BY SAM SUTTON AND RONNIE TAWIL
THE SEPHARDIC COMMUNITY FEDERATION’S GOAL IS TO ENSURE THAT CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR PUBLIC OFFICE SHARE OUR CONCERNS AND NEEDS, SUCH AS PROTECTING OUR VALUES, SECURING IMPORTANT FUNDING, AND SUPPORTING SERVICES THAT BENEFIT OUR COMMUNITY. WE DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS WITH ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO ARE RESPONSIVE TO THE DAY-TO-DAY ISSUES THAT IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR OUR FAMILIES.
Two critical issues facing the community are quality of life and security. The alarming rise in hate crimes makes it difficult to send our children to yeshivah, ride the NYC subway, or even ride a NYC bus alone. For our families to thrive, we have to feel supported and secure as we have in the past. We need elected officials to bring our city back on track.
This coming Election Day, Tuesday, November 2, there are two candidates running for election to City Council in District 48. Both candidates present ideas that align with our values. After careful consideration of each politician, the SCF believes that Steve Saperstein is the best candidate to represent us in City Hall.
Steve studied law and education, and as a special education teacher with a law degree, he understands the importance of a strong education for our children and the obligation of the city and state to support our schools. This is why he advocates for community yeshivot, working closely with Maury Litwak and Teach-NYS (which was founded jointly by the Orthodox Union and the Sephardic Community Federation).
Steve believes that our students need to be prepared for the future and strongly supports state funding for secular studies in private schools (STEM). After all, non-public school students represent 15% of the student population, and incredibly only receive 1% of state funding for education.
The New York City Council is overwhelmingly made up of a 48 to 3 majority to Democrats. The Democrat Speaker of the Council has an enormous impact on which organizations receive significant financial support. As a Conservative Democrat, Steve has the necessary relationships to deliver for our community.
The vast majority of our closest community allies and elected officials, including Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz, Councilman Mark Treyger and the next Mayor, Eric Adams, support Steve Saperstein for City Council.
Steve also has the very important endorsements of the major police unions (PBA, DEA, CEA), as well as endorsements by FDNY, Dept. of Corrections, and Local 831-Sanitation.
Steve will deliver for our community. We are confident he will be an excellent representative who will work hard to preserve our values.
We urge you to go out and vote for Steve Saperstein on November 2, 2021. Some prior elections have been won by a margin of only a hundred or so votes. Your vote counts.
Sam Sutton the President of the SCF, Ron Tawil is the Co-Chairman.
