City Councilman Joseph Addabbo Jr., left, and state Sen. Serphin Maltese shook hands after a debate hosted by the Howard Beach Civic Forum at St. Barnabas Church. (Michael O’Kane)This was purely a topic-driven debate. Candidates were not to reference one another and audience members were to ask questions focused on the five topics only.
The Howard Beach Civic Forum set out these rules prior to the start of the debate it hosted between between City Councilman Joseph Addabbo Jr. and state Sen. Serphin Maltese, who are vying for the 15th Senate District seat.
A structured forum such as this, the civic members hoped, would make for better results by filtering out bickering, character attacks and discussion of subjects unrelated to the election. They were right.
Despite being a full house, the St. Barnabas Church in Howard Beach was quiet: only the candidates voices could be heard as they spoke quickly, fervently and respectfully, staying on all five topics — education, public safety and quality of life, economics, transportation and health care — the entire night.
Each was given three minutes to speak about each subject and then 90 seconds to answer questions from audience members, which were written on index cards prior to the debate.
Education
Maltese, a 20-year veteran senator, said higher education and tuition assistance programs are matters to which he has paid great attention during his years in office. Maltese said he secured an additional $616 million for TAP in 2007 and about $646 million in extra funding in 2008.
In the last 10 years, the Senate has increased education funding for New York City by 97 percent, Maltese said, adding that the average student in the city receives $8,524 from the state for college.
When Addabbo was given his three minutes on the subject, he began by explaining how critical education is to a community: it is the reason people come to or leave from certain neighborhoods, and that causes fluctuations in property values and the local economy, among other things. His goal is to keep people in the district.
It’s important for parents to give input and get involved in their children’s education, Addabbo said. But school funding is a major issue. The councilman said he has secured $11 million for schools in his district since he was elected to office in 2001.
Public Safety and Quality of Life
In his commentary on public safety, Maltese touted his experience in the legal field: he was once an assistant Queens District Attorney and the deputy chief of the homicide bureau.
During his 10 terms as a senator, Maltese served as chairman of the Senate Standing Commitment on Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections. He has sponsored 239 bills that became laws, and has co-sponsored hundreds more. One of his “Maltese laws,” as the senator calls them, increased the penalties for driving under the influence.
He also cosponsored 24 pieces of legislation in 2006 that updated and strengthened Megan’s Law, creating tougher penalties and mandating community notification and GPS tracking of violent sexual predators.
Addabbo, who sits on the Council’s Public Safety Committee, said police departments are an integral part of public safety. He has worked to improve communication with area precincts and fought for a salary increase for NYPD rookies, which will likely increase recruitment and retainment rates.
Addabbo wants to see more police vehicles on the streets and more police officers in the precincts, which he said are understaffed. Of his proposal to start a sex offender registry notification e-mail system, Addabbo said, “We should have more access to who is in our community.”
Economics
During the finance portion of the debate, the two candidates had similar responses. While Addabbo called small businesses the “backbone” of the community, Maltese said the local commercial strips are its “lifeblood.”
Both said government should cut spending before raising property and other taxes. “We have to take in our belts,” Maltese said, adding that his work with small businesses in his district earned him an endorsement from the New York Federation of Small Business.
Addabbo said it’s time for the state Senate to reform programs like the Industrial Commercial Investment Program, which gives “big money” to large corporations, such as McDonald’s and Duane Reade. “Take away some of this money from big corporate and put it down to the small businesses where it would help,” he said. “It would help our local businesses and help our local people.”
Transportation
On the topic of transportation, the candidates agreed that improvements are badly needed and had similar approaches to obtaining upgrades.
Neither politician supported the proposed congestion pricing, which threatened to charge non-Manhattan residents — including Queens residents who work there — for driving into the borough during peak hours.
Maltese and Addabbo recognized that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s financial troubles contribute greatly to the poor conditions of many Queens subway stations and trains. But they both said increasing fares is unfair to commuters and will not resolve the MTA’s problem.
Addabbo’s advice to the MTA was, “Be creative.” He suggested the agency come up with innovative money raising methods that do not reach into commuters’ pockets. Addabbo also stuck to a promise he made during his first campaign for City Council in 2001: bringing a high-speed ferry service to Rockaway. That service launched in May.
Maltese, who got $2 million to renovate a rundown M train station in Middle Village, said the state Department of Transportation also plays a role in the city’s poor transportation and outdated infrastructure. He secured $1.2 million to renovate Eliot Avenue, a dangerous street in Middle Village that was in desperate need of improvement.
Health Care
The candidates both stressed the importance of accessible health care, particularly for seniors and area hospitals.
Addabbo said the state Senate must begin looking into preventive care to save costs on long-term care. It should also address Medicaid fraud, which is estimated to bilk the state of some $5 billion per year.
Maltese cosponsored a bill that created Healthy NY — a program designed to assist small business owners, uninsured sole providers and workers whose employers do not provide health insurance. He helped restore $59.1 million in the state budget to nursing homes and $16.9 million to Queens hospitals.
Closing Statements
Concluding their well-received presentations, each candidate shared his finals thoughts on why he deserves to be elected.
The veteran senator said he’s been doing a great job for almost 20 years and wants to continue serving his constituents. He has shown his capabilities to the public and truly earned his title, he said.
Addabbo’s closing statements boiled down to the concept of “out with the old, in with the new.” Calling himself a fiscally responsible and focused fighter, Addabbo said it’s time for a change. “We deserve better. We need better. We can do better,” he said.
