The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

17th District

A Conversation with Congressman Mondaire Jones

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Congressman Mondaire Jones   PHOTO BY Carolyn Simpson

Like other members of his Freshman class, Congressman Mondaire Jones was thrown into the fire before he’d had time to get acclimated to his new job. He was sworn in Sunday, January 3rd, and three days later spent much of the workday in fear for his life. The day of the Capitol insurrection was a hellish day for Congress in general. But for the congressmen and women, senators and their staffers who are people of color, it was acutely terrifying.

“As an African American in congress, I would have stuck out to those white supremacist domestic terrorists,” he said in an interview from D.C. 

The Congressman, who represents the 17th District that encompasses parts of Westchester and Rockland counties, was in the House chamber with Democratic House Leadership during the attack. As the House Democratic Freshman Class Leadership Representative, Jones is the only freshman of the 16-member leadership team. 

“Not only was the Capitol perimeter breached, but we were sieged in that chamber itself with very little security to protect us,” he says. “For me as someone who narrowly survived the insurrection, which was motivated by white nationalists threatened by my very existence as someone they see as a sort of bearer of change that this country does not need, holding the people responsible for that insurrection accountable, including the second impeachment of Donald J. Trump, was a no brainer.”

The insurrection has certainly been the most defining event of his early weeks and months on the job. But Jones is in D.C. to work. And he has already made a national name for himself as a leader and doer. He’s also made a number of appearances on national TV news shows to discuss the issues. He is outspoken and unafraid to call people out–both Republicans and Democrats–when he sees injustice.

“I am most focused on legislating, especially having taken back the United States Senate the day before the insurrection. We can actually get things done as a U.S. Congress if Democrats commit themselves to meeting this moment. I’m less concerned about House Democrats understanding that than I am concerned about a handful of Senators realizing that we need to, for example, repeal the filibuster, to enact the kinds of structural reforms that I ran on that the American people are going to need.”

He says this moment calls for other institutional changes, such as ending partisan gerrymandering and restoring the Voting Rights Act. And of course Jones is focused on his agenda–helping Westchester and Rockland families. He continues to champion universal childcare and Medicare for all, which he says would help lift children out of poverty. And he is committed to cancelling student debt, the kind of bold policy, he says, that President Joe Biden was elected to deliver. Jones calls student debt a racial justice issue

“Disproportionately, the people in this country who bear that $1.7 trillion dollars in student debt nationally are Black and Hispanic. Two thirds of the people who are crushed by student debt are women. And we know that with respect to the LGBTQ plus community, members of that community on average have $16,000 more in student debt than other people.”

One of the arguments heard in the halls of Congress and from critics is that if previous generations had to pay their students loans, this generation should suck it up and repay its own debt. But Jones says it’s simply not as easy to pay off that debt today as it was a generation ago.

“What I want people to understand is that this is not the early 90’s, or any time prior to the modern era where we have seen wage stagnation for decades. And the cost of a four-year college education has skyrocketed. We know that in the early 90’s the average debt for someone graduating college, a four-year college, was around $9,000. But here we are in 2021, where the average is closer to $37,000.”

It’s a matter of doing the math. “The rhetoric around this from critics sounds on its face persuasive to many people, but I submit if you just do some further analysis, a lot of those critiques just fall apart.”

For Westchester/Rockland residents wondering if there will be any changes to their tax bill now that the Democrats are in charge, Jones hopes so. He, along with Congressman Tom Suozzi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, introduced the SALT Deductibility Act to fully restore state and local tax deductions to bring financial relief to his constituents. “When that was capped at $10,000 by Donald Trump and Republicans in congress in 2017, that crushed families in Westchester and Rockland County.”

Jones says he sees many of these issues through the lens of personal experience. “On a day-to-day basis, my experience of being black and openly gay in this country, and also having grown up low income, gives me a sense of urgency on any number of policy issues that are deeply personal for me in a way that they are not, I think, for many people in congress. And at times, in parts of our district.”

Jones, who grew up in Spring Valley in Rockland County, was raised by a single mother and his grandparents. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 2009, and his law degree from Harvard in 2013. Despite his education, he never thought election to national office was in the cards for someone like him. To grow up poor, Black and gay is to “feel completely unseen,” he said on the House floor in late February in a speech about the Equality Act, which includes the Juror Non-Discrimination Act, a bill he also introduced.

How does Jones feel now that he has won Nita Lowey’s former seat? “I am still getting used to something that I did not imagine was possible just a few years ago. I spent most of my life agonizing over my sexuality, and being so afraid people would find out. And here I am this gay, black political hero in some communities who is celebrated for this feat. And all I want to do is deliver for the people who got me here, the great people of Westchester and Rockland Counties.”

Congressman Jones has made it to Washington, and just a few months in, he is already digging in to deliver on commitments to his constituents in Westchester and Rockland, as well as the country at large. Check out his Twitter feed @RepMondaire to keep up with his work, events and media highlights. Also, visit www.Jones.house.gov

17th District Candidate Asha Castleberry-Hernandez Aims to Restore American Leadership

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Asha Castleberry-Hernandez

Asha Castleberry-Hernandez, 36, highlights her national security and foreign policy credentials as key strengths as a candidate for the 17th District Congressional seat. 

Castleberry-Hernandez joined the U.S. Army after the 9/11 attacks and was deployed to the Middle East in 2012, serving a 30-month deployment supporting U.S. Central Command in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan.

In the Obama administration, she served as a special advisor at the State Department and at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She is now a Major in the US. Army Reserves.

Since Trump took office, Castleberry-Hernandez says she has seen American leadership on the global stage erode. She points to the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord and pullback from nuclear non-proliferation efforts.

“I believe in American power. I believe that we should lead in the world,” she says. “When we pull out, Russia and China fill that vacuum. You are seeing that in Africa, you are seeing that even in the Middle East.”

At the same time, she stresses the need to “end these endless wars” and refocus spending towards addressing challenges at home.

Domestically, Castleberry-Hernandez says her top priority is addressing healthcare. She favors a public option as a pathway to an eventual single-payer plan, but believes that the latter is not affordable at this moment.

“If I could snap my fingers and give you Medicare for All, I would do it,” she explains. “We just don’t have the money to provide that right way.”

Overall, Castleberry-Hernandez’s domestic policy views skew towards the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. She supports a Green New Deal to reduce carbon emissions, reparations for descendants of slaves, the cancellation of student loan debt and a $15 minimum wage. She also favors repealing President Trump’s 2018 tax cuts and raising taxes for the top 5% of earners.

“I know what it feels like to live paycheck to paycheck,” she say. “I know what it is to face student loan debt.”

Along with raising taxes for high earners, Castleberry-Hernandez would look to end tax loopholes that these high earners use to lower their tax burden. She previously considered supporting a wealth tax, but says she researched the issue and believes it would not pass constitutional muster.

Castleberry-Hernandez now teaches Foreign Policy and Grand Strategy at Baruch College. She was previously a lecturer at Fordham University and taught at George Washington University in Washington D.C. She supports expanding STEM and believes community college should be free.

Castleberry-Hernandez lives in Elmsford with her husband, Vladimir, and their daughter Aaliyah.

“We need diversity in Congress,” she says. “We need more women. We need more people of color. We need more vets. We need more teachers like me.”

For more information visit www.ashaforcongress.com.

 

 

 

 

Maureen McArdle Schulman: Trump Supporter Offers a Conservative Agenda for NY17

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Another first-time candidate for office, Maureen McArdle Schulman is a 61-year-old retired firefighter and Yorktown resident.

She joined the New York Fire Department in 1982, when women were first entering the department. Out of 10,000 firefighters, less than 50 were women.

“You could imagine what that could have been like,” says McArdle Schulman, who served for 21 years in the department. “And I just worked really hard to gain people’s respect.”

McArdle Schulman says she first considered running for office after New York State passed the Reproductive Health Act allowing abortion through the third trimester.

“I actually got sick to my stomach that a woman can have an abortion up until her due date, and that really upset me,” says McArdle Schulman, who says she would make unborn children a federally protected group. “I am very pro-life, which might be a problem for some people.”

McArdle Schulman says she agrees with most of President Trump’s policies, pointing to the strong pre-COVID economy, though she adds that she tries not to pay attention to his tweets. She supports the effort to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, but would also consider a path towards legalization for some immigrants who entered the country illegally.

“I feel bad for these kids who came here as children and don’t know any other country,” she explains. She highlights the New Way Forward Act, which would remove some drug crimes as deportable offenses, as one initiative that she strongly opposes. “You have to go through a background check. Have you gotten in trouble? Then you’re gone.”

McArdle Schulman says she supports Trump’s 2018 tax reform, though she would like to move towards a flat tax.

“A tax code that encourages home ownership is important,” she adds.

And while she favors cutting waste, she would not make significant cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.

To lower healthcare costs, McArdle Schulman would allow people to shop for insurance across state lines.

The former owner of a small boutique dancewear shop, McArdle Schulman stresses that the economy must be restarted following the COVID-19 shutdown.

“It is killing small businesses,” she says. “We should get the economy going as soon as possible. If there are certain people who need to be protected, let them self-isolate.”

McArdle Schulman says she did not get involved in politics until after she retired. She stressed her honesty – “I am not going to promise things that I can’t deliver,” she says – and her willingness to work with a broad range of constituencies.

“Governor Cuomo is saying that there is no place in New York State for conservatives,” she adds. “I’ve been a New York State resident my entire life. Don’t tell me I don’t belong here.”

McArdle Schulman has been endorsed by the Westchester Republican Committee.

For more information on her platform, visit www.maureen4congress.com.

Yehudis Gottesfeld on Policies she Favors (and those she doesn’t) in a Run for the 17th District Seat

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Yehudis Gottesfeld, a 24-year-old Rockland resident, says her decision to run for office came after a meeting with a policy director for New Consensus, an advocacy group backing the Green New Deal.

As a chemical engineer working on nuclear and environmental issues, Gottesfeld agreed to meet with the group. But she says she was put off by what she describes as their unrealistic views of quickly transitioning to renewables and their flippant attitude towards the cost required.

Gottesfeld went home and reached out to Republican groups including Empower America, a conservative advocacy group, which encouraged her to run.

“I’ve always been involved with the community and given back to the community,” she says. “I never thought I’d run for office. I’ve been involved in policy, not politics.”

Gottesfeld says the most urgent concern facing the country is getting the economy back on track following the COVID-19 shutdown.

“At the end of the day, if you want to recover you need to empower people to get back on their feet, get their small businesses back and running, reopen the economy so people can provide for their family,” she says. “Once the economy is open, we have to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

To ensure that the country’s economy and security is not dependent on China, Gottesfeld supports incentivizing businesses to return production to the US through tax breaks.

Gottesfeld favors a flat tax at a rate that would be revenue neutral against current tax law. While she says she understands the decision to cap the SALT deduction, she said help is needed to alleviate the tax burden residents in Westchester and Rockland face.

To cut spending, she says she would address waste in the federal budget. Gottesfeld points to large omnibus bills as part of the problem, as these massive spending plans impede a sufficient examination of government spending.

Gottesfeld sees competition as the key to lowering healthcare costs and would like to see insurance sold across state lines. To lower drug prices, she favors enacting a “most favored nation” policy which would force drug companies to sell price at the lowest price they are sold abroad.

Gottesfeld also sees the free market as the key to reducing carbon emissions.

“A lot of companies are going green, and the free market is allowing that,” she says.

In foreign policy, Gottesfeld favors maintaining a strong alliance with Israel and standing up for U.S. interests abroad.

Gottesfeld has the backing of the Rockland Republican Committee, and is endorsed by the Westchester Conservative Party and Rockland Republican Party.

David Carlucci, Congressional Candidate for the 17th District, Touts Legislative Success

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Though State Senator David Carlucci is just 39, has already built a lengthy political resume. He has spent the past ten years in the New York State Senate, where he represents most of Rockland County as well as parts of Westchester including Ossining and Briarcliff. He previously served as town clerk in Clarkstown and, prior to that, worked in Congressman Eliot Engel’s office.

Carlucci prides himself on his willingness to reach across the aisle to pass legislation, saying he has passed more legislation than any other lawmaker in the state of New York this past year.

“I call myself a pragmatic progressive and to me what matters most is getting results,” he explains. “In a Democratic majority, I’ll thrive. In a Republican majority, I will work to bring home resources for the district.”

To some, Carlucci’s can be a bridge too far. After taking office in 2011, Carlucci and three other senators formed the Senate’s Independent Democratic Conference, which caucused separately and allied with Republicans. The IDC has riled progressive for years. In 2018, six of eight former IDC Democrats lost to primary challengers, while Carlucci fended off Julie Goldberg in his primary with 54% of the vote.

Carlucci says he understands frustration over his role in the IDC, but that it was necessary to pass important legislation including gun control, a $15 minimum wage and legalization of gay marriage.

Enacting stricter gun control is Carlucci’s top priority if elected, the senator says.

“We’ve done it in New York,” he says, referring to the 2013 NY SAFE Act. “I would like to see that enacted federally so we don’t have to worry about guns crossing state borders and taking the lives of so many people.”

To expand healthcare access, Carlucci calls for a public option allowing taxpayers to buy into a government-run health plan. He would allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs and allow attorneys general to fight suspected price gouging.

To raise revenue, Carlucci says he would repeal President Trump’s 2018 tax reform, raising the top tax rate to 39.4% from 37%. For businesses with more than $100 million in profits, he proposes a surtax with no loopholes or exceptions.

Carlucci stresses the need to spur lower- and middle-class investment. He calls for efforts to expand economic literacy and believes in eliminating capital gains tax for earnings below $100,000 to incentivize investment in the stock market. He wants to eliminate the cap on SALT deductions that was included in Trump’s tax reforms.

“We have to make sure we are fortifying the middle class,” he says. “That is the economic engine that drives our nation that has been neglected and forgotten about for way too long.”

Other priorities include battling climate change, confronting racism and anti-Semitism and passing comprehensive immigration reform.  To follow Carlucci’s campaign for Congress, visit: https://davidcarlucci.com/