John Liu Scorns Prosecutors at a Cobble Hill Fundraiser
By: Clarissa Sauter
The author recording John Liu, mayoral candidate. In background: the author's mother, who is involved in local politics and is also an aspiring stalker. Photo credit: Azi Paybarah
Introducing mayoral hopeful City Comptroller John Liu at a fundraiser in Cobble Hill on Friday, host Judi Francis paraphrased Winston Churchill: "You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something."
John Liu appeared to stand up for something as he continued to fervently deny claims that he had participated in an illegal donor scheme, telling prosecutors to "put up or shut up."
On Thursday the candidate's former campaign treasurer Jia "Jenny" Hou, and a former fundraiser Xing Wu "Oliver" Pan were convicted of perpetrating a "straw donor" scheme, in which money was donated multiple times by one person using more than one name. Mr. Liu was not charged.
Mr. Liu has stormed through all the while, speaking to supporters about his plans to abolish stop-and frisk, create energy sources like wind and solar power, and improve communication between non English-speaking parents and their children's teachers.
The author was able to ask him a few questions. On the co-location of public and charter schools, he said "I think it's been completely unfair. I think we have seen too much of a dichotomy between charter school space and the space for all the other schools in the same building. When you have such a difference - you have brand new equipment and facilities for charter schools, who incidentally don't have to pay rent, so they have a different cost structure, and much literally gloomier facilities and older equipment for everybody else in that school building - it just sends a terrible message of classism within the same school building. We've got to equalize the playing field."
Regarding small businesses, "Everybody in the city says small businesses are the economic backbone of the city, but this administration hasn't really followed through on those words. What I have proposed is cutting back some of the corporate subsidies that big corporations get, and instead giving small businesses some of those exemptions. I think that that will put thousands of dollars back in the hands of small business owners andentrepreneurs. It will incentivize them to expand their businesses with that extra money, and possibly hire an additional person. And if even a fraction of the 240,000 small businesses that I want to exempt from general inflation taxes would actually hire an additional person, we're talking about job creation in the tens of thousands ensured," commented Mr. Liu.
Mr. Liu said that gun control is "really more of a national priority," but that he supports gun buyback programs.
"We're gonna win this thing," he said later. "And we're going to beat back all the doubters and the haters, and we're gonna win this thing."
Introducing mayoral hopeful City Comptroller John Liu at a fundraiser in Cobble Hill on Friday, host Judi Francis paraphrased Winston Churchill: "You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something."
John Liu appeared to stand up for something as he continued to fervently deny claims that he had participated in an illegal donor scheme, telling prosecutors to "put up or shut up."
On Thursday the candidate's former campaign treasurer Jia "Jenny" Hou, and a former fundraiser Xing Wu "Oliver" Pan were convicted of perpetrating a "straw donor" scheme, in which money was donated multiple times by one person using more than one name. Mr. Liu was not charged.
Mr. Liu has stormed through all the while, speaking to supporters about his plans to abolish stop-and frisk, create energy sources like wind and solar power, and improve communication between non English-speaking parents and their children's teachers.
The author was able to ask him a few questions. On the co-location of public and charter schools, he said "I think it's been completely unfair. I think we have seen too much of a dichotomy between charter school space and the space for all the other schools in the same building. When you have such a difference - you have brand new equipment and facilities for charter schools, who incidentally don't have to pay rent, so they have a different cost structure, and much literally gloomier facilities and older equipment for everybody else in that school building - it just sends a terrible message of classism within the same school building. We've got to equalize the playing field."
Regarding small businesses, "Everybody in the city says small businesses are the economic backbone of the city, but this administration hasn't really followed through on those words. What I have proposed is cutting back some of the corporate subsidies that big corporations get, and instead giving small businesses some of those exemptions. I think that that will put thousands of dollars back in the hands of small business owners andentrepreneurs. It will incentivize them to expand their businesses with that extra money, and possibly hire an additional person. And if even a fraction of the 240,000 small businesses that I want to exempt from general inflation taxes would actually hire an additional person, we're talking about job creation in the tens of thousands ensured," commented Mr. Liu.
Mr. Liu said that gun control is "really more of a national priority," but that he supports gun buyback programs.
"We're gonna win this thing," he said later. "And we're going to beat back all the doubters and the haters, and we're gonna win this thing."