58 APRIL 20 - APRIL 26, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Political hopefuls appeal to voters
at student organized Q and A
BY THOMAS NOCERA
Dozens of people participated
in a Q and A session hosted by
Reverend Khader El-Yateem
at Salam Arabic Lutheran Church
on Saturday, April 14. The session
was conceived and organized by Bay
Ridge Prep senior Alex Pellitteri and
focused on violence affecting young
people.
It was Pellitteri’s hope that the
efforts would be able to help raise
awareness and kick-start a local debate
on the topic
Attendees, who included students
from a number of area schools,
members of various Brooklyn-based
advocacy groups, Brooklyn Borough
President Eric Adams, and concerned
parents, were given the opportunity to
ask questions of two different panels.
The first was an expert panel of
teachers, activists and non-profit
heads who have focused their work
on violence affecting the lives young
people.
Following this initial Q and A, the
lengthier part of the event saw attendees
able to ask questions to another set
of potentially influential panelists:
four hopefuls running for District 11’s
Democratic nomination for the House
of Representatives.
“I think it’s important with the upcoming
election that they know people
are ready to hold their elected officials
accountable,” Pellitteri commented.
The four candidates — Omar Vaid,
Michael DeVito, Paul Sperling and
Zach Emig — hail from vastly different
backgrounds.
Vaid is a former union mechanic
turned political hopefully, Sperling,
at 25 years old, is one of the youngest
candidates running in the country.
Devito is a former Marine, and Emig
an engineer.
With differing levels of political experience
and platforms that clash on
certain issues, they all held the same
belief regarding violence affecting
America’s youth; that drastic change
legislatively is necessary to prevent
violence in schools.
“Young people are asking ‘what’s
next,’” DeVito said. “We have to come
together with young people and guide
them through the process”
Sperling agreed. “We need to make
the safety of every citizen our priority,”
he told the crowd.
With Pellitteri moderating the
debate, the conversation took a turn
towards an array of other topics. Attendees
grilled the panelists on issues
ranging from the policing policies to
campaign finance laws.
With U.S. military strikes in Syria
occurring only a few hours before
the panel met as well, Middle East
foreign policy dominated the focus of
many questions attendees put to the
panelists.
For almost an hour and a half, the
group addressed the wide array of
concerns and parried on issues that
could potentially decide their fates
come the primary election on June 26.
While District 11 — which includes
all of Staten Island and a swath of
southwest Brooklyn from Bay Ridge
to Gravesend — has elected a Republican
representative in the last several
general elections, the hopefuls were
not fazed.
Voicing a sentiment held by the
group, Emig commented: “This isn’t
a Republican district, we just have to
engage the voters.” Vaid expressed his
hope that partisanship would not get
in the way of electing a truly representative
congressmember.
Photo courtesy of Teri Brennan
Pellitteri, for his efforts, was
pleased with the turnout and results.
He hoped the politicians vying for
votes in the district would get a simple
message: “If you’re not going to
be accountable for what’s happening,
you’ll be replaced.”
The district is currently represented
by Congressmember Dan Donovan,
who is being challenged for the
GOP nomination by his predecessor,
Michael Grimm, who stepped down
from the seat after pleading guilty to
tax evasion and other federal charges,
and serving seven months of an eightmonth
prison sentence.
Also running for the Democratic
nomination are Max Rose and Radhakrishna
Mohan.
Salam Arabic Lutheran Church is
located at 414 80th Street.
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Audience members listened to responses.