During the run-up to the 2013 general elections, I met a candidate from my old neighborhood, running for their City Council District Five (CD5) seat. He is a progressive Democrat and won his seat.
Ben Kallos now represents: Upper East Side, Midtown East, El Barrio and Roosevelt Island.
From his bio: A third generation Upper East Sider, whose grandparents fled anti-Semitism in Russia and Hungary to build a better life in New York City, Ben Kallos has been the Executive Director of a leading good government group, lawyer, software development entrepreneur and former Chief of Staff to a local Assembly Member. As a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, SUNYs Albany and Buffalo, he has used his public education for public service in the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.
Ben promotes transparency to ensure every dollar gets spent to improve qulaity of life, from affordable housing to senior services to better schools. He fought corruption by making voting records easily accessible online and in our conversation, is looking at how to improve the voting process and restoring the Voting Rights Act in an equitable way.
Participatory Budgeting
Participatory budgeting empowers citizens to decide how money gets spent in their neighborhood. Whether you’re passionate about green space, improving housing conditions or senior services, participatory budgeting allows you to champion your causes for the good of the community. In the next cycle over the summer, the community will propose projects and bring them to fruition. This time, the community will vote on pre-approved city projects that are awaiting funding. Ben has set aside $1,000,000 for the community to vote on.
So starting this week, 16 year olds and up will be able to vote on 25 projects including how much money should go into a rainy-day fund.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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