APRIL 11 - APRIL 17, 2013 31 Fair election campaign launched BY DENISE ROMANO [email protected] Non-profit good government group Common Cause New York is holding an event in Bay Ridge next week to kick off its citywide Fair Elections campaign. “We see the corrupting influence of money in the campaign system and its influence on how policies are created and made in New York and throughout the country,” explained Common Cause representative Chelsea Schuster. “The Fair Election campaign is a way to dilute corrupting For the event, the Washington D.C.- based group has invited a few members of the local community, including former State Senate candidate Andrew Gounardes, to talk to their neighbors about why we need fair elections. A short video that Common Cause created about the issue will also be shown. Then, residents will get a chance to “take an action right then and there…by calling their elected official, write an op-ed piece, very specific actions to help the campaign,” explained Schuster. “We need to get citizen’s voices back where it belongs in the political system, and corruption and big money out,” she added. Common Cause will hold the fair election event at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, located at 7402 Fourth Avenue on Wednesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. For more information, call Schuster at 212-691-6421 or visit commoncause.org/ny/fairelex. Italian Cuisine NNew Corner RESTAURANT COLANDREA influence.” FRESH SEAFOOD 7201 EIGHTH AVENUE • BAY RIDGE 833-0800 N.Y.S. Lottery Quick Draw CATERING FOR ALL OCCASIONS Engagements • Bridal Showers Christenings • Confirmations, Etc. 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Here, the duo was helping to prepare anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 meals every Saturday. As the months have passed, food provision efforts for victims have moved from large kitchen operations to smaller, more localized ones. And, while the need has certainly decreased, Kemmerer says he’s still churning out nearly 900 meals each Saturday. “We need to remember this is a long-term issue,” Kemmerer stressed. “There are still people living in tents. We can’t stop thinking about this after a few months or even years.We have to be thinking about it for the next decade.” To that end, Kemmerer has involved himself with a coalition of churches and community groups trying to set up an infrastructure that could react more efficiently should such storm hit. “I still remember vividly how the way we didn’t respond after Katrina,” Kemmerer said. “When the storm hit our city, I felt we couldn’t let that happen. If New York’s the greatest city in the world, then we have to take care of our own.” FAMILY AND CAREER: Kemmerer is a husband and, since July, a father. He has dubbed his young son Jerome the “youngest Sandy volunteer.” When delivering food, he took Jerome with him for one purpose. “I was there to get food to people, and he was there to make them smile,” Kemmerer explained. While he’s earned his stripes as a true New Yorker, Kemmerer isn’t a native, actually hailing from Pennsylvania. He met his wife while living in Chicago and relocated to Bay Ridge with her a few years later. Since 2007 he’s worked at GEEKPAK, a web development firm. BY THOMAS NOCERA [email protected] JAMIE KEMMERER VOLUNTEER AT BAY RIDGE ST. JOHN’S KITCHEN
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