PEP, June 2005: Full house at mayoral forum

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

District Council 37 held a Mayoral Forum on May 19 at its downtown Manhattan headquarters. More than 800 DC 37 members packed the town hall-style meeting to hear from five challengers and the incumbent, who are jockeying for New York City mayor in November.

“Our members are very interested and will be very active in this election because they will be electing their boss for the next four years,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. “This forum provides a significant opportunity for DC 37 members to evaluate the mayoral candidates. Our members not only make this city work, but an overwhelming majority of them live and vote in the five boroughs.”

The forum allowed the candidates to make opening statements, take turns responding to questions, and close with two-minute statements. Candidates shared their views on the issues affecting the city’s largest municipal union, its retirees and working families, and their visions for the Big Apple.

Members and leaders grill candidates
The audience first heard from the challengers: Democrats Fernando Ferrer, former Bronx Borough President, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, City Council Speaker A. Gifford Miller, and Republicans Tom Ognibene, former Republican leader of the City Council, and Steve Shaw, an investment banker.

After a brief intermission, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg held center stage to address the crowd and answer similar questions. PAC Chair Lenny Allen moderated the event and questioned forum participants. Also among the questioners were local presidents Veronica Montgomery-Costa, L. 372 and DC 37 president, Ralph Carbone, L. 1359, Claude Fort, L. 375, Maf Misbah Uddin, L. 1407 and DC 37 treasurer, L. 1113’s John Cummings, and several rank-and-file members.

Topics set before the mayoral hopefuls included: work and living conditions, quality of life and wages, job creation and the local economies of the boroughs. The audience asked them their positions on education and class size, prescription drug costs, Health and Hospitals Corp. and public health care, improving work conditions for Local 372 members in public schools; salary increases for city workers and prevailing rate wages for technical professionals in Local 375; contracting out and privatization, and implementing civilianization in the NYPD.

Questions on community issues included repeal of the Urstadt law; lowering sales and property taxes; electronic voting; Intro. 564-A campaign finance; retaining Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly after election; neighborhood economies; jobs for the community, and affordable housing.

Additionally, Mayor Bloomberg was questioned about his takeover of the city school system; civilianization of NYPD; use of proceeds from the HIP conversion; Intro. 186 to restore city control over rent regulation; protecting HHC and Medicaid; raising construction permit fees; contracting out; safety for homeless gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth at city shelters, and cost of living raises for DC 37 members.

The forum gave the mayor an opportunity to announce the housing program that Ms. Roberts publicized days earlier with Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Shaun Donovan. This program will give DC 37 members preference for the 68,000 residential units being completed citywide (see Historic housing gains for members).

Asked about a cost of living increase, Bloomberg said DC 37 is very close to getting the additional 1 percent salary increase Roberts bargained as part of the citywide contract.

The forum preceded DC 37’s formal endorsement, which will be determined in coming weeks. The DC 37 Screening Committee will officially review the mayoral candidates and make a recommendation to the DC 37 Executive Board. Once the DC 37 Executive Board discusses and approves the Screening Committee’s proposed endorsement, the recommendation then goes to the DC 37 Delegate Council for final approval.