Delia Hunley-Adossa's stealth candidacy for the 35th Council District; will there be a September push?
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[Update: Hunley-Adossa finally talked to The Local, but didn't say much, though she did defer to her campaign manager about participating in an online Town Hall. Note that this allows candidates to answer questions in writing, rather than (more vulnerably) in real-time. Ok, she will participate.]
So, what to make of the stealth campaign of Delia Hunley-Adossa, known for her work as president of 88th Precinct Community Council and her questionable ties to the Atlantic Yards project? Perhaps because of the latter, she's avoiding the press and public debates. But is that the way to win a Council seat held by incumbent Letitia James, who won her last primary with 84% of the vote?
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Has Hunley-Adossa given up, concluding that the political fight is not for her? Maybe, but I doubt it. Perhaps she'll pour her remaining resources into a final push during the week before the election--remember (pro-AY candidate) Tracy Boyland's stealth campaign in 2006 for (anti-AY) Velmanette Montgomery's state Senate seat.
And Hunley-Adossa or her allies just might gin up a mini-scandal involving James, to be leaked in that final week to the Courier-Life's notorious Stephen Witt, who in the spring broke the news that James was late on her tax bill.
It was a legitimate (if overblown) story, but no one has asked Hunley-Adossa the more important question she wouldn't answer in March: does her dubious organization Brooklyn Endeavor Experience (BEE), a signatory of the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) get money from Forest City Ratner? (Answer, as FCR executive MaryAnne Gilmartin revealed July 22: all CBA signatories are funded by the developer.)
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- what environmental expertise does Hunley-Adossa have to run BEE, which aims to address green issues?
- why has BEE distributed more money in compensation to Hunley-Adossa than it has spent on program services?
- why does half the BEE board consist of Hunley-Adossa family members?
- how does she feel about MCing rallies for Forest City Ratner, as she did in June 2008, taking direction from the developer's staff?
"Have You Seen This Woman"?
The Local looked into Hunley-Adossa's mysterious campaign in a piece, as the screenshot above indicates, headlined The Day: Have You Seen This Woman?
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James's campaign Tweeted a response: "wondering where the transparency is," with a link to the story in The Local.
Questions coming
The Local plans an online town hall, with readers' questions aimed at the candidates; James and Estiphanos "pledged their participation without hesitation." The Local points to Hunley-Adossa's presence at the July 29 public hearing on Atlantic Yards; I noted that she didn't mention her candidacy when she testified.
The Local did do some sleuthing:
Her campaign Web site doesnāt even show up in the first 100 results of a Google search of her name.....
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As the screenshot shows, only three people--one of them me (undecided--it's not my district)--answered the web site's online poll about people's priorities.
The platform
Hunley-Adossa's web site is long on biography and pictures of her in the community, long on generalities, short on policy. Her home page offers redundancies and banalities:
Delia M. Hunley-Adossa has a proven leadership record in the community as an advocate and a voice for this community. Speaking out against injustice and standing up when it counts. She believes the priorities for this community are Economy, Education, Affordable Housing and the Environment. Delia believes that people are always first.
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Chairperson of the Community Benefits Agreement Coalition
The Coalition was created to assist with the implementation of the Community Benefit Agreement and facilitate an ongoing dialogue between the Coalition and the Developers, the Coalition and the Developers established a working group known as the Executive Committee, comprised of representatives from the Coalition members and the Developers.
By contrast, Estiphanos addresses issues like the MTA, Education, and Housing, as well as "My Opponent"--criticizing James but ignoring Hunley-Adossa.
James uses a Facebook page for her campaign and has a Twitter feed, as well as the advantages of incumbency, like a Team Tish blog.
On video
Hunley-Adossa's statements in a video interview for Brooklyn Independent Television's Brooklyn Review (4/13/09) are similarly innocuous. "I want to see more amenities brought into the community," she says, also mouthing the mantra of "green jobs."
Estiphanos speaks with far more verve. James, for whatever reason, chose not to participate.
The narrator notes that Hunley-Adossa's campaign treasurer, Charlene Nimmons, also runs another group that signed the CBA, "causing some to accuse both of them of being loyal to Ratner." Um, I guess AYR is part of the "some." It's still a legitimate question, given that Forest City Ratner almost certainly pays their salaries.
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