NYC Council District 36 Race: Robert Waterman Seeks Brooklyn Seat

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Voters in New York City's 36th Council District — which extends over Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights — will see five names on their ballots when they vote in the June 22 primary election.

One of those names will be Robert Waterman, a pastor, substitute teacher in Bed-Stuy's District 16 and owner of Canticles Sober Lounge.

Patch reached out to all candidates in the election to create these profiles. Waterman's responses are below:

Age (as of Election Day)

57

Position Sought

City Council, District 36

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Neighborhood of residence

Bedford Stuyvesant

Family

Lola Waterman, Wife
Daughters: Nia Waterman, Imani Waterman, Jada Waterman

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Drew University: Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)Religion/Religious Studies
Hunter College: Bachelor's degree Political Science and Government
New York Theological Seminary: Master of Divinity (MDiv)Religion/Religious Studies

Occupation

Head Pastor, Antioch Baptist Church 19 years
Administrator, Medgar Evers College 6 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

None

Campaign website

robertwaterman.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I see failures in how needs have been addressed for residents in district 36. My motto is answering the call to service. It’s because I feel called to ensure that we live in a community that benefits all who live in it. From parks and green spaces, to our pets and animals, to sustainability and jobs. We’ve been slow on taking action to make our district better and I’m ready to do the work in all areas.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

COVID-19 Pandemic recovery. I want to support small businesses, individuals and families who were left vulnerable bounce back from the havoc left behind by the pandemic. Unfortunately in our district we have a very high rate of homelessness and housing insecurity that’s now exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic.. As your Councilman, I plan on pushing the City Council to pass legislation which will grant Rent and Utility forgiveness and relief to businesses who continued to operate during the pandemic but are in arrears. This will help Small Business Owners get back on their feet faster and prevent many of them from facing eviction. I would support projects that bring jobs with living wages to the district to support families needing to get back on their feet.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have a track record of serving my community and being an effective changemaker despite not holding an elected position. I have experience working in the district 16 school district as a teacher and routinely showing up to advocate at school board meetings. As a pastor for Antioch Baptist Church, I have led community service efforts for seniors and to feed the hungry. I’ve sat as president of the African American Clergy and Elected Officials. Through that work, I’ve been part of a body that highlights the work of community teachers and liaises with elected officials on matters of concern to clergy and faith leaders.

I also currently work as an administrator at Medgar Evers College helping to connect college students to internship and professional growth opportunities that provide students with real work experience in their major. Through my various leadership positions in the district including as a member of the board of trustees to 3 hospitals, I feel that I have created the community connections necessary to lead and collaborate on positive change in the community.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I think that minority and women business owners did not receive good communication about the resources available to them during COVID-19. We know that this group of business owners are frequently underrepresented. I personally worked with restaurants in our district to help them navigate the labyrinth of rules that they were facing when dining was re-instated and then support them when they were levied sanctions. Our leaders missed out on supporting the diversity of enterprising individuals of the community during one of the toughest times in recent history.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Two issues I believe require immediate attention are education and police reform.
As an educator, I have a particular interest in ensuring that we address issues of education in our district. Our public schools are routinely ranked at the lowest levels. I believe our parents and children deserve schools that have better funding, that are properly staffed, and prepare our students for a competitive world by allocating or STEM programs. This includes plans to: Increase funding to Title 1 schools Create Academic Intervention Vouchers (AIV) and Enrichment Program Vouchers (EPV) for low-income families. I also want to hire more nurses and guidance counselors and ensure funding is available for mental health professionals in schools.

The NYPD is past due for reform, we need to review where funding is going in our district and require accountability for our dollars. I support re-direct funding from the militarization of the police to fund crime preventative and mental health programming. I also believe that funding should go to roles where civilians are employed to support transparency and accountability in the policing process. In that same spirit, funding should also be directed towards mandated implicit bias training for all police personnel that addresses both individual biases as well as internal cultural nuances of police culture.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

As the Chairman of the board at Interfaith Medical Center, I have first-hand experience in working with private parties to create new opportunities for Small Business Owners. As your Councilman, I will work with Interfaith as well as other Medical Centers across Brooklyn to create new opportunities for Small Business Owners to have contracts directly with Medical Institutions and Healthcare Systems. This will create new revenue prospects for them as well as increase jobs within our district.

As a Pastor at Antioch Baptist Church, we used our resources to help provide Covid-19 testing as well as vaccines to people of the 36th district. We were able to do this by leveraging resources from private enterprises such as Interfaith Medical Center and local transportation enterprises. I plan to continue this model of connecting Community-Based Organizations with private enterprises to not only increase access to resources but also to funding. Empowering our Community-Based Organizations leads to a better quality of life for our friends and neighbors.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

An older gentleman once told me “stop running and walk through life”. That really resonated with me because I wear so many different hats on a daily basis that sometimes I need a small reminder to be present. That statement reminds me that you can’t see things clearly when you’re running, you can only see things well when you walk. So now I slow down to listen to people, be in tune with myself, and enjoy the journey.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I’m here for the people, I am a caring guy. I think everybody deserves the same level of care no matter their position in life. That’s why I’m running, because I know there are people in our district who are not being heard and cared for, I want to do something about it.

Read More:

• Brooklyn District 36 City Council Race: Where Things Stand