A Democrat, A Republican And A Green Candidate Met To Debate At CGNA Meeting

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David Pechefsky

Brad Lander

Joe Nardiello

At Monday night's Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association's Council District Candidate Forum, I felt like Goldilocks.

One candidate was too angry (Republican Nardiello)
one was too smooth ( Democrat Lander)
and one was just right ( Green Pechefsky)

With the election just two weeks away, the three 39th District Council candidates answered questions on economic development, education, health, transportation and our budget during the present difficult financial times. The candidates each had two minutes to answer the questions. Glenn Kelly served as the night's moderator.
The audience had a chance to ask questions at the end.

Though the answers given by the candidates were all rather predictable, it became clear that the Republican candidate Nardiello tried to be forceful right from the beginning, calling himself an independent and "a blue collar man in a white shirt". His attacks against the establishment would probably have had more impact, if he had offered a clearer outline of how he himself would fix the city's problems. He attacked Democrat Brad Lander several times. He pointed out Brad Lander's association with the Working Family Party and with present Councilman, Bill de Blasio, telling the audience: "You are looking at a third term of Bill De Blasio in Brad Lander."


Brad Lander, on the other hand, was smooth, maybe just a bit too smooth. After winning the Democratic primary in September, Lander is the front runner in this race. He came across as very confident, having had plenty of time to rehearse his answers to the more divisive issues.
He vowed to bring "real honesty and transparency" to the City Council. In answer to Nardiello's attack that his tenure as Councilman would be too much like Councilman de Blasio's, Lander reminded everyone that he differed with De Blasio on Atlantic Yards (Lander is against) and the Gowanus Superfund designation (Lander is for).

Sandwiched at the table between Lander and Nardiello, David Pechefsky came across as the non-politician. Actually, it was very refreshing. He told the audience that he felt the need to run for office after Mayor Bloomberg's shameless disregard for term limits. "It was a pivotal moment" he said and he wondered "Where is our democracy? Someone has to stand up to Mayor Bloomberg !" Pechefsky also feels that true reform in the NY City Council will only be achieved when the power held by the Council Speaker is curbed. He feels that current Speaker Christine Quinn has undue influence. "Our local government does not work for us because there is a disconnect to our elected officials."

Whichever one of the three candidates will be our next councilman, the community wants to " see an improvement over the last 8 years" under Bill de Blasio.
How much change we can expect remains to be seen.

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