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I have known Bill Colton for more than 15 years and he was always a loyal Democrat with passion to help most vulnerable New Yorkers, especially immigrants, school children and senior citizens.
He is a man of innovative ideas and strong principles, a hardworking public servant who always unites different communities and cares about neighborhoods. He fought for reforms in troubled Lafayette High School, transforming it into several successful theme schools. He created a great coalition to lobby the MTA in order to restore service cuts to the B64 line in Brooklyn. He and his close political ally, Councilman Mark Treyger, organized many neighborhood clean ups in Bensonhurst and Gravesend, involving local high school students who volunteered to make their streets cleaner and better.
In 2013, Assemblyman Bill Colton helped to elect the first Russian-American to the New York City Council – Democrat Mark Treyger. Last year, Assemblyman Bill Colton helped to elect Nancy Tong, the first Asian-American to a political position in Brooklyn – Democratic District Leader in the 47th Assembly District (AD). He also endorsed without any hesitation myself and Margarita Kagan for Democratic District Leaders in the 45th AD. He was a Grand Marshal at last year’s Columbus Day Parade lead by the Federation of Italian Americans Organizations. And he supported Democrat Ben Akselrod for the Democratic nomination for Assembly last year. Time and again, Assemblyman Colton showed he is ready to support diverse communities of Southern Brooklyn and bring different people together for the common good.
Assemblyman Colton’s loyalty, energy and hard work are rare in today’s world of public service. His Democratic organization collects on average over 5,000 Democratic signatures and has done tremendous work to be inclusive of our immigrant communities.Today our clubs – Bay Democrats and United Progressive Democratic Club – work together on many important community issues, like speeding the assistance to Sandy-affected areas, fighting the destructive garbage transfer station in Gravesend, preserving the historical character of the Boardwalk, supporting the hard work of our great police officers and improving public transportation in Southern Brooklyn.
Bill Colton is a man of integrity. He personally meets constituents every Thursday night at his Assembly office at Kings Highway. So, it is not a surprise that his record of public service is valued by voters of every party and by independents. Last November, when Republicans had a strong showing all over America, Bill Colton received more than 70% of votes in his relatively conservative district. His constituents appreciated his commitment to their quality of life.
My support for Assemblyman Colton for Congress remains strong and I hope Democrats will join me in supporting someone with a track record of honest hard work and results for our community.
Ari Kagan is the Democratic District Leader in the 45th AD
