By Helen Klein
Will the second time be the charm? After unsuccessfully challenging Republican incumbent Assemblymember Matthew Mirones, who represents the 60th Assembly District, in 2004, Democrat Janele Hyer-Spencer has decided to try again. With the “unofficial, official” blessing of Democratic leaders in both Brooklyn and Staten Island, Hyer-Spencer said she is moving forward with her candidacy, having spent the past year and a half building a campaign infrastructure. The district spans a portion of the shore of Staten Island on both sides of the Verrazano Bridge, including the neighborhoods of Rosebank, South Beach, Midland Beach, and Oakwood Beach, as well as portions of Bay Ridge, in Brooklyn. Asked why she was running, Hyer-Spencer contended that Mirones, “Doesn’t get things done. Meetings, memos, press releases – those three things he’s very good at, but he doesn’t do anything else. I frankly think Staten Island and Brooklyn deserve more.” In particular, Hyer-Spencer criticized Mirones for his handling of the Sweetwater Estate Development on Staten Island, which, she said, will add 400 homes and another 300 or 400 cars to the island’s south shore. “Matthew promised the people that in the coming year he would be working hard to continue down-zoning and controlling development and particularly this project,” Hyer-Spencer asserted. “I was on the committee. Once he was elected, there was no follow-up. The development is going full-force and is being built as we speak.” Issues That Matter In addition, said Hyer-Spencer, Mirones, “Failed on the sales tax,” specifically the effort to repeal the state sales tax on clothing and shoes that cost under $110 that had been revived during the budget crisis that had followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and which has still not been repealed. “Every year,” she went on, “he continues to vote against pay equity, the equal pay bills that come before the Assembly.” Similarly, said Hyer-Spencer, Mirones, though a Republican, had failed to make inroads regarding getting the state to pay to the city Department of Education the billions of dollars it had been ordered to pay as a result of the suit brought by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE), that charged that inequities in state funding were depriving New York City public school students of a “sound basic education.” “I would have expected, with a Republican in the governor’s house, that he could have used that and gotten meetings, gotten something done,” contended Hyer-Spencer. “CFE is incredibly important to the city. It requires leadership across the board. A letter doesn’t get it done, and that’s where Matthew falls down.” Hyer-Spencer also criticized Mirones for grandstanding on civil confinement. “He came out strong for civil confinement mainly because the governor gives Republicans their marching orders,” she remarked. “While the tenets of civil confinement are good,” the legislation, she said, “doesn’t accomplish what Matthew said it was intended to accomplish. He told the voters that this was legislation that was going to protect women and children. In fact, that’s false. It needed to be debated and discussed and developed into solid legislation that really protects women and children. You get press releases, cursory language and talking points, but he doesn’t do anything substantive to protect the people of the district. “Matthew will come out and talk a good game,” Hyer-Spencer went on, ‘but when you talk about substantive changes to really protect the population, you don’t see anything. I see it as a consistent pattern since he was elected.” Mirones Responds Asked to respond to Hyer-Spencer’s comments, Mirones said, “I think it’s unfortunate that Donna Janele Hyer-Spencer, who has no record of her own to stand on, is distorting the truth. I think it’s mean-spirited and unfortunate. I’m hopeful we will be able to run a truthful campaign on the issues. I think the record will show that, since I was elected to office, I have indeed been a strong leader on eliminating the sales tax. I think the Democratic process, as it unfolds, is healthy for our system, certainly for the community. We will see what the future holds.” Asked about her chances, Hyer-Spencer acknowledged that an important aspect of her campaign was letting people know who she was, and what she stood for. In 2004, she garnered 40 percent of the vote, to the 60 percent amassed by Mirones. “Truly, the only uphill battle I see is name recognition,” Hyer-Spencer remarked, “people knowing who I am and what we’re doing.” Even in 2004, Hyer-Spencer noted, she had won in Brooklyn. She had started that campaign very late, with little campaign infrastructure in place. “I had a matter of a week to get myself on the ballot,” Hyer-Spencer recalled. “I had no name recognition. My profile has always been as a lawyer behind the scenes. These are things that we have worked very hard over the last year and a half to enhance.” Fund-Raising In terms of funding, Hyer-Spencer said that she had raised almost $60,000 so far. “Between now and June,” she went on, “I will have to triple that.” Mirones, Hyer-Spencer said, had, “Added about $67,000 in the last year to his campaign coffers. He had about $100,000 left in his standing account. That’s a significant amount of money, but it’s not insurmountable for a challenger.” Registration in the 60th A.D., said Hyer-Spencer, technically favors Democrats. “There are 1.8 Democrats to 1 Republican,” she remarked, adding, “I have to get the message out. If you’re wandering in the desert, and there’s no water, you drink the sand. That’s what the voters have been doing. There hasn’t been anyone out there in this district with passion and commitment to talk about the issues and offer people a substantive alternative. We haven’t had a Democratic candidate who has really done that.” The Assembly race, Hyer-Spencer added, could be a key to the contested Congressional race in the 13th C.D., in which Republican incumbent Vito Fossella will likely be facing Brooklyn civic activist Stephen Harrison. “You have to win the 60th to win the 13th,” Hyer-Spencer remarked. “There are registered Democrats here who haven’t voted that way in years.”
