City Council District 47 – General Election 2013

 
★Endorsed Candidate★
 
Mark Treyger (D)
 
Candidate Questionnaire
Age: 31
Occupation: Full-time candidate
Education: Brooklyn College (BA and MA, Education and School Leadership)
Campaign Website
Campaign Finance Filings
 
Mark Treyger has had significant experience in community relations, having worked on constituent services in Assemblymember William Colton’s office. Treyger has also served as a full time teacher. From stopping violence in public high schools to restructuring the waste transfer and incineration process, Treyger has a variety of experience on policy issues. One of his primary issues is to restore the infrastructure and living conditions of the Coney Island part of his district. He believes that discretionary funding is not the most democratic form of distributing funds, and supports creating a more equitable process for allocation to members of the City Council. Treyger opposes nonpartisan, top-two elections because he believes that it would allow wealthier candidates to have greater influence over elections. While Citizens Union believes that Treyger would be an effective advocate for his community and has a good grasp of reform issues, as well as the political process, we believed his opponent was more appealing as a grassroots voice for his community.
 
 
 

 Andy Sullivan (R, C)
 
Candidate Questionnaire
Age: 47
Occupation: Field Supervisor, Triton Construction
Education: High School
No campaign website
 

Andy Sullivan is a field supervisor in the construction industry and a political activist, having opposed the construction of the Park51 project near the World Trade Center site. Sullivan is not a current resident of the district, though he grew up and went to public school in the area, and stated he would move if elected. Though a conservative candidate, he states that he is also a staunch supporter of unions and an independent thinker. If elected to office, Sullivan would focus on job creation for southern Brooklyn, and believes that by reducing the costs of business, private sector jobs can be created that will help to rejuvenate the district. For example, he does not believe that restaurant inspections are conducted fairly and opposes the use of letter grades. He also supports lowering the costs of insurance for small businesses. Regarding reform issues, Sullivan supports in concept much of Citizens Union’s agenda, including election reform such as nonpartisan elections and instant runoff voting. He was concerned, however, about granting the City Council committees greater subpoena power that could be potentially used against private individuals. He supports reforms to ensure that discretionary funds cannot be abused, and believes that elected officials have not “felt the pinch” that taxpayers have. On police reform, Sullivan believes that stop, question and frisk has increased as a result of officers feeling the need to compete due to CompStat metrics, and supports ensuring that it is used in a more judicious manner. While Citizens Union felt that Sullivan was sincere in his desire to represent his community, we question his ability to be effective given his lack of knowledge of policy issues and the political process, as compared to his opponent.

The following candidate was not scheduled for an interview by Citizens Union:
Connis M. Mobley (SC)
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