By Bianca Fortis
Almost all of the candidates present at an election forum Tuesday night believe youth in southeast Queens need more activities to keep them busy,
Gangs and gun violence were a major theme at the forum, and one audience member asked what each candidate would do to curb the violence in their communities.
Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica), the councilman for District 28, which covers Jamaica, South Jamaica, Richmond Hill and Ozone Park, said because of a gang prevention program already implemented within the district, the community has gone more than 340 days without a shooting. The second phase of that program is gun buybacks, he said. The third is finding the root causes of violence.
“It’s not just young people or bad seeds,” he said. “Sometimes it’s because they have nothing to do.”
He said if re-elected he will continue to allocate funds for after-school programs.
Hettie Powell, another candidate in the race, discussed her record as a volunteer with youth groups in the Rockaways and said the city needs to allocate funding to reopen the community centers that have been shut down. Youth need sports, arts and science programs, she said, so they do not have “free time.”
The Rev. David Kayode, a third candidate, said part of the problem is that children no longer have faith in police and that parents must be involved to combat the issue of violence.
“What happened to ‘Thou shalt not kill?’” he asked. “What happened to ‘The family that prays together stays together?’”
The three candidates are vying for the seat against Eugene Evans, who was not present.
Greg Mays, the first District 27 candidate to answer the question, said most of his community activism has been focused on doing what other candidates talked about: keeping kids busy to keep them off the streets. District 27 includes St. Albans, Cambria Heights, Jamaica, Queens Village, Rosedale and Springfield Gardens.
Joan Flowers said she would use her experience as an attorney to ensure the city is receiving the legally mandated amount of school funding from the state.
“The school buildings belong to us, not the Board of Education,” she said. “We should not be closing our schools at 3:30 when everybody’s racing out of the building and then we lock it up tight.”
Daneek Miller said the Council must fund organizations that provide services and activities for children and teens, but in the interim, he said, community members must find ways to support youth as well.
Sondra Peeden agreed with the goals of the other candidates and said the current gang prevention program is “fantastic,” but the community must focus on how to keep funding sustainable. She said she would look into city government funding as well as private corporation and foundation funding.
The community must also consider the root cause of the problem, which is the destruction of the family, she said.
“Those young people are looking for something to belong to,” she said.
Clyde Vanel said more community policing is necessary; he vowed that he would help provide his community with the anti-violence resources that it needs.
The last candidate in the race, Manuel Caughman, was present at the forum, but left before the question about gun violence was asked. He had another commitment, he said.
The seat is currently held by Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), whose term is expiring.
Reach reporter Bianca Fortis by email at bfortis@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
