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Green Party candidates vie for City Council seats

Naham, Blanchette seeking to oust incumbents

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Green Party candidates Joseph Naham and Allison Blanchette are looking to grab two of three City Council seats in November that are now held by Democratic incumbents Len Torres, Scott Mandel and Chumi Diamond. Torres is not seeking re-election.

In interviews with the Herald last week, Naham, a vice president of sustainability for the Shelter Island Sustainable Oyster Corp., and Blanchette, the executive director of Long Island Streets and a Safe Routes to School Steering Committee member, said it was time for a change at City Hall.

Naham said that if elected, his top priorities would be to stand up against what he called overdevelopment and conduct a study on the Lloyd Aquifer to tackle the issue of saltwater intrusion. He added that he would appoint a city manager and zoning board members that would be objective and free from “special interests or party bosses.”

Naham, a lifelong resident, also said he would not raise taxes and “would try to utilize funds to maintain — as well as improve — infrastructure, especially bicycling infrastructure.

“That would be addressed with funds I would allocate through wasted government contracts,” he said.

Blanchette — who said she identifies more as an independent candidate — also pledged to combat what she called over-development in the city and said her main concerns are public safety and transportation issues.

“The city needs a better transportation network,” Blanchette said, “that includes buses, parking management, safer access for people of all ages and abilities and bicycle lanes.”

Both candidates also said they plan to push for zoning code changes as part of the city’s proposed comprehensive plan to facilitate economic development that is geared toward residents rather than tourists.

“We need to go back to the drawing board with the comprehensive plan,” Blanchette said, adding that she would look into implementing mixed-use development in the downtown area, which Naham agreed with.

Both candidates also opposed what they called gentrification of the North Park area that they said the current plan would encourage.

Both criticized the developer iStar’s proposal to seek tax abatements to build luxury apartments on the Superblock property, and voiced opposition to contributing to what they called “corporate welfare” at the expense of taxpayer money.

“I think that the city should not move forward with iStar and wait for another developer that is ready to sit down and provide a reasonable plan that’s environmentally sound for the city,” Naham said.

“We need to take the developers and the big money off the table,” Blanchette added, “and we need to use our existing structures and repurpose them.”

The city may also be forced to pay a $50 million judgment to the developer Sinclair Haberman, after a state appellate court ruled that it defaulted on a decades-old lawsuit. And iStar has threatened to sue the city for $105 million if it does not show its support for tax breaks in a letter to the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency.

“I’ve been an outspoken critic on Haberman,” Naham said. “As a Green Party candidate, I am not beholden to any real estate interests or any other interests. With the help of a new city manager and a better zoning board, I will work to ensure that all of our tax dollars are safe from any further threats by over-developers seeking corporate welfare on the shoulders of good tax-paying Long Beach residents.”

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly referred to Naham as a senior auditor at EmPower Solar. We regret the error.