Pair Make Pitches At MVPORA Session
Two of the five candidates seeking to win the new Sixth Congressional District seat in central Queens stumped for supporters at the Middle Village Property Owners/Residents Association (MVPORA) meeting on Monday night, Apr. 9, at St. Margaret Parish Hall.
City Council Members Elizabeth Crowley and Daniel Halloran ad dressed attendees and took questions from them about their political views.
Crowley is one of several De mocrats running for the party’s nom ination in the June 26 primary; Halloran is the presumptive Republi can nominee.
Two other Democratic candidates for Congress Assemblyman Rory Lancman and Assemblywoman Grace Meng were both invited by the MVPORA to speak at the “candi dates’ night” session, according to the civic group’s president, Salvatore Candela. Even so, both were not in attendance at Monday’s meeting.
‘Looking to impact’ D.C.
Halloran was the first of the can didates to take the microphone; the Bayside based legislator first took of fice in 2009 and claimed to be “not a professional politician.” He touted his previous record as a lawyer (with a speciality in constitutional law) and public servant with the Police De partment.
The legislator said he was “look ing to make an impact” in Congress by bringing a “citizen politician” approach to Washington. He also pointed out that he’s looking to do this only for a short term, later vowing to serve a maximum of three terms in the House if elected.
“I’m a small business owner. I’m a homeowner. I’ve been through all the trials and tribulations in what its like to live in the City of New York and how hard it is to keep a business going,” he said.
Halloran stated that he was running for Congress “because, first and foremost, we’re heading in the wrong direction.” He claimed that the most recent unemployment report demonstrated that job creation is not where it should be, and that more Americans have given up on looking for work.
“The administration is not doing things on jobs,” he said.
Moving to foreign policy, Halloran stated that “we have to be proactive in supporting” Israel in its campaign to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. He compared the current situation to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the U.S. discovered that the Soviet Union were installing long-range missiles inside Cuba, just 1,100 miles from Washington, D.C.
“Tehran is 1,100 miles from Tel Aviv. It is exactly the same. The only difference is: Iran is not a rational actor; the Russians were,” Halloran said. “Better we stop them before they have nuclear weapons than after. So we need someone going to Congress who’s going to support an agenda that does not include shutting Israel out of the equation.”
The Council member also criticized the Obama administration for failing to lower fuel prices and claimed that it blocked programs to allow the nation to bolster domestic energy production such as the Keystone pipeline and offshore drilling.
Halloran also expressed concerns regarding the national deficit, higher taxes and a massive trade deficit which he noted is greater than the “$17 trillion” debt the nation currently has. He also criticized the government for continuing trade agreements which he claim have put thousands of Americans out of work and for doing little to provide industries with incentives to stay in the U.S.
“No one’s talking about it, because it makes the deficit we have look small,” Halloran said. “We’re barely a service economy as it is. If whatever industry we have left goes, this country’s done.”
He also blasted the health care reform law which included a mandate that requires all Americans to purchase a health insurance plan or face a penalty; Halloran stated that he believed the mandate will ultimately be struck down by the Supreme Court.
Asked by one resident about his ideas to stop illegal immigration, the Council member stated that the government needs to implement a plan to give undocumented residents a chance to gain citizenship but also deport those with criminal records.
“We’re not going to round up people in the middle of the night and ship them out. It’s just not going to happen,” he said. “So what we have to do is something organized and controlled, something that’s going to actually fix the problem.”
Protection ‘on a national level’
Taking the microphone after Halloran was Crowley, whose Council district is based in Middle Village and was first elected in a special election in 2008. She told the audience that she was running “for the very same reasons I ran to represent you in the City Council: to protect our seniors, to strengthen our families and to make sure that our community is safe.”
“I want to make sure that’s protected on a national level,” Crowley said, going on to note that “a lot of people in Washington can’t relate to everyday people. I want to make sure that the people’s voice in this community is heard in Washington.”
Touting public safety as her “number one priority,” she noted that she would resist cuts to homeland security programs, pointing out that “Washington cut over $300 million” from defense programs, amounting to over “20 percent of the homeland security budget.”
“If we don’t have our homeland security, we don’t have anything,” Crowley said. “We can’t have our quality of life, because unfortunately, we are still the number one target for terrorists more so than anywhere else in the world.”
Regarding Social Security and Medicare, Crowley told residents that she would resist any movement to “privatize Social Security and change the way seniors are receiving Medicare.”
The Council member also noted that she would work to boost funding for college education, pointing out that “today, it is more expensive than ever before” and that most recent college graduates have hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
“One huge part of going to Washington is to build job opportunities,” Crowley added. “And I believe the best way to do that is investing in our infrastructure. … I’ve been able to bring hundreds of millions of dollars into this district in investment. And those are good jobs. Building up new sewer systems, new schools and making your community a better place to live, you’re also creating good jobs. And we need to do that on a national level.”
Asked by a resident if she would have supported in Congress the health care reform law referred to as “Obamacare,” Crowley stated that she would have voted for it, though there were “some parts I didn’t like,” including a planned $500 billion reduction in Medicare funding and less funding for hospitals for treating uninsured patients.
“Every year, the cost of medical care is going up double-digits; you know the cost of living usually goes up three or four percent,” she said. “A lot of that has to do with people who do not have insurance. If we were to have more of a national insurance plan, we would be able to get cheaper prescription drug benefit plans and be able to save money in the long run by cracking down on fraud.”
Her stance was criticized by one resident, who compared the health care reform model to systems in Canada and the United Kingdom where services are being rationed.
Augie Trinchese, MVPORA corresponding secretary, asked Crowley about her plans for immigration reform. The Council member stated that she would back “comprehensive immigration reform” to allow people to come into the U.S. in a legal manner.
Questioning DREAM Act vote
Candela also inquired with Crowley about supporting the “DREAM Act” in Congress to provide temporary residency to certain illegal aliens to attend college. The legislator stated that she wouldn’t vote for it “the way it is right now,” stating that “I don’t think that right now we should be investing our tax dollars and giving breaks to those who aren’t paying into the system.”
Halloran asked her if she voted on a City Council resolution supporting the passage of the DREAM Act in Congress; Crowley said that she did not.
In fact, according to City Council records, a resolution regarding the federal DREAM Act was introduced into the City Council on Feb. 29 and is awaiting action. The resolution which Halloran referred to called on the state legislature and governor to pass the New York State DREAM Act, which grants similar privileges to illegal immigrant students living in New York State.
That resolution passed the City Council on Mar. 28. In a voice vote, Crowley was among those who voted in favor of the resolution, while Halloran abstained.
Other news
Dori Pliska, a representative from Crowley’s office, informed residents about a recent “rash of vandalism” inside Juniper Valley Park during which several trees were damaged and a handrail from a staircase was removed.
The trees, which are located near the bocce and tennis courts, are currently being nursed back to health, she reported. Though no arrests have been made, it is believed that the vandalism was caused by “kids” who were loitering in the park.
Pliska noted that the 104th Precinct has been notified and asked to increase nighttime patrols at the park to prevent loitering and future vandalism.
Candela urged Pliska and Crowley’s office to take action to stop the proliferation of illegal advertisements posted on lampposts and telephone poles around the neighborhood. While noting that the office would look into the problem, Pliska urged residents to report the signs to the Sanitation Department through the city’s 311 hotline.
Trinchese also asked for Crowley to “exert a little pressure” upon the Sanitation Department to crack down on individuals who illegally dump household waste into public trash cans on Metropolitan Avenue.
“Saying enforcement is a problem because there’s budget cuts just doesn’t cut it,” he said; it was previously mentioned that the DSNY’s enforcement units have been depleted due to fiscal constraints. “We’ve been hearing that for years. There’s been no change at the 104th Precinct, but the new captain has done a hell of a job turning things around.”
The Middle Village Property Owners/Residents Association will hold a joint meeting with the Committee of Organizations of Precinct 104 (COP104) on Monday night, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Margaret Parish Hall, located on 79th Place south of Juniper Valley Road.
