I, Mark Szuszkiewicz (who is the host of Final Takes ) debated the incumbent Mathylde Frontus in the race for the State Assembly seat in the 46th district of New York which is located in South Brooklyn. This was my first debate as a politician and we discussed several issues. There are a few things that I would like to add since I did not have the time to do so in the debate. The moderator asked me about my idea for life skills classes in schools. After my response, instead of sticking to the topic, my opponent decided to ignore the topic and talked about specialized schools and lowering the standards because there’s not enough students of certain races enrolled in these schools. Since I did not get to respond to that topic (that she was not asked to talk about), I will do so now. Specialized schools are for the most qualified students, regardless of race. If you have a student that is less qualified chosen over a more qualified student, just because there’s not enough diversity, that in fact is actually racist to do so. MIT has about 10% minority students and they don’t lower the standards to be more diverse. You are not doing any of the students any favors by admitting someone that isn’t qualified. If a less qualified student is admitted into the school, then that student may fall behind in understanding the curriculum. Aside from that student possibly failing, it will slow down the rest of the class. I am against the changes suggested to the schools designed for gifted students of all races. The other topic I would like to discuss is bail reform. I have no idea where the moderator got the statement that I ever said to “replace bail reform with better policing”. I never said anything like that. I have never even written anything about better policing anywhere. I explained that I never said that and how they are two different things. I discussed how I felt that bail reform was necessary, but not the current bail reform that has led to a rise in crime. I then discussed some of my ideas for better community-police relations. Then after I was done explaining everything, my opponent went back to the original misquote of “replace bail reform with better policing” (that I never said) and explained that they are two different things. Afterwards I had to remind her and everyone else, that I already stated that I never said that. One thing that we were able to agree on was that Cuomo has been given too much power. But what is she doing about it now? Why didn’t legislators put in the bill, that these emergency executive powers have to be voted on for renewal after 30 days or a different period of time? Why isn’t she working to change that now? Apparently since my opponent answers her own questions with the education topic and didn’t hear me when I stated that I never said that misquote regarding bail reform, my opponent didn’t listen when I talked and she was just focused on what she was going to say. This is a shame because one of the reasons why I decided to run for office, was to put my original ideas out there with the hopes that even if I lose, some of the other legislators can work to implement some of them to help the community. The direct link to my stance on bail reform is https://www.mark4ny.com/issues-page/#… . From there you can scroll to see some of my original nonpartisan ideas and other issues. The 46th assembly district is located in south Brooklyn and includes all of Coney Island where I was born, and parts of Dyker Heights, Brighton Beach, Bath Beach, and Bay Ridge where I’ve lived most of my life. If you live in any of those neighborhoods, I hope that you will consider voting for me. Thank You.
