Humbled to ask for your vote
Tomorrow — one more time — I’m asking for your vote, to serve you for four more years in the City Council.
(We’ve got some other questions on the ballot, too, which I offer thoughts on below).
I don’t take it for granted, not for one minute. This district takes democracy seriously, as a way of coming together across lines of difference to confront and solve problems, build community, and expand opportunity. You expect a lot, too. It’s a tremendous honor to work to live up to it.
People don’t normally look to local elected officials to work on national issues. But these are not ordinary times. So for the last year, we have been working together through #GetOrganizedBK to resist the injustice, bigotry, and corruption of the Trump regime. What you’ve done there has been a beacon in dark times. The Women’s March. JFK/Cadman Plaza to protest the Muslim ban. Health care “die-in” protests. Women’s reproductive health leadership. Indivisible letter-writing, calls, texts. #NotInOurCity vigils to protest hate crimes. Racial justice & immigrant justice rallies (and some inward scrutiny as well). A Civic Festival in Prospect Park. Strengthening NYC as a sanctuary city. Texting nearly a million voters in Virginia. And we won’t let up.
But we can’t only be on defense. We must also make progress toward a more just, fair, and compassionate city. That’s why I sponsored legislation to make sure fast-food and retail workers have a “fair work week,” advance notice of their schedules, and access to full-time hours. That’s why we passed the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act,” making NYC the first city in the country to protect freelancers from getting stiffed. That’s why I took on plastic bags (even if we haven’t won just yet) and am demanding stronger action to retrofit buildings to reduce our carbon footprint. That’s why we strengthened our campaign finance laws to demand transparency from SuperPACs (it worked, at least a bit). And just last week, I worked with the City to launch a program to help small businesses make their stores accessible to people with disabilities.
We’ve accomplished a lot in our district, too. We organized to preserve the supermarket on Fifth Avenue and the Pavilion Movie Theater (soon to be the Nitehawk Prospect Park), and we’re still fighting to save the Kensington Stables. The new reading garden/storytime amphitheater at the Park Slope Library and Avenue C Plaza in Kensington have become centers of neighborhood life and joyous culture. More than 7,000 people voted in participatory budgeting this year, and the winning project — a mobile shower unit proposed by the CHIPS soup kitchen — helps to restore faith in democracy. And thanks to organizing we launched in our district, every classroom in NYC public schools will finally get air-conditioning, so it’s not too hot to learn. (You can check out every capital project we’ve funded on this great map).
As usual, you can vote for me on the Democratic Party line. Or, if you believe in building independent, progressive political power, you can vote for me on the Working Families Party line. Either way counts.
While I’m grateful not to have an opponent, I believe that competitive elections are critical for democracy and recognize that the power of incumbency is a dangerous one. I know that I need to keep earning your vote. If you vote for me tomorrow, I promise to work as hard as I can for the next four years to build on our work together.
A few thoughts on some other items on the ballot, here and elsewhere.
I’m voting for Bill de Blasio for Mayor, Tish James for Public Advocate, Scott Stringer for Comptroller, Eric Adams for Brooklyn Borough President, and Eric Gonzalez for Brooklyn District Attorney (and I’ll do it on the WFP line).
Constitutional Convention/Ballot Proposals: I’m voting NO on Ballot Proposal #1, on whether to have a NYS Constitutional Convention. Look, I totally get the desire to dramatically reform Albany, where we badly need campaign finance, ethics, and voting reform, and more “home rule” so cities like NYC can control our own rent-regulations and pass common-sense legislation like the plastic bag bill. So I respect those who are voting in favor. But I thought the New York Times editorial laid it out very well: “the likelihood of a con-con yielding the most desperately needed reforms is disappointingly low, and the possibility of its accomplishing nothing at significant cost, or, worse, setting New York back even further, is worrisomely high.” And we’ve got so much else we need to focus on in November 2018, like taking back the U.S. House of Representatives and the New York State Senate.
I will be voting YES on Ballot Proposal #2 (to let judges revoke pensions of elected officials convicted of felonies related to their official positions, a sad excuse for comprehensive actual ethics reform, but still obviously sensible) and #3 (to let towns use small parcels of the Adirondacks and Catskills “forest preserve” for public infrastructure, with an exchange of 250 acres of private land added to the preserve).
Volunteer for Justin Brannan and Margaret Chin: Got a little time to volunteer tomorrow? In Bay Ridge, Justin Brannan is the Democratic candidate for City Council. He’s just right for the district: a real problem-solver who is not afraid to stand up for the all of Bay Ridge’s diverse residents. It’s a district represented by Republicans in the State Senate & Congress, so he needs our help. And in Lower Manhattan, Progressive Caucus stalwart Margaret Chin is facing a tough challenge. I think very highly of Margaret (and we can’t afford to lose any more women from the City Council). If you can volunteer for either one of them, email lander.volunteer@gmail.com.
Still time to text voters in Virginia: All eyes around the country tomorrow night will be on Virginia, where Democrats are hoping to post big gains in the House of Delegates, to combat outrageous GOP gerrymandering as we prepare for the 2020 elections. If you want to help #GetOrganizedBK Civic Activism’s “Red to Blue” working group is doing a phone bank tonight, and has an amazing text-out-the-vote program as well.
However you vote, please get out there and do it. It’s so easy to be cynical. But so urgent to insist on democratic action.
With gratitude, and passion for our democracy, now more than ever,
Brad
P.S. You can find your poll-site, see a sample ballot, and make sure you know your AD/ED numbers at voting.nyc.
