2013 City Council Candidate Questionnaire

Candidate Information Full Name: Cheryl Shelley Keeling

District Information District #: 11 Are you an incumbent? No If yes, when were you first elected? Campaign Information From which parties are you seeking a nomination: Democratic Full Name of Campaign Committee: Keeling Campaign 2013 Additional Candidate Information Endorsements List here the union, organizations (community, civic, media, issue groups), and elected officials that have endorsed you. Mayoral Candidate Erick Salgado; State Senator Rueben Diaz Sr.; Coop Home Defenders; Concerned Citizens Coop Reform; support of various Latina print and television outlets. Candidate Experience - Please explain any activities and/or experiences that demonstrate your commitment to the LGBT movement. Beginning about 1998 I purchased properties in Brooklyn and the Bronx that I designated specifically for working women with children living with aids where the child had acquired the virus upon birth from the mother. Assisted my tenants living with AIDS in my other properties in East Village by not charging rent and/or helping them get funding from Gay Mens Health Crisis. Attained reduced or pro bono representation to handle the Wills, Trusts and Estates of people living with HIV.

- What experience do you have to demonstrate you are the best person to represent the district office you seek? Lived in the district for 25 years; raised my son in the district and moved my mother to the district more than a decade ago. It is the most diverse district in the Bronx. I am a woman of color, from the Caribbean, law school educated, fluent and literate in Spanish. I am a product of public housing and public schools and a senior. I am a Businesswoman and understand small business; an educator, a Track and Tennis Coach, and a world champion athlete. I have lived on both coasts, the Midwest and abroad. This is true diversity. - Please detail any specific policy proposals you may have that will affect the LGBT community that are not addressed in the next section.

Policy Positions Please answer the following questions in full, using your policy proposals and including specific examples of your previous actions on any given topic when possible. Marriage Do you support full marriage equality for same-sex couples? (Y/N If no, please explain)

I advocate for civil rights, human rights and equality for all. Government does not belong in our bedrooms or doctors offic es.

Will you work with New Yorks congressional delegation to support the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act? (Y/N If no, please explain) Yes, this would necessarily have to be repealed if there is to be equality for all.

Adoption: Do you support full adoption rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples? (Y/N If no, please explain) Generally yes but I would like to more fully explore objections by opponents. Human Rights Do you support equal rights and treatment for people of transgender experience in the New York Shelter System, both adult shelters and youth shelters? (Y/N If no, please explain) Equality is not a concept that can be subdivided. HIV/AIDS

In 2011, Mayor Bloomberg proposed cutting 248 case managers and millions in rental assistance from the HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA). Individual legislators ended up using discretionary funds to fill the gap. Do you support increased funding for the HASA? (Y/N If no, please explain) I do not support cuts to HASA, it is a vital to the HIV community. Please explain your position on using discretionary funds to support agencies like HASA. I support the use of discretionary funds to support HASA.

What actions do you think the City Council should be taking to provide emergency housing for homeless people living with AIDS? The City should have a moratorium on evictions for people living with HIV and others affected by the economy. Last year in the Bronx 11,000 lost their homes; 2000 cases per week in Bronx Housing Court. The best answer is to stop increasing the homeless population. Supplement the landlords instead of paying for shelters. People should be able to live with dignity. Shelters are inhumane for animals, and inhumane for people. There is an assault on housing and particularly affordable housing.

AIDS funding no longer corresponds to the demographics of which communities represent the greatest number of HIV cases in NYC. Would you support yearly statistics of both the geographic areas where HIV is most prevalent and as well as which populations in those neighborhoods are most effected, and then allocate yearly funding to services and communities based on these results? Yes, I would support such a measure.

Community Boards: Many Community Boards routinely oppose applications for liquor licenses in their areas, particularly if the proposed venue is tailored to appeal to the LGBT community. Please explain your position on the appropriate balance between support for nightlife, minority communities and respect for neighborhood concerns.

As a child I had a difficult time with the concept of integration, especially forced integration and busing. I asked why anyone would want to go into a neighborhood where others did not want them. The right to have this nightlife should exist, equality, but the reality of the rise in hate crimes and general anti-gay sentiment cannot go unnoticed. Perhaps greater assurances of issuance in gay friendly areas would be a balance.

Please outline the criteria you would use in selecting Community Board members. A candidate would have to be able to display community activism motivated by a desire to answer the needs of the community. It must be related to the Committee on which they seek a seat and not done specifically to fulfill the requirement.

NYPD

The NYPD often targets bars, restaurants and clubs serving the LGBT community for increased scrutiny. They have used health code violations, allegations of drug use or sale, allegations of prostitution, allegations of serving minors, and a myriad of tools at their disposal. What changes would you implement to ensure LGBT institutions are treated equally by enforcement agencies? Local law enforcement should not be the enemy of the community. They need sensitivity and awareness training and open communication with the owners. A mixed baseball or basketball competition could be helpful. Respect in more easily rendered in an athletic environment.

Do you support reforming Stop-and-Frisk? Please detail any specific changes to the program you believe are necessary. Yes, Yes and Yes. Respect, equality in enforcement, awareness against racial profiling, follows the law: reasonable suspicion followed by probable cause. Tougher sanctions for violators.

Do you oppose the use of condoms as evidence of prostitution in criminal cases? Please explain your support or opposition. Not adequately versed on this area of the law but generally I would say opposed on issues of competency, reliability and chain of evidence. Runaway and Homeless Youth Will you support increasing the funding for both emergency shelter beds and transitional beds for homeless youth, a huge percentage of whom are from the LGBT community and will you pledge to support capital and expense funding for programs serving this population? (Y/N If no, please explain) Yes.

What will you do to expand access to services for runaway and homeless youth? Make the information more readily available in schools and communities.

LGBT Services and Funding: The LGBT community has no direct funding for the arts from the NEA or other funding sources because of institutional homophobia. Would your office help with funding for LGBT Arts? If yes, please explain how. I would reach out to openly gay artists and supporters of those in the arts and create a forum for art that is underexposed.

The LGBT community is in great need of senior housing for many of our aging population. Many seniors experience homophobia in senior facilities making them feel they must be closeted. Would you help with the funding of senior housing for the LGBT community in your district? (Y/N If no, please explain) Absolutely!! This is an idea that I have advocated for many years. Same sex couples should be able to live out their years in dignity and with those they love close to them without being their sister-inlaw. If you are currently in office, have you made member item grants or supported LGBT funding requests? If seeking office for the first time, would you give strong consideration to LGBT social service organizations seeking funding from your office if elected? (Y/N If no, please explain) I would give equal consideration to all organizations seeking funding.

What actions will you take to help support the LGBT community center in your borough? If there is not an LGBT community center in your borough, what actions will you take to help develop one? I would first canvass the community to see if both the need and desire existed for such a center. Other: Please state concrete achievements for the LGBT community that you are responsible for in your current, or previous, elected office/s. N/A

Have you endorsed any LGBT candidates? Which ones?

N/A

If endorsed will you display the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC in your literature whenever you list other endorsements and will you display the endorsement on your website?
Proudly!!

Will you hire openly LGBT staff and/or designate a liaison to our communities if elected? (Y/N If no, please explain)
I will hire the best person for the job, without discriminating.