Name of Council Candidate: Lynne Serpe Name and Title of Person Completing Questionnaire: Lynne Serpe Campaign Website

(if applicable): http://www.SerpeForCouncil.org

2013 CITY COUNCIL HUMAN RIGHTS QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Many in the United States think of international affairs when they think of human rights. Our work emphasizes the applicability of the human rights framework here in the United States. Please share your thoughts on the domestic applicability of human rights, and discuss why human rights are important to you in the context of New York City and the City Council. I live in Queens, the most diverse county in the entire country. I work as an independent contractor for Queens Library, where I coordinate the Greening Libraries Initiative. Every day, I see people in need -- hungry, homeless, seeking a job, wanting to learn English, wanting a better life for their kids. In my campaign, I talk about access to healthy food, to affordable housing and fair elections, and to having the freedom to walk down the street without fear of harassment or profiling based on race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. I also talk about how clean air, clean water and clean energy are not partisan issues but public health issues and quality of life issues. These are all human rights issues to me. 2. How have you used current or previous professional positions to advance human rights? I think access to healthy food is a basic human right and through the Greening Libraries Initiative I run at Queens Library as a private contractor, I have helped create new library gardens where kids and parents learn to grow healthy food. This builds on my years on the all-volunteer Steering Committee of Two Coves Community Garden, located across the street from Astoria Houses. The UN Human Rights Committee says that the right to participate in public life lies at the core of democratic government. I am committed to multi-party democracy with open and fair elections, to removing barriers to participation and allowing more voices to be heard and represented. I have spent years running successful voting system reform referenda campaigns throughout the United States and around the world, working for organizations like FairVote, the New America Foundation, the Electoral Reform Coalition and the New Zealand Parliament.

3. What will your top 3 legislative priorities be in your first term as Council Member? 1. Dedicated Library and Parks funding 2. Election reform 3. Green infrastructure 4. What will your top 3 budget priorities be in your first term as Council Member? 1. Seven-day library service in at least one location in Western Queens 2. Increasing the number of afterschool and adult continuing education programs in the district 3. Greening public spaces and vacant lots 5. Do you plan to use participatory budgeting to allocate your discretionary funds? Why or why not? Yes, I have been very vocal in my commitment to Participatory Budgeting. Of course, the entire process of how Council members are allocated discretionary funds for their district needs to change. Allocations should not be based on political favoritism, or as a way for the Speaker to reward -- or punish -- Council members. The basic idea behind Participatory Budgeting is simple: community members get to decide how part of their taxpayer dollars are spent in their district. Right now, Council members get to decide. While many City Council members are well-intentioned, far too often, the projects that get funded are those with savvy political operators who understand how the system works, rather than those based on community need. Participatory budgeting asks everyone in the community to get involved, so the decision lies with the many - rather than the few. One of the four basic principles of the Green Party is grassroots democracy. Green elected officials are not beholden to party bosses or the political machine; we believe in democracy for and by the people and participatory budgeting is a process that is completely in line with those values. 6. Please provide examples of recent legislation in Council that you believe promotes human rights. The most recent legislation that promotes human rights not just for LGBT but for many groups subject to discriminatory racial profiling are the Community Safety Act bills Intros 1080 and 1079 which effectively ended racial profiling by the NYPD (Intro 1080) and established independent oversight of the NYPD (Intro 1079). Transgender people have been particularly vulnerable as a result of their visibility and being targeted not just racially and for their perceived sexual orientation, but also because they are assumed to be sex workers. Moreover, a recent

study by Make the Road New York with the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project found that transgender people reported physical harassment as well from the police. 7. Legislation is only one of many ways in which Council Members can work to advance human rights. What ways other than through legislation will you advance the human rights of New Yorkers as a City Council Member? I have been an activist and community organizer for nearly two decades. I believe we must fight the good fight at the ballot box, in the courtrooms and in the streets. I will continue to work with Brendan Fay and Kathleen DArcy on the all-inclusive St Pats for All Parade in SunnysideWoodside as I have for the last several years. I will continue to advocate for fair election reforms that open up the process to new voices and ideas. I will continue to work with local moms groups that sponsor informational meetings about getting their kids into good schools. As Councilwoman, I will hold regular Town Hall meetings to ensure that residents in my district know of all the resources that are available to them. I will make sure my office is accessible in every sense of the word. 8. Some advocates contend that the position of the Council Speaker has too much power over the progression of legislation. Please use this space to respond to that critique. Yes, the Speaker has too much power over the progression of legislation and over discretionary funding allocations to members. I support using a drafting service independent of the Speakers Office, similar to the New York State Legislatures bill drafting commission, as recommended by Citizens Union.