DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Brandon West ★ Preferred Candidate
Age: 36 Occupation: Campaign Manager for the Center for Popular Democracy Education: Haverford College (B.A.), NYU Wagner School of Public Service (M.P.A.)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Brandon West worked most recently as campaign manager for the Center for Popular Democracy’s National Voting Rights and Democracy program, where he worked to advance voting rights at the state, local, and national levels. Previously, he has served as a legislative aide in the State Assembly, a financial analyst at the City Council, and a budget analyst for the mayor’s Office of Management and Budget. West has also served as president of New Kings Democrats, a reform-minded political club, and a member of several other community groups.
West says his top priority, if elected to the Council, will be the pursuit of what he calls “Budget Justice.” With a background in budgeting, he wants to cut the resources spent on NYPD’s headcount, overtime, and capital projects. Another priority will be to push for an overhaul of the land use process through a revision of the city’s charter, to create a comprehensive process that balances citywide needs with neighborhood priorities.
West is well-versed in the issues, challenges, and needs of democractic reform and government accountability. He has worked with Citizens Union on several campaigns, from the referendum
for a Constitutional Convention, to the latest achievements with statewide election reforms, and the introduction of a campaign finance matching funds program. He has also been a member of Citizens Union in the first half of the last decade. He speaks fluently on complex issues like police accountability and rules reform, and balances a sweeping vision with needed short term policy goals.
Citizens Union found West to be the most experienced and qualified of the candidates interviewed . Given his career-long commitment to election reform and democratic values and his background in city and state government, we prefer him in this race.
Shahana Hanif
Age: 30 Occupation: Director of Organizing and Community Engagement for Council Member Brad Lander Education: Brooklyn College (B.A. Women’s and Gender Studies)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Shahana Hanif currently works as Director of Organizing and Community Engagement for Council Member Brad Lander. She previously worked in Lander’s office as Bangladeshi Community Liaison, and as a public housing organizer. Many of her plans on reform issues focused on participatory budgeting, a topic she worked on at Lander’s office. Her other priorities include housing justice, language justice, and the defunding of the NYPD. More specifically, she supports a Feminist Green New Deal for NYC Public Housing, and distributing NYPD funds to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Department of Homeless Services, and NYC Health + Hospitals. If elected, Hanif would be the first Muslim woman and the first South Asian in the New York City Council, as well as the 39th District’s first female Council member.
Mamnun Haq
Age: 58 Occupation: Program Associate at the NYU School of Medicine Education: University of Chittagong (B.A. Liberal Arts), Kingsborough Community College (Associate’s Accounting and Finance)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Mamnun Haq is a Community Health Worker and Program Associate at the NYU School of Medicine. A fifteen-year veteran driver with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission, Haq was a co- founder of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, before becoming a National Vice President of the Alliance of South Asian American Labor. Haq spent nine years organizing in support of the “Taxi Drivers Protection Act,” which the City Council passed in 2014, after a passenger stabbed him with a hunting knife. Haq’s top campaign priorities are expanding education by promoting accessible Wi-Fi for students, and supporting affordable housing. Citizens Union believes that Haq would bring an important voice to a community underrepresented in this district and the Council.
Justin Krebs
Age: 43 Occupation: National Director of Campaigns at MoveOn Education: Harvard University (Bachelor’s)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Justin Krebs is the national campaigns director for MoveOn, a progressive public policy advocacy group. He was a co-founder of Living Liberally, a network of progressive social communities around the country which has grown to hundreds of chapters, and tens of thousands of members since 2003. A former improv comedian, he also co-founded a non-profit theater called The Tank. Krebs’ top priorities are investing in cultural spaces, such as parks and neighborhood main streets; facilitating schools to invest more in the ways they “interact with parents, support teachers, and recognize the individuality of students”; and confronting the climate crisis. He supports most of the Citizens Union agenda, and has experience working on voting rights campaigns and other reform issues at the national and state levels. Citizens Union found him to have a clear understanding of the office and thoughtful policy plans, and believes he is well qualified to serve on the City Council.
Briget Rein
Age: 53 Occupation: Assistant to Staff Director of the United Federation of Teachers Education: Hunter College (Bachelor’s), College of Staten Island (Master’s)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Briget Rein serves as the Assistant to the Staff Director of the United Federation of Teachers. Previously, Rein has worked as a lobbyist and Deputy Political Director at UFT, and as a teacher at PS104 and PS109. She has also served on Community Board 6. The centerpiece of Rein’s campaign is her promise to build more high schools in this district. She also plans to carve out a section of Carroll Park as a dedicated dog area, and hold hearings with developers, the EPA, the DEC, and the Mayor’s Office “to ensure no one will be sickened by the pollutants in the Gowanus Cana .” If elected, Rein says that her first piece of legislation would be a bill establishing a COVID-19 registry and compensation fund. She has represented the UFT before the City Council for over two decades, and knows the job she is seeking inside and out.
Douglas Schneider
Age: 45 Occupation: Civil rights attorney, Democratic district leader for Brooklyn’s 44th Assembly District Education: Union College (B.A.), Cardozo (J.D.)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Douglas Schneider is an attorney at Schneider PLLC, and a Democratic District Leader for Brooklyn’s 44th Assembly District. He has served on the steering committee for current Council Member Brad Lander’s participatory budgeting initiative, and was a legislative aide to Congresswoman Shelley Berkley of Nevada from 1999 to 2001. Additionally, he serves as a lay leader at Congregation Beth Elohim.
Schneider’s top campaign priority is to fully open schools and help students recover, psychologically and educationally, from remote learning. Other key priorities for Schneider are street safety and economic recovery. Citizens Union appreciates his commitment to his community and civic participation.
Jessica Simmons
This candidate was not available for an interview