Shafran Focuses on Reform, Education and Overdevelopment in Council Bid

Austin Shafran said he would push for reform on the City Council in his bid for Dan Halloran’s seat, but would also focus on education, fighting overdevelopment and ensuring that local senior centers are funded.

Shafran, who is the former vice president of public affairs for Empire State Development, will face off in September in the Democratic primary against former state Assemblyman John Duane, Flushing attorney Paul Vallone, long-time community activist Paul Graziano and former Halloran chief of staff Chrissy Voskerichian.

He said he would push for reforms to the City Council, such as a ban on outside income or employment for the legislative body’s members as well as reducing the impact of corporate lobbyists on elected officials.

“The district deserves a Council member whose only job is to represent the people and not his outside business interests,” he said. “We need to ensure that it’s the people’s voices and needs that are the only ones listened to at City Hall.”

Shafran listed improvements to education in the district as the top priority in his campaign.

“We need to improve our schools through greater funding, stopping overcrowding and bringing more parental input into the educational system,” he said. “I think the current mayoral control system has been a 12-year experiment in failure. Parents, students and educators have been completely cut out of the process.”

He said he would like to see the mayor’s panel for education to include five appointments from the mayor, five each from the borough presidents and the remaining three appointments by the City Council with the stipulation that they represent a teacher’s, administrator’s or parent’s organization or are a City University of New York representative.

Shafran said he would also combat overcrowding and the focus on standardized tests.

“Overcrowding is a major issue in our area,” he said. “It’s a moral obligation to provide a quality education and that means reducing class sizes. And the reliance on high stakes testing has put an unnecessary burden on teachers. [Mayor Michael] Bloomberg has used it to demonize teachers, rather than teach our students to learn. We’ll have an entire generation of students who know nothing other than how to fill in bubbles.”

Fighting overdevelopment is another issue that Shafran said he would prioritize if elected.

“We need to make sure that developers play within the rules and keep the quality and character of our neighborhoods intact,” he said. “Otherwise, we’ll see more overcrowding in schools and transportation and congestion issues. From there, we’ll see a significant decline in our quality of life.”

Shafran said he also believes that preserving resources for northeast Queens seniors is among the top issues in the district.

“We have one of the largest and fastest growing populations of older adults than anywhere in the city,” he said. “Yet, we’ve seen less and less funding for seniors. “The state has done a deplorable job of providing transportation for homebound seniors on fixed incomes and the city needs to pick up the slack.”

He said he would propose creating a local senior corps that would provide transportation for seniors to appointments and shopping centers.

Other issues he believes are important to Bayside, Douglaston and Little Neck include improving local transportation and aiding small businesses.

“Northeast Queens is a transit desert,” he said. “We need to increase access to mass transit by adding more options, such as express bus service and additional means for getting to transit hubs.”

As for small businesses, he wants to reduce fines and regulations on local shops as well as create tax credits for merchants to hire local unemployed residents.

Shafran said his experiences working with former U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office inspired him to jump into the race for Halloran’s seat.

“We need someone in office who’s going to protect our basic quality of life,” he said. “I’ve lived in the district my entire life. When you grow up playing on local Little League fields, visiting local senior centers and shopping in our local district, there’s a real motivation to help your community achieve the heights it deserves.”