By Sophia Chang
“I see a basic problem. We do not have local representation in the tradition of Sen. Padavan,” Boudouvas said in a recent phone interview. “We have not had it since the assemblywoman was elected, especially in the past four years.”Boudouvas faces an uphill battle as a political novitiate against Carrozza, who has held the seat for eight years. But, he said, his four years representing Padavan at community events has inspired him to run for office.Both Carrozza and Boudouvas agree that two hot campaign topics in the 26th Assembly District, covering Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Whitestone, Bay Terrace and parts of Flushing, are education and security.”The single biggest concern has been securing adequate educational resources for schools in northeast Queens,” Carrozza said, highlighting top-ranked School District 26. “The concern is that because of the stellar performance of schools in this area, that we not be shortchanged by the city and state.”Said Boudouvas: “Basically I understand that parents who want to send their kids to public school should be able to,” adding that he would support a voucher system that would not sap funding from public schools. “A tax credit is a more reasonable approach to giving parents a choice.”Boudouvas, an electrical engineer, has founded his own engineering firm Metersdirect.com. He grew up in Astoria, attended Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and lives in Bayside. He pledged that if elected, he would address security concerns by increasing funding for law enforcement and the National Guard.Carrozza, elected to office in 1996, points to her position as the chairwoman of the Assembly Committee on State and Federal Relations as proof that she is working to get the state more funding for security. “We are in frequent communication with our federal delegation in Congress to try and make the argument that New York state should be receiving much more of federal anti-terror funding,” she said. “New Mexico and Montana are receiving more per person than New York state is.”For Boudouvas, a top priority is reforming the state government, recently lambasted in a recent New York University study as one of the least efficient and most partisan in the country.”We cannot have late budgets continuously,” Boudouvas said, referring to next year's state budget which passed Aug. 11 four months after the deadline. “Albany is broke, and we need to fix it.”Carrozza, who has also served on the Aging, Insurance, Banks, and Government Employees state committees, has focused on healthcare and insurance legislation while in office. “When the governor releases his proposed budget every year, it always proposes cuts to Medicaid program which actually contributes to the overall funding of every hospital in New York state,” she said. “It impacts all of us if we show up at the emergency room at any point.””The most important issue is to try and fight for budget funding and push for legislation that makes life easier and better for working families in our district, including funding for public schools, increasing quality healthcare, working with law enofrcement so that northeast Queens remains the best place to live,” Carrozza said.Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
