By Courtney Dentch
Despite unsuccessful campaigns for city and state offices, Rey Clarke is aiming higher this election year, hoping to challenge U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-St. Albans) in the Democratic primaries in September.
Clarke, a 26-year Far Rockaway resident, wants to unseat the incumbent congressman in the 6th Congressional District, which covers southeast Queens, including Jamaica, Laurelton, Queens Village and Richmond Hill. Clarke will be one of the first to challenge Meeks, he said.
“He’s never been contested and that’s not what democracy is all about,” Clarke said. “If you’re good, you’ll be back, if not, you’ll be out.”
Meeks was elected to the Congress in 1998 in a special election after serving in the state Assembly for five years.
Clarke ran for the state Senate in 1989 and for City Council in 1994, he said. He tried to run for the Council again in 2001, but his petition to be placed on the ballot was denied due to a lack of signatures, he said.
In between his campaigns, Clarke opened an ice cream parlor, the Happy Duck, in the Rockaways. He also has been active in the community, serving as PTA president at PS 104 and Far Rockaway High School, he said.
Among Clarke’s priorities are environmental issues, including air quality, the waterways and Jamaica well water, he said. Clarke would like to see federal studies completed on the safety of both the air and the water in the congressional district, he said.
“We have a very high cancerous problem in the southeast Queens area,” he said. “These are things that should have been addressed long ago.”
Clarke pointed to education as another priority, citing statistics that have found area elementary school students are reading at a 37 percent literacy rate, and high schoolers are at a fourth-grade reading level.
“It doesn’t do anything for society when you have people who are non-functioning,” Clarke said. “It’s a real problem.”
To combat these obstacles, Clarke would like to see corporate partnerships formed with the schools to provide increased incentives to students to stay in school and provide them with vocational training, he said.
“We need new creative ways to build the community and the schools,” Clarke said.
Federal funding also could be a solution to the proposed budget cuts aimed at education, he said.
“I don’t see why the federal government can’t cover that,” he said. “It would ease the burden on the city and the state.”
Clarke also sees education as a way to reduce the number of families on welfare.
“I want to avoid having a generation of families on welfare,” Clarke said. “Education will keep people off welfare.”
But education will only help the youth of the area so much, Clarke said. He also would like to see more community centers and activities sponsored for the youth, especially in the Rockaways, he said.
Other ideas Clarke would like to see implemented include a single currency for countries such as the United States, Mexico and the West Indies, tax relief for manufacturers in southeast Queens, and health care for undocumented children.
Clarke is confident about his chances against Meeks, he said, adding that “the only way he can stop me is to keep me off the ballot.”
“I’ve been around a long time and I’m unhappy with what’s been going on,” Clarke said. “I know what my community needs and they know that.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 138.
