Where do Gounardes and Bruno stand?
State Senate candidates lay out policy stances, goals in BP interview
AVOID THE LINES VOTE EARLY
COURIER LIFE, OCT. 30-NOV. 5, 2020 3
BY ROSE ADAMS
Two years after narrowly
defeating 15-year Republican
incumbent state Sen. Marty
Golden, Democrat Andrew Gounardes
is fi ghting to hold onto
his post in one of Brooklyn’s
only right-leaning districts.
The race for District 22 is
one of a handful of close races
that could decide which party
controls the state Senate, which
Democrats fl ipped in 2018.
Gounardes’ opponent, former
nightclub owner Vito
Bruno, has placed law and order
at the center of his campaign,
while Gounardes has focused
primarily on improving
traffi c safety and education.
But where do the candidates
stand of a wider range of
issues, and what do they hope
to accomplish if elected?
Priorities
Gounardes: In his two
years in offi ce, Gounardes has
voted in favor of climate legislation,
a bill that strengthened
benefi ts and worker protections
for 9/11 responders,
and legislation extending the
look-back period for children
who suffered sexual abuse to
sue their abusers, among many
others.
If re-elected, Gounardes
said he would prioritize passing
a package of traffi c safety
bills to crack down on reckless
drivers and lower property
taxes. He would also focus
on improving the state’s educational
system by increasing
funding for public schools and
making the CUNY system free,
he said.
Bruno: If elected, Bruno
said he would focus on repealing
the 2019 bail reform, increasing
funding to local schools, and
punishing the actors responsible
for the high numbers of senior
deaths from COVID-19 —
presumably nursing homes and
the nursing home lobby.
Bruno clarifi ed that he
doesn’t believe all nonviolent
offenders should necessarily
be held on bail — just violent
offenders and repeat offenders
who pose a threat to the
public. Revisions to the 2019
bail reforms now allow judges
to set bail for defendants who
commit a crime while out
on release for a non-bailable
crime, but Bruno believes the
revisions should go further.
Controversies
Gounardes: Though some
right-leaning locals have hammered
Gounardes for voting
in favor of bail reform in 2019,
others have accused him of being
in the pocket of developers.
One notable accusation alleges
that Gounardes struck a backroom
deal with the developer of
Dyker Heights’ historic Angel
Guardian home, which stopped
the city’s Landmarks Preservation
Commission from considering
the home’s neighboring
convent building for landmark
status. Critics points to a $2,250
campaign donation from the
developer as evidence.
Gounardes says that he’s
remained steadfast in his
support for the landmarking
of the main Angel Guardian
home building, but did not
comment on the donation.
“My position on Angel
Guardian home has never
changed and I have always
fought to ensure that it will
receive landmarked status,
which I expect to happen very
soon.”
Bruno: Gounardes has repeatedly
hammered Bruno for
telling the New York Times in
1983 that he used to pay off cops
at this nightclubs, and for accusations
in Bob Woodward’s
book, “Wired,” that he would
fetch drugs for his celebrity
friends. He’s also come under
fi re for anti-Semitic tweets that
a campaign volunteer posted
praising Hitler, and Facebook
posts from his estranged wife
disparaging Orthodox Jews.
But Bruno, who has denied
Woodward’s claims and said
he’s not the same person he
was 40 years ago, argued that
his estranged wife and campaign
volunteer don’t represent
his values.
“I ask voters to judge me
on myself and my character;
I have stood side by side with
civil rights groups for decades,”
he said.
This story has been edited
for brevity. For more, visit
BrooklynPaper.com.
State Sen. Andrew Gounardes (left) and challenger Vito Bruno (right).
Andrew Gounardes’ Offi ce/Vito Bruno
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/BrooklynPaper.com
