"It’s extremely
unfortunate that some supporters of other candidates have sought to
make caricatures of my views, reducing them to ugly extremes. In one
sense, these ad hominem attacks are simply the dirty politics we might
expect from seasoned operatives in a contentious field of well-funded
candidates. But taken another way, these attacks also bear the
distinctive whiff of another time: an era when the anti-Catholic
politics of fear prevented the immigrants who built our neighborhoods
from attaining political power. Of course, we can’t know the real
motives of those who mischaracterize my words and beliefs. I can only
ask the voters to judge my views on their merits, and not to believe
the distortions of those who seek to marginalize my candidacy for their
own political gain, no matter the cost.

"First: I am a Democrat. I’m in favor of strong gun control laws
and I’m against the death penalty. I’m in favor of progressive taxation
and I’m against union busting. I think the fate of our city is
inextricably linked to the futures of our blue-collar workers,
middle-class families, and mom-and-pop businesses. I believe in growing
our great city, and this great borough, in an environmentally
sustainable way. I believe that a real investment in our public schools
is one we can’t afford not to make. And as a Democrat, I respect others
regardless of their positions on difficult subjects.

"With regard to choice: the residents of this district are
overwhelmingly pro-choice, and I have pledged to represent them on this
issue as Councilman. It’s true that personally I consider myself to be
anti-abortion. That doesn’t mean I have any agenda to chip away at the
federally-guaranteed rights of women. To the contrary: I supported the
Clinic Access Bill, and will continue to support legislation that
prevents intimidation, promotes civil discourse, and enforces the law
of the land. Like President Obama, I think we also have a
responsibility to reduce the number of abortions whenever possible.
This is my stance.

"With regard to gay marriage: I am advocating for a wholesale
change to the law under which the state would offer legal unions for
all couples, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Under this
system, “marriages” would be performed only by spiritual institutions,
and would carry no legal weight. This would achieve the goal of total
marriage equality, while effectively separating church from state,
which is the problem I see at the root of this contentious debate.
There are those who say this goal is impossible; I respectfully
disagree. The point is: I do support total equality of rights for all
couples. I only propose a different method. This is my stance.

"I’m running for City Council because I believe that this job, when
we cut through all the rhetoric, essentially comes down to a very
simple concept: serving the residents of our neighborhoods. We need
someone on the Council who understands our neighborhoods – who knows
where we’ve been and where we want to go. My family has been here for
five generations. I know what hard times have done to the people of
this district, and I want to fight to make sure we don’t have to go
through that again. My wife Maria and I are expecting our first child.
Our family plans to make a home in this neighborhood for the next five
generations. That means my commitments to affordable housing, to
education reform, to small businesses and to our quality of life are
intensely personal.

"My earnest hope is that we can refocus this campaign on the issues
really facing the voters of our district: safe streets, open
firehouses, good schools, affordable housing, clean parks, and public
transportation."