Candidate Answers to JOLDC: Katherine Walsh for NY Assembly District 51
Candidate Name: Katherine Walsh
Office Seeking Election for: New York State Assembly, 51st District
Campaign Address: 452 54th st, Brooklyn, NY 11220
Campaign Website: www.katherineforassembly.com
Campaign Tele: (917)887 6735
Campaign Social Media Handles (Facebook/Twitter):
www.facebook.com/Katherine4AD51/
@Katherine4AD51
Campaign Contact (name/phone/email):
Tessa Lee, 919 306 4222, tessa@katherineforassembly.com
1. Explain, based on life experiences and accomplishments, why you believe you are best qualified to represent your district.
For decades, our district has faced intractable or even worsening problems, like sky-high asthma rates, people being terrorized by ICE, a disproportionate number of trucks making our streets polluted and unsafe, underfunded schools, crumbling NYCHA housing, and extreme vulnerability to the climate crisis. We have had the same Assembly Member since I was 10 years old---and the same problems. If Felix Ortiz hasn’t been able to use his seniority, experience and political capital to help this district in 26 years, why should we believe he will now? It’s time for new leadership, fresh energy, and someone who has the ideas, courage to stand up to power, and the organizing ability to get them done in Albany. I believe that I am that person.
I am running for State Assembly because I recognize the impact that a progressive candidate and unified agenda can have in Albany to benefit the people of our District. I am a relentless fighter who will stand up to big business and corrupt politicians to protect our communities, find common sense solutions to the problems we face, and give every person a chance to succeed.
My family has lived in our Assembly District for 4 generations and 150 years. I have lived in AD 51 for 25 years. I was born and raised here, and my family has been in the District for
four generations. My great-great grandparents fled the Irish Potato famine and moved to Red Hook in the late 1800’s, where my grandfather ran a candy shop. They made their home in Red Hook for two generations, before they moved to Sunset Park in the 1930s. My dad grew up in Sunset Park and was the head of community affairs at the local hospital for 20+ years and my mom was a public school teacher.
My family instilled a deep sense of working class pride in me. They gave me a fierce sense of justice, a belief that all people deserve their fair shot. When I look around my district, I see families from Mexico, China, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and many other places pursuing the same American Dream. But it is much harder today than it was for my great-grandparents to immigrate, and once here to find good jobs, affordable housing, safe schools, and a pathway to prosperity. That’s why I am running for office: to make sure this district is still a place where people from anywhere can build a better life.
I left the district to attend college and pursue a master’s degree in urban planning and a master’s in environmental and energy policy. I also ran a Chinese language program at San Francisco State University and taught in Taiwan on a Fulbright Scholarship. I speak Mandarinm which will help me connect with our sizable Chinese community. All my experiences and love for Sunset Park, the people and the community brought me back 7+ years ago.
I was proud to lead the Democratic Party county committee effort in a ten month fight to organize our first ever Assembly District Committee (ADC) meeting for the Kings County Democratic Party. This was the first time this had been organized in more than 20 years as our District Leaders never did it (despite it being a requirement in the rules.) We are now able to activate the voice of the Democratic Party in our district. Fellow county committee members then elected me as Chairwoman of our ADC, so I now represent the 44,000 Democrats in the District. I am also a member of Community Board 7.
Professionally, I am a climate activist and a trained urban land use planner and hold a policy degree in energy and environmental policy and business. For the past 6 years I have worked here in New York with cities throughout the United States (& City of New York) on developing policy and planning approaches to building sustainable cities from the ground up. I work with policymakers, urban planners, advocates the tools and data they need to measure and manage their impact to transform the built environment, building, energy and transportation systems. I also dedicated the last two years in a volunteer capacity to run the 400 member New York Chapter of a women’s network called WISE of women who are working on socially responsible and community-led impact investment.
2. Do you now support or have you ever supported an openly LGBTQ candidate for public office?
Yes on several occasions
3. If applicable, what legislation directly affecting the LGBT community have you introduced or co-sponsored? (indicate accordingly)
I introduced and passed resolutions as the chair of the Assembly District Committee to recognize non-binary individuals by including non-binary as a gender identity option for county committee candidates.
4. What LGBT organizations have you been involved with, either on a volunteer basis or professionally?
My activism in LGBT organizations started in high school leading in my club’s Gay Straight Alliance (this in the 1990s) My father came out to me that he was gay at 16 years old and it was very important to me to find a fellowship and community that would be supportive.
5. If applicable, what LGBT organizations have you allocated funds to?
6. Do you consider yourself a member of the LGBT community?
No
7. Have you marched in Pride? Which marches and for approximately how many years?
Yes! I have marched in many a PRIDE; I lived in San Francisco for many years and here in New York. More than 5 I think.
8. Have you employed openly LGBT individuals previously? Do you employ any currently?
Yes
9. If you receive the endorsement, do you agree to identify the club on all literature and electronic materials where you list endorsements?
Yes, I would be very proud to publicize the Jim Owles Liberal Democratc Club as one of my endorsements!
10. What press conferences, demonstrations, rallies and protests in support of LGBT issues, pro choice legislation, criminal justice issues and the Resist Trump Movement have you attended?
I have attended numerous demonstrations and rallies for the last 20 years; my activism started in high school here in New York attending anti Giuliani police brutality rallies, then numerous anti war marches – against the War in Iraq, War in Afghanistan, then climate marches in 2014 for the Climate March in New York, and again for numerous Women’s March, etc. I have attended other events which are in solidarity of anti-semitism, Black Lives Matter, anti- Muslim Ban, getting ICE out of New York, etc.
11. Have you ever been arrested? If so please explain why and outcome of arrest.
I have not been arrested
12. Will you advocate and sponsor legislation to mandate the review of sentences of incarcerated individuals over the age of 55 who have served in excess of 15 years to determine if they warrant release?
Yes. I also support ensuring that all incarcerated people aged 55 or older, who have served at least 15 years of their sentence, become eligible for an interview with the parole board, and fully staffing the parole board, with an emphasis on members with backgrounds in social services, mental health, psychology and social work.
13. Do you commit to visit constituents who are incarcerated in state prisons such as Bedford Correctional Facility?
Yes - constituents are constituents, regardless of incarceration status.
14. Do you believe sincere remorse, risk of reoffending and actions taken while incarcerated should be considered over the original crime in determinations of parole?
Yes. I will support policy to ensure that the nature of the original crime is not the sole reason for a parole board denial and that the person’s subsequent activities and achievements during incarceration are considered. Parole boards should release incarcerated individuals who are eligible for parole release, unless the person presents a current and unreasonable risk to public safety that cannot be mitigated by parole supervision.
15. Have you participated in any demonstrations or protests in relation to the issues of clemency and parole?
Yes, I have attended demonstrations/protests – starting in high school with going to support Mumia Abu-Jamal.
16. Will you affirmatively seek to hire formerly incarcerated individuals?
Yes. Reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals into society through job training, employment opportunities, drug treatment, mental health services and other programs reduce recidivism, and I’d be proud to be part of that positive change.
17. Do you believe in the decriminalization of sex work? Are you sponsoring the bill introduced by Jessica Ramos?
Yes, I support the decriminalization of sex work, and would cosponsor the companion Assembly bill, A8230, which allows for oversight, regulation, and, most importantly, labor protections for sex-workers. This is a long-overdue correction. I also fully support bill A654. Penal code 240.37 is over-broad in its language on its face alone. But that over-broad language was written with one intent: to be able to target women of color, cis and trans, without fear of civil rights suits. Trans women of color are the most terrorized group of citizens in our state, and 240.37 is a tool to enforce that terrorism. It must be repealed so that women of color, cis and trans, can walk without fear of being pulled over or stopped and frisked by police. Repealing 240.37 is also a necessary step in decriminalizing sex-work in general.
18. Will you actively oppose legislation that would implement the dangerous Nordic model instead of decriminalization of prostitution?
Yes. The Nordic model is insidious in that it seems feminist and liberal at first glance, but it is actually rooted in racist, anti-immigrant, and punitive sentiments that actually increase the risks threatening sex workers. It is not a viable solution to protect the rights of sex workers, only full decriminalization can do that.
19. What proposals will you advocate for to protect immigrants and the further New York as a Sanctuary City?
Our district is made of many different thriving immigrant communities, but that beauty is threatened by the white supremacist policies of this federal administration. Our district experienced the highest number of ICE raids in the city, terrorizing our our undocumented population. I will work to protect all undocumented residents of the district and beyond by working to pass the Liberty Act, preventing ICE from entering state courts, and advocating for New York to become a sanctuary state.
20. Will you advocate, including introducing legislation, to remove public funding from religious schools?
Yes. Separation of church and state should apply to schools. There are too many public demands on public funding to spend it on private institutions.
21. Do you support the establishment of supervised drug consumption spaces?
Yes, this is an important and widely accepted measure to protect and promote public health - especially as the opioid epidemic continues to spread.
22. Have you ever endorsed any member of the IDC or any candidates who challenged IDC members? Please identify all candidates
I do not accept IDC-affiliated money or endorsements. I carried petitions to get Zellnor Myrie on the ballot who was the anti IDC challenger to Jesse Hamilton.
23. Will you commit to hiring a member of the LGBT community to serve as a liaison to the community?
Yes absolutely to advance equity and representation.
24. Will you commit to ensuring diverse LGBT representation among your staff?
Yes! Diversity is a strength, and I will go beyond being an equal opportunity employer to ensure my staff is representative of the full diversity of my district and New York. My growing volunteer team includes self-identified LGBTQ community members, as well.
25. Who did you support for office in the following races A) mayor and Public Advocate in 2014 B) President in 2016 C) Governor and Attorney General 2018
There was not a NYC Mayoral race in 2014 in 2013 I voted for Bill De Blasio; I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016; in 2018 I voted for Cynthia Nixon
26. Describe any legislation and policy changes that you support in order to address the ongoing effects of slavery, racism, colonialism, and discrimination.
I support reparation programs for the descendants of enslaved African Americans as a means of repairing, to some degree, the damage the systematic and codified racism of this nation. I believe that multiple different kinds of reparations are needed and a public, nationwide acknowledgement and apology for the evils of racism, and a final, formal renunciation of the slave-holders and the Confederate project is important. I also support the full backing of Affirmative Action programs for Colleges and other institutions, which are themselves a form of reparations. This is not enough, however.
The most difficult issue is monetary reparations. Extensive study is necessary to come up with a program of individual or familial reparations for descendents of enslaved African Americans that is neither insulting nor financially unfeasible. Putting a monetary value on generational trauma is essentially an impossible task. Individual reparation would also not close the achievement or wealth gap that separates black Americans from white Americans; instead, monetary reparations for slavery, at this late date, would have to be largely symbolic. I do believe, however, that we could conduct, as well, a focused study on housing reparations to close some of the wealth gap that was directly tied to Federal Housing Policy. In this case, the perpetrator is easily identified as well as the monetary value of the reparations. It is unlikely that reparations could cover all of the wealth that black communities might have had if systematic Redlining had not taken place, but some reparations for this crime could be more than symbolic and offer long-lasting effects.
Additionally, I will support legislation to criminalize membership in white supremacist groups. We have Enforcement Acts that we can and must use to target white supremacist groups. These groups require not only civil but criminal suits in order to stamp them out. Any act of white nationalist terror must be met with the same kind of rapid law enforcement response that other acts of terror receive. Our enforcement of anti-terror legislation is racist currently, but, enforced uniformly, our anti-terror laws could curtail white supremacist terrorism.
I also support the legalization, taxation, and regulation of marijuana sales, and support passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act. This legislation will allocate revenue to the communities most harmed by the drug war. This is an important step toward the kind of restorative justice that is needed to recognize the damage that has been done to poorer and largely minority communities as a result of the war on drugs.
Overall, our criminal justice system is deeply broken and disproportionately impacts low income and communities of color. We need to move away from a system that is punitive to one that is focused on rehabilitation. We need to decriminalize low level drug offenses and fare evasion. We need to legalize marijuana and ban for-profit private prisons. We need to invest more in our crumbling schools and into drug treatment facilities and stop treating addicts like criminals. I will work to reform the criminal justice system to remove white supremacist practices and ensure actual fairness.
27. What legislation or other policy changes do you support in order to make college and graduate school affordable for poor, working-class, and middle-class Americans and to alleviate the crushing loan debt that many students and alumni are facing?
In the assembly, I will work to fully fund our public schools as required by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) lawsuit. I will also work to adequately fund our public colleges and universities, CUNY and SUNY, which have long provided a path to the middle class for hundreds of thousands of aspiring New Yorkers.
28. Do you support a single-payer universal health care system? Please elaborate.
Yes. I view healthcare as a human right, and any attempt to undercut this right as a direct and life threatening assault on the poor and working class. I will fight relentlessly not just to avoid coverage decreases but to ensure all New Yorkers have quality health insurance. I would push to pass the New York Health Act to create a comprehensive and universal single-payer system of access to health insurance for all New York State residents. I will also make sure we help immigrant families obtain health insurance, so that no one goes bankrupt due to health crises.
29. Discuss your stance on reproductive rights, including access to contraceptives and abortion services.
As a feminist, I staunchly support the fulfillment of everyone’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. I will work to ensure that every woman and pregnant person can access abortion care when they need it by providing public funding of abortion care for low income women and legislatively mandating that insurance companies operating in the state cover abortion care. Ensuring access to reproductive health services, including access to safe abortion care and contraception, is critical. Abortion restrictions mostly affect already marginalized and poorer women, as wealthier folks are more able to travel or take the time to find quality care. I strongly support state subsidized access to and mandatory coverage for abortion care, and will work to advance reproductive justice across the state.
30. Will you refuse money from individuals or Political Action Committees representing the real estate industry?
Yes, I have maintained this position since the start of my campaign. Unlike Felix who is accepting money from an IDC funded corporate PAC.
31. Will you refuse and refund any contributions from executives at corporations complicit in the Trump agenda?
Yes, and I also do not accept money from charter schools.
32. Are you against the opening of casinos in New York owned and controlled by Trump mega-donor Sheldon Adelson?
I oppose Adelson’s political stance and financial practices. More importantly, however, I believe we should be wary of opening casinos as the public returns ultimately drop in the long run, even if there is a short term spike in new jobs and taxable revenue. Furthermore, predatory gambling targets low income and immigrant communities, which comprises much of my district.
33. Do you support the surrogacy bill introduced by Senator Brad Hoylman allowing women to decide control of her body in regard to surrogacy?
Yes. This is a feminist and LGBT civil rights issue. Legalizing surrogacy, with proper protections and regulations to prevent exploitation, advances women’s bodily autonomy and the rights of LGBTQ people to grow families.
34. Will you cosponsor the legislation to prohibit evictions without good cause (previously S2892A)?
Yes. Of the 75% of our district who are renters, 57% are rent burdened— meaning they pay more than 30% of their income in rent. People cannot pay their bills, or build savings. To address this issue, I would push to pass Good Cause Eviction to protect New Yorkers from losing their homes, a pied-a-terre tax to pay to refurbish NYCHA, and build more affordable housing, which I think is best done through the renewal of the mid-century Mitchell-Lama program. Sponsored by Manhattan State Senator MacNeil Mitchell and Brooklyn Assemblyman Alfred Lama, the Limited Profit Housing Act was signed into law in 1955, creating what are now known as Mitchell-Lama affordable housing developments, both rentals and co-ops. According to the New York State Homes and Community Renewal (formerly DHCR), "A total of 269 Mitchell-Lama developments with over 105,000 apartments were built under the program." Most of these developments were created by using eminent domain on underused or abandoned property in the 1960s and 70s, when New York City was in an economic crisis.
Between 1990 and 2005, Mitchell-Lama housing lost "22,688 units, over a third (34 percent) of its stock." When rental developments left the program, their owners were able to reap enormous gains. When co-ops privatized, the resident-owners were suddenly in possession of valuable property they could sell or leave to their children. These shareholders were largely people of modest means who lived most of their lives in these developments. The real problem is that there are no new Mitchell-Lama developments being built. Instead, New York City uses the power of eminent domain to build sports arenas and luxury housing.
To address this, I am proposing that we create a new Mitchell-Lama program for the 21st Century. One that builds predominantly co-ops and creates equity for poor and middle-class families that they can pass down to the next generation. Homeowners think long-term about their property and their neighbors’ property. Co-operative ownership encourages resident-shareholders to make the best long-term decisions for their homes and for their communities.
35. Will you push for the passage of Home Stability Support (HSS) to bridge the difference between the public assistance shelter allowance and fair market rents for NY's 95,000 homeless?
Yes, we need to ensure that New Yorkers can stay in their homes and avoid homelessness. As Assembly Member, I will also co-sponsor and whip support in my conference for the “Housing Security and Protection Act” (Assembly Bill A5030A), and make sure the final version of this legislation sets rent limits that truly help keep our tenants in their homes.
36. What additional information would you like Jim Owles to consider when we are making our endorsements decisions?
Violence and discrimination continue to take lives and create barriers and limit opportunity for LGBTQ people and their families. The Trump administration is at every level undermining protections for LGBTQ people. They’ve removed Obama’s efforts to clarify the rights of transgender students in schools, slowed efforts to collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity in federal surveys, and are promoting “religious liberty” which is used to harm LGBTQ communities. With the federal government taking a hostile approach to LGBTQ people, further and more accelerated action must happen at the state and local level.
I also fully support bill A654. Penal code 240.37 is over-broad in its language on its face alone. But that over-broad language was written with one intent: to be able to target women of color, cis and trans, without fear of civil rights suits. Trans women of color are the most terrorized group of citizens in our state, and 240.37 is a tool to enforce that terrorism. It must be repealed so that women of color, cis and trans, can walk without fear of being pulled over or stopped and frisked by police. Repealing 240.37 is also a necessary step in decriminalizing sex-work in general.
A5207 is another necessary step in protecting the lives and well-being of trans people. Incarcerated trans people must have access to not only the healthcare they need but also the dignity they deserve in having their gender identity recognized. This bill is a powerful step in correcting institutional trans-phobia.
I fully support the formal adoption of a third, gender-neutral category on licenses is a simple courtesy, and the adoption of sexual orientation and gender identity as protected identity classes is long overdue. What I think is particularly important in these proposals is the mandatory special status given to the murders of trans New Yorkers. Violence against trans people is rampant and destructive, yet it continually goes unreported and unprosecuted. That must change.
Finally, as the child of a gay man, I have come to appreciate the challenges faced by the LGBT community and the need to ensure that the legal system provides for all protections, but that the culture, people’s day to day life is also supportive for free expression. It took my father 55 years to finally come to terms with this. I am so grateful for the support that I have received from LGBT communities over the years as my family adapted to this change in my parents marital status. I will ensure as a future legislator that I do everything within my power to support all LGBT community members in my district and in the State.