The Lede: Top 10 Reasons I’m Riveted By the District 36 City Council Race (And You Can Be Too)
I’m not a big political buff, but thanks to a question originally posed by Ferentz, I have been absolutely riveted by the upcoming city council race in District 36. Ferentz’s question: will the excitement and turnout that marked the 2008 Presidential elections spill over to the local level? The more I pondered the question, the more interested I became in the race. Here are just some of the reasons why:
10. Crowded Race – Great Coverage – This seat is highly contested – this piece only covers 5 of the 8 contenders. Good thing there are bloggers out there trying to keep us informed. Brooklyn Ron provides great coverage of the race, which he describes as “Bed-Stuy’s Crowded Race to City Council” (ahem … Crown Heights and Bed Stuy’s Crowded Race … but we’ll forgive the oversight.) And MyBrooklynReport offers an innovative dicussion forum for the candidates and constituents.
9. Kindred Spirit – A couple of people told me that I remind them of candidate Tremaine Wright, who like me is an attorney turned entrepreneur. After meeting her the other day, I take the comparison as a true compliment.
8. Good Looking Bunch – On an admittedly less than profound note all of the candidates are good looking people, making following this race quite easy (on the eyes).
7. Athlete Turned Politician – I’m curious how the 6’10″ former basketball player, Robert Cornegy, Jr., comports himself in the political court. In a comical poke at his stature, Cornegy produced a great campaign commercial that is worth checking out.
6. Pre-Obama (African-American) politicians v. Obama era (African-American) politicians – Obama-esque themes of “change” permeate this race, as at least four relatively young contenders compete to unseat the 70+ year old incumbent, Albert Vann, who’s been in office at the state and local level for over thirty years.
The difference between the old guard and new school can be seen when, for instance, you compare Vann to younger challengers Tremaine Wright and Saquan Jones: One of Vann’s recent projects was to try to get certain streets in Bed-Stuy, which were named after slave owners, renamed after black heroes and sheros. The new school seems to have a different focus. In a progressive move, Wright opened her own coffee shop on Tompkins between Putnam and Jefferson (two slave owner streets). And Jones, who was raised in the projects but went on to get his MBA, trumpets “turning adversity into advantage” that focuses on “us” rather than “them”.
Further underscoring the old school v. new school nature of the race – while the new contenders each employ plush LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace and Youtube pages to reach constituents in the district; Vann’s online presence is limited to his templated city council page. But does that matter? As a colleague of mine pointed out, even though he has been arguably less visible of late, Vann has historically done a lot for the district (e.g. projects with Medgar Evers and Restoration Corporation) and name recognition alone is expected to yield him upwards of 5,000 votes. Plus, many residents in the district are not actively tapped into the web, relying instead on “old school” means of information exchange (church, word of mouth, etc.).
5. Term Limit Controversy – Could it be true that as the incumbent, Vann’s re-election is almost 97% guaranteed despite the number of people who came out against term limit extension. But for the controversial extension of term limits, Councilman Vann would not be eligible for re-election.
4. Obama Reincarnate – As a friend pointed out when we ran into candidate Mark Winston Griffith on the street the other day, Griffith has a Barack Obama air about him (not to mention that he was a community organizer at one point in his career). So for those who may miss the political excitement and fervor surrounding Obama 2008, this might be your chance to recapture it.
3. Heated Debate on Class Divisions in the District – I’m curious how the very heated debate between Griffith and Jones will play out. (Jones accused Griffith of being an elitist who is out of touch with the masses in District 36. Griffith, who was actually raised in Crown Heights, provides an impassioned and thoughtful retort). I did an informal poll of friends and family (okay … it was only 3 of them) about the debate and everyone agreed that Jones’ comments were a bit off-putting and that Griffith “won” the debate. That said, I do sense that Jones would be able to connect with and even inspire a lot of residents in the district in a way that the other candidates may not.
2. Where do they stand? – I’m still eagerly awaiting the candidates to provide comprehensive insight into their overall vision for the district and issues specific to Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights:
a. Cornegy – website is missing any articulation of his perspective on the issues in the community and how he will address them. That said, he did a great job outlining his commitment and contributions to public health issues in Bed-Stuy in his recent interview on On the Spot.
b. Griffith – website provides a teaser on his position on various important issues including foreclosures, green jobs, gentrification, but to date, he has only fully elaborated on foreclosures.
c. Jones – greatly appreciate and support his position on “Financial Freedom” and “Community Revitalization”, however, I’m not convinced that the other issues that he mentions, e.g. “Change of Mentality” can be tackled in the political arena.
d. Vann – Without a real web presence, it’s difficult to ascertain much about Vann online. Instead I’ve taken to asking district residents – Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, young, old, renters, executives and business owners – about their thoughts on our councilman. Almost across the board I hear great things about Vann’s past accomplishments. But only one person was able to speak highly of recent efforts. Actually what that person, a non-profit exec, said is that Vann has in fact been active recently, he just hasn’t been promoting it. He called Vann a “connector” who links organizations and resources together. For me, it would be helpful if all that was on a website.
e. Wright – of all the candidates, her website does the best job (IMHO) of outlining her position on the issues and how she thinks they should be addressed. However, her focus is very Bed-Stuy centric, with not a single mention of any Crown Heights locales. What about Crown Heights?
1. We need a strong leader – There are a number of pressing issues in the district that I really care about and want to see addressed – including commercial development, education, affordable housing and public safety. We need a strong, effective and competent leader for Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights to continue to thrive. I want to make sure that I vote for the right person. Hopefully others will be inspired to get involved!
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Hi Laurel,
Great post on one of the hotly contested City Council races in the city.
I grew up in the 36th City Council district and the community hasn’t benefited from the city’s boom in tax revenue over the last 10 years.
As an avid reader of Nostrand Park, I hope the readers living in the district will feel the urgency to get this vote right, as it will forever change the social, economic and demographic realities in their community from our analysis.
I hope the readers of this post will also research the condition of their district as well in order to gauge whether the current field are qualified to address these and other very serious issues.
(I don’t want to appear as though I’m plugging, but these posts are a start)
172 Brooklyn Avenue: Whose in Charge of this Eyesore
http://mybrooklynreport.com/2009/06/02/172-brooklyn-avenue-whose-in-charge-of-this-eye-sore/
Whose Responsible for the Urban Blight at 1576 Fulton Street
http://mybrooklynreport.com/2009/07/28/whose-responsible-for-the-urban-blight-at-1576-fulton-street/
I always say on this site … plug away. That is what this is about. Having community members (and not just the site editors) plugging their Crown Heights.
The two links that you site are truly great pieces. We actually included a link to the 172 Brooklyn Ave in the Prospect Place post we did a while back. And, as you say, those posts speak volumes about what the current leadership is or is not doing in the neighborhood.
And not to get too down on the current leadership, but the fact that the incumbent has upwards of 6 or 7 (I’ve lost count) challengers running against him strongly suggests that the community feels there is a need for change. Ironically, the fact that he has that much competition makes it all the more likely that he will win, since the anti-incumbent vote will be diced up 7 ways.
Written By Juan B., Brooklyn, NY
ON ANY GIVEN DAY, during the hazy, hot and humid days for the summer, it’s not unusual to see a tall man setting up speakers and turn-tables in parks, playgrounds, and pretty much anywhere he can find a crowd of youth and families. He doesn’t get paid for this and in fact it actually costs him money in the time lost that he could have spent doing something else, perhaps sitting behind a desk in an air conditioned office, pushing paper, and sipping an iced latte while writing endless policy and theory papers on issues like what it takes to reduce crime and recidivism in Bed Stuy and Crown Heights, promote diversity without displacement or gentrification, provide meaningful employment and educational opportunities for youth and families, or any number of other issues impacting the 36th Councilmanic District.
He could do that, but then he wouldn’t be Rob Cornegy.
Rob Cornegy takes a simpler, more direct grassroots approach: he goes out into the heart of the district, plays music or just hangs out in an easily accessible area, and get’s to work. Lines form sometimes to get his assistance. A typical afternoon includes requests for help finding work, getting emergency food stamps, help in organizing a community event, or contacting specific government agencies about a problem. Rob, a walking rolodex of social services, makes one referral after another.
In the current campaign season there are many candidates out and about in the community, knocking on doors, interacting with the community, and also providing some social services referrals. The difference between them and Rob is simple: Rob’s been doing this for pretty much his whole adult life, an example passed on from his parents. How do I know? Rob and I have been friends for over 15 years, and the Rob I met and worked with then is the same as the Rob I know now. We partnered on a number of projects, issues, and challenging cases and without Rob Cornegy’s help or support I question what the outcome would have been like.
Fast forward to today: If I’m meeting Rob for lunch and we’re sitting outside eating, it’s not usual for us to be interrupted over a dozen times by passerby’s needing a point in the right direction for any number of service referrals. And the walk there and the walk back are no different. It’s fair to say that lunch is over a three hour event, with the vast majority of that time watching Rob handle what seems like an endless stream of requests.
I’ve watched Rob Cornegy during this campaign season closely, and his approach to solving problems is very straight forward:
Unlike his opponents, he humbly accepts and even embraces the fact that he is not an expert on most issues, nor does he want to be. This community already has experts. They live here, work here, enjoy triumphs and suffer through failures here. To him, their experience is unquestionably more valuable than anything he can ever obtain on his own or through a computer looking up stuff online.
Rob Cornegy wants these experts to weigh in on issues, but only after he actively seeks out, door to door, what issues are most important to the constituents of the district. Yes, he could spend countless hours in an office studying figures, stats, charts, and graphics. But he prefers a simpler approach: Asking our residents, “What’s important to you right now?” It’s only after he knows the answer to that question that he’ll work to facilitate the creation of a district work-plan that addresses issues in the priority set by the constituents themselves.
Rob Cornegy understands that a vibrant local economy is a key component to a thriving community, and that things can be done locally to help minimize, even if just a little, the impact on our local businesses during an economic crisis. He understands why local entrepreneurship plays a major role maintaining a local economy, and the importance of hiring local people to staff the many shops of our area, and has been a constant presence to merchants of the district, helping promote our shops and events so we don’t fall victim to the economic downturn, or our customers flock to shops and events at venues far away from central Brooklyn.
Rob Cornegy knows that a positive, meaningful relationship with local police is based on mutual respect, and that when individual police abuse their authority it impacts every good police officer, so he maintains excellent relationships with Community Affairs officers at all the precincts of the district, partnering with them to conduct crime prevention workshops and working through them to address cases of police misuse of authority. This is perhaps one of the most difficult and delicate of balances to keep, and in a campaign season it’s all too easy to vilify the police to score votes but Rob understands that addressing these concerns needs to be done in a way that doesn’t undermine the trust needed by residents that, when we call 911 for help, we know the police will come quickly and will protect and serve them in that time of need.
Rob Cornegy is committed to bringing more social services into the community because often we become entangled in a multitude of issues and could really use some help to get back on top. Sometimes, because of our own upbringings, surroundings, and poor choices brought about by equally poor self-esteems, we ourselves are the root cause of our issues, compounded by poor role models and even worse living conditions. Rob compassionately, yet without pulling punches, helps us come to terms with these personal realities, and won’t wait to be a member of the council to continue to fight to preserve and expand the social services that we have for all these reasons.
Rob’s supporters are a mixed bag of well-to-do’s and economically challenged, the highly-educated and those from the “school of hard knocks”, the model citizens and those that have made a wrong turn here or there in their lifetime. The list goes on, and he welcomes them all on equal ground. They have one thing in common: their commitment to real change is solid and many have hands that were once weak but Rob helped to make strong. And on September 16th, one day after the Primary Election, regardless of the previous day’s outcome, Rob will most likely be outside again, looking for a spot to set up some music, and doing what he’s been doing in the community year after year after year.