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Reminding students of their responsibility to choose a leader who will \u201ctake us from lockdown back to life, from pandemic to prosperity,\u201d Hunter College President Jennifer Raab kicked off Tuesday evening\u2019s panel featuring candidates for Manhattan Borough President answering questions from Hunter students.<\/p>\n
The virtual event hosted by the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute featured all six announced democractic candidates primarying for the party\u2019s borough president nomination.<\/p>\n
Lindsey Boylan, Elizabeth Caputo, Ben Kallos, Mark Levine, and Kimberly Watkins were joined by a late-arriving Brad Hoylman, who was working on the past-due state budget in Albany, to field questions from Hunter college students on the issues most important to them.<\/p>\n
Boylan\u2019s opening statement immediately proved relevant to students\u2019 questions as she cited the borough\u2019s desperate need for a \u201cbold, progressive\u201d leader with a focus on creating a \u201cmore equitable, livable, and sustainable [city] for all New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hunter senior Harrison Cade led off questioning, asking how candidates will \u201cwork toward creating more equitable and compassionate government\u201d while \u201crestoring confidence in elected leaders among Latino and all communities of color.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giving residents of color a voice in local decision making was the most important step, claimed Caputo while touting her experience as \u201cthe only person on this call who chaired a community board,\u201d as being integral in assisting underserved residents of Manhattan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot ignore this anymore,\u201d Levine said, continuing that the borough president must address inequality on \u201cevery front,\u201d citing housing, healthcare, employment and education as needing drastic reforms for communities of color.<\/p>\n
Each candidate pledged to address the racial inequalities and disparities at the forefront of Hunter students\u2019 minds, but the fact that all six candidates are white was not acknowledged by any member of the panel. Moderator and journalist at The City<\/a> Rachel Holliday Smith did not press the candidates on the issue.<\/p>\n While scratching the chin of his cat Pandora, Kallos, one of nine New York City Council members who voted \u201cno,\u201d on New York City\u2019s budget, stated that assisting communities of color requires \u201cacknowledging the systems of racism,\u201d that exist today. His vote was a direct response to his view that the NYPD is over-funded at the expense of other civil services.<\/p>\n Appearing in a living room with an unbothered dog on her couch, Watkins expressed her candidacy, \u201cwas born out of my extreme frustrations\u201d with the public school system. Serving her third term as president of the Community Education Council Watkins spoke on the importance of public education throughout the night.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-content\/uploads\/kallos.cat_-300x171.png\")
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State Senator Hoylman\u2019s governing experience was on display in real-time as he joined the call seated on the floor in the \u201cfar reaches of the Albany capital complex,\u201d following negotiations on the State\u2019s delayed budget,