On July 20, four members of NYSD 17 for Progress met with Sen. Simcha Felder at his district office in Brooklyn. An audio recording of the meeting is available here and embedded below:
The four NYSD 17 members at the meeting were David Goldberg, Lisa Melilli, Jessica Byrne and Blake Morris, all of whom live in the Senate’s 17th District.
Sen. Felder was joined at the meeting by legislative aid Bryan Best, communications director Avi Fertig, and Chief of Staff Rodney Powis.
Among the topics discussed at the meeting were the following:
(1) Felder said he is dropping Senate Bill 5170A, which would raise the speed limit on Ocean Parkway to 35 miles per hour (conversation starts approximately 39:20 into the recording):
“I thought a lot about that bill as a result of different feedback,” he said. “I’ve spoken to people personally and I’ve decided to drop the bill.”
(2) Felder spoke of his opposition to a proposal to expand the city’s speed camera program (approximately 41:15 into the recording):
“The camera issue goes back to the Bloomberg administration…When the Bloomberg administration proposed cameras, I didn’t like the idea…I felt that on one side, you have the privacy issues, on the other side, I felt that the most compelling issue is that around the schools, most of the schools don’t have the security they need when you talk about cameras, about people being able to come into the schools. I believe even the public schools – I’m not talking about having police officers roaming the halls, but we live in a different time…The resource officers in front of the schools, I just feel philosophically is just not enough…So originally, when the proposal came up, they said that they were going to be near schools. If you see where the cameras are actually placed, yes, there is a school somewhere about a third of a mile, I forgot the exact number of blocks, near the school, but they’re not at the schools, they’re somewhere in the vicinity of the schools…The original proposal was the same thing. It was supposed to be cameras for the safety of children…The original proposal to get these cameras, the selling point was the safety, and then when you looked at the details, it said it would be within a certain amount of blocks away. To me, that’s a money grab. That was a money grab…Now that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any streets that are four or five blocks away where children cross that it’s not safe. All I’m suggesting to you is that, if they want to put cameras, first of all, put cameras on the schools themselves. I’m talking about terrorism that I’m concerned about, to protect the children that are in the school…But now the city proposal, the recent proposal, was within a half a mile away from the school. So all I’m suggesting to you is, now we’re talking about a philosophical debate as to whether you should have mobile cameras moving around to encourage safety. Now the issue is not about children, it’s about a philosophical debate whether you think you should have cameras roaming, moving, moving, moving to encourage people not to speed. Philosophically, I believe that if you really wanted to make sure people change their behavior, you ticket them with points. A police officer pulls you over…I’m not telling you a 50 dollar ticket doesn’t hurt, but a 50 dollar, 90 dollar ticket, somebody who’se comfortable, I’ll just say, who’se wealthy, if they’re in a rush for an appointment, a 90 dollar ticket is nothing. So what?…When a police officer pulls you over, and you get points on your license, that sticks, period. There’s nothing like it. So that’s what that’s all about.”
(3) Felder said he won’t host town hall meetings, as requested by NYSD 17, and explained why (approximately 1:30 into the recording):
“I think that almost without exception, I’ll have as many town hall meetings in your neighborhood where you live as I do throughout the rest of the district, which is none. I don’t do town hall meetings. I understand your interest. I’m willing to meet with as many constituents as they want, as often as they want. I don’t find [town hall meetings] productive. I find that when people have serious issues, if the purpose is really to discuss the issues, usually having a smaller group [works better]…If you watch the recent town hall meetings that different officials have had, including the mayor, these are pre-determined, pre-scheduled, pre-ordained…Who asks the questions, they decide beforehand, they decide who gets invited. So i’m not in the business of putting on a show. Now, i’m not telling you that it is impossible to have a town hall meeting that’s productive. All I’m suggesting to you is, this is my philosophy. I’ve been doing things this way since I was in office.”
Regarding a recent town hall put on by Councilman David Greenfield and Mayor Bill de Blasio, Felder said (approximately 11:50 into the recording):
“That to me is a joke. I compliment Councilman Greenfield. I think that the mayor and both of them are doing a lot of good things. But when I said before that town hall meetings are pre-determined, who’se going to speak, what they’re going to talk about, who’se invited, that’s [a] perfect example. I’m not interested in putting on a show.”
(4) Felder said he aims to be as responsive to constituents as possible, including those who disagree with him (approximately 20 minutes into the recording):
“I just want to be clear that I take pride in not only writing back, calling back…And people know that when people disagree with positions that I have, I call back…I spend a lot of time explaining what my position is. Most of the time, people will say thanks for calling back. We still are not happy that you disagree with us. But one thing I want to make sure that’s clear is that I try to the best of my ability to respond.”
(5) Felder said that he wants to help people register to vote, and would be willing to discuss legislation to automatically register voters in New York, but can’t support such a measure at this time (approximately 54:45 into the recording):
“I have mixed feelings about sort of, not necessarily this, but the impact of imposing something on somebody, even though it’s good. I can’t tell you that I have a clear, I have mixed feelings, I really do…I don’t know if I can really feel good on imposing something, even if you can opt-out…But in general about registering voters, my interest in public service, the first thing I did many moons ago was I was involved in just trying to register people to vote, period.”
(5) Felder said he prioritizes constituent services, including the bag fee bill (approximately 6:10 into the recording):
“The quality of life issues is a priority. Even when it comes to legislation. I try to pick a few things to get done in a session, because usually you can’t, unfortunately, get that much done. I try to pick a few things and try to work on those. And usually the things that I pick on have to do with quality of life or individual issues.”
This also applied to the bag fee bill, he said: “That’s another example to me, whether you agree or not, is something that affects people in their day to day lives. That to me is a passion.”
(6) Felder explained why his office doesn’t always comment on legislation (approximately 14:55 into the recording):
“If I don’t have a position, I don’t discuss it, and if I do, I do. I don’t understand this part of the interrogation. When I have positions on things, I’m very vociferous about them. When I don’t, I don’t.”
On a related note, he said he’s very careful taking positions on legislation, because he wants to make sure he’s thought things through and consulted with experts (approximately 22:35 into the recording):
“For many many years, going back to my City Council days…I had advocated for medicinal marijuana. I was very passionate about [it], for a variety of reasons. When it came to the committee vote, after listening to hours and hours of testimony from different people, I wound up voting no in committee on medicinal marijuana, and the most compelling argument, which I had never thought about, never heard about, came from one of the witnesses…It was heart-wrenching…I don’t like being wrong…And that’s why I don’t like taking positions unless I am really pushing a piece of legislation.”
– Posted by John V. Santore
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