Occupation: Executive Director of Forest Park Senior Center
Education: Queens College (BA)
Campaign website: http://www.donnaforassembly.com/
Donna Marie Caltabiano, Executive Director of Forest Park Senior Center, is running her second campaign for the Assembly, having lost to Michael Miller in a special election that filled the seat in 2009. Caltabiano believes her experience as a member of the community school board has made her an effective consensus builder, a skill she can transfer to the State Assembly. Caltabiano stated that she can provide better representation than the incumbent, and is motivated to run because she is troubled by the level of the corruption in Albany. Consequently, she has prioritized reform in her campaign. Caltabiano supports term limits, and believes that the term of office should be longer than the current two years. She supports the equal distribution of member items and ethics reforms, but is apprehensive about the idea of election day registration, believing it will boost voter participation but must be done with the appropriate safeguards given the potential for fraud. Due to her concern over the power of unions, Caltabiano is hesitant to back lower contribution limits for campaigns, stating that it may create an unequal playing field. She believes the state should draw on the best practices and research from the New York City public funding model to create a system that levels the playing field between challengers and incumbents. Beyond reform issues, Caltabiano supports reforming state taxes in order to save jobs and encourage people to remain in New York, rather than moving to states with lower taxes. Caltabiano is supportive of many of Citizens Union’s positions, and our organization was impressed by her understanding of reform issues even when she was not in complete agreement with them. Her emphasis on reform and ability to address issues impacting the state as well as the community earns her our endorsement over the incumbent, Michael Miller.
MICHAEL MILLER – DEM, IND, WFP
(photo from NYS Assembly)
Michael Miller’s Candidate Questionnaire
Age: 49
Occupation: Member, NYS Assembly
Education: University of Georgia, Credit Union National Association Management School (degree not reported)
Assembly website: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=38
Michael Miller, the incumbent in Assembly District 38, has been in office for one year, having been elected in a special election in September 2009. Before entering office, Miller was a manager at Tiger Federal Credit Union and a board member of the Greater Ridgewood Youth Council. On reform issues, Miller supports independent redistricting. He believes that being a legislator should be a full-time job, as it is for him, and if legislators maintain outside employment, they should be forced to disclose all their clients. He differs from Citizens Union on many reform issues, including lowering campaign contribution limits, lowering signatures required to get on the ballot, implementing election day registration, creating a public financing system, and limiting transfers from party committees to candidates. He feels that when he first ran it would not have been possible for him to win as a working person and relative unknown candidate without the level of campaign contributions he was allowed to receive. In his time in office, Miller has emphasized community outreach, adding weekend office hours and making himself available 24 hours a day by giving constituents access to his cell phone number. His top three priorities with regard to local issues are increasing the accessibility of his office, quality of life issues, and unemployment. Since his election, he has not had much time to make a mark within the legislature. Citizens Union admires his community work and accessibility within the district and his overall collegial approach, but has concerns with his disapproval of many reform issues.