Since I have gotten so many calls for a platform; and since many of you want to get my rationale for running; and since many of you have been using my lack of a public platform, as a basis for withholding your support (and money/lol) for my campaign for the New York City Council (District#40); I have decided to submit a first draft on some of the issues I feel strongly about. Do note that is not the finished product. Note also that I have deliberately withheld some aspects of my platform for some personal and minor tactical reasons.
I haven’t talked about my view on term limits in the platform because I have written extensively about it. I am a supporter of term limits for ALL electeds (federal, state, city/local). I believe that the voters have spoken twice on the issue. If the immoral extension passed by some cowardly council members last year isn’t overturned by the courts soon, then we have to take it to referendum for the ratification of a 12 year (3 terms) limit in the next council (2010). We must also put into law that the methodology for overturning term limits in future has to be referendum (plebiscite).
I am also totally opposed to any tolls on the East River crossings. I am for total scrutiny of the composition of the various statutory boards and commissions that make hard decisions which impact the lives of city residents. Many of these entities must be brought into the reality of the 21st century. They must become more inclusive and diverse. Too many boards, commissions and agencies -controlled by the governor, mayor, speaker or city council- lack racial, gender, ethnic, and nationalistic diversity. This is shameful. The MTA is a good starting place. We need to revamp that board immediately; then follow up with the Rent Commission/Board next. The make-up (composition) of these boards/comisisons must reflect the diversity of this international city.
Anyway, without much further ado, let me present you with my inchoate platform. Do comment. I expect (and intend) to do some revisions before the election.
THE 40th COUNCILMANIC DISTRICT IN BROOKLYN, NYC:
Candidate Rock Hackshaw’s Platform for Real Solutions .
“Schools, training and jobs; not prisons, joblessness and drugs!”
The following is a descriptive list of some of the problems facing the 40th Councilmanic District, and includes some of my proposals for community development:
I. Location:
The 40th Councilmanic District extends (moving from East to West) roughly from Empire Blvd. in the North, to Avenue H, Beverley Road, and Church Avenue in the South; and from Albany Avenue in the East, to Coney Island Avenue in the West. Some of the residential communities it includes are Lefferts Gardens, Kensington, Crown Heights South, Wingate Park Area, Ditmas Park, Midwood North and Flatbush North.
II. Basic Services:
a) Hospitals: The district includes the following: Kings County, SUNY Downstate Health Science Center, Kings Brook Jewish, and Kingsborough Psychiatric.
b) Schools: There are nine Elementary Schools; three Middle Schools; and two High Schools.
3. Community Boards: 8, 9, 14 and 17.
4. Police Precincts serving the district include the 67th, 70th, and 71st
3. The Issues:
1. The General Needs of Our Children
A 2006 CSS study found that around 48% of all blacks in New York City are chronically jobless. Over 60 percent of the African American youths in the city of New York are unemployed. Statistics indicate that about one-third of the population in the district consist of youngsters below the age of 18 years. FBI statistics reveal that most crimes are committed by young people between the hours of 3 pm to 6 pm -during the interval between the end of the school day and the time when parents return home from work. We need to establish vocational and recreational facilities that can attract the attention of young people, while providing them with basic services and areas for skill development.
Unfortunately there has been a chronic shortage of vocational and recreational facilities in the district, which could cater to the needs of the “at risk” youth population, and this explains why this district sends a high number of its youth to incarceration facilities all across the state. At least 25% of the black youths in this district have had at least one run in with law enforcement and the judicial system. Only around 26% of the young black males here graduate from high school. And given that blacks make up two-thirds of this district we need to address this immediately.
We also need to establish programs geared toward helping parents and care-givers improve their parenting and care-providing skills. These programs should emphasize pre-natal and post-natal parenting classes.
Proposals
1. The establishment of an African & Caribbean Cultural Center that will serve the community by housing, archiving, documenting and showcasing the contributions that West Indians, Caribbean-Americans, Hispanics and Africans have made to the overall list of accomplishments in the arts, business, sports, culture and politics.
2. The establishment of a stadium to primarily dedicated to Cricket, Soccer, Netball and other popular Caribbean-American sports. This is not to take away from the popularity of indigenous American sports, but such a facility will alleviate the repeated annual search for playing fields in neighborhoods that do not even welcome the sports of Caribbean-Americans. At least half the residents of this district are either Caribbean born, or are of Caribbean descent.
3. The establishment of more Beacon Schools to provide educational training to young people in the district.
4. The establishment of job training centers to provide vocational training.
5. The establishment of community centers to provide recreational and cultural facilities; as stressed earlier.
6. The establishment of closer relationships between the young people in the district and the entrepreneurs in the commercial areas. This could be achieved by expanding and/or enhancing any existing mentoring programs; and also by creating inter-generational interaction programs.
7. The hiring of City-wide Grant Proposal Writers by city to assist not-for-profit organizations (churches and other community organizations) in applying for available grant money from foundations, in order to fund programs that constructively engage our youths. Such programs may be housed in public libraries (which should have extended hours, especially since we do not have a community center in the 40th District), churches, and other available space. These programs may include: After-school Homework Helpers; Conflict Resolution & Negotiation Training; Athletics; and other recreational activities (e.g. chess), which build character and thinking abilities. As a former professional chess player, I can help to develop chess programs in all the schools in this district: geared towards helping students develop their critical-thinking skills.
8. We need to develop programs that encourage and support more civic participation by the residents of this district, in the everyday politics of the area. We need to aid in the creation and expansion of more block associations, tenants associations and community/neighborhood development groups. This will also address some of our crime issues right away.
9. We need to give more support to spouses and children of those who are unfortunately incarcerated for law-breaking. These folks are already burdened, and they have few support systems to help them cope and deal with the ancillary issues these situations breed. We are seeing patterns where generation after generation of certain family members spend long periods imprisoned. It’s a revolving door; it’s also a seemingly non-ending vicious cycle for some families. It is time for government intervention in a positive way. It cannot only be about bails and jails. We can do better here.
2. A Perpetually Failing Educational System
The public schools in this district have some of the lowest SAT scores in the entire state of New York, and one of the lowest graduation rates too. The schools are old and overcrowded, the class sizes are huge, there are several uncertified teachers in our schools, and the certification curriculum/training fails to equip our teachers with effective disciplinary/class-control techniques.
Proposals
1. The construction of more public schools in the district.
2. Reduction in the number of students in each class.
3. More trained and qualified teachers in our schools.
4. Better pay for teachers at all levels.
5. More education enrichment programs in the schools.
6. Inclusion of quality course-work that covers effective class control/disciplining techniques; and revision of regulations that engender and promote more respect for the authority for teachers in and outside of the classroom.
7. Taking a look at the curriculum and making some serious adjustments in terms of what is taught to the students. We need to emphasize multi-cultural and ethnic-sensitive pedagogy in a district as racially, ethnically, nationalistically and culturally diverse as this one.
8. I have many more ideas for reforming our education system but that will entail an education-specific platform (to be later developed). One specific idea is for the breaking down of the DOE into 5 specific borough boards, with each boro-president responsible for the education of his/her borough -at least from pre-k through junior high school.
9. We need to aggressively recruit more black and Hispanic male teachers/ principals/administrators into the public school system. The lack of male role models is hurting these populations, since too many blacks and Hispanics are growing up suffering the effects of the missing father syndrome. Over two-thirds of all black kids are born out of wedlock; and in the Hispanic community it is over 40 percent. Many of our social ills/issues can be found germinating in these stats. It’s a reality that needs addressing.
10. We need more chess in the schools programs.
11. We need more courses that deal with logic and philosophy.
12. We need more music, civic, cultural, conflict-resolution and social-skills enhancing classes and programs; either in the day time or in after-school hours/programs.
3. Public Safety & Quality of Life Issues
This district has one of the highest incidents of violent crime in this state of New York, and simultaneously has one of the highest rates of police brutality in the city of New York. It is sometimes difficult to ascertain whom the community fears most – the violent criminal or the brutal cop. The community is victimized by both the existence of both predatory criminals and bad police officers who often needlessly harass and criminalize our youths in particular, and the public in general. Recent statistics show that the number of complaints of police misconduct has risen in the last four years.
There is also a need for our community to take steps to engender and cultivate, more pride and value in the cleanliness and beautification of our neighborhoods. We the citizens of this district have to become much more vested in our community.
Proposals
1. A greater community input in the assignment of police officers to local precincts.
2. A greater input of minority officers at all levels of command in the district.
3. The creation of sensitivity training for police officers assigned to precincts in the district.
4. The creation of a community policing protocol for police officers assigned to precincts in the district.
5. City Council revision of the regulations governing the procedures for the handling of police misconduct complaints, in terms of transparency, impartial investigation and prosecution, remedy/punishment and outcome.
6. Need for tougher penalties for littering and failure to clean-up after dogs.
7. The establishment of common sense criteria that will promote fair and healthy practices in terms of the erection and maintenance of Department of Sanitation facilities, and alleviate the unequal distribution of needed sanitation resources in black neighborhoods.
8. Investigate and alleviate the disproportionate enforcement of parking and noise nuisance regulations (especially around the cultural West Indian Labor Day celebrations) in black neighborhoods.
4. The Housing Problem
The area has one of the fastest growing populations in the city and a limited supply of affordable housing. The present housing stock consist of dilapidated multiple dwellings in urgent need of repair. There is an urgent demand/need for affordable housing. The term affordable must be clarified to fit the practical considerations of the millions of ordinary people in this district/city. The Sly Stone’s “everyday people” are hurting in the area of housing. Homeless shelters are again overflowing.
Proposals
1. Renovation and rehabilitation (consistent with new technologies that can withstand level 4 hurricanes and other natural disasters) of old housing stock by HPD.
2. The creation of more affordable housing units by federal, state, and city agencies.
3. The creation of more federal and city housing vouchers for low income residents and senior citizens.
4. Establishing a permanent renter’s rebate in the tax code (at all three levels of government). Governments need to be more sensitive to renters. They are as entitled to tax breaks as any homeowner. The idea that some people are paying more than two-thirds of their gross income in rent, should be viewed as obscene in these hard times.
5. As with education, I do have more proposals in this area that would necessitate a specific housing platform (to be developed).
5. A Failing Healthcare System
This area contains one of the largest concentrations of the medically uninsured population in the State of New York, and at the same time, it has one of the largest hospital complexes in the United States -Kings County Hospital, SUNY Downstate Health Science Center, Kingsbrook Jewish Hospital, and Kingsborough Psychiatric Center. The problem is how to convert this complex into a medical facility that would cater to the needs of the medically underserved.
Proposals
1. To downsize Kings County Hospital and to convert it into a series of primary care facilities that would provide basic outpatient services, to the residents of the community.
2. To create a series of freestanding out-patient clinics that would deal with some of the chronic healthcare challenges in the district – HIV/AIDS, Diabetes, Breast and Prostate Cancer, Asthma, Obesity, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Hypertension.
3. To establish a “burn-unit” in Brooklyn. We have the largest population of any borough but we don’t have a functioning burn unit at any Brooklyn hospital. If there is a major fire here, we will have to air-lift burn victims to other boroughs (or to Long Island and/or beyond).
4. To lobby the federal and state governments to provide a universal healthcare system similar to the Massachusetts model. This system should provide healthcare to all American residents regardless of employment or immigration status, or ability to pay. HEALTHCARE MUST BE MADE AVAILABLE AS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE.
6. The Senior Citizen Dilemma
The district has one of the largest concentrations of elderly in this city, many of whom do not have any form of insurance coverage; as well as an increasing number of our elderly who are being moved away from their children and their homes (where they can impart values and heritage) to costly facilities, thus minimizing inter-generational interaction and leading to the demise of the more sustainable extended family.
Proposals
1. The creation of more neighborhood Senior Care Centers, wherein the elderly will be cared for during daytime hours and returned home each day, as opposed to being carted off to a faraway, isolated, and expensive facility.
2. More meals on wheels programs for the home-bound elderly that live alone.
3. The creation of more publicly funded senior citizens centers for the elderly.
4. The conversion of the Susan Smith McKinney Rehab Center at SUNY Downstate into an Assisted Living Facility for the elderly.
7. Need for More Support of Small Businesses & Living-Wage Jobs
This district has four of the largest commercial thoroughfares in the borough of Brooklyn: (i) Flatbush Avenue, (ii) Nostrand Avenue, (iii) Church Avenue, and (iv) Empire Boulevard. However, the commercial strips in these areas have been negatively impacted by the opening of large shopping malls in the area; for example: Kings Plaza in Marine Park, Gateway Plaza in East New York, The Fulton Mall, and the Atlantic Terminal in Downtown Brooklyn. We need a comprehensive city-wide plan to revitalize the commercial strips in Central Brooklyn. This of course will result in better paying jobs for our youths and the public in general.
Proposals
1. To work with civic associations (e.g. various Chambers of Commerce or Merchants Associations) in the area and with the city’s Department of Business Services to establish four new business improvement districts (BID’s): such as the Empire Boulevard BID, the Flatbush Avenue BID, the Nostrand Avenue BID, and the Church Avenue BID.
2. To work with the two CUNY colleges in the area, Brooklyn College and Medgar Evers, to develop a business development curriculum to instruct entrepreneurs and young people in the district on the fundamentals of preparing business plans, incorporating businesses, preparing business accounts, filing income tax returns, and etcetera.
3. To establish resource programs, to develop the entrepreneurial talent of young people in the area, and to incorporate the young people in the business sector (see mentoring programs earlier mentioned).
4. To develop innovative marketing and advertising programs that revitalize the commercial sector and persuade community residents to patronize neighborhood businesses.
5. To fight for tax incentives to help small businesses provide health insurance and childcare benefits for employees.
6. To pressure the Brooklyn Borough president to make less political hires and more sensible hires: like economists who can help plan the ongoing economic- development strategies for the borough; researchers and policy-analysts who are employed specifically to keep an eye on our development plans/ideas; and staffers who aren’t just political payoffs to party bosses, supporters, selfish greedy developers and the like.
8. The Rights of Immigrants
The United States has been and continues to be a land of immigrants, with New York City being a major nesting place for the mostly beneficial cosmopolitan character of this nation. We cannot allow certain politicians to criminalize and deprive innocent immigrants, regardless of race or creed to suffer the effects of unconstitutional roll-backs of civil liberties and rights in our dear land. As such, in view of the Patriot Act and other attempts to criminalize and demoralize the many hardworking immigrants who now call New York home, we insist on reasonable, charitable and guaranteed due process under the law for all immigrants.
Proposals
1. To fight for the assertion and maintenance of the right for immigrants to be
able to obtain a driver’s license.
2. To give immigrants the right to access NYC human services (health, housing,
and food programs), as long as they meet the income bracket criteria in place for applicants.
3. To ensure that the regulations in place to ensure that immigrants are
competently advised of the implications of accepting a lesser charge by pleading guilty (sometimes done even for crimes not committed because of the inability to afford a private attorney, or a lack of confidence in our over-extended public legal defense system).
4. To insist that our representatives in the U.S. Congress fight for amnesty for
our hardworking immigrants who meet a reasonable residency and clean criminal record threshold. Protection of the wellbeing of affected U.S. citizens, and potential for, or proof of rehabilitation, should be determining factors whenever deportation of a caregiver is being considered.
9. The right to rehabilitation/anti-recidivism programs for our ex-offenders.
Everyday, thousands of ex-offenders enter our communities to face the hard task
of re-assimilating into society; they need our help, support and encouragement.
If we are serious about anti-recidivism we must establish these programs now.
************ Do note that there are many other issues facing this district, but for the sake of brevity (to some extent), I have chosen to only focus on these for the time being. Thanks for your indulgence. **************
I must acknowledge the help of Mr. Gerry Hopkins in putting this platform together. Gerry is a well known community activist/attorney who works hard within media to aid in community development and political action. I appreciate his endorsement for this position. I am humbled by his support.
Stay tuned-in folks.
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