By Kathianne Boniello
Incumbent state Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D-Bayside) said when voters go to the polls in next week’s state elections they should judge him by his career so far as he runs for re-election against Republican challenger Stacey Kaplan-Vila.
“I’m someone who stands on my record,” said Weprin, who is seeking his fifth term in office. Both Weprin and Kaplan-Vila spoke to about 40 voters Tuesday at the Bayside Hills Civic Association’s candidates night.
While Weprin painted himself as a guardian of eastern Queens’ high quality of life, Kaplan-Vila a Queens Village resident, said she would focus on education issues if elected and described herself as a problem solver.
Kaplan-Vila labeled the state Legislature “a huge bureaucracy that needs taming.”
Both candidates were campaigning to represent the 24th state Assembly District, which includes the communities of Bayside, Fresh Meadows, Glen Oaks, Hollis Hills, Oakland Gardens, Holliswood, Jamaica Estates, and parts of Auburndale, Bellerose, Douglaston, Little Neck, Floral Park, and Flushing.
The district also covers a large part of School District 26 in Bayside, which is the top scoring district in the city.
Weprin was first elected to office in 1994 after his father Saul, who held the 24th state Assembly District seat for more than 23 years, died.
“I’m very proud to be running again,” he told the audience. “I’m someone who’s been involved in this community and I am now raising my family in this community.”
The incumbent highlighted quality-of-life issues in the area, including “keeping our quality schools strong, keeping our streets safe, and keeping this as a community where people want to raise families.”
The sponsor of more than 30 laws since being elected to the Assembly, Weprin said he champions open government as well as “working across the aisle in a bipartisan manner.”
Kaplan-Vila, who has been a teacher at Queens Vocational High School for six years, said education in the city needs to be improved.
Laws governing education, she said “are not written so they can really be effective.”
Kaplan-Vila also claimed that people move away from eastern Queens when their children reach junior high school or high school age “because our junior high schools and high schools are dangerous.”
When asked how she would tackle the issue of backroom politics in Albany, Kaplan-Vila said she would try to drum up public pressure to change the status quo.
“We have to get more people to register to vote and to have somebody stand up and do something,” she said.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
