ON THE NORTH SHORE, CANDIDATES SEEK TO EASE THE TRAFFIC
by Khadijah Rentas

Gotham Gazette
217/255/2828
Feb 16 2009
NY

The Candidates

Tony Baker
Kenneth Mitchell
Donald Pagano
Deborah Rose
Paul Saryian

Current Occcupant: The seat became vacant when voters elected
Councilmember Michael McMahon to Congress on Nov. 4.

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The Staten Island race that began as the most hotly contested of this
year’s three special elections for City Council, has been shaken up
and whittled down to five candidates from nine. One independent,
Paul Saryian, has dared to take on four Democrats: Deborah Rose,
Tony Baker, Donald Pagano and Kenneth Mitchell. They will duke it out
for the 49th district City Council seat over familiar Staten Island
issues that include curbing traffic congestion and public access to
an underdeveloped waterfront.

The candidates’ platforms strongly resemble one another. All of them
promise expensive projects to boost a district that has been hard hit
by the economic downturn. The North Shore is one of four areas Mayor
Michael Bloomberg has cited as having the highest increase in housing
foreclosures in the city. All five want improved transportation, less
crime and more money funneled to education and struggling families. But
each candidate differs on the details and on how they would make good
on those promises.

For more, jump here.

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Biographies : Tony Baker, 51: The reverend and former school teacher
lives in Port Richmond. He is a U.S. Army veteran and on the board
of the Richmond University Medical Center.

Kenneth Mitchell, 43: The West Brighton resident served as chief
of staff to former Councilmember Michael McMahon as his chief of
staff. Mitchell has received endorsements from his former boss and
unions, including a firefighters union.

Donald Pagano, 47: Also of Port Richmond, he owns DRP Electrical
Contracting, Inc. and has worked in the electrical contracting field
for 30 years. He is secretary for Community Education Council 31.

Deborah Rose, 56: The Mariner’s Harbor resident ran for the council
seat in 2001, but lost to McMahon. She is secretary of Community
Board No. 1 and has advocated for the community for 28 years.

Paul Saryian, 49: Saryian, who lives in West Brighton, served as a
New York City police officer for 23 years and retired a captain. The
NYPD Captains Endowment Association has endorsed him.

Campaign Finance Records Tony Baker Kenneth Mitchell Donald Pagano
Deborah Rose Paul Saryian

Links in the News: Tabacco Loses Ballot Spot, The Wonkster, Feb. 12,
2009

Nine Vie for City Council Seat (video), NY1, Feb. 13, 2009

City Council Race Getting Uglier, Staten Island Advance, Feb. 11, 2009

Staten Island Democrats Vie for McMahon’s Seat, City Room, Nov. 14,
2008

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The most urban of Staten Island’s three districts, the 49th sharply
contrasts with the more suburban feel of the rest of the island
and hosts five of the borough’s 10 public housing developments. The
district also differs politically from the rest of often Republican
Staten Island — Democrats have held the North Shore district seat
for more than 25 years.

The district is the home of many recent immigrants and the most
racially diverse part of the island. Rose and Baker are both looking
to become the first black council member from Staten Island. Saryian
is of Armenian and Hispanic descent, and former candidate Rajiv Gowda,
who was knocked off the ballot, was born in India.

‘Shovel-Ready’ Residents and visitors alike often complain about
transportation on Staten Island: traffic on the Staten Island
Expressway sometimes backed up to New Jersey, the Verrazano Bridge’s
toll of $10 (up $2 from 2004) and the limited ferry service at
off-peak times.

To ease transportation woes, the candidates all advocate development
of a light rail system.

Rose, who ran unsuccessfully for the council seat in 2001, suggested
creating a rail line that would circle the entire island. Rose and
Pagano view the rail line as a shovel-ready project that should be
eligible for money from the federal economic stimulus package and
that could economically revitalize the neighborhoods along the route.

Mitchell promises to work for the development of a light rail on the
North Shore. A lawyer, Mitchell, Mitchell worked as McMahon’s chief of
staff, experience that he thinks sets him apart from his competition.

Baker, along with Rose and Mitchell, wants to increase local and
express bus service and save bus service the MTA has threatened to
cut because of budget shortfalls.

Saryian also wants to encourage more public transportation
and has turned his eyes to the median over the Staten Island
Expressway. Saryian thinks a rail system in Staten Island, similar
to the AirTrain over the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens, would relieve
car traffic.

The ferry doesn’t contribute to car traffic and offers the only free
trip off or on the island. About 19 million people a year ride the
ferry, according to the city’s Department of Transportation. But the
boat departs St. George terminal only once an hour weekend evenings
and overnight every day.

Rose wants the boat to depart every 20 minutes around the
clock. Mitchell said he’d like to see the ferry motor across the
Hudson River every half-hour after midnight. And Saryian has a plan
to subsidize increased ferry service: Tourists should pay while New
Yorkers continue to ride for free.

Making Tourists Pay After floating serenely down the Hudson past
the Statue of Liberty, tourists dock at St. George and step off the
ferry. Instead of lingering, many get right back on the boat. Some
candidates believe developing the mostly inaccessible and unfriendly
waterfront to provide recreation for islanders and tourists would
boost the economy.

Pagano wants to recast the shoreline with an esplanade from the
homeport, which the Navy once owned, to Snug Harbor. He envisions a
new K-12 school, park, restaurants, summer boating and a low-rise
hotel or two that don’t block the view. Basically, "a downtown
centralized Mecca."

Mitchell also wants a new K-12 school, but not on the waterfront. He
proposes waterfront parks and housing and commercial space at the
homeport.

Staten Island Tea Party?

Stimulus money and tourism offer the 49th district a way to get what
some residents say the North Shore hasn’t received from the city:
its "fair share."

Saryian said he has built his campaign around "an issue of equity." All
districts combined, the borough has the highest median income of the
five, at $55,039, according to 2000 data from the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York. But, he said that Staten Islanders do not get in
public services from the city what they pay with taxes as a result
of having higher incomes.

"People on Staten Island are ready to start throwing tea in the
ocean," Saryian said, recalling rebellious colonists prior to the
American Revolution.

Saryian ticked off a list of district and island’s needs: more
education, health care and police funding.

The only Health and Hospitals Corp. facility on Staten Island is a
nursing home, Seaview Hospital. The other four boroughs have 11 acute
care hospitals among them.

According to data from the NYPD, the 120th precinct, which covers
neighborhoods in the 49th district, reported a drop in crime in 2008
when compared to 2001, but an increase in the number of murders,
rapes, grand larcenies and robberies. As a retired captain, Saryian
wants more police in the district and more follow-ups at homes of
domestic disputes to reduce the chances of escalating violence.

Serving the District Mitchell, a lawyer, has received the endorsements
of unions and the district’s former council member, McMahon,.

Rose said the North Shore needs an aggressive leader. "You have to
elect people that are strong, that have big mouths, like me," she said
at a forum on Jan. 22. A community advocate for 28 years and secretary
of Community Board No. 1, Rose has received endorsements from DC37
and Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member Allen Cappelli.

Baker doesn’t consider himself a "big mouth," but charismatic. "I’m
very personable," he told a resident when asked whether he would have
a strong voice on the current council. As a reverend, Baker believes
he can rally people together and said he plans to do so around issues
of transportation, health care and education.

Pagano worked for over 30 years in electrical contracting and
development and owns his own contracting business, DRP Electrical
Contracting, Inc. In these hard times, Pagano said he feels he can
relate more to the people of the 49th district.

"I was born in a housing project and I came to the North Shore when I
was six and have lived in the corridor ever since…I know what it’s
like to wait on a surplus food line," he said. Pagano feels education
and dedication spurred his success and he has become a proponent of
education as the secretary for Community Education Council 31.

Saryian considers himself a strong candidate because of his public
safety experience. He spent 23 years with the NYPD.

According to campaign finance records: Kenneth Mitchell led in
fundraising raising $81,245 in contributions, $84,122 in public funds
and spending $39,546. Deborah Rose raised $33,797, received $75,981 in
public funds and spent $17,112. Paul Saryian raised $31,686, received
$30,347 in public funds and spent $46,450. Tony Baker raised $29,581,
received $64,809 in public funds and spent $27,231. Donald Pagano
raised $14,996, received $31,247 in public funds and spent $10,145.

The special election is Feb. 24 and the seat will be up for grabs again
in November. All the candidates said they plan to run for re-election
if they win. And many said they disagree with taking the power to
extend term limits away from the voters. But, hesitantly, Rose and
Mitchell admitted they’d consider the title of three-time incumbent.

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Paul Saryian, 49: Saryian, who lives in West Brighton, served as a
New York City police officer for 23 years and retired a captain. The
NYPD Captains Endowment Association has endorsed him.