By Sadef Ali Kully
The two African-American women running for William Scarborough’s former Assembly seat faced each other at a debate Tuesday night hosted by the NAACP at the Majority Baptist Church,
This is the first time two women have sought the District 29 seat, which covers Hollis, Jamaica, St. Albans, Laurelton and Rosedale. The seat became open when Scarborough resigned in May after pleading guilty to state and federal corruption charges.
Democratic candidate Alicia Hyndman and Republican candidate Scherie Murray answered questions directly from the audience on topics ranging from education to environment. About 100 people attended the debate and appeared to be largely in favor of the Democratic candidate, which reflected the demographics of the district.
They agreed on most topics except for education in the district and whether outside jobs should be allowed for Assembly members.
On education, Hyndman, the former president of Community Education Council 29, responded to Murray pointing out the low performance student scores in the August report of the city’s Department of Education. Hyndman said the scores reflected the difficulty students have had meeting the controversial Common Core standards across the state.
“It is important to get parents involved,” she said.
Hyndman said she supported charter schools but they “should not be co-located because of the known disparities in resources at co-located schools.”
Murray said low math and English scores in School District 29 told a different story than Hyndman’s version. The GOP candidate contends the poor student performance reflects a lack of resources in the district. She also supports charter schools and concurred with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s backing of the movement.
“More schools mean more options for parents,” she said.
On police reform, both candidates favored community policing, but Murray said she would advocate for a four-year college degree requirement for police officers.
The two candidates were in complete opposition on additional employment outside of holding public office. Hyndman pointed out since the Assembly position was part time, she did not see a problem with having another job as long as it was within state guidelines.
But Murray insisted outside work meant not giving the constituents the attention they deserve.
“It maybe a part-time job, but I will be working full time for you,” she said.
While Hyndman praised the efforts of Scarborough and the “unfortunate” circumstances of his resignation, Murray did not shy away from saying the Scarborough had disgraced his district.
Both candidates grew up in southeast Queens and went to public schools in the area.
Hyndman became president of the city’s Department of Education Community District Education Council 29 and an occupational school supervisor for the state’s Department of Education, while Murray founded a television production and advertising company and ran but lost in a 2008 City Council race.
The first and last time a woman held the state Assembly seat in southeast Queens was when Assemblywoman Cynthia Jenkins held the position for 12 years. Jenkins was later succeeded in 1995 by Scarborough.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was critical in bringing African-American leaders into public office in southeast Queens at the height of the civil rights movement across the nation.
The general election will take place Nov 3.
Reach Reporter Sadef Ali Kully by e-mail at skull
