38th Council District
Incumbent Sara Gonzalez has come under fire from challenger Carlos Menchaca for poor attendance at council meetings and public events. Gonzalez has run the district for a decade, while Menchaca only moved there in February in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The district includes Red Hook, South Slope, Greenwood Heights, Sunset Park, and parts of Borough Park and Bay Ridge.
Sara Gonzalez
• Former chair of Community Board 7.
• Entered office in 2002 after winning a special election to replace disgraced Councilman Angel Rodriguez.
• Age 64, married. Two children.
Carlos Menchaca
• Former aide to Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Borough President Markowitz.
• Grew up in El Paso, Texas. Moved from Park Slope to Red Hook in February while working on the Sandy relief effort.
• Age 32, unmarried. No children.
The Campaign
• Menchaca has blasted Gonzalez over allegations that she was missing in action in Red Hook in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
• Gonzalez is accusing Menchaca of distorting the nature of the work he did following Hurricane Sandy. She says that Menchaca has depicted himself as a volunteer in the Red Hook relief effort when, in reality, he was on the ground as a paid council staffer.
• Menchaca insists that he was up front about his role as an aide to Quinn, and that it was common knowledge in the storm-battered neighborhood.
