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David Weprin Launches Campaign for New York City Comptroller


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David Weprin (photo: Mike Wren/NYS Department of Health)


State Assemblymember David Weprin, a five-term Queens Democrat, officially launched his 2021 campaign for New York City Comptroller on Monday. He is running to replace term-limited Comptroller Scott Stringer, and is competing with three other sitting elected officials to become the city’s next chief fiscal officer in the Democratic primary set for June.

“I'm the only one of all the candidates that has both private and public sector finance experience, something that's going to be very needed as we're in the middle of the worst fiscal crisis in the history of the city of New York in probably over 100 years,” Weprin said in a phone interview on Monday.

The office’s duties include monitoring the city’s economic health and city government’s bottom line, in part by overseeing the city budget, auditing city agencies, reviewing and approving contracts, enforcing prevailing wage and living wage laws, and acting as fiduciary to the $229-billion pension system. Officeholders often release various policy analyses and recommendations that can impact political debates.

The next New York City Comptroller is likely to have an especially challenging job given the coronavirus pandemic has created major budget deficits and record-high unemployment across various sectors of the economy. Whomever takes office at the start of 2022 will be tasked with helping to responsibly guide the city toward economic and fiscal recovery while holding a new mayoral administration accountable.

Weprin’s opponents in the 2021 comptroller race include Manhattan State Senator Brian Benjamin, Brooklyn State Senator Kevin Parker, and Brooklyn City Council Member Brad Lander. The primary will see the first citywide use of ranked-choice voting and is all but certain to determine the eventual winner of the seat because of the city’s heavy Democratic voter enrollment advantage. There are no Republican candidates at this time.

Weprin represents Assembly District 24, which includes the neighborhoods of Richmond Hill, Briarwood, Jamaica HIlls, Jamaica Estates, Holliswood, Hollis Hills, Oakland Gardens, and Glen Oaks. He was elected to the seat in a special election in 2010. His roots run deep in the district, which was previously represented by his brother, Mark Weprin. Prior to that, it was held by their father, Saul Weprin, the former speaker of the state Assembly. From 2002 to 2009, David Weprin represented the area in the City Council and chaired the influential Committee on Finance. Mark Weprin won the seat after David Weprin went to the Assembly.

In the interview, David Weprin emphasized his experience with municipal finances, citing his eight years balancing city budgets as the Council’s finance chair. Prior to that he had been appointed Deputy Superintendent of Banks and Secretary of the Banking Board for New York State by former Governor Mario Cuomo, overseeing a $2 trillion industry and regulation of more than 3,000 financial institutions and firms. At the time, Weprin had worked in the private sector for various major financial firms. He also served as Chairman of the Securities Industry Association for the New York District for three years.

Though the comptroller cannot make direct decisions about spending and revenue, the position provides a prominent soapbox to influence such decisions and broader policy-making. Like some before him, Stringer has used the office to issue plans and proposals on everything from universal childcare and affordable housing to solving the debt crisis in Puerto Rico. “You still have a bully pulpit,” said Weprin, who unsuccessfully ran for city comptroller in 2009 (he also lost a race for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011).

Weprin laid out a few top priorities including auditing the MTA, the New York City Housing Authority, and the Department of Education to eliminate wasteful spending. He said he would seek to use the city pension portfolio to invest in affordable housing construction. And he promised to create a Red-Tape Reduction Commission to help eliminate fees and fines for small businesses and ease regulations; and a New American, Diversity & Inclusion Task Force to expand access to capital and financial services for immigrants in underserved communities.

“There's obviously a lot of problems,” he said. “I can make a contribution to working together with others to solve the problems.”

Though the city’s fiscal picture next year will depend on the level of federal aid it receives in any next stimulus package, Weprin said that filling massive gaps in the budget would require a broader approach. “I think there should be different pieces to the puzzle,” he said.

He said Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal to borrow funds long-term for current operational expenses should be “the last resort” but he wouldn’t rule it out. “Everything's gonna be necessary,” he said.

He has advocated for reinstating the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax, colloquially called the Commuter Tax, and setting it at 1%, which he estimated could bring in more than $1.6 billion each year. The tax was eliminated in 1999 and was levied against individuals who worked in the city but did not live here. “When it was revoked, it was a time of billion-dollar surpluses. We weren't in a fiscal mess,” said Weprin, who has been one of the staunchest opponents of congestion pricing in the city, essentially because his Queens district is home to many car owners who drive into Manhattan for work, or did before the pandemic.

He added of the Commuter Tax, “Is that going to be the solution in and of itself? No, we need other ideas like that. But that one, to me, is a no-brainer.” He also supports legalizing app-based sports betting and granting a new casino license in New York City.

Running in the Democratic primary for comptroller in 2009, Weprin got 10.6% of the vote. The election went to a runoff and the victor was John Liu, who then went on to win the general election and is now a state senator from Queens. Weprin also racked up a hefty debt from that race – his campaign committee owed nearly $320,000 in public funds repayments to the New York City Campaign Finance Board, which was only repaid last week, according to his campaign. The payment came from his state campaign account, which held about $421,000 just prior to the June primary this year, the last filing available.

Weprin is again participating in the city public matching funds program, which will match the first $250 of each qualifying contribution for a citywide candidate at an 8-to-1 ratio. As of July 11, the last campaign finance filing deadline, he had raised about $172,526, spent $28,344 and had $144,182 in his campaign account. No matching funds have been sought or dispersed yet, but Weprin said he has since raised the money to receive at least $1.5 million in public funds.

He came out of the gate with a diverse slate of endorsements that could be crucial in a ranked-choice system, where candidates have to make broader appeals to the electorate. His campaign also emphasized that he comes from a middle-class background and union household; his mother, a Cuban immigrant, was a teacher with the United Federation of Teachers while his father was an elected official.

“We're building support for votes, basically to reach out into communities across all five boroughs,” Weprin said. His initial elected endorsers, all Democrats, are mostly from Queens and include U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, fellow Assemblymembers Jeffrion Aubry, Richard Gottfried, Rebecca Seawright, Maritza Davilla, Cathy Nolan, and Michael DenDekker, Assembly Member-Elect Jenifer Rajkumar and City Council Members Peter Koo and Karen Koslowitz.

“From his plan to protect the health and safety of NYCHA residents to the work he will do to ensure the Department of Education is using our tax dollars to deliver high quality education for our children, David Weprin has shown that he has the right qualifications to be our next City Comptroller,” said Davilla, a Democrat from Brooklyn who chairs the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force, in a statement accompanying the announcement.

“David Weprin has made working New Yorkers and recent immigrants a top priority for years,” said Rajkumar of Queens. “He has always worked to build a more inclusive, vibrant New York and I know he will do so as our next Comptroller.”

“In the State Assembly, David Weprin has been a strong ally in the fight for the New York Health Act,” said Gottfried, a Manhattanite who chairs the health committee. “He recognizes not just the health benefits but the clear financial benefits of single payer health care for New Yorkers. His record shows he has the understanding and values we need in a New York City Comptroller.”

The New York State Court Officers Association also backed David Weprin at the official launch of his campaign. “Assembly Member Weprin is a longtime champion of organized labor and the responsible public finance official we need as our next Comptroller,” said Dennis Quirk, president of the Court Officers Association, in a statement.

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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

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WATCH: Democratic Mayoral Candidates Talk NYCHA, Housing, and Homelessness


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Top (l-r): Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Carlos Menchaca
Bottom (l-r): Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer, Joycelyn Taylor, Maya Wiley


Eight Democratic candidates for New York City mayor running in the June 2021 primary appeared by Zoom on Saturday to discuss public housing, private housing, homelessness, and the issues and policies that connect them all. The candidates offered their thoughts on current policies, offered their ideas for the future, and discussed what they would do if they were mayor today. Participants were Carlos Menchaca, Eric Adams, Dianne Morales, Maya Wiley, Kathryn Garcia, Joycelin Taylor, Shaun Donovan, and Scott Stringer.

The forum was part of the 15th annual West Side Tenants' Conference, convened by Housing Conservation Coordinators, West Side Neighborhood Alliance, and others, and it was moderated by Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max.

Watch:

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by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
     

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Imminent City Council Special Election in the Bronx is a Two-Candidate Race


City Council Andy King special

Former Council Member Andy King (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


The ouster of Andy King from the New York City Council in October over repeated ethics violations triggered a special election that moved up the timeline for the race to replace King, who was term-limited but then expelled by his colleagues, from the standard 2021 election dates to this month. The race will effectively be the first of the 2021 city election cycle, when all of city government will be on the ballot, and could provide interesting initial bread crumbs about where the especially consequential elections of next year are headed.

Early voting for the special election in City Council District 12, which covers parts of the northeastern Bronx, starts on December 12 and runs through December 20. Election day itself is December 22. The absentee balloting process is underway. As a special election it will be non-partisan, meaning there are no official party ballot lines and candidates create their own to run on. (This election will not feature ranked-choice voting, which kicks in next year for special and party primary elections for city government positions.)

The field of candidates significantly narrowed in October when the city’s Board of Elections booted several people, including Brian Melford, a staffer for the erstwhile Council member, off the ballot for the special election for various reasons related to their petitioning.

This left only three candidates in the race: Kevin Riley, a district leader and community relations director for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie; Pamela Hamilton-Johnson, the president of the 47th Precinct Council and a Community Board member; and, Neville Mitchell, a public defender with the Legal Aid Society. Gotham Gazette spoke with Riley and Hamilton-Johnson but was unable to reach Mitchell despite multiple attempts (he has raised only $100 for this campaign, according to the CFB, does not appear to have a website, and his Twitter account has been inactive since his 2012 run for this office).

“I was very surprised so many people got knocked off due to their own mistakes,” said Hamilton-Johnson.

“I don’t think it affected the race at all,” said Riley, who noted a few of the removed candidates are attempting write-in campaigns.

“We announced in February and I’ve been very active in the community as a candidate,” said Riley, who added that King’s expulsion “sped everything up, but we were already prepared.”

The 12th City Council District includes neighborhoods of Wakefield, Olinville, Edenwald, Eastchester, Williamsbridge, Baychester, and Co-op City. According to Census data, the district is 67% Black, 25% Hispanic, and 4% white. The district is also 56% women and 44% men.

Speaker Heastie’s 83rd Assembly District, which overlaps with much of the 12th District (minus Co-Op City), has a median household income of $51,532 and a poverty rate of 19.1%, while the median age of residents is 36.3. Co-Op City has a median household income of $50,832 and the median age of residents is 45.

King is the second consecutive Council member from the 12th District to be removed from office during his tenure, after predecessor Larry Seabrook was convicted of several corruption-related charges in 2012.

Fundraising & Endorsements
In terms of fundraising and endorsements, Riley has the clear advantage. He raised $44,581 from private donations and received $132,077 under the city’s matching program for $176,658 raised in total as of November 20th. He’s received endorsements from elected officials such as Speaker Heastie, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Congressional Representative-elect Jamaal Bowman, State Senator and Bronx Democratic County Party Chair Jamaal Bailey, and Assemblymembers Nathalia Fernandez, Latoya Joyner, and Catalina Cruz; and labor unions such as the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), 32BJ SEIU, Communications Workers of America District 1, Transport Workers Union (TWU Local 100), Hotel Trades Council, retail workers (RWDSU), Uniformed Firefighters Association, United Food and Commercial Workers, and the state nurses association (NYSNA).

“I wouldn't say I’m the front-runner in this race,” Riley said. “This community saved my life. It’s the reason I am the man I am today. This is why I want to step up and represent my community.” He explained that following his father’s incarceration, many members of the community mentored him at crucial points in his life that enabled him to succeed later in life.

Meanwhile, Hamilton-Johnson has raised $6,781 from private donations and has received $45,836 in matching funds for a total of $52,617 as of November 20. She’s been endorsed by 21 in ‘21, the initiative to get more women elected to the City Council, and would be the first woman elected to represent the district, she noted. She previously ran in the 2012 special election and 2017 election for the seat against King. In 2017, she garnered 33% of the vote to King’s 57%, while only winning 4.4% in 2012.

Neville Mitchell also ran in 2012 and received 4.5% of the vote, narrowly edging out Hamilton-Johnson in that race that featured six candidates.

“I am the outsider in this race. I’m not the county choice,” Hamilton-Johnson said, noting that she has pledged not to take donations from corporations, labor unions, or PACs. Riley has raised at least $8,700 from these groups, accounting for nearly 20% of his private donations, according to a Gotham Gazette analysis. Nearly 90% of Hamilton-Johnson’s donations (120 in total) and 56.8% of Riley’s donations (274 in total) have come from Bronx residents.

“PACs are not going to give you money without having some kind of legislative favoritism and, in this district with the last two Councilmen being removed from office, voters are looking for someone who will put people over politics and people over profit,” said Hamilton-Johnson, who labeled Riley as “the county [party]’s puppet.” She believes this is the main contrast between her and her opponent.

“There are amazing people running and we’re going to let the community decide,” Riley said in his interview with Gotham Gazette.

Kevin Riley
“We need adequate testing sites and when the vaccine is available, we need to make sure people in this area are able to get the vaccine,” Riley said when asked about how the community can recover from the pandemic, noting that Co-Op City did not have a testing site until recently.

Riley lists education, housing, and mental health as the top priorities of his campaign. On housing, he said “we need to look at land use. There’s a lot of deserted land in our district and I believe we’re not utilizing the process properly.” He also wants more community input in the process, saying “a lot of times when housing comes to a community, it’s not for the people in the community.” Riley said he supports member deference in the city’s land use process (ULURP) by which controversial large projects and rezonings, as well as those of other sizes, are often decided.

“I definitely support reallocating funds from the police department to other agencies that will take care of issues better than the police,” said Riley, although he said doesn’t have a specific figure. “There’s a lot of programs out there that can address violence and mental health better than the police.”

“I’m very big on financial literacy and mentorship,” said Riley, who noted he is a mentor in the My Brother’s Keeper initiative, started by President Obama. He said he would like to incorporate both into the public school curriculum, as well as increasing trade school and entrepreneurship options.

Riley said the city should find “new ways of revenue that we weren’t thinking about years ago” to address municipal budget shortfalls, such as legalizing marijuana and gaming, in addition to increasing taxes on the rich.

Pamela Hamilton-Johnson
“The county [party] doesn’t push women candidates,” Hamilton-Johnson said, attributing it as a major reason she decided on a third run for the seat. “We don’t have a seat at the table. We’re good enough to lick envelopes for every other candidate, but we’re not good enough to be in office.”

Hamilton-Johnson currently runs the Eastchester Heights Community Center in the district, which she founded, in addition to serving as President of the 47th Precinct Council and as a member of Bronx Community Board 12. She formerly worked in the city’s Department of Education, in various roles.

Hamilton-Johnson listed refunding the Summer Youth Employment Program and supporting small businesses as top priorities, saying, “when small businesses go out of business, our seniors and residents have to go further to get the necessary items they need.”

“We have an issue in Co-op City with sanitation. The streets are filthy,” Hamilton-Johnson said, adding that the neighborhood lost service during King’s tenure. “We have to restore the cleanliness back to our neighborhood.”

She supports hazard pay for MTA employees and that the eviction moratorium be continued beyond January. “A lot of people in our community are out of work and most likely will lose their homes and there has to be a better plan,” she said. “We need to keep people in their housing.”

“I do not believe in ‘defunding the police,’ but if you’re going to use the money, I really believe it should be used for at-risk youth and mental health workers accompanying police officers when they respond to emotionally-disturbed persons,” said Hamilton-Johnson. She was also critical of the NYPD’s use of overtime.

“In the 47th Precinct, our residents don’t want less police offices, they actually want more in our community. However, we still want our offices to treat us with dignity,” said Hamilton-Johnson, voicing support for retraining and greater transparency in disciplinary records.

“I would hope that residents will not follow county’s bad choices of candidates and they will choose a fresh choice for this Council seat,” she said.

The Vote
The special election is for the remainder of King’s term, which expires at the end of 2021. Regardless of the outcome, there will be an election for the seat in 2021 for a term that will span 2022 and 2023, with another election for restricted seats slated for 2023, for a four-year term. The 2021 election will include June primaries and a fall general election, both at the same times as the rest of city government, from mayor through all 51 seats of the City Council.

Early voting for this election begins December 12 and ends December 20. Election day itself is December 22. (Voters' poll site can be different for early voting and election day.) The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is December 15. Since it is a special election, the race is nonpartisan and each candidate is running on their own ballot line: Kevin Riley on the Justice & Unity line, Pamela Hamilton-Johnson on the Social Change line, and Neville Mitchell on the Bronx 12 Matters line.

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by Andrew Millman, Gotham Gazette
   

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Note: this article has been correctd to reflect that Riley said he "wouldn't say I'm the frontrunner."



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