By Kathianne Boniello
As he seeks re-election to the 24th Assembly District in November, state Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D-Bayside) also is focusing on how to improve schools as well as ways to give the slumping economy a boost.
“A lot of people say politicians don’t stay in touch with their districts,” he said in a recent interview on his bid for re-election. “I grew up in this district and have lived in this district. Now I’m a homeowner in the district and have kids in school here.”
Keeping his finger on the pulse of the 24th Assembly District has come naturally for Weprin, 41, who first was elected in a special election in March 1994. The assemblyman succeeded his father, longtime Queens politician Saul Weprin, who held the 24th state Assembly District seat for more than 23 years until his death in February 1994.
This fall Weprin, who is running for his fifth term in office, has been challenged by political newcomer Stacey Kaplan-Vila of Queens Village, a Republican who teaches at Queens Vocational High School in Long Island City.
The 24th state Assembly District 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.
One of the major concerns in his district continues to be education, said the assemblyman, who represents the high-performing School District 25 in Flushing and School District 26 in Bayside.
“Parental involvement is a key part of it,” Weprin said of successful schools. “Children want to get their parents’ approval.”
Weprin also would like to see the creative use of technology in classrooms and to better link parents with school staff.
“I can see a time when there will be new and innovative ways to get parents involved,” said Weprin, who said he envisions a future where parents can keep up with a child’s classwork and communicate with a teacher via the Internet.
The politics of education this year, in which the state Legislature voted to eliminate the city’s seven-member Board of Education in favor of mayoral control of public schools, left Weprin with some reservations.
“I would be happy to keep community school boards,” said Weprin, who voted for the school governance changes that also require the elimination of the city’s 32 school boards by June 2003. “Parents need a forum beyond the school level. … [we need] a substantive power that can effect change — we don’t just need a sounding board.”
On other issues, Weprin said the main issue facing state legislators is the economy, which has been heading downward since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“For the next couple of years the 800-pound gorilla in the room that nobody wants to talk about is going to be the economy,” he said. “I don’t know how deep this hole is going to be.”
Weprin and his Queens colleagues have pointed to the reinstitution of the commuter tax as a potential aid to economic recovery.
“It was a pittance of a charge, but it added up to a lot of money,” Weprin said of the tax on those who commute to work in the city. “I was opposed to getting rid of it.”
Throughout his eight years in office, Weprin said, he has strived to make government more open to the public, including introducing laws to televise state Legislature sessions and forcing banks to warn Automated Teller Machine customers they are about to be charged a fee.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
