For District Leaders in the 52nd AD the OTBKB endorsement goes to:

Female: Jo Ann Simon

Male: Chris Owens.

Why?

I met with Jo Ann Simon for a Breakfast-of-Candidates interview, when she was running for City Council in the 33rd District last year and she impressed me very much. She has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Brooklyn community for many years and she’s smart and energetic.

Here’s what I wrote back then: “Energetic. Smart. Pragmatic. Those words descibe Simon, who seems to be refining and improving her public presentation skills. An advocate of collaboration and giving voice to all viewpoints at the table, Simon is credible as a city leader, especially with her strong passion for education and the legal rights of the learning disabled.”

I’ve never interviewed Chris Owens but I know he’s a reform democrat with strong views on education, health care and transparency in government.

The son of retired Brooklyn congressman Major Owens, Chris was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, where he was a New York State champion in both debate and speech.  Chris graduated from Harvard where he majored in Sociology and was active in cultural and political organizations.  In 1998, he received a Master of Public Affairs degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Chris Owens has worked on health care access for lower-income communities and now leads a non-profit organization providing academic support for students in under-resourced public schools.  He lives in Prospect Heights with his wife, Sandra, and their two sons, Elijah and Sampson, who attend New York City public schools.