Golden Deputy Chief Of Staff Quaglione To Take On Gentile In Council Race

Republican John Quaglione opened his City Council campaign against Democratic incumbent Vincent Gentile with some heated rhetoric, according to a report by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

“Our current council member has failed,” the publication reported Quaglione telling supporters at a fundraiser.

Quaglione, the deputy chief of staff for State Senator Marty Golden, came out hammering Gentile, the 10-year veteran of the City Council, who is limited to serving just one more term:

Quaglione blasted what he called Gentile’s “weak legislative record,” and said that in the incumbent’s 10 years in the council, he has sponsored only 10 bills that have become law. “That’s a rate of one a year,” he said. Quaglione also cited a survey by the Citizen’s Union which found that the 43rd Council District ranked a poor 50th out of 51 council districts to receive city funds for capital projects. “We have sent more money to City Hall than City Hall has sent to us,” he said.

Quaglione promised to fight tax increases, excessive city parking ticket citations and graffiti, announcing a plan for increased quality of life initiatives that include more responsive sanitation pickups.

“Increasing taxes and fees is not helping the community. We have waited a decade for a City Council member to understand this. We can wait no longer,” the Daily Eagle reported Quaglione as saying.

Gentile defended his record against the city’s aggressive parking ticket practices as well as his belief that the Health Department has been taking advantage of small businesses.

“Taxpayers and small businesses should not be used as ATMs,” Gentile said.

Gentile also pointed to his bill that would end discrimination against the unemployed, a bill vetoed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg that he expects the council will override. The Daily Eagle also noted Gentile’s success with getting funding for local parks:

The incumbent said that Parks Department officials call him the “$10 Million Man,” because of all the money he has brought back to the district for parks projects. Along the projects is an eco-dock slated to open at the 69th Street pier in the spring.

“The good news is that there’s more to come,” Gentile told his supporters. “There is much more I want to work on over the next four years,” he said.

Also running is Tea Party Republican Andy Sullivan who surprisingly shared common ground with Gentile on the issue of the city’s heavy fining and regulation of local restaurants and small businesses.

“It’s not worth it to have your own business,” Sullivan told the Daily Eagle. “And a lot of this has happened on Mr. Gentile’s watch,” he added.

UPDATE (12:46 p.m.): The above article has been modified to reflect that Andy Sullivan is also a candidate in the race for the Republican and Conservative lines for the Council seat.