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26-year incumbent New York State Senator George Onorato is a very nice person. He has also gotten out of touch with the community he is supposed to represent.
Most recently, Onorato was one of eight Democrats to vote against marriage equality. Over the course of the year, Onorato was approached by many people in the district, not all of whom are homosexual, who pleaded with him to change his vote. In the end, however, Onorato failed to listen to his constituents.
This should come as no surprise to those who are involved in the civic life of the 12th State Senate district. Onorato is almost nowhere to be seen, and doesn't even send a representative to most functions - even some by organizations he helps fund through member items.
The New York State Senate has been called the most dysfunctional legislature in the country. This past summer, during the 31-day "coup," that dysfunction was highlighted. Despite being one of the most senior Democrats in the Senate, Onorato was not involved in the negotiations to bring the standoff to an end. There is an old saying, "If you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem." Clearly, Onorato is not part of the solution.
Many of my friends know that I have wanted to run for that seat, and have looked at next year's election as the ideal time. Unfortunately, it's not in the cards for me. So I have turned my sights to helping my friend Jeremiah Frei-Pearson.
Jeremiah's "day job" is that of child advocate and civil rights attorney. He travels around the country to make sure that disadvantaged children (children locked into the foster care system, for instance) get the opportunities they need - and deserve. The New York State Senate is fundamentally broken and needs dramatic change. As a civil rights lawyer, Jeremiah fixes broken government systems and makes them work for kids; he's someone with the right experience to help fix the State Senate.
Meanwhile, Jeremiah spends the rest of his time working to improve the community. As a co-founder of Western Queens for Marriage Equality, Jeremiah was one of the leaders in the push to change Sen. Onorato's vote on marriage equality. He volunteered his legal experience with Western Queens Power for the People, a group of local citizens that banded together to hold Con Edison responsible after they put northwest Queens through a nine-day blackout in 2006. He is on the board of directors of the Long Island City Alliance, an organization dedicated to preventing overdevelopment while supporting change that improves the quality of life in the area. He is also an organizer for Democracy for NYC, and co-hosts the Astoria linkup.
Where did Jeremiah get his dedication to community involvement? Perhaps it's because as a college student he interned for Senator Ted Kennedy. Or perhaps he interned for Senator Kennedy because of his dedication to community involvement.
Then Jeremiah went to Stanford Law School, in California, but he never really left New York; the Red Cross officially recognized Jeremiah for his help in the clean-up efforts at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attack. At Stanford, Jeremiah ran a center providing legal aid to poor people, co-founded the American Constitution Society and the Stanford Law School Democrats, and served on the Stanford Law & Policy Review.
Jeremiah Frei-Pearson has proven his dedication to making our community better, his real connection to the community, and his ability to make a difference. He will be part of the solution, and I look forward to helping him get elected next year.
To join the list of supporters who want Jeremiah Frei-Pearson to run for State Senate, go to his Facebook page and sign up.
To see Jeremiah talk about his experiences on video, go to:
Civil rights lawyer
Holding Con Ed responsible
Fixing the State Senate |
