Storobin Attacks Kagan For Never Holding A Full-Time Job, Kagan Responds

In an interview, Republican City Council candidate David Storobin characterized Democratic candidate Ari Kagan as someone who has never held a full-time job, thus making him unqualified as a potential councilman. In the interview, conducted by Matzav, Storobin also expressed his opinion that Kagan would be a puppet of the Democratic machine.

When asked about what he thinks of his opponents in the Council race, Storobin singled out Kagan and held back no punches in his description of him:

One of my opponents is Ari Kagan, a 46-year-old who has never had a full-time job in his life. He talks about creating jobs, but why couldn’t he create one for himself first? As a fellow Russian-American, I find this to be an embarrassment. This community worked very hard to build itself up after coming to this country penniless, and right now almost everyone has joined the middle class. But out of all the successful people, Frank Seddio and the Brooklyn Democratic Party bosses decided to back the only person I know who is permanently unemployed because they know he’ll be the easiest to control. Why did no Democratic politician offer him a real, full-time job, something Kagan desperately wanted during his 16 years of political involvement? If he wasn’t good enough for the Democratic politicians, why is he being forced upon the people of this district?

I think the difference between someone like myself who was raised poor and started his own business at the age of 25 versus someone who has never landed a full-time job in his life is very clear.

In response to Storobin’s characterization, Kagan’s campaign spokesperson sent Sheepshead Bites the following quote, touching on parts of Kagan’s resumé, and slammed Storobin for mudslinging:

Like many New Yorkers, Ari worked a number of jobs to provide for his family. He is proud to have served as a part-time staffer to prominent elected officials, in addition to his work as a journalist, hosting popular radio and television programs and writing for a weekly newspaper in a growing and vibrant immigrant community. In fact, Ari worked full-time at the Russian Jewish Forward while pursuing his degree at Baruch College as a full time student. It’s not surprising that once again David Storobin chooses to bring his campaign into the gutter – he never fails to disappoint. Along with being factually inaccurate, his comments ignore the important contributions made by hardworking women and men in community and ethnic media.