TWENTY QUESTIONS FOR THE NEXT MAYOR THAT COULD DECIDE THE VOTES OF ONE OUT OF THREE NEW

YORKERS One out of three voting age citizens in New York City is struggling economically, with family incomes that put them below twice the federal poverty level of $23,021 for a family of four. These are the New Yorkers we call The Unheard Third. Their voices are too often ignored by candidates seeking public office. To bring their views into the policy debate, the Community Service Society conducts an annual scientific survey with the national polling firm, Lake Research. We find out: whats keeping low-income New Yorkers up at night? What are their priorities for the next mayor? What policies would they favor? What would help them get ahead? And how do their opinions align with or differ from those of middle and higher income New Yorkers, whom we survey for comparison? This critical election year, were also asking you, the mayoral candidates, for your ideas on what lowincome New Yorkers tell us are the most important issues they want the next mayor to address: Creating more jobs Reducing crime, drugs and guns Investing more in education, and Making housing more affordable.

To this list we add health care the problem low-income New Yorkers most often say they personally worry about the most, along with finding and keeping a job, schools and college tuition, and crime, drugs and gangs. While other issues, like the projected budget deficit, will surely surface in the mayoral race, our focus here is on the top concerns expressed by low-income New Yorkers. Our goal is to learn what you would do, if elected, to address these issues that matter most to those who have been left out of the citys prosperity: New Yorkers toiling daily at low-wage work and those unable to find any job at all. We are sending this questionnaire to all the announced and presumptive mayoral candidates. The responses will be presented in a voter guide to educate the public about the candidates viewsand hold you to them, if elected. Please provide your responses in the space allotted in the boxes following the questions and email us back the completed questionnaire by __________. The length of the responses is limited, with our aim to reproduce them verbatim or slightly shortened, without any substantive editing. You may, though, provide links to more detailed policy statements. If you decline to respond to specific questions or to the survey as a whole, we will note that in our voter guide.

Spurring Economic Growth That Broadly Benefits Working New Yorkers 1. What are your big ideas for growing the local economy in a way that creates good-paying jobs that offer upward mobility for low-wage workers and expands the middle class? Creating more jobs tops the list of issues low-income New Yorkers want mayoral candidates to address. It is mentioned by 43 percent of respondentsmore often than any of ten issues asked about. Nearly half of New Yorkers45 percent of those with low incomes and 47 percent of those with moderate and higher incomessay it is not possible for poor people to make it into the middle class these days.

2. Post- Sandy, the need for a 21st century power and transportation infrastructure, as well as housing and schools that can withstand extreme weather events is clear. How would you invest in upgrading infrastructure in a way that stimulates local hiring? What is your position on a public works program that would create jobs for youth and the unemployed? Investing in infrastructure enjoys wide support across incomes, with ninety percent of both lower and higher-income New Yorkers saying it is important for the next mayor to create jobs by upgrading subways, public housing, schools, and parks. Seventy-three percent of low-income New Yorkers say it is very important.

3. What is your position on a law that would give all employees in workplaces of five or more the right to at least five paid sick days a year? Eighty-three percent of low-income New Yorkers favor a law giving all employees at least five paid sick days a year, a level of support matched among moderate and higher-income respondents. Eighty-five percent of low-income New Yorkers would be more likely to vote for a Mayoral candidate who supports paid sick days.

4. What is your position on raising the state minimum wage to at least $8.50 an hour and indexing it to rise with inflation? Ninety percent of low-income New Yorkers favor raising the state minimum wage to at least $8.50 an hour and indexing it to rise with inflation, including 82 percent who are strongly in favor.

5. The efforts to make New York City a leader in high tech industries, including bringing Cornells new campus to the city, enjoy wide support. What other sectors could capitalize on the citys comparative advantages while expanding middle-skilled jobs? How would you spur growth in these sectors? Ninety percent of low-income New Yorkers think it is important for the next mayor to attract more middle- skilled jobs that pay decent wages but dont require an advanced degree, including 69 percent who say it is very important. Nearly 3 out of 4 New Yorkers across incomes strongly favor continuing to invest in bringing high tech jobs to New York City.

6. Do you have a plan for reducing hiring discrimination for the unemployed, and those with credit problems or criminal conviction histories? Sixty-eight percent of low-income unemployed New Yorkers report being out of work for over a year and 34 percent say they have been unemployed for more than three years. When low-income New Yorkers are asked what makes searching for a job difficult, being out of work a long time, having a bad credit score or having a criminal record account for 24 percent of the reasons cited.

7. Mayor Bloomberg created the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) to incubate and test initiatives for reducing poverty, which it tracks using a more comprehensive measure than the official poverty rate. With a growing number of New Yorkersnow more than one in fiveliving in poverty, what would you do to tackle this problem? Seven out of ten of all New Yorkers are worried about widening inequality between the rich and the poor in New York City. Nearly one third of poor New Yorkers suffered five or more serious hardships during the past year such as going hungry, falling behind in the rent or having the gas, electric or phone turned off because they couldnt pay the bills. Four out of ten low-income New Yorkers worry all or most of the time that their total family income will not be enough to meet their familys expenses and bills. Public Safety 8. How would you ensure that our city grows safer each year? Reducing crime, drugs, and guns comes in second on the list of top priorities for the next mayor among low-income New Yorkers.

9. What is your position on the stop and frisk policing tactics used in the Bloomberg years? With crime a big concern, low-income New Yorkers are divided about continuing aggressive stop and frisk police tactics. However, the majority of those living in the most affected communities want it discontinued. Nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers who say a lot of people in their neighborhood have been stopped and frisked believe the next mayor should discontinue aggressive stop and frisk policing.

Education 10. What is your top educational priority? What would you do to dramatically improve educational outcomes, particularly for low-income children? Investing more in education is among the top tier issues in the mayoral campaign for low-income New Yorkers, just behind the most pressing concerns about jobs and crime. Education tops the list of issues moderate and higher-income New Yorkers want mayoral candidates to focus on. 11. Some educators argue that the best way to help poor children is to expand school choice and competition; others favor increasing resources for schools in the neighborhoods where they live. What is your position? More than 9 out of 10 New Yorkers across incomes think it is important for the next mayor to put more resources into schools serving poor children and teens; 81 percent of low-income New Yorkers and 76 percent of moderate and higher-income respondents say it is very important.

12. What would you do to substantially boost high school graduation rates and ensure that more graduates are career and college ready? Ninety-six percent of low-income New Yorkers believe it is important that the next mayor pursue policies that ensure high school graduates are well prepared for college. Ninety-one percent of low-income New Yorkers favor a publicly funded campaignon the scale of anti-smoking effortsdesigned to encourage children to finish high school, including 83 percent who are strongly in favor.

13. How would you expand opportunities for black and Latino students to attend the citys top selective public high schools and CUNY four-year colleges?

A policy of guaranteed admission to a CUNY four-year college for students graduating in the top quarter of their NYC public high school class is favored by New Yorkers of all incomes, including 89 percent of low-income and 82 percent of moderate and higher income people surveyed. The policy is strongly favored by 77 percent of low-income New Yorkers. 14. What is your position on investing more in education programs for people incarcerated in our jails and prisons? Three-quarters of low-income New Yorkers favor much more education and training for people serving time in prison. 15. In New York City, 180,000 young people, ages 16 to 24 are neither in school nor working. What would you do to provide these disconnected youth with a second chance at getting high school equivalency diplomas and jobs? Two-thirds of low-income New Yorkers, and almost as many (61 percent) of moderate and higherincome New Yorkers, would be willing to personally pay more in taxes to spend more on programs giving teenagers and young adults who have left school a chance to earn a diploma or GED. (Source: Unheard Third 2011).

Affordable Housing 16. What can be done to increase the supply of housing affordable to workers in the bottom third of wage-earners? Making housing more affordable ranks in the top cluster of issues low-income New Yorkers want mayoral candidates to focus on. Nearly half of low-income New Yorkers say being able to afford rent, mortgage, or maintenance costs is a serious problem for them; with almost a quarter reporting they fell behind in their rent or mortgage in the past year.

17. What is your position on setting aside a share of public housing admissions and Section 8 vouchers for the homeless? What else can the city do to reduce our historically high numbers of homeless families? More than 1 out of 10 low-income New Yorkers were threatened with foreclosure or eviction in the last year.

18. One hundred million in federal dollars needed for public housing repairs is now diverted annually from NYCHAs budget to other city agencies. What is your position on continuing this arrangement? What steps would you take to improve public housing? Nearly half of public housing residents say heating, leaks, or major repairs are a serious problem. More than three in ten say it is a very serious problem.

Health 19. Half of the states 2.7 million uninsured live in New York City. As you take office, New Yorkers will be able to sign up for coverage through the Health Insurance Benefits Exchange created under President Obamas new health care law. But thousands of undocumented immigrants will be barred from using the exchange or most public health insurance programs and many others may be confused or uninformed about their new options. What role can the mayor play to broaden access to affordable health care coverage? Nearly 3 in 10 low-income, uninsured New Yorkers couldnt fill a needed prescription and over a quarter delayed or did not get medical care because of lack of money or insurance. Among low-income immigrants, nearly a quarter were unable to fill a needed prescription and nearly two out of ten put off or failed to get treatment because of lack of money or insurance.

20. What are your views on the citys strong efforts to reduce obesity and smoking? What would be your top health priorities? Low-income New Yorkers most often single out health care and prescription drugs as the problem they personally worry about the most. Twenty-four percent said they or someone in their household had been without coverage in the past year and a third saw their health care costs rise. Threequarters of low-income New Yorkers think the next mayor should continue the current administrations policy of promoting healthy lifestyles like anti-smoking and anti-obesity campaigns.