Claudia Valentino, Councilman Joe Addabbo, Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Barbara Stuchinski- President, Forest Hills CCA, Peter Koo and Senator Serphin Maltese
Sen. Serf Maltese and his Democratic opponent, Councilman Joe Addabbo, continued their disagreement over taxes at a candidates forum in Queens last night, but avoided the kind of overheated rhetoric that has characterized their mailers and press releases on the topic to date.
Danielle Douglas, a Columbia J-School student who covered the event, which was also attended by Democratic Sen. Toby Stavisky and her GOP challenger, Peter Koo, characterized the get-together as a "friendly forum."
More of Douglas' account appears after the jump.
UPDATE: On the question of debates, which Addabbo's campaign says Maltese is ducking, offering up Citizens Union's failed efforts to set up a head-to-head between the two candidates, I reached out to CU Executive Director Dick Dadey, who said:
"We tried and failed because of scheduling issues, both with us and the candidates. The term limits issue took away some possible dates."
Maltese refrained from slinging mud at Addabbo for voting in favor of Mayor Bloomberg's 2002 property tax hike, explaining: "I'm an independent and I've disagreed with the
mayor in the past, but we've kissed and made up."
Addabbo actually touted the increase, and subsequent homeowner tax rebate, as an example of his ability to handle difficult budget decisions in times of economic distress.
Maltese had drawn heat from his challenger's camp for driving hard at an increase proposed by Bloomberg, who has set aside his past differences with the Republican senator and has endorsed his re-election.
Addabbo's campaign spokeswoman Alexis Grenell accused Maltese of ducking head-to-head match-ups with the councilman, saying: "He's scared and has been using his schedule to avoid debating."
Not so, according to Maltese spokeswoman Kristen Lord.
"We've participated in about four or five of these meet-and-greets," she said. "And he's only missed one event in Ridgewood because of a previous engagement at the Hispanic Heritage awards."
Lord said Addabbo's campaign is blowing the situation out of proportion and noted that there are several more upcoming debates - including one next Wednesday on NY1.
Much of last niht's agenda, set by five pre-screened audience questions, focused on education.
The soon-to-be revisited topic of mayoral control came up, and a cautious Maltese treaded lightly. (It is, after all, a top Bloomberg priority). He called for greater allowance of parental input, while praising the greater accountability of the system under the
mayor.
Addabbo stuck to what has become the Democratic/UFT script, picking apart what he called "a lack of continuity" in communication between the administration and schools and zeroing in on mid-year school budget cuts.
The subject of school budgets served as an apt segway into fiscal equity for city schools.
Maltese boasted his record for increasing the city's education funding, avoiding the fact that the Senate GOP has long been known for driving education aid to the suburbs (particularly Long Island) and its one-time fight to block the CFE decision.
The debate ended with a focus on the economy, with both candidates promising not to cut essential services.
Maltese used the opportunity to promote the Senate Republicans' contentious plan for the redevelopment of the local Aqueduct, pointing out that revenues from the deal (which is currently stalled due to Majority Leader Dean Skelos' refusal to go along with the selection of Delaware North) could help address the State's budget shortfall.
Addabbo appealed for cuts in government spending, namely tax incentives for large companies.
