NEW YORK—The executive board of 32BJ SEIU has endorsed Jason Otaño for State Assembly. He is running for an open seat in the 53rd District, which includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Bushwick.
Otaño brings with him a commitment to creating good jobs and building strong communities.
“We believe Jason Otaño will help lead the fight for affordable housing and decent jobs that can support a family,” said Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ SEIU. “The people of North Brooklyn, where many of our members live, deserve an elected leader with principals and passion who will represent their interests in Albany.”
As general counsel to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Otaño showed his commitment to equitable spending priorities, serving on the city pension board and green lighting contracts that helped small businesses and gave a fair deal to working families in Brooklyn. As co-chair of the Brooklyn Mitchell-Lama Task Force, Otaño helped ensure that the affordable housing program was preserved and improved in the borough. As chair of the Affordable Living Committee of the Green light District in the Southside of Williamsburg, he is working to develop green jobs and tenant protections.
Otaño has deep civil service roots. His father served as a firefighter for 28 years in Red Hook, and his mother is a para-professional teacher who works in a Brooklyn public school.
32BJ SEIU has more than 70,000 members in New York, and a total of 145,000 members in 11 states plus the District of Columbia. The union is in the midst of an extensive voter education drive, with canvasses and street events that will put at least 7,000 members on the street as well as phone banks, mailings and community outreach.
With more than 145,000 members, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service union in the country.