City Council Candidate Responses

District 30

Candidate: Robert Holden

1. Please briefly share your background and note any experiences you may have in engaging older adults, whether professionally or personally, and in connecting with the non-profit sector.

As a lifelong civic leader and college professor, my career has been in public service. I volunteered most of my life in helping other people, especially our seniors, and have worked with many nonprofits to provide services to my neighbors.

2. As we live longer and healthier lives, what are your priorities with respect to promoting equity across all ages in our City?

All New Yorkers deserve to live in a peaceful, quiet, and safe city. As Council Member I fought hard to provide my constituents of all ages the respect and dignity they deserve, and their fair share of city and state services. Our seniors deserve nothing but the best as they age, and I have been a strong ally of theirs.

3. Do you support increasing the budget for the Department for the Aging (DFTA), which funds programs such as Senior Centers, NORCs, home-delivered meals, and more? Please give rationale for your response and specify any specific funding changes you are most committed to achieving.

Yes. Our senior centers are integral to the high senior population in my district. I have allocated much of my own discretionary and capital funding for these causes. Home-delivered meals during this pandemic provided a service that benefitted much of my constituents.

4. Do you support implementing a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increase for city-contracted human service workers and the full implementation of the Indirect Cost Rate (ICR) initiative for non-profits? Please explain your response.

Yes. COLA and ICR help bring wages to the 21st century. It must be done.

5. Given that many older New Yorkers rely on limited fixed incomes and would prefer to age in community, rather than entering costly nursing homes, how will you address the need for affordable senior housing with services for a growing older population? How will you evaluate/respond to affordable senior housing proposals during ULURP?

I have tried for years now to work with City Hall in building more affordable senior housing for my district, and it has fallen on deaf ears. Our seniors deserve to age in dignity and respect, and creating more affordable housing is key to that. I believe it's time to take a long and hard look at how we can do this using ULURP.

6. While many older adults wish to be connected, many lack the financial resources or training necessary to fully access technology, exacerbating the digital divide. How would you encourage the City to address this?

Over my 4-years in office, I have funded programs like OATS which provides technology skills to my senior population. I will continue making investments in this realm. As Tech chair, I have been on the forefront of closing the digital divide. Universal broadband is key to closing any divide and ensuring that all New Yorkers have equitable access to affordable internet. I have worked closely with the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications to begin resolving the issue of lack of access to affordable high speed internet access. The recent State budget which requires that service providers provide $15 a month high speed internet to residents stemmed out of my work with DoITT and City Hall.

7. During COVID-19, Senior Centers continued to work remotely, offering services in new ways to ensure their clients’ needs were met. To date, providers have not been authorized to operate in-person, despite restaurants, movies, and other entities, which older adults could also attend, being open. Further, community-based organizations, in many cases, have not been leveraged in the new meal delivery system. What are ways that you feel the City should work with nonprofits and engage older adults in the event of a future emergency?

We need to embolden our nonprofit CBOs and give them the tools to continue doing the great work that they do. It's time to reopen our senior centers, safely, and give our CBOs the opportunity to fulfill their mission.

8. With 1 in 5 New Yorkers over the age of 60, what are the changes you would seek to make to create a more age-friendly district? Please consider addressing the physical infrastructure of your district (walkability, accessibility, etc.), health care access, safety net resources, and other district specific items of note.

I believe have the highest population of seniors in my Council district than anywhere else. It's vital hat we continue funding the services that our seniors need, including our senior centers, parks, and streets. Our health and hospitals system must also promote more equity for health care in seniors.

9. In the event of a budget shortfall, how would you push for the City to close the gap? Are there agencies or programs you feel should or should not absorb cuts? Please be specific.

Vital safety nets must be exempt for cuts when possible, and I have long said that there are many mayoral pet projects that are a waste of money and have shown no results. I would cut those first before touching any services that impacts our seniors and those most vulnerable.

10. How should your constituents look to measure your success in achieving your responses outlined above?

I believe I have worked hard and delivered much-needed results for my constituents. I trust that my constituents know the work that I do, and will continue partnering with me to bring them the much-needed services they deserve.