2023 Primary Candidate Questionnaire

2023 General Election Candidate Questionnaire - New York City Council

Citizens Union - Local Candidates Committee
Dear candidate,

Congratulations on your decision to run for a seat on the New York City Council! Citizens Union appreciates your commitment to serving the public.

This form includes six sections with questions about your positions on various reform issues and your plans for the office:
- Serving constituents
- Elections and voting
- Campaign finance
- Oversight of City Hall
- Police accountability
- City Council rules
- There are also questions about the candidate's bio and the campaign
Responses to these questions will be one of several factors Citizens Union uses to evaluate candidates running for office and to issue our endorsement for the general election.

Read more about the method, principles, and criteria of the candidate evaluation process here.

You can learn more about Citizens Union's policy agenda in our issues section.

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If you wish to be considered, please submit this questionnaire by Wednesday, September 20, 2023.

We will need to schedule an interview with you as part of the evaluation process. Given time constraints and the limited capacity of a member-based organization, we may not be able to evaluate all contests or candidates in this election cycle.

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If you cannot complete the questionnaire in one sitting, you can click Save at the bottom of every page. Once you submit the questionnaire, you will receive a confirmation email with your responses. Citizens Union cannot see your answers unless you submit the form.

You can also download a blank questionnaire here (.docx file) and email it to us.

We plan to make responses to this questionnaire public on our website, printed voters directory, and other appropriate venues (your contact information will not be published).

For any questions, please email candidates@citizensunion.org

We thank you very much for your response.

SERVING CONSTITUENTS
1. For most New Yorkers, the most important thing their Council Members do is provide constituent services. How have you run your office (or for non-incumbents, how would you run your office) to serve your community’s needs? Please give specific examples. What are the major problems in your district that require constituent services?

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2. For incumbents: Which bill did you introduce, and most want to see passed? Why is that your top priority? For non-incumbents: If elected, what is the first piece of legislation you would introduce in the new year? Why is that your top priority?

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3. What experience have you had, if any, with good government and reform issues? (e.g., voting and elections, campaign finance, ethics, police accountability, government transparency and oversight). If you've worked to advance these goals, we'd love to hear about it.

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4. What are your top three campaign promises or goals? Feel free to reference an answer to another question on this form rather than restate it.

ELECTIONS AND VOTING
5. How would you describe the relationship between the City Council and the New York City Board of Elections? How will you use (or have you used) your power as a Council Member to improve the operations of the NYC BOE?
Citizens Union recently published a report about moving New York City’s municipal elections to even-numbered years, so they would align with presidential or gubernatorial elections, showing this change could boost voter turnout, diversify the electorate, and save money.
6. What is your position on that proposal to move New York City’s municipal elections to even-numbered years and on the overall concept?

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7. Are you a supporter of Ranked Choice Voting? If so, how will you work to maintain this system and educate voters on how it works? If not, please elaborate on your position.

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8. New York City is one of few cities that maintains a closed primary system, in which only registered party members can vote in the election that typically decides who gets elected to office. Do you believe New York City should shift to a form of open primaries, allowing all registered voters to vote in the primary?

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* In the box below, you may provide additional information on any actions that you have taken or plan to take to improve elections and voting or increase competition in New York City’s political system. Or, if you ran out of room in the fields above, you may continue your answers below.

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CAMPAIGN FINANCE
9. If you ran for office before, to what extent have Independent Expenditure entities (“Super-PACs”) spent money in your race? Was it done in your favor or opposition of your candidacy?

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10. Individuals with business ties to city government and registered lobbyists can bypass their donation limits by “bundling” donations from other people, a loophole that can give insiders greater access to officeholders. Do you support banning bundling by people on the Doing Business with the City database?

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* In the box below, you may provide additional information on any actions that you have taken or plan to take to strengthen New York City’s campaign finance system. Or, if you ran out of room in the fields above, you may continue your answers below.

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OVERSIGHT OF CITY HALL
11. For incumbents: Oversight of the administration is one of the most important roles of the City Council. Please describe how you used your position to ensure City agencies and City government are accountable to the people of New York.

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In the last year, media reports have exposed potential ethical issues within City Hall concerning conflicts of interest among top officials, the use of public resources for private matters, appointments of friends and relatives, and loosening transparency measures.
12. How do you see your role as a Council Member in ensuring high ethical behavior standards and effective ethics oversight and enforcement?

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* In the box below, you may provide additional information on any actions that you have taken or plan to take to improve ethics in New York City government. Or, if you ran out of room in the fields above, you may continue your answers below.

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POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY AND REFORM
13. Who do you think should have the final say on discipline in the New York Police Department? How would you ensure that penalties imposed on police officers are commensurate with the gravity of their wrongdoing?

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14. What changes should be made to the independent oversight bodies to ensure they can effectively hold police officers who commit wrongdoing accountable (the Civilian Complaint Review Board, Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD, the Commission to Combat Police Corruption)?

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15. Under the 2021 police reform plan, the City committed to expanding programs that effectively shift responsibilities from the NYPD to other agencies in areas like mental health, homelessness outreach, school, and youth, while investing in alternative models for community-driven public safety, such as Cure Violence programs. What do you think about the progress of these efforts? How would you improve policing in the City’s various communities?

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* In the box below, you may provide additional information on any actions that you have taken or plan to take to improve police accountability, oversight of the NYPD, and police-community relations. Or, if you ran out of room in the fields above, you may continue your answers below.

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CITY COUNCIL RULES
16. In December 2022, Speaker Adams proposed changes to the Rules of the City Council that would have potentially rolled back positive reforms related to bill drafting services and the power of members and committee chairpersons, among other issues. Although this proposal has been pulled, additional work is needed to make the Council a more democratic, effective, and open legislative body. What reforms would you like to see in the Rules of the City Council?

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PATH TO VICTORY
What is your win number (the number of votes needed to win this race)?
What are your current fundraising numbers? What are your fundraising goals?
How many individual donors do you have?
Please indicate any endorsements that your campaign has received, if applicable (you can also share a link to a list of endorsements)

ADDITIONAL INFO
Please feel free to attach any additional information such as resume, campaign brochures, or issues statements.

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Is there anything else you would like us to know about you?

Please review your answers by clicking PREVIEW ANSWERS below.

At the bottom of the preview page, you can
- get a copy of your aswers by clicking PRINT, and
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IF YOU DO NOT CLICK SUBMIT, WE WON'T RECIEVE YOUR QUESTIONNAIRE.

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If you have any further questions, you may contact us at candidates@citizensunion.org
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2023 General Election Candidate Questionnaire - New York City Council

GENERAL INFORMATION

Candidate info

Campaign contact information

Affirmations

SERVING CONSTITUENTS

ELECTIONS AND VOTING

CAMPAIGN FINANCE

OVERSIGHT OF CITY HALL

POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY AND REFORM

CITY COUNCIL RULES

PATH TO VICTORY

ADDITIONAL INFO