Though the six candidates vying to replace Bill de Blasio to represent the 39th District in the City Council agreed on most issues during last Wednesday’s cordial forum hosted by the Park Slope Civic Council, a handful of significant differences emerged.
The illumination of these differences owed something to the event’s first question. In a move designed to eliminate political equivocating common to such events, Ken Freeman, the debate moderator and president of the PSCC, asked each candidate to give “yes” or “no” answers to a slew of questions.
From this, it was learned that all candidates except for one support a Superfund designation for the Gowanus Canal, which would allow federal monies to be used for clean−up and enable the federal government to investigate and possibly recoup money from parties responsible for the canal’s contamination.
Bob Zuckerman, director of the non−profit Gowanus Canal Development Corporation and Chair of the CB 6 Environmental Committee, has yet to come to a position on the matter.
Zuckerman, who once worked for the Environmental Committee Chair of the New Jersey State Senate, said, “A Superfund designation is not as simple as many make it out to be. I come from New Jersey, so I know a little something about Superfunds.”
Zuckerman said the federal government might not be the best body to oversee an extremely complex process involving the city, state, and private developers. He questioned if there would even be enough federal dollars to pay for the clean−up in any kind of timely process.
Further, he said a Superfund designation might cause local property values to decline.
“When a site is designated a Superfund, there is a certain stigma attached to it,” he said.
“I’m not saying that I won’t support [the Superfund], but I don’t think it’s possible to take a position on a complicated matter without asking the tough questions and learning about it,” he said, depicting his position as the intellectually rigorous if not politically convenient.
Candidates also differed in the question of whether cars should be allowed in Prospect Park. Zuckerman, Brad Lander, and Josh Scaller said they should. Green Party candidate David Pechefsky, the only non−Democrat in attendance, joined Gary Reilly in saying they shouldn’t. John Heyer said he would instead call for a study on the matter before taking a position.
On the issue of congestion pricing, four candidates – Zuckerman, Lander, Petchefsky, and Reilly – said they would support it. Hyer and Scaller said they would not. All candidates were in agreement in supporting residential parking permits, with the possible exception of Scaller, who seemed generally supportive but hesitant to say yes without knowing the details of such a proposal.
All candidates except for Hyer would support instituting tolls on the East River bridges. (To this question, Petchefsky said “happily” instead of yes.)
And Zuckerman and Petchefsky were the only candidates who would not support instituting two−way traffic on Prospect Park West.
But most salient about the forum was the underlying similarities in the candidates’ positions. All candidates said they would fight for small businesses and the middle class, espousing a vision for community preservation amidst pressures of both displacement and economic hardship.
Ameliorating the overcrowding of the area’s public schools was high on everyone’s list as well. And all candidates expressed a similar dissatisfaction with Mayor Bloomberg, saying “no” down the line when asked if they support his candidacy for a third term.
Even though it hosted the forum, the PSCC never makes endorsements in political races.
