THE RACE FOR BROOKLNY BOROUGH PRESIDENT:

JCCMP Sits with Jo Anne Simon

June will be a busy month with many new term limit positions opening up. One of them will be to replace the current Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, who is running to be the next mayor.  The race is turning out to be very intense one with 14 candidates running.  The top tier, which is determined by candidates’ public profiles, political experience, endorsements, fundraising, and campaign activity consists of six: State Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, City Council Member Robert Cornegy, Jr., City Council Member Antonio Reynoso, City Council Member Mathieu Eugene, nonprofit executive Kimberly Council, and former Brookdale Hospital executive Khari Edwards. The other candidates include Robert Elstein, Pearlene Fields, Anthony Jones, Shanduke McPhatter, Robert Ramos, Jr., Trisha Ocona, and Lamor Miller-Whitehead. 

There is this belief that the office of borough president is a relatively ceremonial role without any real power or control, but that is untrue. The borough president is our connection to the local districts and boards and the centralized City Hall and City Council. They have many vital tasks such as: the authority to appoint members to various local and boroughwide boards, sponsor legislation before the City Council, handle capital funding for infrastructure allocation, determine zoning and to some extent what happens to land use and development matters,  and most importantly,  they are the borough’s top advocate and representative. 

The JCCMP recently sat with Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon to learn more about her positions on various hot topic issues and to hear how she will help the borough recover from effects of the pandemic, which crushed the city. 

Can you share with us a little bit about your background?

I grew up in working-class neighborhood in Yonkers as the oldest girl in a family of five children. I was the first in my family to attend college, and graduated from, Iona College with a BA in communication sciences, Gallaudet University with a MA in education of the deaf, and Fordham University School of Law, where I earned my law degree at night while working full-time.  I was a clerk for a judge, taught at Hofstra University, and I practice disability and civil rights law. I realized that I love Brooklyn and I became very involved with the community. I became president of the Boerum Hill Association and chaired its Traffic and Transportation, Land Use and Atlantic Yards committees. I served on numerous organizations including the Downtown Brooklyn Coalition, BrooklynSpeaks.net, Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, Friends of Douglass/Greene Park; Hoyt-Schermerhorn Task Force, and Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). I also chaired the Gowanus Community Stakeholder Group and Gowanus Expressway Community Coalition. I am also a member of the ARISE Coalition, which seeks to improve educational and life outcomes for NYC’s children with disabilities. In 2004, I was elected female District Leader and State Committeewoman for the 52nd Assembly District. I got to really understand the environment and its needs. I got to see how everything is interconnected and learned how to empower community.  I love in Boerum Hill with my husband Bill Harris. 

What made you run for Borough President?

I love my job (at the Assembly) and wasn’t looking to leave. But many people have encouraged me to run and after consulting with former borough presidents, and chiefs of staff, I decided that this is something I want to do since I know I can impact the borough in a positive way. My experience at the president of the neighborhood association prepared me well to tackle pressing issues like education, climate justice, and gun violence.  I am also great at collaborating with community organizations around the borough. 

What will be your top priority during your first term?

For sure, COLVID-19 relief; it has eaten away at the fabric that connects so many things.  I will also work to make Brooklyn more livable, and this must include a focus on environmental justice and a shift towards public power. My other key policy will be to ensure that every child in Brooklyn will be able to read. Education is the great equalizer. Every child should be screened for dyslexia and other related learning disabilities and get the interventions they need before they fall behind. Our educational system is not a level playing field. I also believe we need to wire Brooklyn better. I have advocated at the state level for digital infrastructure – broadband, websites, to be considered “capital” – freeing up the availability of such funds to nonprofits and cultural institutions, so they can qualify for assistance to develop and maintain the digital presence they need in today’s world. I will work with government, communities, and local organizations to assess the need and engage with community and businesses to create a mechanism to bring reliable broadband throughout the Borough equitably.

How will you work to help small business?

My district is all about small business. We provided $1 billion in the city for small business relief. They don’t need loans, they need help. We have tax credits available, but we need to do a better job communicating these programs to small business owners. I also want to create a one stop shop business center. 

What are your views on legalizing marijuana?

I support it.  We need to put an end to the discrimination of marijuana possession. If we legalize it, then we can generate a lot of much needed income. This is a huge industry that if we tap into it correctly, it can create jobs. 

Do you support defunding the police? 

Yes. We need to reallocate funding to various social and educational services, domestic violence prevention and counseling services, and cure violence programs that work in the gun violence prevention space. We ask police to do too many things for which they are neither trained nor for which law enforcement is appropriate.

What are your views on zoning?

I am generally anti-development.  I was very vocal about the recently scrapped Industry City rezoning and the proposed Gowanus rezoning. I would like to see developers put in some money that goes back to public services like water and sewer. In terms of major neighborhood rezoning, there is always the threat of accelerating gentrification and mass permanent displacement without adequate planning for community benefit. 

How can you help Brooklyn emerge from this crisis?

We need better data on this fiscal crisis so we can meet the challenges. We need to save small storefronts; they are struggling because the rent is getting too high. I am going to continue to pressure the federal government to provide relief, and New York State to enact several revenue raising measures that are currently on the table. I am one of the few state legislators who is part of a revenue justice group with state economists who are looking out for all New Yorkers, not just the wealthy. We need a massive infusion of funds to aid the borough