2013 City Council Candidate Questionnaire

Candidate Information Full Name:Yetta G. Kurland District Information District #: City Council District 3 Are you an incumbent? No If yes, when were you first elected? Campaign Information From which parties are you seeking a nomination: Democratic, Working Families Full Name of Campaign Committee: Friends of Yetta Additional Candidate Information Endorsements List here the union, organizations (community, civic, media, issue groups), and elected officials that have endorsed you. Organizations and Democratic Clubs: Emilys List, Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), Voterbook NYC f/k/a ObamaNYC, Women's Campaign Fund, Democracy for NYC, Democracy for America - NYC, McManus Democratic Club, The ChelseaMidtown Democratic Club, The Womens Democratic Club of NYC Labor Unions TWU Local 100, ATU International, CWA Local 1180, District Council 37, Metallic Lathers & Reinforcing Iron Workers Union Local 46, New York City Board of Education Employees Local 372 (DC37 AFSCME), NYS Machinists District 15, IATSE Local One Theatrical Stage Employees, New York City Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 (DC 37 AFSCME), Sanitation Workers Local 831, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Organization of Staff Analysts, New York Metro Area Postal Union , APWU, AFL-CIO, Detectives Endowment Association, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, Local 1 Fmr/Elected Officials Hon. Mayor David N. Dinkins, Hon, Hon. NYC Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez, Hon. District Leader James R. McManus, Hon. District Leader Paul D. Newell, Hon. District Leader Jean B. Grillo, Hon. Yonkers City Council

President Chuck Lesnick, Hon. Village Trustee Kevin Davis, Hon. Yonkers City Councilmember Michael Sabatino Candidate Experience - Please explain any activities and/or experiences that demonstrate your commitment to the LGBT movement. As a civil rights attorney for the past 12 years, I have won numerous landmark decisions, including a decision to allow same sex couples to change their last names based on their relationship as domestic partners, as well as the right for LGBTQ activists to protest anti-gay policies. A founding Board Member of Marriage Equality New York PAC, I have been at the center of the campaign for Marriage Equality and virtually every other fight for LGBTQ equality over the past two decades. I also sit on the board of HollaBackNYC, an organization working to fight street harassment. - What experience do you have to demonstrate you are the best person to represent the district office you seek? As a civil rights attorney, small business owner and radio host, I have been a strong advocate for Manhattan neighborhoods in the fight for fair housing and adequate health care. In 1993, I founded Hello World Language Center, a progressive school in New York City for language and culture studies that still enrolls students from around the world. In 2001, I started a civil rights law firm focusing on the needs of New Yorks LGBTQ communities. Today, The Kurland Group is recognized as one of New Yorks premier Civil Rights firms. In 2010 founded the Coalition for a new Village Hospital to fight the closure of St. Vincents Hospital. With other activists and attorneys, the coalition gathered over 20,000 petition signatures, led dozens of protests and forums, and was the lead attorney in community lawsuits to reinstate a hospital. I also served as a lead attorney defending the free speech rights of protesters from the 2004 Republican National Convention and the Occupy Wall Street movement. In 2005, I brought suit against the New York City Fire Department on behalf of several women EMS workers alleging wrongful promotional practices. For over 20 years, I have worked within and without the LGBT community and the Lower West Side to fight for equality, economic justice, and civil rights for all New Yorkers. In the New York City Council, I will continue that work. - 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) Yes.

Yes

Will you work with New Yorks congressional delegation to support the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act? (Y/N If no, please explain)

Adoption: Do you support full adoption rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples? (Y/N If no, please explain) Yes. Indeed I have represented numerous LGBT families seeking to adopt. 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) Yes. 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) Yes. Please explain your position on using discretionary funds to support agencies like HASA. I believe that HASA is vital to the public health and housing infrastructures of NYC. I would vastly prefer it to be fully funded via a baseline item in the city budget. However, in the event that it remains underfunded, I will support use of member items to fill that gap.

What actions do you think the City Council should be taking to provide emergency housing for homeless people living with AIDS?

Emergency housing for all New Yorkers at risk of homelessness is in a state of crisis. For those of us living with HIV and AIDS, it is yet more urgent. I will support significant increases in funding for emergency housing, compassionate understanding for those who use the system and oversight to ensure we keep pace with the need. Further, I will make expansion of NYCs affordable housing stock a priority so we have fewer of our neighbors in need of emergency 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. 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. Nightlife is an essential part of what makes NYC the vibrant, dynamic city that we love. For the LGBT community in particular, it is part of our culture. Wholesale assaults on nightlife have been used by previous administrations to discriminate against and marginalize LGBT New Yorkers. We need to be vigilant against that kind of practice.

However, our community and our families value the quality of life of our neighborhoods as much as any. The city should seek a balance between keeping our streets livable and keeping our city dynamic.

Please outline the criteria you would use in selecting Community Board members.

I will seek to appoint community board members who represent a balanced cross section or our neighborhoods, who are willing to commit the time and care this important role requires, and are willing to work with neighbors of differing viewpoints to build consensus on community issues. 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?

Discrimination is illegal in New York City. If agencies do not live up to that law, than it is the duty of the City Council to use its oversight hearings to call agencies and their leaders into account. Ive fought discrimination and selective enforcement my entire life in courtrooms, in the streets, and more. I assure you that my office will thoroughly investigate and follow up any and all such allegations of harassment and selective enforcement.

Do you support reforming Stop-and-Frisk? Please detail any specific changes to the program you believe are necessary.

As a civil rights attorney and activist, I have stood against NYPD abuses in the streets, in courtrooms and in City Hall. I have also been a consistent critic of the practice of Stop-And-Frisk, and will use the powers of the City Council to ensure that the NYPD are part of our neighborhoods, not an occupying force. The streets of New York City are our streets. And whether we use them for political protest of merely walking home as an AfricanAmerican or Latino male, we have the inalienable right to do so unmolested by law enforcement without legitimate probable cause. I am the lead attorney on major federal civil rights litigation regarding police misconduct in response to the OWS movement. My clients in the case include City Councilmembers Letitia James, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Ydanis Rodriguez and Jumaane Williams as well as several journalists, and we are seeking redress including federal oversight of the NYPD.

Do you oppose the use of condoms as evidence of prostitution in criminal cases? Please explain your support or opposition. I oppose the use of condoms as evidence in prostitution cases. This wrongheaded policy criminalizes our community and is atrocious public health policy. While it is primarily a state legislative issue, I will work with my colleagues in Albany and with activists in our neighborhoods to see this policy changed. 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?

First and foremost, we need to adequately fund resources for homeless youth. That funding should not support organizations that do not serve or welcome any portion of the LGBT community. Outreach is the other key component, as many of the most vulnerable kids dont know where to find the help that they need.

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 will certainly support funding for LGBT and other marginalized communities through the budget process as well as through administrative oversight of city agencies.

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)

Yes. Absolutely.

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)

Yes.

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?

The LGBT Center in Manhattan is a vital lynchpin in the cultural, public health, and political life of New York City. I will be honored to represent The Center in the City Council and will support its efforts with gusto. Other: Please state concrete achievements for the LGBT community that you are responsible for in your current, or previous, elected office/s. I have not yet held elective office. As an activist and attorney I have fought for the LGBT community every day of my life. In courtrooms, I have one landmark decisions on the rights of Transgender New Yorkers. I have also won many smaller decisions - helping LGBT families stay together, helping LGBT parents adopt, helping LGBT New Yorkers keep the estate of their life partner, fighting employers who discriminate against us, and much more. As an activist, I am a founding board member of Marriage Equality New York and was proud to play a role in our historic victory here. When I am elected to the New York City Council, I will be a champion for the LGBT community and for all marginalized communities.

Have you endorsed any LGBT candidates? Which ones? Yes. I have endorsed in the past many LGBT candidates and have campaigned for them. Some include Christine Quinn, Tom Duane, Rosie Mendez, Danny Dromm, Danny ODonnell, Jimmy Van Bramer, Tamie Baldwin, Kyrsten Sinema and Yetta G. Kurland.

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?

Yes. With Pride.

Will you hire openly LGBT staff and/or designate a liaison to our communities if elected? (Y/N If no, please explain) Yes.