Page 33 - Demo

GENERAL ELECTION %u201986 CAMPAIGN UPDATE:All Candidates Square Off In GOP Debate In Fort GreeneBY ROB TAYLORThe Democratic nomination in New York City primaries is usually tantamount to a general election victory, but the unusual political situation in Ft. Greene%u2019s 57th Assembly District this year is testing the traditional party loyalty of the voting public.Incumbent Democratic Assemblymember Roger Green, who was removed from the Democratic primary ballot in September over technical problems with his nominating petitions, is now seeking re-election not as a Democrat, but on the Liberal Party line, against Republican Joseph Voyticky and Democrat nominee Stanley Frere.At a debate sponsored by the Republicans Against Poverty on Oct. 2 at the Hanson Place Seventh Day Adventist Church in Ft. Greene, the three candidates squared off to defend their records and build support for the campaigns. With the debate lines drawn, Green defended his experience, Frere talked about new leadership in the Assembly and Voyticky said he was trying to establish a two-party system in the district.%u201cYear after year with the Democrats in the Assembly, nothing has been done,%u201d said Voyticky, who is a 20-year-old student at Union College in Schenectady. %u201cI want competition brought back into the political system because competition brings results.%u201dDespite the young candidate%u2019s bold attempt to bring a choice between conservative and liberal candidates into the district%u2019s politics this year, most of the attention is being focused on the competition between Frere and Green. Frere, a Chase Manhattan executive, brought the lawsuit that was responsible for Green%u2019s removal from the Democratic Primary ballot and while Green does not visibly show any animosity toward Frere, he seems to be pulling every political string he has to assure his re-election. He is counting on the support of the Democratic County Chairman and Borough President, Howard Golden, and has much of the district%u2019s Democratic leadership and most of the local incumbent office-holders in his comer.Frere, who was left alone on the Sept, primary ballot after the courts removed Green, accused Green of showing no leadership on education, crack and crime problems in the district. %u201cAs an Assemblyman you have to have your two eyes and two ears seeking out the people to help you do things for the district,%u201d he said during his opening comments.Green countered that during his first term in the Assembly, he was the first %u201cfreshman%u201d to ever have a bill signed into law referring to the state%u2019s nutritional assistance program. He also reminded the candidates that this year he was able to secure funding for the Kings County Children%u2019s Psychiatric Hospital.Although the debate was sponsored by the Republicans, the 50 people in the church hall seemed to be divided into an even number of members of both the two main political parties. Despite questions on the crack epidemic, the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal project (ATURA) and environmental issues, what seemed to inflame those in the audience most was the question of comRoger Green Stanley Frere Joe VoytickyC rack is not going tobe solved by D %u2019A m a todressing up and goingon a crack bust.W e c a n %u2019t rely on oneperson to take up thecrack fight a ll bythemselves.I w ant com petitionbrought back becauseit brings results.munity visibility. Both Frere, with his determination, and Green, who was calm during the debate, were questioned intensely about whether they attended the public meetings that they claimed they had.On the issues alone, the three candidates took just a few shots against each other and spoke about their own views. %u201cNo one person in the Assembly can do anything by himself,%u201d said Voyticky about crack abuse. %u201cIt has to be attacked on all levels of government.%u201d He advocated public school drug education programs beginning in the second grade rather than high school.Frere said it would take community action to solve the problem. %u201cWe can%u2019t rely on any one person to take up the fight themselves,%u201d he said. %u201cWe have to band together as a community.%u201d Frere added that this is the approach the Boerum Hill community took in 1984 to try to stop crack sales in their neighborhood and accused Green of not paying attention to that neighborhood and turning his back on the problem.Green%u2019s approach is different as he describes crack abuse as a social problem of youth with low self-esteem. %u201cIt%u2019s not going to be solved by Republicans like AlfonseSome Facts About The 57th DistrictThe 57th Assembly District stretches from Ft. Greene to Crown Heights and includes parts of Prospect Heights, Boerum Hill and the downtown Brooklyn area around Fulton Mall.The district, according to the incumbent Assemblymember Roger Green, has the most higher education institutions of any Assembly seat in the state, including New York Polytechnic University, Pratt Institute, Long Island University and New York Technical College. It also has one of the lowest income levels in the city, creating tensions over housing where newer, more affluent families have moved into many of the row house homes in the neighborhoods as larger nearby apartment buildings have seen rents increase.Green has represented the district in Albany for three terms since 1980, and now heads the State Legislature%u2019s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus. In 1984, he was first challenged by this year%u2019s Democratic candidate, Stanley Frere, and Green won the race, 5,065 to 1,267.He then went on to win the general election against his Republican opponent, Marjory Jastrey, 21,407 to 2,401. With Democrats outnumbering Republicans in the district more than 10 to one, GOP candidates have-q lo r.S t' W a le 'S !' TiiiaryStA flam sS UBoerum Pi - Atlantic Av Court St-j War'pnSt^ Smith St - )ouglass$tHoytSti// %u25a0DivisionSM Broadway - Heyward S t' Bedford Av Park Av I Spence' S tJ Myrtle AvMontrose A^-f U)S^,nQ ,MarcyAvMyOieA. 7Douglass St DegrawSt 5Av Sackett StProspect Expy8Av,Prospect Pk W 8St,Prospect Pk Wl Prospect Pk S' 1M. ,1A%u201c-* New Utrecht Av l9St JjU \\ Prospect Expy V , \\ Seeley Si\\ \\ \\ McDonald Avm MtoughD^Jv Jacket! St Emerson PiX fr J S I I # NewsS'&eanSi * '/ S i Johns pi /a >Lincoln Pi '6Av***r^Sterling P'Butler Pi/7 S 1 %^TaafteP* Nostrand Av Gates/ ^DeKaio ( %u25a0 %u00a3 Sfuvvesar %u2019 Gates 3 0 Monroes: ^ Putnam A, Nostrand Av ^/ Irvm gP' ^ j Herkimer St ^ New York Av / Kingston Av ' Virginia j7/9StFiatDuShAvlEm pireBivdj51Caton Av Parade Pi a| St Pauls P iJ , %u00a3 St Pauls CkIUUSterling7 tcX&t Clarkson 1 0 * 5 ? g s g j . f es} %u00ab 2 3 Church hnever recently mounted a serious challenge to the Democratic nominee. There are currently 36,731 Democrats and 2,368 Republicans registered in the district. The Liberal Party, which has nominated Green this year, has only 445 registered members in the 57th A.D. Green has also petitioned to secure a second independent line on the ballot. %u2014 R.T.D%u2019Amato dressing up and going on a crack Dust, ne said, referring to the U.S. Senator's publicly announced raid that he participated in last summer.While the candidates differed slightly on how to counter the crack epidemic, all three had reservations about the ATURA project, which will be located in the 57th A.D. and has stirred some community concern because of the lack of low-income housing in the current plans.%u201cIt%u2019s fine that they%u2019re talking about housing, but having $90,000 condominiums in an area where most of the people are low income doesn%u2019t make sense,%u201d said Frere, who added that he was one of the few members of the Pratt Area Community Council (PACC) who opposed the project because of the lack of community input.Green, who said he has been an opponent of the project from the very beginning said that he planned to speak against the project when it is brought before the Board of Estimate, Oct. 9. Again, Green said that he was opposed to it because of the housing plans and the lack of employment opportunities for local residents.Voyticky took a different tack, saying he supported the project but would see to it that five percent of the units were made available to low-income people to purchase with state assistance. %u201cI would support legislation that would help tenants buy their apartments,%u201d he said. %u201cIt%u2019s an American right to own property.%u201dAlong with a near agreement on the problems with ATURA, the candidates also expressed similar opinions on the need to clean up toxic waste sites in the state and to stop the building of an incinerator at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Voyticky said that he wanted the state to enact tougher standards to assure that waste sites were not located in urban areas like Brooklyn. Green was one up on Voyticky and added that he had already sent letters to the Governor and other state officials to raise the standards. Frere said that the Assemblymember should make sure he represents the district on the issue.The line of questioning did not placate the audience of strong supporters who stood up for their candidates and challenged the reputations of the opponents.Green claimed he attended Community School Board meetings and Frere claimed he was active with PACC. Voyticky%u2019s inexperience was also called into question. Green and Frere both found themselves having to defend their community work.It was, perhaps, the young and nervous Voyticky who received the greatest applause then when he answered these questions, showing that he had greater political promise in the years to come. %u201cEverybody has to start somewhere,%u201d he told the audience about his lack of experience. %u201cIt%u2019s important that if you feel you can make a contribution to your district then you try.%u201dFrere later added, referring to his 1984 campaign against Green, %u201cJust because someone doesn%u2019t vote for me and didn%u2019t support my previous campaigns, doesn%u2019t mean IContinued on Page 6Republican Stumps In Dugan Territory For Assembly VotesBY ROB TAYLORDiane Picucci, the Republican challenger in the Heights/South Brooklyn/Bay Ridge 52nd Assembly District launched an attack into the home turf of her Democratic opponent, the incumbent Assemblymember Eileen Dugan, over the weekend with a fundraiser at Cafe 1886 in Cobble Hill.The GOP candidate is waging an yphill battle to upset Dugan, who has represented the district for six years. With a conservative political base in Picucci%u2019s home neighborhood, Bay Ridge, she is having to concentrate on Democr atic loyalists in Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill to try to steal the election.With the assistance of Cobble Hill resident and 1980 Republican Assembly candidate, Thornton Willett, Picucci walked down Court St. Saturday, Oct. 4, talking to local merchants and asking them if she could place a poster in their store windows.%u201cI am meeting people in Eileen Dugan%u2019s home territory right now,%u201d Picucci says, %u201cand I think I am being well received.%u201d She adds that only one storeowner refused to puta campaign poster up for her GOP candidacy.%u201cCompared to when I ran six years ago,%u201d says Willet, %u201cshe must have been able to put up three times as many signs as I was.%u201dOn Sunday, Oct. 5, Picucci was then toasted by about 50 well-wishers at a fundraiser brunch at Cafe 1886, a neighborhood French restaurant on Court St. With guests paying $50 each, Picucci said she was encouraged to continue her political battle.Most of the supporters were Brooklyn GOP officials including Fred Panteleone, the County Republican Chairperson; Alice O%u2019Rourke, the daughter of the Republican candidate for Governor, Andy O%u2019Rourke; Dyker Beach Assemblymember Amaldo Ferarro; Margaret Devene and Joseph Sussillo, Republican District Leaders from the 52r.d AD; Joseph Longobardi, Republican District Leader from the 51st AD; and Conservative District Leaders, Fran Vella, 46 A D ; Jerry uaesar, 48tn A D ; Jerry Loren, 44th AD; and Joan Burgmeyer, 52nd AD.Noticeably absent was a large contingent of Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill residents, Diane Picuccivoters whom Picucci is trying to get to know. Despite an enticing menu that included crudites, chicken and chocolate mousse prepared by Chef Jesus Gonzalez, Picucci%u2019s lack of a political base in the neighborhood will be a major frustration in the November general election. Picucci, however, is nonplussed.%u201cI am still surprised at how few people actually know who Eileen Dugan is,%u201d says Picucci, about the Assemblymember who has a large office on Court St. This may eb the strategy she is using, but by past indications from general election day returns, Democratic voters have overwhelmingly elected Dugan to office. In 1984, Dugan won re-election over her then GOP opponent, Andy LaBella, 22,264 to 14,651.With Democratic registration in the district outnumbering the Republican, two to one, the fight will be a difficult one.Election Day is less than a month away and ricucci appears io nave no plans of easing up on her efforts. She says she is personally committed to completing the campaign despite the odds.O c to b e r 9 ,1 9 8 6 , T H E P H O E N IX , P ag e 5