In the months leading up to the citywide primary and general elections, the Times Newsweekly/Ridgewood Times will feature in this column press releases and statements sent by the campaigns of the candidates on the ballot.
The statements in this column do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Times Newsweekly/Ridgewood Times or its staff. Mud-slinging statements which include personal attacks on candidates are omitted.
Mayoral Race Bronx Conservative
Party Backs Salgado
The Conservative Party in the Bronx has announced that it has given its endorsement in the Mayoral race to Erick Salgado. Although a Democrat, Salgado holds conservative views.
“I am most honored to have received the Bronx Conservative Party’s endorsement. I want to thank its chairman, Bill Newman, and members for putting their trust and confidence in my candidacy,” Salgado said. “I am the sole social Conservative Mayoral candidate in this race and the only one who is committed to defending traditional values in this city. As organizations and voters throughout the City review my positions on the issues, and my experience, both in businesses and work- ing this great City’s diverse communities, they realize that I provide them with an alternative to all the other candidates, one that is consistent with their conservative beliefs.”
Liu Releases
‘People’s Budget’
City Comptroller John C. Liu launched a new online tool, May 7— The People’s Budget NYC—to give the public a chance to vote on city budget proposals. The announcement comes less than a week after Mayor Bloomberg unveiled his $70.0 billion Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2014.
“The city budget should be of the people, by the people, and for the people – and yet budgets continue to be determined without sufficient public feedback,” Liu said. “Engaging more New Yorkers in the budgetary process will help reduce cynicism in government and produce a better, stronger, and fairer budget. Our new website will ‘crowd-source’ the budget by providing taxpayers with a forum to speak out on issues that are most important to them and their communities.”
The People’s Budget NYC (peoplesbudgetnyc.com) was developed using the IdeaScale platform—an easy-to-use, yet powerful tool for the collection of feedback and ideas. The platform’s interactive features allow users to vote ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down,’ discuss, and suggest new budget ideas. It also includes functionality to share budget ideas with others through email, Twitter, and Facebook.
Liu plans to incorporate the three most popular ideas into testimony he will deliver before the City Council in June, when he next fulfills his city charter-mandated duties to comment and advise on the mayor’s budget. Through The People’s Budget NYC, Liu will, in effect, be giving the public a voice in that bully pulpit. The period of “voting” on proposals ends Sunday, June 2 at 11:59 p.m.
The People’s Budget NYC website is based on “The People’s Budget” report, unveiled by the Comptroller last month, which identifies some $15 billion of new revenues over the next four fiscal years and nearly the same amount of new investments. Proposals include investing more in schools, hiring more police officers, creating affordable housing, cutting taxes on small businesses, and keeping libraries open longer hours.
The People’s Budget NYC is the latest in a series of online tools launched by the Comptroller’s office to stimulate citizen participation in government. Earlier this year, the office inaugurated Checkbook NYC 2.0, an online transparency tool that enables the public to view the spending of the city’s $70 billion annual budget by agency. The tool empowers and enlists the public to keep an eye on that spending and thereby curtails wasteful and improper use of public money. On the basis of Checkbook NYC 2.0, a comprehensive national study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group ranked New York City the most transparent municipal government in the nation.
Queens Borough President’s Race
Avella Introduces Brownfield Bill
Senator Tony Avella, Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, and Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz were joined by Queens Community Board 7 at a press conference, May 9, announcing legislation they have introduced in the State Legislature (S.4544/A.5990) that would require the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to notify any community board in New York City of any new brownfield site cleanups.
A brownfield site is real property, the redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a contaminant. Contaminants include hazardous waste and/or petroleum.
The press conference was held in front of the Waterpointe-Whitestone brownfield cleanup site. Community Board 7 has been holding committee meetings regarding this site, yet was never informed of the initial brownfield site cleanup application. As a result, they requested that Avella Braunstein, and Simanowitz introduce legislation requiring community board notification.
Current DEC regulations requires a period of public comment for a brownfield cleanup request. Adjacent property owners, nearby schools and local newspapers must also be notified.
The additional requirement of notifying local community boards within New York City would allow for notice of opportunity for public comment to be served to interested parties. Community boards hold monthly meetings where they notify the public and local civic organizations of upcoming public hearings for state and city governmental agencies. A requirement to notify local community boards, in addition to other individuals already required to be notified, would also give notice to those residing in the vicinity of the brownfield an opportunity to comment on the planned brownfield cleanup.
Katz Releases Financial Info.
Melinda Katz today released campaign finance filings in the race for Queens Borough President that clearly establishes her position as the strongest candidate in the field. Katz has raised more than $80,000 during this filing period, with a grand total of almost $490,000 to date. Including matching funds, her campaign’s total resources exceed $900,000.
“This campaign has always been powered by a diverse coalition of grassroots donors across our city,” Katz said. “Supporters are stepping up from every corner of Queens to help because they believe in our campaign to create jobs, help seniors, and improve public education across New York. And that’s why our campaign, backed by an overwhelming level of support from New Yorkers, will have the resources we need to keep building momentum and win on Election Day.”
For more information on voting or to obtain a voting registration application, contact the New York City Board of Elections at 1-212-VOTENYC or visit www.vote.nyc.ny.us.
Press representatives of candidates may send their information to this paper by fax to 1-718-456-0120 or e-mail to info@times newsweekly.com. All releases are subject to editing.
