Dist 39 CITY COUNCIL RACE general discussion

Great....

I watched the video, kinda. Josh seems real, hardworking and perhaps even nice.

Dave, you seem like a total (redacted).

MOD NOTE: NO NAME CALLING.

Drunken Revival wrote:

Dave, you seem like a total (redacted).

That is the nicest thing you've said in months on this board. And congrats for no misspellings! Keep up the great posting.

MOD NOTE: NO NAME CALLING.

Get away from me.

LongTimeSloper wrote: i really like josh Skaller but,his children not going to public school does put a bad taste in my mouth

So do you like the fact that Josh's wife (and the mother of their school-age child) is an educator who has worked in public schools all around Brooklyn? :!: :!: Are you interested in learning more about Josh?

I wish there was a better way to discuss these matters. Josh has not been accused of any heinous crime. He has made a personal decision with his wife, who has obviously demonstrated more commitment to public education than any other candidates. Does it bother anyone that the other campaigns are turning a personal issue into a campaign smear? That bothers me more.

I am so impressed with Josh and his campaign. I really like the fact that he's got the only campaign that hasn't taken a dime from developers. He's run a real grassroots campaign, talking to and focusing on the people in the district.

Oh, and I should mention that my respect and friendship with Josh go back a few years. I am an active member of Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, and the club was horribly divided when I joined. But then Josh was elected president, and during his term, the club transformed into an effective organization that was nice to be part of (not to say that it's not got its share of oddballs!).

I just wish people would refrain from judging candidates and even elected officials on tiny scraps of information. The Democratic primary in the 39th has a great field of candidates, and this is the rare race to talk about why to vote FOR someone instead of against them.

A note to the Skaller campaign:

This is why you don't post an unsolicited video on a message board.
Check out the progression of this thread. I complained about the excessive campaigning of you and your fellow candidates and then I'm attacked for being a (redacted). Next a Huffington fan steps in a fires a shot across your bow on the "sending your kid to a private school" story.

People argue both sides of the story, call me a (redacted) and the thread quickly has 500 views. The you run the risk of this being picked up by one of the local blogs (FIPS, Gothamist, etc.) and soon the Time's City Room blog picks up the story or maybe incorporates it in a larger story about online campaigning. After that you are guaranteed that the Post and Daily News will grab the story and rewrite in their own special, chock full o' typos style.

Maybe I'm wrong but ask the band that may or may not have kicked a puppy or our friends at MIH Ventures about their BBQ plans for '10.

Trying to read more about this race beyond the education issue...
http://citycouncilwatch.com/journal/2009/8/27/district-39-candidates-forum-and-the-rage-of-the-oppressed.html

now he has two kids - http://jewishbreakingnews.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/boro-park-mazel-tov-family-of-josh-skaller-candidate-for-nyc-city-council-grows-to-2/

sorta like a meet my new kid vote for me ad

I like his furniture - is that Craftsman or Arts & Craft or Mission style?

I met Josh and I liked him enough to consider voting for him. I do have to say that I was a bit turned off by his last campaign mailer. It was the typcal political sales job, but one part that bothered me was his promise to end the Bloomberg administration practice of (to use the Skaller campaign's term) "aggressive" ticketing of illegally parked cars. I understand the need to pander, but is the illegal parking block that big and powerful? He also, in the mailng, promised to find "alternative sources of revenue." Can he be more specific? Will my taxes go up?

I shant be voting I think. The last city council member I voted for was Peter Cammarano.

MOD NOTE: Discussion on the special education issue has been split off to its own topic here. Please keep this thread for general discussion of Skaller or the City Council race.

pitu wrote: Trying to read more about this race beyond the education issue...
l

I agree city council candidates talking about education is like a mayoral candidates talking about what changes they are going to make at the MTA. In the end they have little control and little influence

city council candidates talking about education is like chefs talking about food.

pokersloper wrote: city council candidates talking about education is like chefs talking about food.

Yep, at someone else's restaurant. They mayor controls education in this town.

I’m supporting Skaller. He won’t take money from big developers, so he has no obligation to them. He’s been endorsed by people I know and respect, some very public figures like Norm Siegel and Howard Dean, and some people I’ve come to know and respect through neighborhood activities, such as Jack Carroll and Judy Hoffman.
I am a special education teacher with over thirty years of teaching experience in
early childhood, elementary, and adult education. I currently teach in public school, but have also taught in private school, a state hospital and in a rehabilitation agency.
I believe it is ridiculous that anyone has made an issue of where Josh sends his son to school. Have they picked on Obama for sending his daughters to Sidwell Friends ?
Where a candidate sends his own child to school does NOT reflect his stand on public education. By the same token, just because one of Josh’s opponents sends his child to public school doesn’t prove anything either way. It is entirely possible that the opponent has a friendship with the principal, or that because of community connections, feels confident that he can get the best program for his child within each grade. Unfortunately, I’ve seen things like this happening in public schools more than once.
I am confident that as a councilman, Josh will be concerned with the educational needs of all public school students, those in general education, those with special needs, those who are academically gifted, those who are middle class, those who live in poverty, and the handful of lucky ones who are rich.
I say this as a teacher, a mother, a concerned citizen, as someone who has been concerned with politics since the civil rights days of the sixties, and as someone who loves my hometown of New York. I base my opinion on what Josh has said, who else is supporting him, and on how he has answered my questions.

Actually, a volunteer for Skaller told me the exact opposite: that Skaller's canvassers are all volunteers and that Lander's are all paid.

I believe what she told me.