DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Gale Brewer ★ Preferred Candidate, Ranked 1st
Age: 69 Occupation: Manhattan Borough President Education: Bennington College (B.A.), Columbia University (B.A.), Harvard University (M.P.A.)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Gale Brewer, term-limited out as Manhattan Borough President, is now running for a seat on the City Council, a position she has held before, from 2002 until 2013. She is an energetic, street-savvy, locally-focused, highly regarded public servant with no apologies about her passion for Manhattan, a proud, unabashed politician. For years, she has demonstrated admirable encyclopedic knowledge of city government and tireless advocacy of her constituents’ interests and quality of life. She has also demonstrated a career-long commitment for reform on issues like transparency, ethics, and elections. As a council member, she passed the landmark Open Data Law, which mandated all public city data be available online and created the valuable Open Data portal. She also expanded lobbying regulations. As Borough President, Brewer revamped the process of selecting and training community board members in order to make the boards more diverse and more professional . She was a staunch supporter of the introduction of Ranked Choice Voting.
Brewer is taking the unusual step of seeking a “lower” office, rather than campaigning for a citywide or position in state government. As she explains it, she wants to use her skills and background to continue serving Manhattan at this difficult time, “so that we don’t make the same mistakes we did in previous crises.” Citizens Union could not agree more. We endorsed her election to Manhattan Borough President, as well as in her
earlier campaigns to the City Council in 2001, 2003, and 2005. There is little question that Brewer is eminently qualified for the job, and she would provide much needed experience in a new City Council. Brewer’s outstanding service, leadership, and commitment for reform are the reasons Citizens Union prefers her in this race.
Jeffrey Omura ★ Preferred Candidate, Ranked 2nd
Age: 36 Occupation: Actor, Labor Organizer Education: Carnegie Mellon University (Bachelor’s Drama and Political Science)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Jeffrey Omura is an actor, artist, and labor leader and would be the first Japanese-American ever to win elected office in New York State. Omura was recently elected to his second term as an officer of Actors’ Equity Association, a labor union representing 50,000 stage managers and actors across the country. He also started Fair Wage on Stage, a movement calling for higher wages and fair contracts for Off-Broadway stage managers and actors. Omura was then elected to the Actors’ Equity National Council, through which he has helped negotiate higher wages and more job opportunities for union members nationwide. Omura’s top priority in the City Council would be to enact his Arts and Culture Recovery Plan, as well as his Small Business Recovery Plan. He also pledges to address the housing and homelessness crisis by advocating for massive expansion of affordable housing construction and revitalizing the neighborhood’s economy. Omura expressed support for all of Citizens Union’s reform positions, and is especially focused on reforming the NYPD. For example, he calls for an amendment to the CIty Charter to create a more robust confirmation process for the Police Commissioner with the consent of the City Council. Citizens Union finds Omura to be a thoughtful and energetic candidate, passionate about improving the lives and well-being of his constituents, who impressed us with his practical command of the role of the office, and creative thinking about solutions to local concerns. We prefer him as our second choice in this race.
Maria Danzilo
Age: 64 Occupation: Attorney Education: Brooklyn College (B.A.), Brooklyn Law School (J.D.), New York University School of Law (LLM)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Maria Danzilo is an attorney and free speech advocate who founded a law practice representing tech startups, small businesses, artists and writers. She is a past president and lifetime trustee of the Copyright Society of the USA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to law awareness and education. Active in her community, Danzilo helped raise money for FoodBankNYC during COVID-19, and also serves on the Leadership Committee of the Women in Sports Foundation. Her campaign’s top priority is ensuring clean and safe streets in the district and improving public services in the neighborhood. Furthermore, Danzilo pledges to support quality education by expanding successful programs and improving transparency in the DOE. She also supports reducing fees and costs for small businesses to revitalize the local economy post- COVID-19. Citizens Union appreciates Danzilo’s ardent pursuit of accountability by government officials, but her focus on Citizens Union issues and concerns was less apparent.
David Gold
Age: 53 Occupation: Executive Director at Democratism Education: Brown University (A.B.), Columbia University (J.D.), University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
David Gold is a lawyer and currently works as Executive Director of Democratism, a nonprofit that aims to make the federal election system more democratic. Gold previously worked as the Interim Executive Director for El Taller Latino Americano and in 2018 worked on voter protection for the New York Democratic Lawyers Council. Furthermore, Gold founded and served as CEO of software company Bridgerton Research. Gold has stated his top priority as Council Member would be affordable housing, and promises to introduce reforms to increase rent support to New Yorkers and reduce the influence of developers in rezoning initiatives. Gold advocates creative new approaches to reforming local and national government, starting with recasting the Electoral College and introducing direct democracy, although the Citizens Union was unclear on the applicability of his passion to the subject position.
Sara Lind
Age: 38 Occupation: Secretary for Community Board 7 Education: University of Washington Madison (B.S. Political Science and Economics), University of Chicago (J.D.), Columbia School of International and Public Affairs)
To read this candidate’s responses to CU’s questionnaire, click here.
Sara Lind currently serves as Secretary for Community Board 7, and previously worked as Manhattan Borough Director for Amplify Her, a nonprofit seeking to address women’s underrepresentation in NYC elected offices. Additionally, Lind currently serves as Chair of the Broadway Task Force, is an elected County Committee member, and is a member of the School Leadership Team at PS 166. Previously, Lind has volunteered with the New York Immigration Coalition at JFK in response to President Trump’s Muslim Ban and served on the Citywide Participatory Budgeting Committee. She has also been active in her neighborhood, having recently organized many community events including Park(ing) Day, Celebrate Broadway, and WEWalk. Lind’s top campaign priority is addressing the housing crisis by expanding tenants’ rights and protections, supporting funding for city services that address homelessness, introducing reforms to the land use and rezoning process, and increasing city funding for NYCHA. Lind also supports a Green New Deal for NYC and seeks to reimagine Broadway and the surrounding neighborhood to better serve the community. Citizens Union believes Lind brings community-board and school-parent experience and a cornucopia of new ideas, and manifests the makings of an effective legislator-to-be.
Zack Weiner
This candidate was not available for an interview