On Thursday the five Democratic candidates for Public Advocate will square off in a forum that allows the public (you) to submit questions to the candidates.
The Public Advocate's job is to hear out the complaints of citizens (you) and carry them higher up the food chain. The office also reviews city agencies and issues reports on their performance. The current Public Advocate is Bill de Blasio, who is running for mayor.
Thursday's debate is at 7 p.m., and is being held at BAM by the Campaign Finance Board. The debate is hosted by Gothamist and our partners, NY1 News, NY1 Noticias, WNYC, Citizens Committee for New York City, Citizens Union, Hispanic Federation, and Transportation Alternatives. We also co-hosted Monday's Democratic Comptroller debate, and will host a Democratic mayoral debate on August 21.
If you already have a dynamite, non-cronut-related question for the candidates (and these are likely the candidates: Republicans and third-party challengers haven't emerged) you can submit it here. Or take a moment to read some quick bios of the four candidates, the details of which have been culled from their websites.
Cathy Guerriero is an education and politics professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. Raised in a family of teachers and firefighters, Guerriero is a fifth-generation Staten Islander, who also grew up in Brooklyn; and now lives on the Lower East Side with her husband and 2-year-old daughter.
Councilmember Letitia James is in her third term serving Brooklyn's 35th District, and was the first Working Families Party candidate to be elected to office in New York State. James is a former public defender, a key sponsor of the Safe Housing Act, and a lifelong Brooklynite.
Senator Daniel Squadron is serving his third term for the 26th Senate District, which includes much of Lower Manhattan and various parts of Brooklyn. Prior to joining the State Senate, Squadron served as a top aide to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, and he has spent his career fighting for tougher gun laws, expanded social services, and equality for the LGBT community.
Reshma Saujani is a former attorney who worked as Deputy Public Advocate for Bill de Blasio. She started the non-profit Girls Who Code, which is teaching teenage girls from all five boroughs of New York City the skills to get high-paying jobs in technology, and lives in Chelsea with her husband.
Sidique Wai is a native of Sierra Leone, West Africa, and migrated to New York City in 1972 where he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. A former doorman, Wai earned a bachelors degree at Fordham and later studied and taught at the Robert Wagner School of Public Service at New York University Since 2006, Sidique Wai has served as a Community Relations Specialist and Adviser on police-community relations to New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
You will be able to watch/listen to the debate on the television at NY1/NY1 Noticias; via radio on WNYC; and via online on Gothamist. Or head over to a watch party at Therapy Wine Bar.
