FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHARLES OBER CHALLENGES QUEENS COUNTY DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATION ENDORSEMENT OF ELIZABETH CROWLEY
Charles Ober, today challenged the Queens County Democratic Organization executive committee to justify its decision to endorse Elizabeth Crowley, cousin of the county leader, U.S. Rep Joseph Crowley.
“Elizabeth Crowley has no apparent community based qualifications for city council other than her insider relationship with the Queens Democratic machine.” Ober noted. Ober, a Ridgewood Democrat is running for the city council seat being vacated by Dennis Gallagher. “Unlike Elizabeth, I was not even given the chance to address the full county executive committee to make my case.” Said Ober of the executive committee’s deliberations over the special election race in the 30th district, which includes Glendale, Liberty Park, Maspeth, Middle Village, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, and Woodhaven.
“I was told that it was a forgone conclusion.” added Ober, “I was also informed that if I did go forward with my bid for the city council seat, county was going to take me to court to challenge my petitions to make sure that I did not make it on the ballot. Either way I was not going to win, I was told flat out.” Ober also was told by the executive committee members that one of the reasons for endorsing the candidacy of Crowley was the money she has raised. “I would have hoped that county would have seriously examined the relevant experience of the candidates first and the contributions that each have made to the civic life of the district, not considerations that have little to do with the best interest of the people that live in the community.” Ober declared. “Executive county members made it clear that they will use the courts to keep me off the ballot, instead of letting the people decide who the they want to represent them, which is suppose to be the democratic way, not taking candidates to court to keep them from running and financially ruin them.” Ober said. “Why should political leaders outside our district, deprive the voters in district 30 a real choice, rather than an only choice.”
Charles Ober, is a 27 year resident of the district and has done extensive community and civic work over the last 20 years. Ober also has extensive private business financial experience that he intends to use to help serve the district.
Working with the Queens Civic Congress and Council Members Peter Vallone Jr. and Hiram Monserrate, for two years, Ober spearheaded the successful campaign for a graffiti nuisance abatement bill that Mayor Bloomberg signed into law, in 2005. That law provides an enforcement mechanism that requires irresponsible owners to clean their buildings of Graffiti or allow the city to clean them.
“We have to ask why it is that developers have been able to destroy the character of the neighborhoods and why local political leaders watched while the zoning laws failed to protect us.” Ober said. “And why it is that the City of New York’s building department failed to enforce building regulations.” He added. “With the problems facing our neighborhoods in central Queens, we simply cannot afford to allow the hidden agenda of machine politicians outside our district to determine the representation for our community.”
Ober ended with this comment “If this is what I have done as a community activist and volunteer, imagine how much I will accomplish for our communities and the residents, when I am elected as the next city councilmen. Let all the candidates compare their records to mine and let’s see who is the most qualified candidate to serve the residents of our communities and who has consistently served and produced for the people of our communities.”
