Dear Joanne Seminara & Chris McCreight
The Democratic District Leaders made a pathetic plea for Andrew Gounardes. (See here)
Dear Joanne Seminara and Chris McCreight,
How dare you recommend a candidate in our community who took money from a developer! (See here)
Why did you run to be a district leader?
You all had one job – choosing a viable candidate.
Andrew Gounardes is owned by a developer. This community said NO to Steve Saperstein two years ago because he accepted money from a developer.
Joanne Seminara, you know Andrew couldn’t stand up to the Mayor and Governor. Here’s Andrew speaking in Albany to give tax breaks to all of New York State, except New York City. Andrew posted this video because he thought he did a great job.
Why didn’t Joanne Seminara speak up when Gounardes gave tax breaks to Cuomo? Gounardes had the power to change the property tax rate (yes, the senator does that).
On October 16, 2019, Gounardes said he was waiting for de Blasio (see here). There was no reason for Andrew to wait, he had the power to change the law! Where was Joanne Seminara then?
The Democratic Party Leaders listed Andrew’s accomplishment as putting up Little Libraries. That’s a scout project – not the senator’s job.
The Bay Ridge Democrats’ President, Chris McCreight used to banter on and on about how terrible it was for politicians to be wrapped up with developers or REBNY. Why was McCreight silent now when Democrats in Bay Ridge are doing the wrong thing?
Joe Bova – When Andrew Gounardes didn’t put up a sign on his office, why didn’t you tell Andrew to do his job? Did the female District leader, Tori Burhans think anything was wrong with Gounardes taking money from a developer? Oh yeah she works for him, so silence is golden.
Anyone voting for Andrew Gounardes sends the message to Andrew and Justin Brannan that it is okay to continue taking money from developers.
Hugs,
marlene
Topics: Bay Ridge | 3 Comments »
October 23rd, 2020 at 9:46 am
That video, which was proudly posted by Gournades is perhaps his greatest failure to make a stand in his 2 year career as state senator. The property tax cap for the rest of nys would have passed regardless, but instead of demanding the 5 boroughs be included or he’d vote no, he opted for a little floor speech. 2 years later, no cap, no fix, nothing. Just empty promises.
Even if I follow the train of thought that nyc is different from the rest of the state, we still lost out on 2 years of a cap. How much more will property taxes go up while this is “worked on”? My guess, much more than 2%.
October 23rd, 2020 at 3:35 pm
Jay I watched the video many times.
I was shocked because I didn’t understand how a Senator from Brooklyn would promote tax breaks for everyone but NYC. When I showed it my neighbors they were so angry.
When Gounardes is in Albany, he forgets he represents Brooklyn.
October 23rd, 2020 at 11:05 pm
Marlene,
As they should be. I still remember the open thread on Gournades Facebook page when this came out, constituents were begging him not to vote for this because it left out NYC. His response then was that he couldn’t ask the rest of his colleagues to support his property tax fix if he didn’t support theirs. News Flash Andrew, they don’t care about your fix, 57 other counties in this state now have a cap.
To add insult to injury, there is a history of this sort of thing happening. Marty Golden and Andrew Lanza (State Island) got a cap for nyc passed in the senate in 2016. The Democrat controlled assembly voted it down. As I said, I was optimistic that a Democrat controlled Senate, Assembly and Governor could get something done. How wrong I was. 1 party rule in Albany has been a disaster. To think I was so optimistic only 2 years ago. So yeah, I’m taking my vote to Vito. Even if he’s in the minority in the senate, at least we can have someone who won’t be afraid to speak up and go against the majority.
If in 2 years Vito turns out to be a let down, I’ll switch it again. Can’t let these politicians forget who they work for.