32 The QUEE NS Courier • MARCH 10, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com THE COURIER/Photo by Angela Matua Jon Kaiman is running for a seat in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT JON KAIMAN RUNS FOR NEW YORK’S 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT SEAT By Angela Matua amatua@qns.com @AngelaMatua After Congressman Steve Isreal announced he would not be running for re-election, former North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman announced he would throw his hat in the ring. Kaiman, who is running to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District including Whitestone, Little Neck, Great Neck, Huntington and Commack, most recently served as special adviser on Hurricane Sandy relief to Governor Andrew Cuomo and chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority. The Great Neck resident and progressive Democrat, who began his career as a lawyer, was elected to Nassau County District Court in 1999 and served as a judge for three years. He acted as North Hempstead town supervisor for 10 years, where Kaiman helped balance a budget and created several innovative programs. “We’ve done a lot of very creative things and had a great deal of success,” Kaiman said. “We balanced budgets every year, reduced debt, achieved the highest bond ratings in the town’s history and maintained them during the worst economic times.” During his tenure as town supervisor, Kaiman introduced 311 to the area ― the first suburban town in the country to employ the call center. He also created a program called Project Independence, which is similar to a Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) program, that allows seniors to age in place and makes services such as transportation, medical services and home repair easily accessible. The program served 25,000 seniors and Kaiman said he would like to replicate the program in District 3 and nationally. Kaiman created a subdivision of senior management and partnered with local taxi companies whose businesses were struggling during afternoon hours. From noon to 5 p.m., seniors can call 311 and a taxi driver will take them shopping. The program also expanded to include trips to medical appointments and a handyman program where developmentally disabled individuals were hired to do handiwork. “Running for office is about people, about what their needs are and what their expectations are,” Kaiman said. “The fundamental responsibility of someone in office whether it’s locally or in Congress is to elevate those that you represent by addressing their needs.” Kaiman added that he would also focus on getting condominiums and co-ops officially recognized by the federal government. Currently, co-ops and condominiums are classified as farms or businesses in federal parlance. After Hurricane Sandy hit many of the condos and coops, many residents could not receive storm recovery money. Kaiman worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Housing and Urban Development to funnel money for repairs. He said his goal is to help local government more effectively tackle large-scale problems by working in tandem with federal government and resources. “Local government, when it confronts issues such as large senior populations it can’t necessarily resolve those issues,” Kaiman said. “The trick is to take these national goals set by the government and use the resources in partnership with the state and with local government to make the local community, local government work better. Right now, it becomes a burden when you have all the mandates from the federal government so on a very local level, my goal is to be able to help local communities navigate the challenges.” REMEMBERING THE FUTURE RETELLING THE STORY OF PAST HORRORS BY ARTHUR FLUG Sitting at a table in the Blue Bay Diner, Harry Milian began unfolding his encyclopedic knowledge of the Armenian Genocide. He selected 1915 to differentiate it from the many other genocides encountered by Armenians. As he spoke, it became evident that this was not to be a history lesson, but a family saga. Harry, a retired logistics consultant, has undertaken the task of creating a sense of justice and recognition for the Armenian people that he feels has never been afforded to them. His story begins in 1915 with a 7-year-old girl, Julianeh, who would eventually become his grandmother–in–law. In a familiar story of tragedy, a group is targeted and informed that they are no longer welcome in a land in which they have resided for more than two millennia. “We don’t want you Christians anymore.” Expulsion from schools, loss of jobs, seizure of property and an order for Armenian Christians to leave their homes take place. Julianeh and her family would be ensnared with more than 1,500,000 Armenian Christians. Verbal abuse, physical attacks and murder by their century-old neighbors became a “normal experience.” They became “Govour” — “dirty foreigners.” Luckily, Julianeh survives, escapes to Bulgaria and marries. A generation later, Harry’s family leaves Armenia and also moves to Bulgaria. After several years under Communist rule, they move to France and then to America in 1962. Harry graduates from Pace College, marries and begins a family. Julianeh becomes the family babysitter and instills in her granddaughters a sense of Armenian history. It is through the questions Harry’s children ask that he becomes imbued with the need to tell the tell the story; thus begins his journey as a spokesperson for remembrance and justice. I have in the past related the sufferings of Queens residents who became victims of the Holocaust and Korean women forced by the Japanese into sexual slavery in World War II. While each of these groups had become victims of horrendous crimes, the perpetrators, have accepted responsibility — not so for Turkey. More than 100 years later, the Armenians are waiting for justice. The Turkish parliament votes down any discussion of this topic; America’s Congress has tabled the issue; and Pope Francis has been criticized by Turkey for asking for recognition and forgiveness for this genocide. Harry is besieged by an impatience that does not allow him to wait for governments to act. As a vice president of the Armenian American Association and a crusader/educator he has appeared on NPR, lectured at Kean University, worked with the educational organization Facing History and Ourselves, and spoken at Congresswoman Grace Meng’s Kristallnacht Project, synagogues, churches and schools reminding us of what many wish to forget. And as the second century since the Armenian Genocide begins, he continues his crusade.
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