Political Notes: A Green Alternative in District 18

With Primary Day behind us and Election Day on the horizon, something interesting has happened in Council District 18: there is no Democrat on the ballot for the council seat. Oh, sure, Ruben Diaz, Sr. has the official Dem Party ballot line, but he’s a Republican in every other way and sense of the word. And there is Michael Beltzer, who lost to Diaz in the Primary. But he also petitioned as an independent and will appear on the ballot under the Liberal Party name (not sure I’d want to be associated with the resurrection of a party that lost ballot status under the leadership of corrupt political boss Ray Harding). And then there is Republican Eisley Constatntine, who seems to more of a paper candidate than one of flesh and blood. I guess Reps have to show proof of life once in a while.

With this motley crew representing the corporate capitalist interests, there is only one anti-capitalist, anti-corporate, unbought, unbossed, Eco-Socialist and Green alternative to vote for. That would be me.

My campaign offers an ideological, principled, ethical program that is diametrically opposed to the mainstream, moribund, regressive, hackneyed, conservative agenda offered by Diaz Sr. Never forget that it was Diaz, along with disgraced pols Pedro Espada, Hiram Monserrate, and Carl Kruger, who in 2008,  jumped ship to join with Senate Republicans, effectively shutting down the legislative process for months.

Diaz has a tenuous connection at best with our community. His Senate District covers only a small area of the 18th. It’s also questionable that he actually resides in the district.

One also has to wonder why Diaz would want to give up his high profile Senate seat for a lowly City Council seat. There must be a musty whiff of legal tender wafting his way.

This is my district. I was raised here, went to school here, worked here, participated in community life here. I know my district. My mission is to maintain the stability we’ve always had, and to ensure that stability through sustainability. Our community will flourish when the needs of our friends and neighbors are met first and foremost.

On Tuesday, November 7th, vote Carl Lundgren for City Council and the entire Green Party citywide slate: Akeem Browder for Mayor; Julia Willebrand for Comptroller; James Lane for Public Advocate.

Political Notes 2/2/17: Silence is complicity

I have not seen one statement or comment by any of the elected pols who presumably represent me — City Council Member Annabel Palma, State Assembly Member Luis Sepulveda, State Senator Jeffrey Klein, or Congress Member Joseph Crowley  — speaking out against the Administration’s Muslim ban. Neither have I seen or heard anything from the three candidates who have announced their intentions to run for Palma’s open seat in Council District 18: Amanda Farias, Elvin Garcia or Michael Beltzer. I find this particularly unconscionable  from pols whose districts are home to, not only a vibrant and growing Muslim community, but immigrants from Mexico; the Caribbean; and Asian, South Asian, African, and Central and South American countries. This section of the Bronx has never been as diverse as it is now. I find it encouraging, positive…and essential to keeping our community strong and stable.