Candidates Night

This year the candidates for State Senate and State Assembly will be present.

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The candidates were told that they could have 5-7 minutes to speak, after which they would be asked a question by our president and would then answer in turn. After that they would each be given a chance for rebuttal. After that a question would be taken from the audience with answers and rebuttals in turn.

The first candidate to be introduced was Gonzalo Jun Policarpio. He introduced himself as a compassionate Republican. State Senator Padavan has endorsed him. He is originally from the Philippines. He came to New York in 1973. He supports the war against terrorism, supports our troops and believes we should strengthen our defense system. He is a former Immigration Office Inspector at Newark Airport. He believes in good education, a clean environment, low taxes and equal opportunity to reach the American Dream.

Question #1: Gun Control - The Candidates views on the Assault Weapons Ban expiring:
        Policarpio – not in favor of gun control but believes in control of assault weapons.
        Ackerman – favors gun control. They cannot get a vote on the matter because the Speaker of the House won’t bring it up. Regarding the “right to bear arms” – this refers to the states, not to the individuals. He believes in permits for guns and that 24 hours is not long enough to do a background check.
        Graves – believes in responsible gun ownership by non-felons. Small handguns kill more people statistically than assault weapons. Need to keep guns from criminals. Most guns used in crimes are bought on the street, not from gun dealers.

Rebuttal
        Policarpio – Protect the rights of citizens to bear arms against criminals. Guns should only be purchased by qualified citizens after background checks.
        Ackerman – Assault weapons don’t belong in the hands of citizens. We have police to protect us. We have strong gun laws in New York but 47% of guns used in crimes in NY come from Virginia. We need to use common sense.
        Graves – Highly regulated assault weapons are ok. Most weapons on the street are stolen. In other parts of the country you may be so far from police protection that it can take 30 minutes to an hour for them to respond. People need guns for home protection.

Question from audience – Government spending exceeds rate of inflation. To balance the budget, what should be cut?
        Policarpio – Government should spend within its means. Useless, ineffective programs should be cut.
        Ackerman – The country had a $5 trillion surplus until the Republican President took office. We now have a $5 trillion deficit. We’ll never get out of the hole since we are paying so much interest on the debt. Weapons systems such as “Star Wars” are a waste of money. We need welfare reform to keep the cheats and frauds out. Services to people must not be cut. Give the American public what we are giving to the people of Iraq, health care, etc.
        Graves – Believes the deficit sprung from 9/11. We have begun to recover now.   $12,000 a year is spent on education (per child?) in NY but still children are not educated well. There is too much administration. Must invest in things that create jobs.

Question #2: Prescription Drugs – How to keep costs of prescriptions down in US?
        Policarpio – Not in favor of importation of drugs. Feels the quality of imported drugs is not the same. We need tax incentives to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
        Ackerman – The imported drugs are made here in the USA. The Republicans are the friends of the drug companies and will not allow Medicare to negotiate to buy in bulk to save money for the American people. The Veteran’s Administration can do it, why not Medicare? It is illegal to do so because the government is offering preferential treatment to the drug companies, not to the American public. Drugs are cheaper in Canada because the Canadian government negotiates price with the drug companies.
        Graves – The present drug bill is a debacle. There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to get drugs from abroad.

Rebuttal
        Policarpio – It is dangerous to get drugs from foreign countries. He opposes importation for the health of the American people.
        Ackerman – Safety and Security was in the legislation that the Republicans killed. On another front, he believes in a woman’s right to choose.
        Graves – We need to protect traditional values. He wants to fight for the US. Get our fair share from the taxes we pay.

Ann-Margaret Carrozza – Has spent 8 years in the Assembly, drafting and passing common sense legislation. She wants to address tort reform. She is an elder law attorney. She is fighting for full disclosure of expensive long term care policies to assure that people realize that even though they are paying high premiums, they don’t have total coverage. They must pay the difference between the daily $ amount the policy allows and the daily $ amount the rehab facility charges. The policies typically offer $150-180 a day while the charges are more in the range of $300-$340 a day. She is looking for a new Republican Senator to push this through the State Senate.

Peter Boudouvas - He is a Republican Conservative. Lives in Bayside. He is a legislative aide to State Senator Frank Padavan. We need a full-time representative in Albany. According to the Brennan Report, NYS has the worst legislature in the country. We pay the highest taxes. The city and state take 12 %. The government now is not representing the people. We need a change. In the State Assembly there is ‘empty seat voting’ where absence equals a ‘yes’ vote. We want to fix Albany. The opponent’s record shows she is absent too often. We need accountability in education.

        Question # 1: The State Budget is always late, how would you fix this?
        Carrozza – We need reform in Albany. The budget deadline is currently April 1^st. This is too soon because income taxes are due April 15^th. Need to know how much is coming in before budget is made. This year there were debate delays on more money to NYC for education.
        Boudouvas – It’s a disgrace that we have the latest budget. There should be a law which requires government to adopt last year’s budget if a new one is not passed on time.

Rebuttal
Carrozza – We must move the budget deadline to a more realistic deadline.
Boudouvas – Must pass the budget on time or get penalized. Withholding the salary sounds good until you realize that as soon as the budget is passed they get all that money back in one lump sum.

Question from audience – Republican Senate and Democratic Assembly is counter-productive; your opinion?
Carrozza – A balance of power is a good thing.
Boudouvas – We need newly elected members. Gerrymandering must stop. We need reform to correct the system. We need new people with new ideas.

Rebuttal
Carrozza – Per capita homeland defense spending in NYS is too small. Need more dollars to keep NYS safe.
Boudouvas – We send $12,000,000 more to Washington D.C. than we get back. We need to reduce the tax rate we send to Congress.

Question #2: Should DMV require a Social Security card to issue driver’s licenses?
Carrozza – For the sake of our security, yes. The SS card should be a requirement.
Boudouvas – Agree

Rebuttal, Closing Arguments
Carrozza – Has a record of hard work and independence. She was against the repeal of the commuter tax, voting against the party line. She is in favor of increasing aid to education. We in the 26^th district should not be penalized because we have good schools. Bring wasted dollars back into the system.
Boudouvas – We have too many lawyers in Albany. I am an engineer, trained to solve problems. Accountability will solve the school problems. Carrozza is beholden to her party that pays for her re-election campaign. She is absent too much.

Lee Mayersohn was the only candidate in attendance. He is a Democrat, a lifelong resident of Queens, a graduate of Queens College and Hofstra Law School. He has had a private practice in Fresh Meadows since 1981. He lives in Bayside. Was tax commissioner under Mayor Koch and 4 others. He has the legal experience and life experience to do the job. He has accepted no campaign financing – it’s all coming out of his own pocket.

Links to the Little Neck Ledger and Queens Tribune's
coverage of Candidates Night can be found on our News page.