for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com august 29, 2013 • The QUEE NS CourieR 23 primary guide MAYOR • REPUBLICANS Name: Joe Lhota Party: Republican Current Position: Former CEO and chair of the MTA Personal: Joe Lhota served as the city’s budget director during Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s first term and deputy mayor for operations during his second term. He also worked as an investment banker for 15 years, held executive positions in the Cablevision Systems Corporation and the Madison Square Garden Company, and most recently was the CEO and chair of the MTA. He is currently a trustee of the City University of New York. Born in the Bronx, he is the son a New York City police lieutenant and grandson of a city firefighter and taxi driver. Lhota and his family live in Brooklyn. Issues/Platform: As mayor, Lhota would like to elevate the standard of living in the city, encouraging and sustaining job growth and “reducing burdensome regulations and taxes that stifle private sector growth.” He wants to make sure the city’s children are prepared for college, and promotes reform in education, which includes support for choice and charter schools. He believes in making our government “more transparent, less intrusive, more efficient and not bureaucratic – a government that provides effective services every day while approaching the city’s budget and its debt with discipline.” Lhota is also committed to ensuring New York City continues to remain the safest big city in America and would like to develop new ways to enhance the reduction in crime. Editor’s Note: Request for information from the candidate’s campaign was not received as of press time therefore this information was retrieved from the candidate’s campaign website. Name: George McDonald Party: Republican Current Position: Founder and President of The Doe Fund Personal: After working as an apparel industry executive for two decades, George McDonald for the last 27 years has dedicated himself to “employing innovative business models to create jobs and economic opportunities for low-income New Yorkers.” In 1985, McDonald founded The Doe Fund, a nonprofit that helps formerly homeless people achieve independence and self-sufficiency by providing jobs. Today it has grown into a $50 million operation serving 1,000 individuals each day. Issues/Platform: McDonald believes “every New York City resident who wants a job should have one.” For that reason a promise of his campaign is a 100 percent employment rate for the city. He says this can be achieved by supporting local businesses, both large and small, and creating jobs at every level; making, selling, and buying locally; promoting a local tax and regulatory structure that creates jobs, and attracts and keeps employers in the city; moving people off of welfare and out of homelessness, reducing taxpayer burden; requiring city employees to contribute to fringe benefit costs; and expanding job opportunities through nonprofit intermediaries. Editor’s Note: Request for information from the candidate’s campaign was not received as of press time therefore this information was retrieved from the candidate’s campaign website. PAC attacks candidates in District 19 race BY MELISSA CHAN [email protected] Three City Council candidates who recently had their faces plastered on smear mailers are calling for an end to “one of the worst mudslinging campaigns” the district has ever seen. “I am very disappointed and saddened by the false attacks which have been made on the personal character of the candidates,” said Chrissy Voskerichian. “False accusations and outright lies have no place in what should be a spirited, focused and honest campaign.” Voskerichian, Austin Shafran and Paul Graziano have been targeted in at least five hit pieces this month which were paid for by a political action committee (PAC) called Jobs for New York. They are running against two other Democrats in a primary for the District 19th seat currently held by indicted Republican Councilmember Dan Halloran. John Duane has not yet been mentioned by the PAC and Paul Vallone has been endorsed by them. Graziano, in the latest mailer, is seen engulfed in flames under a headline that reads “Let’s not get burned by Paul Graziano.” The urban planner is accused of saying in 2006 he would “take advantage of racial strife in the community” and is called “an embarrassment” in another flyer. “It’s really an outrageous situation,” said Graziano, who also called the hit pieces “amusing” and “ridiculous.” Voskerichian, who served as Halloran’s chief of staff for three years, is labeled “the captain” of the scandal-scarred politician’s “sinking, corrupt ship.” Shafran, the Senate Democrats spokesperson in 2010, is blasted for “staunchly defending” State Senator Malcolm Smith, who allegedly conspired with Halloran and GOP leaders to run for mayor on the Republican line. The four candidates called for Vallone to put an end to the negative campaigning — “the worst” the district has seen, according to State Senator Tony Avella, who used to be the area’s councilmember. “I consider Paul Vallone a friend, and I know he’s better than this,” Duane said. “It’s time for him to stand up and do the right thing by publicly repudiating this insidious, negative campaign that is being perpetrated on his behalf.” The PAC, headed by the Real Estate Board of New York, spent $113,134 on Vallone’s campaign, according to The Real Deal. Austin Finan, a spokesperson for Vallone’s campaign, said candidates, by law, have no control over outside spending. PACs can spend as much money as they want on behalf of candidates but cannot coordinate with them. “Those opponents of Paul Vallone who repeatedly lie about these facts continue to demonstrate they lack the honesty and integrity to represent northeast Queens in the City Council,” Finan said. The candidates, however, said Vallone is still tied to the tactics. “Anyone who benefits from these reprehensible attacks and fails to denounce them is as bad as the people behind those attacks,” Shafran said. THE COURIER/Photo by Melissa Chan District 19 City Council candidates and State Senator Tony Avella condemn hit pieces mailed out by a political action committee on behalf of their opponent.
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