It’s Up to You Bed Stuy, Everyone is Watching

Election Day is upon us in New York City and all eyes are on Brooklyn’s 36th Council District.

Yeah, we know there is a hotly contested race for Mayor between Bill Thompson and Michael Bloomberg that’s been receiving all of your attention.  You can’t help it.  Every media outlet for the last 2 months has been featuring every aspect of the Mayoral race.

So while we interrupt their broadcast to bring you this important message, perhaps a brief stroll down memory lane will remind everyone what’s at stake.

Foreclosure and the Homeless

I’ve written a number of posts about the enormity of the foreclosure crisis to families young and old who are either experiencing the loss of the American Dream or the erosion of Home Equity meant to finance the dreams of the next generation.

Adding insult to injury, the district continues to see the Homeless population grow with new shelter facilities opening in properties that families once owned.

Public School Education

The largest public school system in the United States struggles to meet its social mandate to its constituents: grade school children.

The Mandate: A clean, safe, healthy learning environment where a child would be free to develop their abilities to their full potential.

Somehow, in the midst of the Parental Involvement rhetoric, this point was lost amongst those contending for public office.

New York City Government

Reforming an entrenched political culture where favor is courted and loyalty rewarded by those empowered has reaped what it has sown: Corruption.

I certainly wouldn’t be the first to mention the countless slush fund and capital budget scandals that have found their way onto the front pages, along with the personal failings of a number of elected officials in State and City Government.

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So what’s it all about today?  Getting your candidate elected?  Maybe, but I have my concerns.  And while I may never be able to convey them as well as I hope to, there they are.

You see, politics are best discussed in collateral terms, preferably in the noun form.  At least, from the electorate’s view.

For today, they’ll enter the booth and once again pledge their security, their trust, that the promissory note delivered by U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1967 may finally come due and pay a handsome return.

This is why Barbara Jean Corley made Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn her home in 1965 as others had before her, fleeing jim crow and British servitude.

And where her son has promised to man the watchtower.

You only have two choices to represent you in the City Council of New York:

Al Vann or Mark Winston Griffith

When you enter the booth, just remember;

November 3rd, Line E is the Key.