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OUR TIME PRESS Septmber 6 – 12, 2018
VOL. 22 NO. 36
Leecia Eve, NYS Attorney General Candidate ➔➔ Continued from page 6 LE: Yes, and David, I am so glad you asked it because I am the only candidate that in every single forum, regardless of where I am in the state, that is talking about education but I am a candidate for AG for three reasons: (1) I have extraordinary parents who are two of the greatest public servants this state has ever known who instilled in me seeking to do the best that I can do. (2) My faith has been critically important and the foundation for me being able to graduate from Harvard Law School is that I had a quality public school education and I knew instinctively as a child that the public school education I had at that point was in Buffalo, I lived in New York City and have for many years but I’m a product of the Buffalo public schools and I knew at the time that the public school education I had with great teachers was not the experience that all of my friends were having. And (3) the state’s highest court, the New York State Court of Appeals, the court that I work for, almost thirty years ago for the first African-American to serve on that court, that court held that every single child in this state, no matter what their zip code, no matter what their circumstances, is entitled to a sound, basic, quality education and that all of our children are not receiving it. OTP: Well, you know along that same line of the roles of the AGs office, the W/ MBE expenditures in NY City are very transparent, that is, we can see about 90% of the dollars go to Asians and women, and the balance to Latinos and AfricanAmericans. The state, despite its aggressive goals, does not break down how those goals are reached. Is there a role for the AG to play in increasing transparency at the state level? LE: Well, certainly I would encourage greater transparency and I will tell you that I am proud as the Chief Economic Development Advisor to the governor five years ago, that I played a central role in implanting the governor’s goals. The prior
governors had goals that were in the 10% range. We moved it up to 20%. I remember dealing with one of the agencies in my portfolio was Agriculture and Markets, so I know about the agriculture industry and the farming industry across the state and overseeing the work on the disparity study which provided unequivocal additional factual evidence for increasing the W/ MBE goals and holding agencies accountable. I’m not sure to what extent is public but Ag and Markets had a very, very low participation rate. And I remember having a conversation with the commissioner of Ag and Markets, saying we got to do a lot better than this. This may be rural NY but there’s no reason why you can’t have exponentially more W/MBE’s getting this work OTP: Governor Cuomo formed and abruptly disbanded the Moreland Commission because, as reported by the Times, it was looking at things with ties to the governor. President Trump wishes he could do the same with the special counsel. How would you approach corruption in the legislature? LE: Well, first of all, let me be clear, I have stated many times on the record, and I will state on the record with you right now, David, the governor made a big mistake shutting down the Moreland Commission. That should never have happened. So that’s unfortunate, but I just want to be clear that I disagree with the governor’s decision to have closed the commission. But as to how I would prosecute corruption, there’s been all this discussion about well, how much power does the AG have to prosecute corruption. The power and the jurisdiction the AG of the state to prosecute corruption is broad. Now it can be even more expansive but as the AG and as the person with the most legislative experience, I will fight to increase the statutory authority for the AG to prosecute corruption but the existing authority to prosecute corruption is broad… An elected official who is using state taxpayer funds to engage in corrupt activities. That is now squarely within the
jurisdiction because of this memorandum of the AGs office. A corporation who may misuse state taxpayers’ funds, there’s already a wide jurisdiction for the AG to go after corrupt corporations or corrupt corporations that mislead or are seeking to scam New Yorkers, but this particular memorandum really did expand the breadth of the office and so that’s the legal basis that I would rely upon, not in whole but in large part, to go after corruption. But let me also say this, you didn’t ask this question but I’m going to ask it and answer it for you. OTP: Sure. LE: Because some people have asked all the candidates would you be independent? Absolutely I would. I will investigate and prosecute corruption wherever I find it. One person asked me, was kind of suggesting, well, would you be afraid to do so? Absolutely not. I am 54 years of age, when I was 7 years old in 1971 during the Attica prison uprising, you’ll remember this, my father, who had corresponded with inmates in Attica who were telling him about the conditions they were living in, he was corresponding with them, one of the few legislators in all of the state that was responding to the concerns of prisoners. So, when Attica riots broke out, my father was one of a very small number of people that the inmates asked to come to the prison during the riots to help negotiate on their behalf. My father went into that prison not knowing whether he would come out alive. That is what I am made of. That is what I am made of. So, the notion of being politically independent? Oh my God, that’s light stuff compared to what my family and I have done as we do what we can fighting in the trenches for social justice and to make the lives of people in this state. OTP: As you travel around the state, what do you see as the biggest challenges? LE: Communities all across the state, in Brooklyn, across the city, across the New York Metro region, all the way to Buffalo, people are still struggling economically. Yes, the national economy is better, but I still hear from so many New Yorkers, and
not just African-American people: Black, brown, white, a lot of people are still struggling economically. Jobs are still an issue. Educational opportunity is an issue. It’s an issue in our community, in communities of color, but it’s an issue in rural communities. The opioid crisis is ravaging communities across the state and we didn’t do what we should have done as a state, as a nation to address the crack crisis when it was ravaging Black communities in particular; that’s a black mark on our state and our nation’s history that we didn’t provide the kind of resources that help people get off crack and make the investments in our communities, but in addressing the opioid crisis, we have a chance to address the crisis in the way that we should have addressed the crack crisis many years ago. Housing, housing is a crisis all across the state. Affordability, it’s a crisis in Brooklyn, it’s a crisis in Syracuse, too. Quality housing, slum landlords, they’re in Brooklyn, they’re in Harlem, they’re in Queens, they’re in Staten Island, they’re in the Bronx. But they’re all across this state including in rural NY. People being evicted from their homes unfairly, happening across the city, happening across the state. OTP: Is there anything you’d like to add? LE: One of the things that I did want to add and it’s not New York-specific but it’s something that I’m very proud of the opportunity I’ve been given to serve and to transform lives across the state and I will, hopefully as the next AG, if I’m elected and I’m working really hard to be elected, we’ll build upon that work. Because at the end of the day, it’s the job of the AG. People say what does the AG do and so I describe the office and the authority is very broad, the powers are very broad, but I say at the end of the day it’s the job of the AG to make sure everybody is treated justly and fairly. OTP: Well, listen, thank you so much, I appreciate your time and remembering your father, reminding me of what he had done, too. Thank you very much, I appreciate it. LE: Oh, thank you, it was my pleasure.
Letitia James, NYS Attorney General Candidate ➔➔ Continued from page 6 and spent on minority and women-owned businesses in the State of New York. OTP: Governor Cuomo formed and then abruptly disbanded the Moreland Commission because, as reported in the NY Times, because it was looking at things with ties to the governor. President Trump wishes he could do the same with the Special Counsel. Given your support from the governor as well as a lot of Democratic leaders across the state, how would you approach corruption in the legislature. Would you recuse yourself, how would that work? LJ: Obviously, corruption continues to be a problem, not only in Washington but also in Albany. It’s a sad commentary when 30 elected officials, state elected officials, have been convicted over the past decade. What we need to do is root out corruption and restore public confidence in integrity and public confidence in government, period. Be it in Washington, Albany or City Hall. So, it’s important that the attorney general be an independent check on state government and that we leverage the powers both civilly and criminally to root out corruption wherever we find it. So, wherever the facts and evidence lead me, we will not hesitate, working with the comptroller’s office, working with district attorneys, to prosecute either civilly and/
or criminally individuals who betray the public trust. And that is critically important to me, because I entered public service years ago because I thought it was an honorable profession and because it’s transformed my life. And I have an obligation and duty to transform the lives of others and that’s why I’ve committed myself to public service in the government. And will also urge the state legislature to give me original jurisdiction over corruption in the State of New York. OTP: What does “Original Jurisdiction” mean? LJ: As opposed to asking the Governor of the State of New York to refer and to allow me to initiate another Moreland Commission if you will, I would like to do it independent of the governor. It’s an inherent conflict of interest for the governor to have the ability to refer investigations to the Office of the Attorney General. The attorney general should be able to do it on their own. They should have the ability to convene a commission on their own without seeking referral from the Governor of the State of New York as was done with the Moreland Commission. OTP: So, the attorney general would actually convene the commission. LJ: Yes, the attorney general, assuming the legislature gives me that power; the attorney general would have original
jurisdiction, as opposed to the governor. OTP: I had not heard that before, thank you. LJ: Yes. OTP: As you go around the state, what do you see as the greatest challenges, should you assume the office? LJ: Right now, everyone is focused on the president. And we will continue the investigations now under the leadership of Barbara Underwood, the current attorney general. We will continue to investigate his business transactions and holdings. We will also focus on corruption wherever we find it, whether on the federal, state or local level. I’ve been to Buffalo, where we’ve got lead poisoning and high asthma rates, as we do here in Brooklyn. I’ve been to Newburgh, where individuals are dealing with water and soil that need remediation. And the federal EPA is unfortunately closed for business. They are not enforcing the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act so we can protect our environment. In Long Island, where they are dumping. There’s Dix Hills. So, there are environmental justice issues. I’ve been to Albany where 8 young Black men have been murdered. So, we need to again take on the NRA, which holds itself out as a charitable organization. But, in fact, they are not. They are nothing more than a criminal enterprise. We are waiting to take on all of the banks that finance them, their investors.
Consumer fraud is a major issue all over the State of New York. We have to stand up for immigrants who are afraid of ICE. Who are afraid of going into courthouses because they are afraid of being detained by ICE. Immigrants who are seeking justice and cooperating with the district attorney’s office and/or seeking “orders of protection.” We need to stand up for reproductive rights and women’s rights. Women who are paid less than men for doing the same job. Women who are discriminated against simply because they want to have children. We need to defend “Net neutrality” for many tech companies that exist in Brooklyn and all the start-up companies and freelancers. We need to make sure we codify Roe v. Wade, and last but not least, foreclosures and zombie houses. We need to go after the banks who charge outrageous interest rates and who saddle homeowners and young people with debt at a time when wages are stagnant and individuals are having a hard time making ends meet. OTP: That’s it for me. Anything you’d like to add? LJ: Only that I look forward to serving as the next attorney general and continue to make history; we’ve done it before and we’ll do it again and what moves me each and every day is my commitment to justice. And what we need now, more than ever, is someone who understands that. Thank you for the interview.