Two congressional candidates were invited to a candidates forum at the Peekskill Presbyterian Church on Saturday however only one showed. At the event hosted by the greater Peekskill chapter of the Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus former U.S. Rep Mondaire Jones had the floor to himself.
Candidates from the Assembly District 95, Senate District 40, and Congressional District 17 were all invited and present with the exception of U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler. According to the event’s moderator, Felecia Grant-Cummings, Lawler declined the caucus’ invitation after several attempts were made.
“It shows that Lawler does not care,” Jones told the Herald, “the way he didn’t care when he didn’t show up to the (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) candidates forum, the way he didn’t care when he issued a non apology for wearing black face in 2006 and the way he didn’t push back on someone using the N-word at a forum he hosted a few weeks ago.”
In his opening remarks, Jones highlighted bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars to revitalize kitchens at Peekskill’s Dunbar Heights, $6.3 million under the American Rescue Act for Peekskill public schools, and working with Congress to cap the cost of insulin and lower Medicare cost. He also took questions from moderators and the audience. Issues raised ranged from caregiver support, minimum wage, civil rights, immigration reform, climate change, and the conflict in the Middle East.
Asked how he would address police brutality against communities of color, Jones recalled helping pass the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act in the House of Representatives in 2021 and said criminal justice reform should remain an urgent priority.
“I remember speaking in Peekskill at a Black Lives Matter Rally,” Jones said. “That was one of the most significant speeches I gave in that 2020 campaign. I remember walking the streets in Irvington, an overwhelmingly white community in the lower Hudson Valley, and being joined by thousands of people who were white (and) saying we need to reform our criminal legal system.”
Jones said more social workers need to be hired and make sure there is an ability to hold police officers who break the law accountable. This, he said, is not in tension with supporting law enforcement officers. He added that he was proud to always vote to fund law enforcement, contrary to Lawler, who Jones said voted three different times to cut that funding.
Asked how he would work to achieve a more livable federal minimum wage, Jones said he previously voted for legislation that would have raised the minimum from $7.25 an hour to $15. He added that raising the minimum wage, lowering prescription drug costs and protecting Obamacare from being repealed were necessary.
“I think of the cost of living and how this economy is broken,” Jones said. “I know what it’s like to struggle in this broken economy based on my upbringing in the village of Spring Valley in Rockland County where despite government assistance, mom still had to work multiple jobs to provide for our family.”
Valerie Eaton, a Peekskill resident and former NAACP president, asked Jones what he could do about teacher’s wages being low. He said that while those wages are mostly done at the local and state level, he would work to protect Title 1 funding, which provides supplemental funding for impoverished schools.
“If we were to reduce Title 1 funding the way my opponent has voted to do, such as when he voted on Sept. 29, 2023 to cut the education budget, teachers will be getting paid even less than what they are right now,” he said. “So obviously we have to stop that.”
Jones was also asked how he would support the environment. He mentioned being appalled that Lawler said he would have not closed Indian Point, as well as voted to cut funding for Clean Air and Water, and to defund the Environmental Protection Agency, Jones said.
“We have to make sure that we have not a former oil and gas lobbyist who votes like a former oil and gas lobbyist in the form of Mike Lawler,” he said. “But (rather) an environmental champion who cares about the health and safety of our communities, who believes in climate change and has never mocked climate change on Twitter the way my opponent has done before he ever ran for office in the swing district.”
Annie Strong, a Peekskill resident, took issue with Jones saying the quickest way to end the conflict in the Middle East would be for Hamas to release Israeli hostages and surrender. She brought up how Israel is currently bombing not just Gaza, but Lebanon.
“Israel is now (committing) genocide, killing these people. It’s not about Hamas anymore,” she said. “It’s about genocide. Let’s get them out of the way because these kids are going to grow up to be terrorists. Why can’t the United States be like the father and say to Israel, to (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) stop?”
In response, Jones said he disagreed with the use of the word ‘genocide’ and said Hamas started the war on Oct. 7 in which they killed more than 1,200 people. More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel Defense Forces since, with over half being women and children according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Jones said he would be in favor of a two state solution in the region.
Marsha Vernon, a Yorktown resident, also questioned when the U.S. would start telling Israel to put a stop to illegal settlements in the West Bank. When asked how Jones has joined Congress members in pressuring Israel to stop illegal settlements, he told the Herald they need to focus on defeating Hamas who still is holding over 100 hostages.
“It is well established that the U.S. government’s policy is against settlement expansion in the West Bank and that’s all there is to it,” he said.
Asked what message he had for Peekskill voters, Jones reminded voters they live in a swing district and will determine control of Congress next January.
“When you vote for Mondaire Jones, you vote for a Democratic Congress that hopefully will be under a Harris presidency next January,” he said. “If you vote for Mike Lawler, you’re voting for a Republican Congress led by extremists, like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Johnson, who want a national abortion ban, cuts to social security and Medicare and to advance Donald Trump’s dangerous project 2025 agenda.”
The general election will take place on Nov. 5. Early voting has already started and will end Nov. 3.
