[BwayDems] Tomorrow, vote for our future!

[Mark Otto]

Dear Broadway Democrats,

There are a number of issues at stake in this race: affordable housing,
quality education, changing neighborhoods and the changing face of our City.

But I’m running for one reason: the future of our community.

I have not always planned on running for elected office. I am a teacher and
an administrator at a New York City public high school, and I’ve always
felt I was doing what I loved, what mattered most. Every day, I work
directly with kids in New York, kids that need guidance, need support, need
to learn about the world and how to participate as citizens and adults in
our city.

“Choosing to participate” – that’s the motto of the Facing History School,
the school I helped found. We’re not about teaching to the test – we’re
about preparing our students for their lives, for their roles as community
members, helping them expand their horizons and grow and succeed.

But I have been to too many funerals and vigils, crying with the parents
and classmates of a student whose life was cut tragically short, a student
I was saying hello to in the hallway just days before.

I have sat in hospitals with students’ families, nervously awaiting a new
life being brought into the world, doing all I can to make sure that that
new mom stays in school and has the support and resources she needs.

I have pulled money out of my wallet to buy books for students heading to
college who simply could not afford it; I have spent hours on the phone
trying to find a place to stay for students whose family just lost their
housing and are about to end up on the streets.

And I have realized that I need to do more. Our children’s lives – and the
future of our city – can’t be confined to classroom walls.

No issue facing our city stands on its own. They are all interrelated, they
all feed into each other, they all feed back on each other. A lack of
housing means it’s difficult to stay in school, get the education you need,
and support a family in the future; it means it’s difficult to hold a job
and ensure your family has the support they need. Stop and frisk means
further disadvantaging our most disadvantaged, and leads to repercussions
that will echo across our neighborhoods for decades. Rising rents mean
parents working extra jobs, not being able to be there for their kids when
they need it most, and their kids not getting the future they deserve. A
lack of support for homeless youth and LGBT youth in upper Manhattan means
kids out on the street and lives ruined. City budget cuts, misused funds,
and regressive taxation means food that is not on the table, a roof that
isn't over our heads, and opportunities that don’t exist.

And on and on.

All of these things go hand in hand, and you can’t solve one problem
without fixing the other.

And this is why I’m running for City Council, and this is why I am seeking
your support.

I have been on the front lines for a decade, with first-hand knowledge of
how all these issues affect our families and our future. The 7th District
needs a council member who really understands what these issues mean for
every day New Yorkers, each and every day. We need a council member who
understands how these problems feed into each other, and works for
holistic, sensible solutions. We need a council member with vision and
creativity, who can go beyond politics as usual, with the ability to think
outside the box and get things done.

As the next representative from the 7th District, I will be that council
member – I will work tirelessly for the future of our neighborhoods, our
communities, and our city, and I would be honored to have your support.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for all that you do for our city.

Mark Otto

Candidate, CD7
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