The date for the Primary Election for the Democratic nomination for City Council Member, 3rd District, has not yet been decided. The lines for the district have not been officially set, so the dates for the vote cannot be in place yet. Nor can the date be set for filing for the nomination. These will probably be set in January of 2013.
So far, the known candidates are Yetta Kurland, Corey Johnson, and Alexander Meadows.
In the previous election for this area, the Primary Election gave 51% to Christine Quinn, 33% to Yetta Kurland, and 16% to Maria Derr.
Assuming all candidates elect into the Campaign Finance Program set up with the City of New York, the candidates will each have the same amount of money to spend.
Since Corey Johnson is the Chair of Community Board 4 and has served on that Board for six years, he will probably base his campaign on the work he has done on CB4. His literature indicates thus far. One question is, whether he will step down as Community Board Chair as is the usual protocol when someone announces they are a candidate. Similarly, Alexander Meadows sits on Community Board 2 and will do the same based on his work there.
Yetta Kurland was a candidate for the Council in 2009. She has since used the contacts she made during that race to develop a grass roots movement for the creation of a New Village Hospital, which has over 8,000 members. She has been active in the community as a civil rights lawyer and a small business owner; she has lived and worked in the community for two decades. Yetta is also the host of a weekly radio program where she interviews city leaders of various causes.
The issues in the campaign will be:
- Replacing the health care once provided by St. Vincent’s Hospital;
- Protecting the Lower West Side from over development;
- Affordable housing for those who work and want to live on the Lower West Side and in Midtown Manhattan;
- Acquiring a Paid Sick Leave bill through the City Council;
- Establishing a true Minimum Wage increase for New York City workers;
- Improving class size for our children and improving educational opportunities in New York’s public schools;
- Opposing efforts to build the Spectra pipeline;
- Protecting small businesses and working to help them survive and thrive on the Lower West Side; and
- Fighting cutbacks in school funding and building more schools in the district.
