Name of Council Candidate: Robert Waterman Name and Title of Person Completing Questionnaire: Rev. Dr.

Robert Waterman, Candidate Campaign Website: www.robertmwaterman.com

2013 CITY COUNCIL HUMAN RIGHTS QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Many in the United States think of international affairs when they think of human rights. Our work emphasizes the applicability of the human rights framework here in the United States. Please share your thoughts on the domestic applicability of human rights, and discuss why human rights are important to you in the context of New York City and the City Council. Common representations of human rights violations conjure images of people who are suffering from myriad forms of oppression in foreign and unfamiliar lands. And while, in many ways, New Yorkers enjoy rights and privileges that are not shared by the global community, we must renew our commitment to ensuring that the United States of America is a place in which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is upheld. For it is through our protection of human rights, both domestically and abroad, that we define who we are as New Yorkers and Americans. Human rights are important to me because I have invested my life to improving the social welfare of New York City. I have founded various social service programs that focus on food drives, youth and senior programs, health programs targeting HIV, hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes. I was born in Coney Island, and I reject the notion that the zip code of ones community ought to determine their quality of life. This place is my home, and As Dr. Martin Luther King said, Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere. We must mobilize and energize the City C ouncil to live by these words. 2. How have you used current or previous professional positions to advance human rights? I am truly blessed to have spent the past eleven years of my life as the pastor of Antioch Baptist Church. I have always been familiar with the unbound opportunities that the work of clergy can generate, as my Father was a preacher. So with the support of my congregation, which 700 members strong, I have led our community as an activist for human rights. For example, I hosted Project Safe Surrender 2011, a community program that has provided vital social services and counseling to hundreds. This unique program helps individuals who have committed minor offenses re-enter society by connecting them with vital social assistance in the areas of health, housing, employment, employment training and education. Moreover, I have striven in my professional career to fight racial discrimination so that the promise of universal rights can be realized for all New Yorkers, regardless of skin color. I have experience working with the NAACP, the Black Brooklyn Empowerment Convention convened by Councilman Albert Vann, the African American Clergy and Elected Officials Organization of Brooklyn (AACEO), and the Black Leadership Commission on AIDS of New York City (BLCA).

3. What will your top 3 legislative priorities be in your first term as Council Member? 1. Continue the fight for a fair economy, so that working families have an equal opportunity to reap the fruits of opportunity 2. Support all facets of public education, so that we can begin to narrow the achievement gap between white students and students of color. 3. Champion options of affordable housing, so that all New Yorkers have a place that they can call home. 4. What will your top 3 budget priorities be in your first term as Council Member? 1. Maximize allocations of government support that are necessary to fortify our community after Super Storm Sandy. 2. Ensure that budget negotiations do not shun the relevance of community investments including public education. 3. Augment access to healthcare so that the right to life is one that can be guaranteed for all New Yorkers, regardless of socioeconomic status. 5. Do you plan to use participatory budgeting to allocate your discretionary funds? Why or why not? 6. Please provide examples of recent legislation in Council that you believe promotes human rights. Last year, the Council approved a law that would require employers to pay workers at least $10 an hour on economic-development projects that receive $1 million in tax abatements or low-cost financing. When the City Council overturned Bloombergs veto of the bill, it demonstrated how unions, community groups, clergy, and elected officials could unite to fight for a universal standard of human rights. This year, the city council passed another law that requires city businesses with at least 20 employees will offer five paid sick days year, starting in April 2014. This progressive feat isnt just right; its also historic. New York City is now the largest city in the country to require paid sick leave. With the passage of this legislation, over a million New Yorkers wont be worried anymore about losing their job because they have to take care of a loved one. These pieces of legislation assert my belief that the government should support hardworking folks so they can earn a living wage. 7. Legislation is only one of many ways in which Council Members can work to advance human rights. What ways other than through legislation will you advance the human rights of New Yorkers as a City Council Member? One of the most impactful ways in which I will promote human rights as a Council Member is by serving as an organizer and activist for social change. For the promise of democracy can only be realized if we can maintain a certain level of civic engagement among us.

Specifically, I stand with the New York State Nurses Assocation, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, New York Communities for Change, elected leaders, and community supporters in our united fight to keep Interfaith Medical Center open for its 250,000 annual patients. The universal nature of the right to healthcare means that all New Yorkers, regardless of age, race, sexuality, gender, socioeconomic status and so forth deserve security in the event of illness. Efforts to mobilize the citizenry have been part of a larger grassroots movement in which New Yorkers have marched and rallied to reclaim our community in the face of financial mismanagement and elite failure. So I will do whatever it takes, both inside and outside Council to bolster this movement. 8. Some advocates contend that the position of the Council Speaker has too much power over the progression of legislation. Please use this space to respond to that critique.

For more information, please visit www.urbanjustice.org.