Decision ‘09: Republican Challengers
Profiles by Dan Rivoli
October 23, 2009
Your mailbox may not be as full of campaign “literature” as it was prior to the primary election, but there are still a number of candidates looking to court voters ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. Though they all do not have the same amount of money to spend as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the independent running on the GOP line, Republicans are challenging several incumbent Democrats, and vying for open citywide seats for comptroller and public advocate.
Stephen Kaufman – Republican Running for City Council District 5
Stephen Kaufman is a martial artist and “hanshi,” a Japanese honorific for a “grand master.” He started the practice 50 years ago, during his time in the Air Force. He is challenging incumbent Council Member Jessica Lappin, he says, because the discipline that is a hallmark of martial arts is lacking in city government. Lappin represents District 5, which roughly covers Roosevelt Island, Yorkville and the East Side from East 49th to 92nd streets, between the East River and Lexington Avenue.
“I’m fed up with the way the city is being handled, the incompetence of those in office,” Kaufman said. “They are machine people.”
The gruff, no-nonsense Kaufman is a Flatbush, Brooklyn native who moved to the Upper East Side more than 25 years ago. He now lives on East 75th Street, near First Avenue. Kaufman has written 37 books, 16 of which have been published, such as The Sword in the Boardroom and The Hanshi of Central Park.
If elected, Kaufman said he would kick special interests out of City Hall, slash waste and decrease the homeless population. He would also conduct “transparency studies” of the East 91st Street waste transfer station and the “fiasco” that is the never-ending Second Avenue subway project. He’d like to kill the project and install a light rail instead.
“It’s one-tenth the cost of the subway and it’ll flow with ease and grace,” Kaufman said. “And it could be done in two or three years.”
On school overcrowding, Kaufman wants to use eminent domain to take vacant buildings and turn them into schools, instead of constructing new space.
Kaufman is currently a management consultant, but says he wants to end the rule that allows Council members’ jobs to be “part-time,” which gives many legislators additional outside income.
“It’s a full time job 24-7, or you’re not doing the job,” Kaufman said. “It’s not a social thing. It’s a down-to-the-ground, kick-ass kind of a job.”
His initiatives will be successful, Kaufman believes, because of his independence from politics and refusal to seek higher office.
“I’m not looking at it from, ‘What do I got to do to keep votes,’” he said. “I got the balls to do all of this.”
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Kaufman Platform Update
PLATFORM UPDATE
I have formed a coalition of Progressive Democrats, Republicans, transit advocates, veterans, small business owners, Independents and Conservatives in opposition to one-party machine Democrats, who control the entire Upper Eastside, at City Hall, in Albany, and throughout the entire judicial selection process.
I am aggressively advocating the shutting down of the Second Avenue Subway construction fiasco that only lines the pockets of private interest groups backed heavily by Democrats without regard for harm to restaurants, small businesses and residents to immediately build a state-of-the-art light rail instead of 1.7 mile, $4.65 billion (and counting) subway to nowhere. Today’s completion schedule suggests completion in 2018, more probably 2021 at which time it will be totally outdated and useless. A curbside boarding, non-polluting light rail system at 1/10 the cost could be finished in 2012-2013 providing much quicker relief for the overcrowded IRT Lexington Avenue line and permit end to fare and tax increases voted on in Albany by local machine Democrats. Traffic will flow with more constancy and the inconvenience will be minimal. Businesses will not suffer and relocation of long time residents will not be necessary.
Further, City Council appropriations for contracting out projects have risen from $2 billion to $9.5 billion in the past 12 years (Independent Budget Office figures). “Swept under the rug” research has proven a 75% savings on all costs as realistic when contracts are fulfilled by skilled civil service workers.
1 - $500 million in tax credits for implementing an absolute rent freeze for all through removal of 62 Year age and $24,000 annual income SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption) caps,
2 - $700 million to restore free tuition and textbooks at city university (CUNY) plus other enhancements such as fair wages for adjunct professors.
3 - $100 million to restore six 9am to 9PM hours at branch libraries and seven day 9AM service at main Library plus additional budget for book purchases and raising of wages for staff now as low as $20,500 a year
4 - $1.8 billion to repeal 18.5 percent real estate tax
5 - $1 billion to improve transit service and stabilize fares. The city council has cut its appropriation from $558 million to $269 million (Independent budget office figures) since 1992
6 - $250 million to reinstall and fully modernize garbage incineration systems, citywide.
My coalition urges support for the Responsible Ballot Initiative Sponsored by New Yorkers for Humane Housing that would ban all forms of bias against tenants with will-behaved pets.
As a United States Air Force veteran, (I served my country on active duty for four years,) my concern with veteran’s needs includes outreach centers for recently returning vets to have job training and whatever realistic assistance they need. I am working with Mayor Bloomberg’s Veteran’s Affairs committee to enable these services into action.
As council member, I will refuse a “do me a favor” stipends and salary raises. Both machine Democrats representing the
I am introducing long overdue good government measures, such as nonpartisan reapportionment, mandatory listening sessions for elected officials, proportional representation, banning stipends, dissolving slush funds, reducing elected officials salaries, etc. I am also in favor of eliminating the totally useless jobs of Borough Presidents and Public Advocates. These two alone at the base level can save the city over $100 million dollars each year and the ”plum” has been proven over and again to be a consistent waste of taxpayer money.
It is essential that concerned citizens contact me by email: sfk422@gmail.com, for my position on any issues. I urge you not to waste your vote on do-nothing incumbents and goodie two-shoe liberals. They are tearing the heart and soul out of
The time for REAL change and improvement is now, People, the time is now.
Friday, October 2, 2009
The Second Avenue Subway and the Abomination of Taxpayer Waste
I have recently written to the Daily News as a rebuttal to an article about the relocating of tenants, demotion of buildings and the destruction of businesses on Second Ave. Since that time I have done additional research into the matter after having attended the CB8 MTA meeting last week. Curiously, I was the only candidate in attendance as well as there not being any incumbents. No surprise there.
All that seems to be coming from the progenitors of the wasteful hole in the ground is that it is a fait accompli and nothing can really be done about it. That it will not be finished in the proposed time and at the proposed cost is further exacerbated by the apathy of the community except to say that they are disturbed and disenchanted with the entire situation. There is a lot of anger and vehemence concerning this issue and though it may be only a local matter, it does involve the entire city.
Here is the rebuttal which was ignored by the press.
“I am aware, and with great concern and distress, that long-time residents will have to uproot their lives to satisfy the needs of the Democrat Party lines and their obvious “deals” through the guise of eminent domain, an antiquated, if not totally vapid concept. This is a quality of life issue and should be maintained as non-partisan but it is not. The inadequate “handout” being offered to the tenants to find new and/or comparable housing in this district is next to impossible. The proposed plan is completely unfair though it may “look good on paper” as suggested by Jessica Lappin. It is obvious to everyone that the rich are trying to eliminate the less financially well-off.
The inadequacy of the Second Avenue Subway to nowhere can be readily replaced by an intelligent light rail system for practically one tenth the cost and one that can be installed within a much smaller time frame. As well, it can be extended to the length needed by the populace in all areas of the city.
Will the city also offer Public Assistance to seniors and those incapable of dealing with this issue for themselves? Or is this just another form of the Robert Moses philosophy? All of the ancillary aspects of the Second Avenue Subway are being used to cover up unconscionable incompetence and a profoundly arcane management system. A time for government reform and real-value change is now.”
At the meeting I was informed rather brusquely, that the people did have their say as far back as 1993 and that the light rail system was eliminated as an alternative. I question the validity of that relative to the interests those who could directly profit from the building of the subway. Additional concerns to be taken into consideration are the reality that the project will be totally outdated by the estimated time of completion. Though we are being told it should be done by 2016 – 2017, I assure you, dear voters that this fiasco will continue on into the 20’s, the cost overruns will stagger the imagination and the fare will rise accordingly to approximately $3.50 per ride and don’t be surprised if they do away with the senior fare and transfer system. The contracts being awarded and those that have already been awarded and the amounts being paid is tantamount to “Let’s Make a Deal and the Public be Damned.”
A new wrinkle in the project is that the buildings on Second Ave are in dire need of being shored up against the excavations. Many of the old buildings will not withstand the removal of bedrock.
How long are the people going to be put through this wringer of greed and obstinacy? It is rampant throughout the entire fabric of society and if there is not change, and soon, we will have lost all credibility for our own well-being while having to continuously be subject to the whims of self-serving politicians. Or is it a question of indifference that breeds social lethargy?
All that seems to be coming from the progenitors of the wasteful hole in the ground is that it is a fait accompli and nothing can really be done about it. That it will not be finished in the proposed time and at the proposed cost is further exacerbated by the apathy of the community except to say that they are disturbed and disenchanted with the entire situation. There is a lot of anger and vehemence concerning this issue and though it may be only a local matter, it does involve the entire city.
Here is the rebuttal which was ignored by the press.
“I am aware, and with great concern and distress, that long-time residents will have to uproot their lives to satisfy the needs of the Democrat Party lines and their obvious “deals” through the guise of eminent domain, an antiquated, if not totally vapid concept. This is a quality of life issue and should be maintained as non-partisan but it is not. The inadequate “handout” being offered to the tenants to find new and/or comparable housing in this district is next to impossible. The proposed plan is completely unfair though it may “look good on paper” as suggested by Jessica Lappin. It is obvious to everyone that the rich are trying to eliminate the less financially well-off.
The inadequacy of the Second Avenue Subway to nowhere can be readily replaced by an intelligent light rail system for practically one tenth the cost and one that can be installed within a much smaller time frame. As well, it can be extended to the length needed by the populace in all areas of the city.
Will the city also offer Public Assistance to seniors and those incapable of dealing with this issue for themselves? Or is this just another form of the Robert Moses philosophy? All of the ancillary aspects of the Second Avenue Subway are being used to cover up unconscionable incompetence and a profoundly arcane management system. A time for government reform and real-value change is now.”
At the meeting I was informed rather brusquely, that the people did have their say as far back as 1993 and that the light rail system was eliminated as an alternative. I question the validity of that relative to the interests those who could directly profit from the building of the subway. Additional concerns to be taken into consideration are the reality that the project will be totally outdated by the estimated time of completion. Though we are being told it should be done by 2016 – 2017, I assure you, dear voters that this fiasco will continue on into the 20’s, the cost overruns will stagger the imagination and the fare will rise accordingly to approximately $3.50 per ride and don’t be surprised if they do away with the senior fare and transfer system. The contracts being awarded and those that have already been awarded and the amounts being paid is tantamount to “Let’s Make a Deal and the Public be Damned.”
A new wrinkle in the project is that the buildings on Second Ave are in dire need of being shored up against the excavations. Many of the old buildings will not withstand the removal of bedrock.
How long are the people going to be put through this wringer of greed and obstinacy? It is rampant throughout the entire fabric of society and if there is not change, and soon, we will have lost all credibility for our own well-being while having to continuously be subject to the whims of self-serving politicians. Or is it a question of indifference that breeds social lethargy?
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