Before the meeting almost drew to a standstill, the three invited guests at the Briarwood Community Association had a few minutes on Sept. 17 to introduce themselves to attendees.
The candidates — Michael Simanowitz, Jeff Gottlieb and Martha Taylor — are running for the 24th Council District to fill the seat currently occupied by Councilman James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows). While his term isn’t officially over until the end of 2009, Gennaro is running for the state Senate seat held by Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose). Gennaro would need to resign his current post if he wins.
The allocated time for the meeting was cut short when Dilip Nath, a candidate who was not invited to participate in the forum, showed up with supporters, setting off a verbal altercation with association president Seymour Schwartz (see related story).
Still, the hopefuls had time to give a brief summary of their background and expound their views on the city’s economic situation.
Candidates were seated between inspirational posters in a second floor room of Samaritan Village, a chemical dependency recovery center on Queens Boulevard. Gottlieb, speaking first, presented himself as a former teacher with 35 years experience in the school system and copious amounts of political experience.
Gottlieb has worked with former Councilman Morton Povman, Councilman Joseph Addabbo (D- Howard Beach) and Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D-Little Neck). Gottlieb is also the founder of the Central Queens Historical Society and the Queens Jewish Historical Society.
Simanowitz, a longtime aide to Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn (D-Flushing), presented himself as the “law-and-order” candidate. He previously served as an auxiliary police officer for the Forest Hills neighborhood in which he grew up, but had to take a leave of absence shortly after announcing his candidacy.
Police officers are required to take a leave of absence when running for office so they do not use their uniform as a tool to further their candidacy. Simanowitz was told the same applies to auxiliary officers.
Simanowitz said his goal is to create an environment where the councilman is an extension of the community.
Taylor is a Democratic district leader and vice chairwoman of Community Board 8. She works as an aide for city Comptroller William Thompson Jr. and is the founder of a Cunningham Park advocacy group. Environmental concerns in particular are a cause close to her heart.
She said her civic and governmental experience, combined with her law degree, would give her the ability to “hit the ground running” if elected.
Originally, Schwartz, the association’s president, intended to have the candidates address various topics confronting the city, such as mayoral control of schools and term limits. However, the interaction between Schwartz and Nath cut into time and when the meeting got back on track, the only topic addressed was that of the current economic crisis.
Simanowitz said legislators didn’t do the city any favors in 1999 when they repealed the commuter tax, which applied to city workers who lived outside the five boroughs. City taxpayers now have to subsidize services used more by those workers, such as the Long Island Rail Road and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Otherwise, he thought the mayor and City Council have done a good job with previous budgets and was confident this year would be no different. Still, he expected cuts would have to be made.
Taylor agreed cuts are necessary, but said there are certain services that can’t be cut, such as meals on wheels and education.
Gottlieb offered a more stark vision of the economic situation. First, he said, a federal agency should conduct an investigation of the mortgage industry, which has sent the financial sector into a downward spiral following the subprime mortgage crisis. Also, Gottlieb warned the city would lose revenues from income tax as Wall Street workers with hefty salaries get laid off.
He also admitted cuts would have to be made in the city’s budget, but where to make those cuts at this point is a dilemma.
The election for the 24th Council District could go one of two ways: if Gennaro defeats Padavan in the state Senate race this November, he would have to resign his council seat by Jan. 1, when the Senate term begins. The mayor would then announce a nonpartisan special election in which candidates cannot run on a party ticket. That election would be for the remainder of Gennaro’s term.
If Gennaro does not win, the candidates would square off next year as the councilman is term-limited out of office. All four candidates are Democrats so they would need to compete in a primary.
Still, the hopefuls had time to give a brief summary of their background and expound their views on the city’s economic situation.
Candidates were seated between inspirational posters in a second floor room of Samaritan Village, a chemical dependency recovery center on Queens Boulevard. Gottlieb, speaking first, presented himself as a former teacher with 35 years experience in the school system and copious amounts of political experience.
Gottlieb has worked with former Councilman Morton Povman, Councilman Joseph Addabbo (D- Howard Beach) and Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D-Little Neck). Gottlieb is also the founder of the Central Queens Historical Society and the Queens Jewish Historical Society.
Simanowitz, a longtime aide to Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn (D-Flushing), presented himself as the “law-and-order” candidate. He previously served as an auxiliary police officer for the Forest Hills neighborhood in which he grew up, but had to take a leave of absence shortly after announcing his candidacy.
Police officers are required to take a leave of absence when running for office so they do not use their uniform as a tool to further their candidacy. Simanowitz was told the same applies to auxiliary officers.
Simanowitz said his goal is to create an environment where the councilman is an extension of the community.
Taylor is a Democratic district leader and vice chairwoman of Community Board 8. She works as an aide for city Comptroller William Thompson Jr. and is the founder of a Cunningham Park advocacy group. Environmental concerns in particular are a cause close to her heart.
She said her civic and governmental experience, combined with her law degree, would give her the ability to “hit the ground running” if elected.
Originally, Schwartz, the association’s president, intended to have the candidates address various topics confronting the city, such as mayoral control of schools and term limits. However, the interaction between Schwartz and Nath cut into time and when the meeting got back on track, the only topic addressed was that of the current economic crisis.
Simanowitz said legislators didn’t do the city any favors in 1999 when they repealed the commuter tax, which applied to city workers who lived outside the five boroughs. City taxpayers now have to subsidize services used more by those workers, such as the Long Island Rail Road and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Otherwise, he thought the mayor and City Council have done a good job with previous budgets and was confident this year would be no different. Still, he expected cuts would have to be made.
Taylor agreed cuts are necessary, but said there are certain services that can’t be cut, such as meals on wheels and education.
Gottlieb offered a more stark vision of the economic situation. First, he said, a federal agency should conduct an investigation of the mortgage industry, which has sent the financial sector into a downward spiral following the subprime mortgage crisis. Also, Gottlieb warned the city would lose revenues from income tax as Wall Street workers with hefty salaries get laid off.
He also admitted cuts would have to be made in the city’s budget, but where to make those cuts at this point is a dilemma.
The election for the 24th Council District could go one of two ways: if Gennaro defeats Padavan in the state Senate race this November, he would have to resign his council seat by Jan. 1, when the Senate term begins. The mayor would then announce a nonpartisan special election in which candidates cannot run on a party ticket. That election would be for the remainder of Gennaro’s term.
If Gennaro does not win, the candidates would square off next year as the councilman is term-limited out of office. All four candidates are Democrats so they would need to compete in a primary.
