City Council District 48 – General Election

David Storobin is seeking election to the City Council, having previously served briefly in the State Senate. After winning a special election to Senate District 27 in 2012 following a lengthy recount process, the seat was substantially redistricted following the 2012 redistricting process and he did not regain the seat. If elected to office, Storobin would seek to focus City Hall’s attention on the “forgotten” parts of Brooklyn, in order to continue his community’s recovery process after Hurricane Sandy. Regarding education, he believes that parents and children should not rely on luck to give them good placements in schools, but rather should have greater choice. He also believes that principals should have greater control over hiring and firing decision within their schools. On transportation, he supports leveraging federal dollars to expand services. On police issues, Storobin believes that stop, question and frisk should be applied constitutionally, but supports giving the Police Department discretion regarding the chain of command; however, he supports ensuring that the Civilian Complaint Review Board and other existing oversight bodies are able to address abuses of power by the police. Regarding other reform issues, Storobin supports limiting lulus to only leadership positions, as well as ensuring that salary increases are made prospectively. He also supports ensuring that the member item process is strictly limited to prevent possible corruption. Storobin does not support independent budgeting for the Public Advocate or Borough Presidents, believing that the offices need to be reconsidered in terms of their necessity. Citizens Union believes that Storobin is thoughtful regarding reform issues, and demonstrated policy knowledge in several areas, particularly regarding the intersections of city, state and federal law; he therefore earns our endorsement.

Chaim Deutsch is a dedicated community activist and has worked as a City Council aide, mostly under Michael Nelson, since 1996. He is currently seeking office in order to more effectively impact the community. His top issues include helping senior citizens, improving the education system, and developing the waterfront infrastructure. While he was very passionate about constituent services and community relationships, CU felt that he had little knowledge of reform issues in general. He supported a strong speaker’s position and thought that empowering individual Councilmembers would create chaos and nothing would get accomplished. Due to his lack of commitment to reform issues, he does not earn our support.

Igor Oberman is seeking office because as a judge in litigation, board president of a co-op, and aide to borough president Marty Markowitz, he has both the legal and budgeting experience necessary to effectively serve the community. His top issues include developing hurricane preparation, pushing for rules reform, and improving public education. In regards to CU issues, he displayed a depth of understanding in discretionary funding issues and supports a formula-based system of distribution. Oberman remains on the Working Families Party line for the General Election, though he lost the Democratic Primary; therefore we question his viability.