By Bill Parry
Four of the five candidates for the 22nd Council District seat squared off in their last debate Monday, just a week before Election Day, but the event at the Variety Boys & Girls Club in Astoria failed to draw more than 20 constituents.
Sparks flew early on when Populist candidate Jerry Kann accused the Democrat and presumed front-runner Costa Constantinides of taking campaign money from an independent expenditure committee linked to developers.“Go to the website Jobs New York and you’ll see his picture there,” Kahn said. “How much are they donating to your campaign?”
Constantinides replied, “I don’t know the answer, it’s an independent expenditure, it’s part of the new political landscape in the post-Citizens United world. I have over 600 donors to my campaign and I don’t know the amounts they’re donating either.”
Constantinides moved quickly on to the state of Astoria schools, saying “we’ve got to get kids out of those trailers. Half of all the city’s trailers are in Queens. It was supposed to be for five years and it’s now 16 years later.”
Republican candidate Daniel Peterson agreed.
“We’ve got over 100 city agencies, it’s such a waste,” he said. “The money should go to schools — enough spending on bureaucrats and more money for capital funding.”
Kann added, “If you can find land for apartment buildings, you can find land for schools.”
Green Party candidate Lynn Serpe said flatly “mayoral control of our schools simply didn’t work.”
Conservative Danielle De Stefano could not attend the forum because of a prior commitment.
The four candidates who were present were all on the same page on one topic: community boards.
Serpe said “our board is full of well-intentioned people, but they’ve been around too long and they don’t reflect the diversity of our neighborhood.”
Constantinides agreed, adding “as the community changes, the community board does not. I’ll be evaluating the board and review their decisions.”
Kann called for the system’s abolition, saying “just get rid of them. Let’s replace them with small community councils with elected positions, that way everyone’s accountable.”
Peterson softened the criticism a bit.
“It’s a volunteer job and I don’t think you should put term limits on community service,” he said. “Perhaps a rotation system would work.”
The candidates are vying to replace Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), who was term-limited after 12 years and recently lost the Democratic primary for borough president.
The winner of this race will be the first Council member from District 22 not named Peter Vallone in nearly 40 years. The father-and-son team have held the office since 1974.
Reach Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
