Common Sense: Week of October 25

RATING THE LEGISLATURE

The New York State Conservative Party, chaired by Mike Long, released its legislative ratings for the 2012 session last week. To develop the ratings, the party used approximately 20 bills from the Senate and Assembly, ranging from budget to support for pension reform to opposition to abortion funding and recognizing marijuana as a medicine.

The average rating for the Assembly as a whole was 48 percent. The average for the State Senate as a whole was 73 percent. The Assembly Republicans averaged 75 percent and the Assembly Democrats 34 percent. Locally, Republican-Conservative Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis beat the average with an impressive 80 percent. Democrat Peter Abbate received a 30 percent, Bill Colton 35 percent, Dov Hikind 55 percent, Felix Ortiz 40 percent and Alec Brook-Krasny 35 percent.

The Senate Republicans averaged 83 percent and the Senate Democrats 60 percent. Republican-Conservative Senator Marty Golden received 85 percent and Democrat Diane Savino 80 percent.

The ratings are available on line at cpnys.org or one can receive a copy by calling the Conservative party at 718-921-2158.

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Several well-traveled visitors to Bay Ridge were surprised to see the number of homes decorated for Halloween in our community. Inasmuch as this seems to be a trend in recent years, at least in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, I guess I assumed it was occurring everywhere. This is apparently not the case.

Considering the amazing array of Christmas lighting that illuminates the community in December, I guess we just have more people who enjoy decorating and celebrating the seasons. There are homes decorated for Valentine’s day; Easter and the Fourth of July.

The Halloween season has other big happenings in the area including the annual Halloween Walk in Owl’s Head Park sponsored by State Senator Golden, whom I serve as chief of staff. This event — which attracts 10,000 people — is one of the biggest Halloween events for children in the nation.

Organized and produced by Chip Cafiero, literally hundreds of volunteers put in countless hours creating a haunted house, Pumpkin Patch and other Halloween scenes. There are also plenty of amateur actors who make the Haunted House come alive. The event starts around 4 p.m. and goes on until dark.

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The Brooklyn Conservative Party will be holding its annual cocktail party on November 1st at Sirico’s catering hall on 13thAvenue beginning at 7 p.m. The guest speaker will be U. S. Senate candidate Wendy Long. Many elected officials including Congressmember Mike Grimm, State Senator Marty Golden and Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis will be in attendance.

Tickets are $85 per person and can be obtained by calling the Conservative Party at 718-921-2158.

Jerry Kassar is the chairperson of the Kings County Conservative Party. He is a longtime community activist who has served as an officer or member of many organizations. He works for the state of New York.

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