69th Assembly District candidates discuss issues

Steven Appel

What makes you qualified to be an Assembly member?I have lived in our community for more than 25 years and care deeply about its future. After graduating from Queens College-CUNY in 2009 as valedictorian, I co-founded the Center for Ethnic, Racial & Religious

Understanding (CERRU) at Queens College, a non-profit dedicated to bringing diverse people together to facilitate understanding. As assistant director of CERRU for five years, I helped grow the organization to a staff of eight with a budget of nearly $700,000. I will bring my background as a unifier to Albany.

What are the three most pressing issues facing your district? Residents of our district are concerned about affordable housing/strengthening our rent laws, cleaner and safer streets, and high quality public education. Our community’s diversity is one of our greatest strengths and we must continue the fight for affordable housing to ensure our community remains diverse. I will utilize technology to creatively tackle quality-of-life issues. For example, I will encourage members of our community to become “mayor” of their block and volunteer to pick up trash. This idea is inspired by Boston’s successful adopt-a-hydrant campaign that encouraged citizens to volunteer to keep hydrants clear of snow during storms. As a graduate of Queens College and Baruch (MBA in management & sustainability), I have enormous gratitude to—and respect for—the CUNY system. I have seen firsthand the power of high quality public education. I will fight to strengthen public education in our district and in New York State, pass the Dream Act and invest in CUNY’s professors.

What’s your plan for dealing with gridlock in Albany?I believe we face two fundamental issues that limit the ability of government to achieve its purpose: the weak ethical and social contexts in which we govern. In order to make real progress in Albany, I believe we must do far more to reshape the ethical and social contexts in which we are attempting to solve our problems. We must pursue the type of robust ethics reform that ensures a transparent,

Innovative and just government. And we must also develop creative dialogue-based mechanisms to bring diverse members of our community together, as well as bring together diverse members of the state assembly and senate. I will hold myself to a much higher ethical standard and not wait for ethics reform to be enshrined in law and I will organize dialogues in our community.

What book has influenced you most?I love to read widely and many diverse books have inspired me. I have been particularly influenced by William Isaacs’ book, “Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together.”

Daniel O’DonnellWhat makes you qualified to be an Assembly member?As a 25-year resident of the district, I have chosen to use all of my skills, including as an attorney, to make the neighborhood a better, safer and cleaner place to be. I began with seven years on Community Board 9 and continued that work with 14 years in the New York State Assembly.

What are the three most pressing issues facing your district? A, access to quality affordable housing. I learned this both as a pro-bono tenant lawyer before becoming an assembly member and that is why I have a dedicated full time housing specialist on my staff. B, as a founding member of the Morningside Heights Historic District Committee, I know the importance of landmarking some of our neighborhoods to tie them to their past, as well as mitigate non-contextual overdevelopment. C, my vision for New York is that it remains welcoming and diverse with room for all types of people – whether they have been here for generations or they have just arrived. Promoting a culture that welcomes people regardless of race, religion, gender, age, ethnicity or sexual orientation is another one of my main priorities.

What’s your plan for dealing with gridlock in Albany?I know firsthand how to break through the gridlock in Albany. By building relationships with my colleagues, leading coalitions and always speaking out to #stopthehate, I was able to pass historic legislation like the Marriage Equality Act and the Dignity for All Students Act, which was the most comprehensive anti-bullying law in the country.

What book has influenced you most?“Ragtime” by E.L. Doctorow and the biography of John Adams by David McCullough.