Blasio’s endorsement.

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, in more ways than one Ed Koch was a menace to our city and his policies ushered in policing, homelessness, and gentrification as we know it today. There was no active action taken during his tenure as Mayor to prevent the spread of AIDS, and subsequently, the city’s hospitals were severely overburdened, our fellow New Yorkers faced preventable deaths, and the burden fell on organizations like ACT UP to organize in response. We should go further and honor the Native population of this city, who were displaced and genocided for us to be able to live here. We should rename the Bridge after either the Siwanoy people who used to rely on the East River for fishing and transportation, or the Matinecock people who resided in Long Island City before colonization of these lands.

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

100% yes, we should remove it. The statue should be torn down immediately. In my opinion we should replace it with a statue or monument commemorating Seneca Village, the first free black community in New York City, which was torn down, as the residents were displaced in order to build Central park. Seneca Village also included Indigenous Lenape residents, as well as other minority immigrant groups which were not seen favorably by the majority of New Yorkers, making it a particularly powerful community for its time.

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

Yes, while real estate interests aren’t clamoring for our support in Council District 23, I have taken a strong stance against the overdevelopment of luxury and other non-affordable housing and commercial space. If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we need more affordability within housing and to keep our small businesses alive. I will never accept any donations from Law Enforcement unions or associations. My interests lie with the working people of CD23, and especially its most impacted communities, not special interests like Law Enforcement or Real Estate. I am currently the only candidate in my district who has explicitly and publicly refused real estate money.

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

I support reducing the NYPD by $3 billion.

How would you have voted on the FY21 City Budget?

I would have voted against this budget. Councilmembers need to have codified morals and ethics they stand on, and one of them needs to be to prioritize those that have been negatively impacted by the City Council’s past policies, and that includes the bloated NYPD budget. This is one of the most powerful actions we can take as a council and we need to use the budget to ensure the mayor is listening to us, rather than dictating to us. We should have defunded the NYPD and used that funding to invest in mental health resources, our schools, rehabilitation programs, and other social services that have been proven to cut back on crime. This is a systematic issue, and we’ve tasked the NYPD with solving all of it. A hammer sees every problem as a nail, and the NYPD is proof of that.

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.

Many city council members talk about reducing or stopping the school to prison pipeline, but haven’t done the first thing youth advocates like DRUM and Teens Take Charge have asked. We need to remove NYPD from schools and fully decarcerate by eliminating metal detectors and military recruiters. DSS and DHS are already working on a plan to remove NYPD from their centers, and I support that plan, but we need to go further. We need to have counselors responding to Mental Health calls not the NYPD. We need to invest more money into DHS and DSS so they can do more outreach to the homeless, especially on public transit, and conduct social services instead of the police. I also support taking police out of traffic enforcement and transferring it to a civilian agency.

Should the NYPD Vice Squad be eliminated?

Like many other New Yorkers I was disgusted in reading ProPublica’s recent investigation into the Vice Squad. I was familiar with their action already, due to the tragic story of what happened to Yang Song and so many sex workers whose rights to workplace dignity and safety have been violently upended by the NYPD. But the amount of entrapment, abuse of power, and disgusting vile tactics the Vice squad uses proves that we don’t need this kind of agency in our city. We need to not only disband Vice, but launch an independent investigation of all the officers who are assigned to it and hold those that abused their power or entrapped folks, accountable.

Should Dermot Shea be fired immediately?

Yes. Dermot Shea has been complicit in structures of police brutality and violence against communities of color in this city. His close relationship to William Bratton further enshrines the legacy of violence he represents. He must be pushed out.

Should the NYPD Commissioner require confirmation by the City Council?

Yes, the City Council is the only body in New York City that is elected by the people. As such, we can make better decisions on who enforces our city. We need to defund and divest from the police, but with the Commissioner only at the behest of the Mayor, we will only continue to see severe betrayals to Black and brown New Yorkers.

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

They should be fired immediately, just like any other first responder would be if they refused this mandate. There has been no accountability for police officers who refuse to wear a mask, and clearly the $50 fine does not apply to them. While the media tries to portray massive protests as superspreader events, police officers have been the ones to refusing to wear masks.

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

The Civilian Complaint Review Board should be an elected body. Only 5 board members are chosen by the City Council while the majority are chosen by the Mayor and the Police Commissioner (who is *also* appointed by the Mayor). This allows for little to no oversight in investigations, especially considering that the Board only reviewed about one-third of complaints against the NYPD in 2016.

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

I support closing Rikers, and I do not support creating borough-based jails. This plan maintains the incarcerated population by shuffling people into different jails. Over $10 million can be allocated to job and apprenticeship programs, affordable housing, and healthcare to ensure that formerly incarcerated people can continue to live in New York City with dignity and without the threat of homelessness. I do, however, supporting the package of bills introduced by Council Members Rosenthal, Kallos, and Constantinedes in the Renewable Rikers Act to ensure that no jails are built on Rikers Island, and that wastewater treatment facilities, air quality maintenance, and green union jobs are prioritized. Noting that incarceration disproportionately impacts Black and brown New Yorkers, toxic peaker plants have a parallel impact on communities in the South Bronx and Northwest New York with “asthma alleys” and poor waste removal. When we meet the needs of people from housing security to climate justice to police accountability, we will not need jails. This is how we decarcerate our city and support public infrastructure.

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. Elder parole is a key portion of the criminal legal reform, and we need to ensure its quick passage to keep those currently incarcerated from facing further violence within the prison system. This bill has only become more important after COVID-19. I am thankful for the organizers from RAPP (Release Aging People from Prisons) for their work to end mass incarceration and release people who make up almost 20% of the current incarcerated population in New York State.

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

I was glad to see hearings in 2019 address the outdated 311 technology left relatively untouched since 2003. I support Council Member Menchaca’s bill Intro 1328 to introduce several lines of communication for 311 in multiple languages so callers are not prompted with English first. This would significantly help reduce callers feelings discouragement as the citywide announcements are made entirely in English before prompting the options dialer.

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

I am 100% in support of decriminalization of sex work, and in will aggressively stand in opposition to the Nordic model, which doesn’t actually make sex workers safer in our city.

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

I strongly oppose all forms of school screening as they contribute to the racial and wealth disparity that has made the New York City school system one of the most segregated in the country. While the City Council does not have the power to eliminate the SHSAT, I am committed to supporting groups such as Teens Take Charge that are fighting for its elimination. Additionally, I would support ending Gifted & Talented screenings and separate G&T programs, several of which are in my district. Instead, all students should have access to learning programs that challenge and enrich them, not just those who test into one of these highly selective, predominantly white programs.

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

The current control of the NYC public school system gives too much control to the Mayor and New York City parents have said for years that they feel disenfranchised. I support implementing checks and balances that would limit the Mayor’s control over the de facto Board of Education, such as reconstituting the Board of Election so that a majority are not appointed by the mayor and appointing members to set terms so they cannot be fired at-will by the mayor. I also support municipal control over the Board of Education by granting the City Council checks and balances over the DOE, as they have over other city agencies. In order to give community members more of a voice in schools, I support expanding the powers of Community Education Councils and allowing School Leadership Teams to develop school budgets, while addressing the disparity in school funding by providing baseline funding to PTAs, as proposed by Education Chair Mark Treyger.

Do you support public funding of abortion?

Yes, I unequivocally support public funding of abortion. Abortion is a vital medical procedure and bodily autonomy should not be denied to people just because of their income level.

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

Safe consumption sites are a vital form of harm reduction for those who use drugs. They have been immensely effective in providing community members with resources, reducing overdose deaths, and facilitating safe environments for drug use. To me, this is an issue of public health; our communities will always be safer when harm can be reduced.

Do you smoke or otherwise consume weed?

No I do not, but all the power to everyone who does.

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?

I have never supported members of the IDC, and I thought their actions undermined the communities that sent them to Albany. While I had not actively participated in movements to unseat them, I celebrate the victories of electeds, such as John Liu who is my State Senator, in their efforts to defeat the IDC and keep their seats.

What will you do to support nightlife in NYC?

Although District 23 does not have many bars and nightclubs, I recognize how crucial it is to commit to supporting the nightlife industry. The nightlife industry is a significant part of New York City’s culture and economy and many New Yorkers, including folks in my district, are employees, performers, artists, and patrons of nightlife establishments. However, the industry was severely impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and it is crucial that the City steps in to support the industry. First and foremost, we need to cancel commercial rent, especially for small businesses in the nightlife industry (ex. restaurants, bars, and small venues). COVID-19 curfews and closures have severely impacted the profits of nightlife businesses and it is important that these businesses do not risk eviction. I will commit to supporting any Council resolution on enacting rent cancellation in New York State. Secondly, we need to ensure that nightlife employees and recently laid-off/furloughed nightlife employees are able to be paid during the pandemic. It is crucial to expand the State’s unemployment insurance to include more folks such as nightlife employees who are undocumented, sex workers, and freelance/gig artists/dancers/performers. I will work with my colleagues in the State to lobby them for support on these two issues. As a member of the Democratic Socialists of America-New York slate, I have existing relationships with members of the State legislature such as Assembly Member-elect Zohran Kwame Mamdani and State Senator-elect Jabari Brisport. These relationships will allow me to work more effectively with the State legislature. In regards to solutions that can be directly done through the Council, we need to expand the City’s Small Business Support for Hard-Hit Low and Moderate Income Communities program to include more small businesses by not measuring income using a zip-code level determinant. Right now, using a zip-code level determinant to measure income excludes some restaurants such as those in Chinatown that share the same zip code as wealthy neighborhoods such as the Financial District and TriBeCa. Additionally, we also need to equip small businesses with PPE and other sanitizing equipment for when businesses in the nightlife industry are able to reopen again. We need to ensure that businesses are able to keep both their employees and patrons safe. The City can also use its powers to amplify artists and performers who have lost their gigs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. City agencies such as the Commission on Human Rights have an artist in residence program. The City can work to expand these residencies to include artists and performers who have lost their gigs because of the pandemic -- maybe the City can have its first drag queen in residence! Furthermore, supporting the nightlife industry also means repealing laws that criminalize sex work. Sex work is work and the City has to do better in supporting sex workers.

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

Yes, any policy must center the voices of those who will be most affected. I will especially commit to speaking with BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and immigrant restaurant and nightlife industry representatives.

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. We need to ensure that restaurant, bar, and club owners, who make up key factions of the small business community here in New York City, have the ability to advocate for themselves in making land use and liquor license decisions. In a time when small business owners are being forced to cope with the challenges of COVID-19, it is unconscionable to appoint community board members who are hostile to vibrant aspects of our local economy.

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, especially as we look towards a post-COVID-19 world where we need to ensure that venues can accommodate proper space for social distancing.

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

Yes, the HQ2 plan was a disaster from the beginning. It was clear to me, and so many New Yorkers that Amazon was fishing for giveaways and NYC took the bait. Not only am I opposed to Amazon in principle due to their anti-union policies, working with ICE and other federal agencies, and their role in closing small businesses down. I’ve also seen what this level of unmitigated development does to our communities. I took lead from grassroots organizations like DRUM, Make the Road, Chhaya CDC, and New York Communities for Change who conducted teach-ins and actions showing how HQ2 could inflate rents in the surrounding communities, displace local small businesses, and overburden our already burdened 7 line train, which so many of CD23’s residents use to get to work in Manhattan. I, like other New Yorkers, celebrated when Amazon turned tail and backed out of the proposal. There are so many lessons we can learn from this movement.

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

Member deference has proven to be deeply unproductive and a major cause of gentrification, as it has far too often acted to advance the agendas of the real estate industry. This has been most apparent in the recent Flushing rezoning efforts. I would hope to create a new system where the local member has a heightened level of power in council negotiations, but does not have a binding, final say that can have a much larger-scale negative impact for generations to come. I would also ensure that the local member disclose relationships and conflicts of interest with private developers.

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

Yes, housing is a human right. I understand that it is impossible to live a dignified life without the fulfillment of core needs like safe and stable shelter. I am committed to a Homes Guarantee and will support initiatives that lift up similar principles. Currently in New York City, our community members in reentry face comprehensive challenges in their efforts to secure housing, one of the many impacts and structural barriers that results from the stigmatization of incarceration. As a city council member, I will proudly support legislation that prohibits discrimination against our formerly incarcerated neighbors and friends. I have already seen discrimination in my district as formerly incarcerated people from Rikers were temporarily housed at a local hotel. But I will fight to make sure that everyone has housing, not just temporary facilities.

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

Of course. Removing people in a pandemic is inhumane and not only did this decision put the wellbeing of the homeless men at a greater risk of being exposed to COVID-19, but it is reprehensible to oppose providing people with safe and decent housing at any time. This effort was also led by Upper West Siders who openly used racist language online to dehumanize the 200 men, and relied on awful stereotypes of homeless people. As multiple hotels refused to take them in, we cannot look at homeless folks as disposable, but rather as part of our communities who deserve housing. In the Council, I look forward to being a strong advocate for homeless New Yorkers and those struggling with housing insecurity.

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

Immigrants should feel safe and protected in our city, regardless of their documentation status. As a city council member, I will fight alongside immigration groups and advocates to stop deportations in our city, which starts with ensuring that ICE and other immigration enforcement agencies are not welcome in the five boroughs. Additionally, we cannot let threats of losing federal funding stop us from protecting our neighbors. I will be proud to stand alongside undocumented community members in our district to keep immigration enforcement out of our communities, and would support any legislation restricting cooperation between immigration enforcement and city agencies. I also hope to provide in-office translation services in our constituent services and work with CUNY Citizenship Now! to support people in our district.

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, absolutely and I hope to work with state electeds to pass the New York Health Act. Healthcare is a human right regardless of employment or immigration status. With the expansion of NYC Care to Queens, Medicaid beneficiaries, uninsured and undocumented New Yorkers here in CD23 now have access to quality medical attention and medical services free of charge. I would push for capital funds to be invested in H&H healthcare facilities. It’s important to ensure that not all of these capital funds were allocated towards H&H’s hospital facilities, as we also need to work on ensuring that working class communities of color have access to robust healthcare clinics. The City Council should use its capital budget to expand the clinic services provided by H&H to underserved communities throughout the city, as this would facilitate the improved delivery services, while also ensuring that communities most in need are easily able to access them especially in their own languages for families that are not English speaking.

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

I was not old enough to vote in 2013! See above, and in 2019: Jumaane Williams Bernie Sanders in both 2016 and 2020 Governor: Cynthia Nixon, Attorney General: Zephyr Teachout

Top 3 issues you aim to address locally and legislatively

Coordinating a bailout fund for New York City drivers (for taxis, rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft, livery companies) is one of my priorities given the aftermath of the 2014 taxi medallion market crash and ongoing exploitation of drivers by major corporations like Uber and Lyft. As the daughter of a taxi driver, I have experienced firsthand what the consequences of massive debt has on a family, especially for those still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis. From foreclosures to suicides, it is abundantly clear that a bailout fund for the workers who keep New York City moving at all hours of the day need relief, especially in this pandemic. On more labor issues, I am excited to working on passing Intro 1116 to lift the cap on street vendor licenses and protect our small businesses from predatory landlords and increasing rent payments. I am also excited to move legislation to secure housing for all, including removing RAD from NYCHA, fully funding NYCHA, and changing our ULURP process to dismantle private real estate development influence and institute quality racial and environmental impact studies. I also hope to legalize basement apartments and revise single-family zonings in New York City, particularly in my district. Given that my district has a majority of homeowners, this will be key to alleviating the housing crisis that has only been exacerbated by this pandemic. Legalizing basement units, with recommendations from the BASE campaign at Chhaya CDC, not only creates safe dwellings with proper ventilation, light, and fireproofing, but also presents a dual benefit to homeowners struggling with mortgage repayments. With tenant protections in legalized units, tenants will also be at less of a risk for retaliatory evictions. Additionally, I hope to expand busways and bike lanes across my district, across Queens, and across the city to build more equitable public transit that serves seniors, students, and the working class who spend more time commuting than enjoying their lives. To that end, I hope to expand democratically elected community boards that reflect constituencies so we can accomplish these municipal projects and connect transit deserts to transit hubs, incentivize biking, and protect these lanes with jersey barriers along the Queens Greenway/Motor Parkway East. Overall, climate justice is key to this campaign as our district is home to some of the city’s largest parks, like Alley Pond Park, and reinstating funding to the NYC Parks and Sanitation departments will be key to park maintenance.

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?

Two of the most important roles of a City Council member are to negotiate and vote on the city budget and manage our land use and development process. As stated throughout this questionnaire, I commit to refusing real estate money and will ensure that our community boards reflect the district and champion diversity, that we eliminate private real estate brokers and luxury housing developments that displace working class immigrant families, and commit to 100% affordable housing with union labor requirements. I also commit to defunding the NYPD and will work with my colleagues to ensure that social services are fully funded and operational to secure resources for all of our working families across the city from public education to housing.

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

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?

Of course. I hope to build alliances with the Club’s members and work together as partners in co-governance to advance citywide legislation. I hope to consult members on bill proposals and how to continue uplifting the LGBTQIA community beyond commemorations and holidays, and provide material support on housing and healthcare legislation and so much more.

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?

I am running for office to build a deep organizing framework for the community I was born and raised in because I want to see it serve my neighbors long after this election cycle. This campaign is about long-term organizing and setting goals to secure wins for generations to come.

questionnaireJim Owles Liberal Democratic ClubJanuary 8, 2021nyc 2021, group 2