Assembly candidates clash at Rosedale forum
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MARCH 13-MARCH 19, 2020 9
Titus’s office, took the moment
to distance herself
from the administration
she works for. “Please do
not hold me accountable
because the former Assemblymember
was not
present as she was supposed
to be,” she said.
Blakely’s responsibilities
with Titus’ office
later led to tension. After
Blakely claimed that she
was still “running this
district as we speak,” David
corrected her that she
was not working in the office
anymore. Blakely shot
back that she was still on
payroll until April 28 and
would be fulfilling her responsibilities
until then.
That wasn’t the only
charged moment. When
one of audience members
asked all the candidates
who they thought was
least qualified to represent
the district, no one
threw any of their colleagues
under the bus, but
DeFlorimonte, member of
Community Board 13 and
a combat medic with the
Army National Guard,
did accuse one of his competitors
of contesting his
petition signatures in an
effort to knock him off the
ballot.
“I don’t know who it is
yet,” said DeFlorimonte.
The forum provided
the candidates a chance
to vaunt their dedication
to the district. Despite
the sparks, the candidates
– many of whom know
each other from their
community work over the
years – stuck around the
venue after it was over to
debrief with the members
of the audience and one
another.
“There is so much that
we didn’t get to touch on
tonight,” David said. “But
this is the start of an incredible
conversation.”
BY MAX PARROTT
The race for the southeastern
Queens assembly
seat vacated by Michele
Titus kicked off Monday,
March 2, in Rosedale with
a forum hosted by the
BlaQue Resource Network
before the April 28 special
election.
The event, organized
by a recently formed black
networking group, not
only gave six candidates
a chance introduce themselves,
extoll their civic
bonafides and describe
their platforms, but also
prepared the audience for
the idiosyncratic election
process that is ahead for
the seat.
In February, Gov. Andrew
Cuomo consolidated
the special election for Titus’
seat on the same day
as the Democratic presidential
primary, ensuring
a high turnout of voters at
the polls – many of whom
may lack knowledge of the
hyperlocal race. But because
Titus term was set
to end in 2020, two months
after the special election
the winner will have to
run again in the Democratic
primary in June.
Out of the six candidates
at the forum, only
four will appear on the
special election ballot.
Chiedu “Shea” Uzoigwe,
Derrick DeFlorimonte,
Richard David and Tavia
Blakely will all run
on different party lines
in the upcoming race.
The other two candidates
Lisa George and Khaleel
Anderson chose to conserve
their resources and
run for their next shot at
the assembly seat – two
months later.
The distinction between
the two upcoming
political contests came up
right away in the opening
remarks. David, who was
endorsed by the Queens
County Democratic Party
and had the most cash on
hand as of the last filing,
framed two different sets
of priorities for his campaign:
both in the long-
and immediate-term.
“We have some immediate
challenges that have
to be addressed,” said David.
“We have a census
that’s going to be mailed
to our homes. In Assembly
District 31, we have among
the lowest response rate
of anywhere in New York
City.”
David, framing his experience
working as District
Leader and with the
NYC Administration of
Children’s Services, said
that district also needed
a seat at the table for the
Queens Bus Redesign and
the redevelopment of JFK
airport, which falls entirely
within the district.
David was also among
three candidates, including
Anderson and George,
who made clear that they
would fight against rolling
back bail reform. The
other three candidates
didn’t directly state their
position on the backlash
over bail reform.
Anderson, a Rockaway
activist, distinguished
himself not only because
he pointed out that he was
the youngest candidate
on the stage, but with a
platform that framed his
policies as a response to
systemic problems such
as the housing crisis and
environmental racism.
“There is something
in the district that needs a
change. There are people
who say we need to go in
a different direction,” said
Anderson. “The model
of our campaign is a new
fight together.”
Asked about the controversial
Specialized
High School Admissions
Test, Anderson was the
only candidate to say that
he would scrap it. Four of
the other candidates answered
that they believed
the right way to address
the disparity in black and
Latino admissions to specialized
high school was to
provide more community
resources for preparation.
Uzoigwe, a former staffer
for Senator Sanders, said
that the decision should be
left up to the city council.
Despite these policy
differences, none of the
candidates hesitated to
criticize the outgoing assemblywoman
for not
spending enough time in
the district.
George, a Senator
James Sander staffer who
touted her experience as
a mother and PTA president,
said that it would be
a priority to spend time
with constituents. “I’m
already doing the work,”
she said.
Blakely, a staffer in
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