By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
A political unknown from Douglas Manor is vowing to unseat U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) in the 2004 congressional election by appealing to voters in northeast Queens' growing Asian communities.
Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio Jr., a Filipino-born officer with the federal Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly the INS, said he intends to run as either a Republican or an Independent in the race to represent a district that stretches from central Queens into Nassau County's North Shore.
Although he bills himself as “a man for all Americans,” Policarpio emphasized what he sees as the need for “a strong voice in Congress” for Asian Americans, especially in the flourishing communities of Flushing and Bayside.
“I think it's time for a non-Caucasian, an Asian-Pacific American, to get involved in politics,” said Policarpio, 62, who came to the United States in 1973. “The desires, aspirations and needs of this community would be better served by somebody who is familiar with their general problems.”
Policarpio said his top priorities would be strengthening equal opportunity laws in employment, home ownership and education, turning downtown Flushing into a tourist attraction and giving tax credits to providers of college scholarships.
He also favors tax credits for couples who provide housing for elderly parents, wants to upgrade hiring standards for federal employees and hopes to create semi-governmental or privately funded senior centers.
Policarpio charged that Ackerman, who was first elected to New York's 5th Congressional District in 1983, had not done enough to clean up stagnant pools of water that had encouraged the spread of West Nile virus.
The virus, transmitted from infected birds to humans via mosquito bites, was first discovered in the United States in College Point, part of Ackerman's district, in 1999.
The city's aerial spraying of the insecticide malathion caused an uproar among local residents and politicians who feared a possible link between the bug poison and cancer.
“What he did was fight with the mayor on the spraying of mosquitoes,” Policarpio said about Ackerman. “Anybody can be allergic to any type of chemical. That's not a good reason to fight the mayor's program to kill mosquitoes.”
Ackerman defended his response to the virus outbreak, saying he was the “most active” member of Congress on the issue.
“I was the only one in the U.S. Congress who called a hearing on West Nile virus,” said Ackerman, who added that he had brought in federal money to fight the disease. “The guy is obviously, shall we say, ill-informed.”
Ackerman also touted his record on representing the Asian community.
“As the Democrat who chaired the subcommittee on Asia, having been to the Philippines, worked on Kashmir-India issues, met with three presidents of Taiwan and the president of China … [and] having an Asian advisory board, I'll continue doing the job as long as the people would have me do it,” he said.
Policarpio came close to running for Congress in 2000, but said he scuttled the idea due to “family considerations.”
Ackerman dismissed Policarpio as “a hypothetical” who would probably not even run come election time.
“If he's still around then, we'll deal with him,” said Ackerman, who won his last race in 2002 with 93 percent of the vote.
Policarpio plans to officially announce his candidacy at his home in Douglas Manor on June 21, after his scheduled retirement. He said he intends to organize a grassroots effort involving church and senior center visits, forums and focus groups and eventually door-to-door campaigning.
Policarpio estimated he would win by garnering 90 percent of the Asian vote, 50 percent of the Jewish vote and 85 percent of the Spanish-speaking vote, since he speaks Spanish and his name sounds Hispanic.
So far Policarpio's campaign activities have consisted of forming an exploratory committee to raise funds for focus groups and surveys, building a campaign Web site and reaching out to Asian leaders, most recently at a dinner reception in Flushing April 12 of an Asian-American political action committee called the 80-20 Initiative.
The nationwide non-partisan group seeks to create an Asian voting bloc in which 80 percent of Asian voters throw their support behind a candidate.
City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) attended the event but said it was the first time he had met Policarpio, about whom he knew little.
Neither the Queens County Republican Party nor Mary Anderson, a past president of the Bayside Republican Club, had heard of Policarpio.
“He hasn't contacted us about running,” said an official of the county party organization who declined to be named.
Though not a household name, Policarpio remained convinced of one thing: “I believe I can serve the district much better than the incumbent.”
Reach reporter Ayala Ben-Yehuda by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
