I am just now beginning to pay attention to the city council race. The primary is nine months away and the campaigns of an excellent group of candidates for Bill deBlasio's seat are beginning to heat up.

Thursday night, Hepcat and I attended Craig Hammerman's roll-out party at Magnolia, a cozy restaurant and bar on Sixth Avenue and 12th Street. It was billed as a Meet- the-Candidate event and it was a good chance to meet Hammerman supporters and those who were just taking a look/see.

Heck, the smart guy that works at the Community Bookstore was manning the door.

There was a pay-as-you-drink-bar and free shish kebobs, pizza, chicken wings and stuffed mushrooms that were tasty. Full discolure: I had one kebob and a stuffed mushroom.

At the friendly, small gathering on an icy cold winter night, Hepcat and I had the opportunity to grill Craig on the path that led him to city politics.

Craig has been District Manager of Community Board 6 for the last 19 years. Before that he was born in Brooklyn in 1965, attended Midwood High School and studied chemical engineering and history at Rutgers University. After college he taught high school science in Brooklyn. He told us that he was hired to teach biology at one school even though he hadn't studied biology since high school. Fortunately, his father, a professor of life science at Long Island University, was able to help keep Craig a  week or two ahead of the students.

He also worked for a small manufacturing firm, a valuable experience that convinced him that he was meant to work for the public good.

In 2001 Craig ran against Bill deBlasio. Well, that race didn't turn out the way he wanted. But he's at it again with plans to pound the pavements, ring the doorbells and meet the citizens one-on-one in his district which includes a large swath of Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Kensington.

I've gotten to know Craig a little bit of late because he shops at the Community Bookstore and we're often in there at the same time. Before Christmas he came in looking for a book to buy his mother or father for the holidays.

Catherine recommended The Economist Book of Obituaries because it's really a great collection of biographies of the famous and the unusual. It was an odd choice for elderly parents but Craig thought that once his parents got passed the title they'd really enjoy the book.

Later he told me that they did.

He was at the Community Bookstore on the night of Obama's inauguration and participated in the festive read-in  that was going on (Frederick Douglas, Thomas Jefferson) by reading excerpts from The Tempest. That's what I hear anyway.

A member of the Park Slope Track Club, Craig is an avid runner and has completed 7 marathons.

"I ran the Brooklyn Half," I told him proudly."

"Half-marathons are my favorite race," Craig told me.

So the guy knows how to run. But can he win?

Now don't take this for an endorsement. It's too early for that. And don't think I won't be running other stump speeches on this blog. It's just that I was there last night and was impressed with the words that Craig strung  together to get his message across.

"We're taking it back" is his campaign mantra. The phrase appears on his website, which is still being developed and is the 4-word refrain of much of his stump speech. So what is Craig taking back?

For the community activists who take time away from their family, their friends and their hobbies to get involved, people I’ve spent two decades of my life supporting, organizing, leading and admiring…we’re taking it back.

For the people who dare to speak out, whose views may be unpopular with the powers-that-be, who see things as they are and aren’t afraid to call the Emperor naked, who scare the establishment with their honesty and openness, you have my undying admiration for your commitment to the most basic democratic principles…we’re taking it back.

For the teachers and administrators entrusted with the education of our children, stuck between a community of frustrated and disempowered parents and students who care, and a centralized bureaucracy that never seems to care enough…we’re taking it back.

For our neighbors who want to enjoy an occasional visit to Prospect Park, bring their dog for an early morning run, picnic or barbeque with family and friends, bring their kids to little league or soccer, or perhaps even train for a marathon there, without fear or threat of being mugged or killed by a car…we’re taking it back.

For the pedestrians who would rather keep their gazes fixed upward taking in our beautiful brownstones, tree-lined streets and open sky, but instead must focus on the cracks in the sidewalk and the buzzing traffic in our congested streets…we’re taking it back.

For the butchers, the bakers, the candle-stick makers, and the restauranteurs, bookstore owners, and all the merchants we know by name – the people who make our shopping a pleasant experience with their street fairs, Christmas tree lightings, Halloween candy and Snow Flake festivals – things that Starbucks and Barnes & Noble would never do…we’re taking it back.

For the shoulders of giants we stand on today, the people who had dedicated an important piece of their life to building the communities we get to enjoy as their legacy – the Bob Acito’s, Ed Rogowsky’s, Peggy Buffalano’s, Stephen Foster’s, Anita DeMartini’s, Jackie Connor’s, Frank Verderame’s, Mary Allman’s, and Ernest Migliaccio’s…we’re taking it back.

For the average middle-class New Yorker, tired of seeing tax dollars wasted on projects, programs and policies that don’t work, aren’t needed, or can be done more efficiently and effectively, people who are worried about keeping their jobs, their home, and their lives in tact, people who are increasingly thinking that government must be part of the solution, not the problem itself – my friends and neighbors who despite their cynicism want something to believe in, are motivated to work for change, and have not given up…we’re taking it back.

We’re taking it back!

We’re taking back our community – building by building, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood.

We’re taking back our voice from those who have tried to silence us – the small-minded, scared politicians who fear what they do not understand and what they cannot control.

We’re taking back our government from the big-monied special interests who hijack public land for private use and create jobs for those with access instead of those with need.

We’re taking back our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness so that we can take care of each other and live in the kind of communities we get to design.

We’re taking it all back.

The pendulum is swinging.  Our new President cannot do it alone.  We must answer his call for communities to organize, mobilize, stand up and be counted.  This is our mission.  This is our campaign.  It starts right here and right now.

In 2010 we will have an incumbent City Council.  A City Council filled with third-term veterans who have been around for 8 years.  People who know how to get projects, programs and policies funded.  People who know how to activate City government.  People whom I’ve worked closely with – some I’ve even taught a thing or two.

This is no time to send an untested person to the City Council to represent our communities.  The situation demands an experienced person possessing not only an eagerness to do the right thing, but the knowledge and know-how to do it.  The situation demands strong, proven leadership.  The s
ituation demands that we put our energies into getting this message out there to every single one of our friends and neighbors.  They must know what is at stake here and it’s our job to inform them.  We have 9 months to get this done.

In 2008 we took back our nation.  In 2009, we’re taking back our community.  And together – we will!

What he does know how to do is write a good speech. I appreciated his words tonight and am glad to be able to post them here.

Just because I'm running Craig's speech doesn't mean I won't run your's if you're campaigning for City Council. Try me. I just might.

He knows how government works and believes that this community needs strong, experienced representation at a time when the City Council will be filled with veteran politicans.