2013 City Council Candidate Questionnaire

Candidate Information Full Name: Ede Fox Address: 585 Vanderbilt, Apt 2, Brooklyn, NY 11238 Personal Phone: 646 316 5477 Work Phone: Personal Email: edefox@gmail.com District Information District #: 35 Are you an incumbent? No If yes, when were you first elected? N/A Campaign Information From which parties are you seeking a nomination: Democratic, Working Families Full Name of Campaign Committee: Friends of Ede Fox Campaign HQ Address: 220 5th Ave, New York, 9th Fl HQ Phone: HQ Fax: Campaign Manager Name: Chris Miller Managers Cell: 646 761 9437 Managers Email: chris@brownmillergroup.com Please return to Robert Atterbury at Robert.Atterbury@gmail.com , with SDNYC Questionnaire [Candidate Name] as the subject.

Additional Candidate Information Endorsements List here the union, organizations (community, civic, media, issue groups), and elected officials that have endorsed you. N/A Candidate Experience - Please explain any activities and/or experiences that demonstrate your commitment to the LGBT movement. When I was working for Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito as her legislative and budget director, we made sure to allocate funding for SAGE and GMHC and the Ali Forney Center and I will continue to fund centers like these on the City Council. - What experience do you have to demonstrate you are the best person to represent the district office you seek? As Legislative Director for Melissa Mark-Viverito and Chief of Staff for Jumaane Williams, I have extensive experience on the City Council bringing together diverse coalitions, passing progressive budgets, and working for

New York City residents. I can get things done for our communities, and have proven this in the past. As the Councilmember for the 35th District, I will use my experience and progressive values to work for the good of our working families, our youth, our minority communities, and our LGBT community. - Please detail any specific policy proposals you may have that will affect the LGBT community, that are not addressed in the next section.

Policy Positions Please answer the following questions in full, using your policy proposals and including specific examples of your previous actions on any given topic when possible. Marriage Do you support full marriage equality for same-sex couples? (Y/N If no, please explain) Yes. All couples deserve equal rights, the benefits that come with marriage, and the same status as any other couple in name as well as in status.

Will you work with New Yorks congressional delegation to support the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act? (Y/N If no, please explain)

Yes.

Adoption: Do you support full adoption rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender couples? (Y/N If no, please explain) Yes. All children need and deserve loving homes, and the ability to adopt should in no way, shape, or form be determined by sexual orientation. Human Rights Do you support equal rights and treatment for people of transgender experience in the New York Shelter System, both adult shelters and youth shelters? (Y/N If no, please explain) Yes. HIV/AIDS

In 2011, Mayor Bloomberg proposed cutting 248 case managers and millions in rental assistance from the HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA). Individual legislators ended up using discretionary funds to fill the gap. Do you support increased funding for the HASA? (Y/N If no, please explain) Yes. Please explain your position on using discretionary funds to support agencies like HASA. When budget gaps arise due to poorly thought out and discriminatory budget cuts, the council needs to use the funds at their disposal to rectify these issues. However, it doesnt solve the root of the problem the misuse of city funds, the corporate tax loopholes, and discriminatory budgets and ultimately, that is what we need to fix, and what I will work to fix on the City Council. What actions do you think the City Council should be taking to provide emergency housing for homeless people living with AIDS? Where it can be, city funding for emergency shelters should be increased to ensure that budget cuts do not affect those among us most in need of services. Additionally, we need to ensure that these centers provide services everywhere they are needed including upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs.

AIDS funding no longer corresponds to the demographics of which communities represent the greatest number of HIV cases in NYC. Would you support yearly statistics of both the geographic areas where HIV is most prevalent and as well as which populations in those neighborhoods are most effected, and then allocate yearly funding to services and communities based on these results?
Absolutely again, there is a lack of equality in services across the city, and this is something we need to rectify.

Community Boards: Many Community Boards routinely oppose applications for liquor licenses in their areas, particularly if the proposed venue is tailored to appeal to the LGBT community. Please explain your position on the appropriate balance between support for nightlife, minority communities and respect for neighborhood concerns. As a member of Brooklyn Community Board 8, I think we have found a healthy balance between respecting neighborhood concerns and supporting nightlife in our community. We work to make sure new bars close their backyards at appropriate times and take safety seriously. We have several venues tailored to appeal to the LGBT community and I would make sure to encourage diversity in the types of venues that open.

Please outline the criteria you would use in selecting Community Board members. I would actively encourage my constituents to join the board and become engaged in the community. This district is changing dramatically and its important to have a diversity of voices that truly reflect the residents living here. The NYPD often targets bars, restaurants and clubs serving the LGBT community for increased scrutiny. They have used health code violations, allegations of drug use or sale, allegations of prostitution, allegations of serving minors, and a myriad of tools at their disposal. What changes would you implement to ensure LGBT institutions are treated equally by enforcement agencies? The NYPD has many unethical and discriminatory practices that inflate numbers without solving problems while hurting our communities, and this is just one of them. We need to appoint an inspector general to oversee the NYPD, and ensure that all communities are treated fairly and equally and that our policing practices are actually focused on stopping crime. Do you support reforming Stop-and-Frisk? Please detail any specific changes to the program you believe are necessary.

NYPD

Yes. I am opposed to stop-and-frisk.

Do you oppose the use of condoms as evidence of prostitution in criminal cases? Please explain your support or opposition. I absolutely oppose it. The use of condoms as evidence in criminal cases leads directly to a decrease in condom use, heightening the spread of HIV and other STIs among populations most vulnerable to infection.

Runaway and Homeless Youth Will you support increasing the funding for both emergency shelter beds and transitional beds for homeless youth, a huge percentage of whom are from the LGBT community and will you pledge to support capital and expense funding for programs serving this population? (Y/N If no, please explain) Yes. A large portion of our homeless youth are LGBT, and with funds for homeless youth cut on the state level, funding centers and services for homeless youth has never been more important. There is a particular lack of services in the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan and as a Councilmember, I will ensure that homeless youth receive the services and care they need in the 35th District and across our city.

What will you do to expand access to services for runaway and homeless youth?
As above, there is a particular lack of services for homeless youth in upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs. It will be a priority of mine to ensure that funding and services are what they need to be to support all of our youth in New York City, no matter what their sexual orientation or what zip code they live in.

LGBT Services and Funding:

The LGBT community has no direct funding for the arts from the NEA or other funding sources because of institutional homophobia. Would your office help with funding for LGBT Arts? If yes, please explain how. Arts endowments should not be based on content, but on artistic merit, preventing discrimination from anti-LGBT elements among those who hold the purse strings. As a councilmember, I would seek to promote the LGBT arts community and ensure that the LGBT Arts receive the funding they deserve to both achieve parity with non-LGBT focused artistic endeavors and express, document, and celebrate the LGBT community. The LGBT community is in great need of senior housing for many of our aging population. Many seniors experience homophobia in senior facilities making them feel they must be closeted. Would you help with the funding of senior housing for the LGBT community in your district? (Y/N If no, please explain)

Yes. Our just like our youth, our seniors all deserve access to equal services and care.

If you are currently in office, have you made member item grants or supported LGBT funding requests? If seeking office for the first time, would you give strong consideration to LGBT social service organizations seeking funding from your office if elected? (Y/N If no, please explain)

N/A

What actions will you take to help support the LGBT community center in your borough? If there is not an LGBT community center in your borough, what actions will you take to help develop one? I would provide discretionary funds for the Brooklyn Community Pride center and advocate for larger grants for the center.

Other: Please state concrete achievements for the LGBT community that you are responsible for in your current, or previous, elected office/s. N/A

Have you endorsed any LGBT candidates? Which ones?

No, I have not yet made any endorsements in the upcoming elections.

If endorsed will you display the endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC in your literature whenever you list other endorsements and will you display the endorsement on your website?

Absolutely.

Will you hire openly LGBT staff and/or designate a liaison to our communities if elected? (Y/N If no, please explain)

Yes.