Council District 21 candidates debate issues

With just a few days left until the Special Election on Tuesday, February 24 to fill the vacant city council seat left by State Senator Hiram Monserrate, voters in District 21, which encompasses Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst and Corona, have raised the stakes for the candidates that wish to represent their community.
The four candidates, George Dixon, Julissa Ferreras, Eduardo Giraldo and Francisco Moya, got a sense of the voters’ sentiments at a candidate night on Thursday, February 12, co-sponsored by The Courier and Langston Hughes Library. The candidate’s night forum will be broadcast on Queens Public Television (QPTV).
Despite the moderator’s prepared questions for the candidates, the public’s questions drove the conversation that evening. The moderators that night were Claudia Cruz, editor of El Correo de Queens and staff writer for The Queens Courier and John Crow, community outreach liaison for the Library.
The candidates answered a diverse group of questions but most touched upon topics on everyone’s mind like the budget cuts and the effect on local cultural and recreational spaces, the economy and development in the area and the growing violence in the community. All the candidates agreed that cultural and recreational institutions needed help.
Dixon, an executive board member of the East Elmhurst/Corona Civic Association, said that as Councilmember he would try to direct funds directly to the local institutions.
“I believe that the youth are an important element in a community and that these cultural and recreational institutions form part of the things that help create strong youth and strong citizens in a community,” he said. In addition, he would organize a group to analyze this situation that will involve children and parents.
According to Ferreras, Monserrate’s former chief of staff, the public schools should be utilized better, and one way would be to become the youth centers that the community needs. She added that to raise funds, the schools should collaborate more with non-profit organizations. Moya said that when necessary he has gone out of pocket to help youth programs and hinted that the community needed to step up their efforts to save them.
The next topic tackled by the candidates involved commercial and residential development, and the economic impact development has had on the community. In particular, the construction of Citi Field came under scrutiny.
Giraldo, a consultant with the Willets Point development, said that as member of the Queens Chamber of Commerce he had studied disparities in labor practices and that despite local law 129, which set the minimum number of minority contracts that should be given for development projects, the reality was that not enough contracts went to minorities, inferring that the mostly minority community of District 21 had been excluded.
“Now we have the unions and you know why we [minorities] can’t get in there [Citi Field]? Because that is all union work,” said Giraldo. “The unions are fine but they are not hiring new people. They have a hiring freeze. They are not hiring people. They are not hiring Hispanics, African-Americans or Asians. They only hire from their clique and that has to stop.”
As Councilmember, Dixon said, he would ensure that new projects hired local labor because “we have young men in East Elmhurst, Corona, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst that are standing on corners, they are not working, and there is work here.” Ferreras said that in addition to advocating for the employment of local labor she would demand that these contracts went to local community union members.
On the other hand, Moya said that “development is a problem” because construction is not the only issue. “The ripple effect that it has is not just taking a one or two family home down and where one family lived now multiple families are coming in. Kids have to go to school, we are not getting more policing and our resources get cut.”
Much of the public’s questions involved the amount of violence and criminal activity in the community and specifically along the Roosevelt Avenue corridor. All the candidates agreed that things needed to change.
Dixon suggested an increase in the reward given for every gun that gets turned in. He also said the fear of ‘snitching’ needed to be reversed and he would work with the police to promote the anonymous tips hotline.
Giraldo said that if neighborhoods knew and communicated with one another more, it would better the issue of violence in the community.
“There are two types of people in our community,” said Giraldo. “People like us who love the community and others who use the community as a trampoline. Those people are welcomed to this community but if they come to commit crimes, they have to go. We don’t want them here,” he said.
To the same question, both Moya and Ferreras noted the resurgence in prostitution and the trafficking of sex workers as an issue the next Councilmember will have to face. “We have to take back Roosevelt Avenue because it does not belong to the pimps, the prostitutes or the gangs,” said Ferreras.
“How do we take back Roosevelt Avenue?” she asked. “We have to clean up the drugs, the prostitutes. We have to work with the precincts to ensure that there are more cops on Roosevelt Avenue,” she said. Ferreras added that she would also work with the Department of Transportation to add more light post because “crime doesn’t like the light.”
To conclude, each candidate closed by reminding the public why they should vote for them. Dixon said that as Councilmember he would work to change the taxation system so that everyone pays their fair share. Ferreras reminded the public that during the previous February the community turned out the vote and that now she hoped they did the same and supported her. Giraldo highlighted that he’s from the community and will work for the community because he has no hidden agenda and does not belong to any machinery. Lastly, Moya concluded by reminding the audience that he’s from the community, has worked for the community and will continue to work for the future of the community.
On Tuesday, February 24, 2009 voters in City Council District 21 will hit the polls to elect their next Councilmember. For more information about times and polling sites please call 311 or visit www.vote.nyc.ny.us.
Make sure to watch the entire QPTV “Meet the Candidates 2009 District 21” on Saturday, February 21 from 5 to 6 p.m. on channel 35; and on Monday, February 23 from 10 to 11 p.m., also on channel 35.