On a quiet Sunday morning at the United Progressive Democratic Club of Brooklyn’s 47th Assembly district, supporters of Assemblyman William Colton braved the elements to come out and make the case for a Congressman Colton.
The speakers, including City Councilmember Mark Treyger and District Leaders Nancy Tong, Ari Kagan and Kevin Carroll, while drawing from a variety of experiences and anecdotes, all characterized Colton as a well loved, tireless worker who can get the job done.
Tong, Brooklyn’s first Asian-American elected official recounted a successful effort by Colton to mobilize the Sanitation department to quickly clear streets after a particularly bad snowstorm. Radio host Gregory Davidzon lauded Colton’s efforts to get Board of Elections material translated into Russian, and Carroll described Colton’s ability to service more than 4,000 constituents from his small office, imagining how high that number could be if Colton were a congressman. Kagan discussed Colton’s widespread, bi-partisan appeal amongst the Russian community, which has “many Republicans” by focusing on “common-sense” problems that everybody wants fixed.
Treyger, Colton’s former chief of staff, was the most direct in linking Colton’s experience to potential congressional success. He noted Colton’s unwavering concern for his district, his ability to solve difficult problems, including restoring cut bus service from the MTA and curbing violence at Lafayette High School, and having an “uncanny ability to bring people together”.
He also used the term “The Outer Outer Boroughs” to describe Staten Island and Southwest Brooklyn as two parts of the city often neglected by the government. With the lingering delays in federal assistance to Sandy victims sure to occupy the duties of the next 11th district congressmen, Treyger, as well as most speakers emphasized Colton’s dogged approach to fighting for his constituents as he has done successfully against the city and other large bureaucratic institutions like the MTA and the EPA. Treyger characterized Colton as someone who goes “above and beyond what is expected, to deliver when people tell him it can’t be done.”
Colton also took to the mic to discuss the timely topic of the relationship between the community and the police. In recounting his experience talking with the father of recently slain Officer Wenjian Liu, who lived in Colton’s district, Colton mentioned “People do not understand the sacrifice our police officers make. Every day Officer Liu would call his father to let him know he got home safe.” Colton also expressed his desire for Officers Liu and Ramos to receive Congressional medals, reiterating that healing between the community and the police required an understanding and respect of the selfless duties of public safety workers. He recounted a problem in his own district several years ago where immigrants and police were at odds because citizens helping the police was “not a good idea in their home countries.” His solution: a 600 person meeting where the community and the local precinct could meet and understand how to help each other. By his own accord, community and police relations in the 47th district have improved ever since, and he’d like to do the same at a higher level.
In Colton’s departing remarks, he emphasized his desire to “listen to the people” to determine if and how to move forward with the congressional run. He noted that he has reached out to Staten Island Democratic Party Boss John Gulino who is now under a bit more pressure to make a selection after SI District Attorney Dan Donovan was picked yesterday by his Republican counterpart John Antoniello. From the long list of citizens lined up to give their own testimonials to Colton’s political acumen, the answer in his base district is clear: people want him to run.
