The Brooklyn Downtown Star just came out with their endorsements. Among them are endorsements for Josh Skaller for the 39rd City Council race, Tish James for the 35th City Council race, and John Liu for Comptroller.

Here's what they have to say about Josh Skaller:

The district must have a progressive-minded council member, capable of fighting for reform, who also understands the importance and distinct needs of the district’s more conservative and less affluent southern belt - an area made up of the neighborhoods of Windsor Terrace, Kensington, and Boro Park.

The job calls for a liberal but open-minded person of integrity, intelligence, and sound judgment. The job calls for Josh Skaller, whom this paper is endorsing for City Council...

Skaller, an outspoken civic activist for the past decade, has established a broad base of support through his commitment to a brand of progressive but pragmatic politics, a rare combination.

A proactive environmentalist, Skaller plans to use city resources to implement small-scale alternative energy projects to reduce carbon emissions and encourage residents to take environmental issues into their own hands.

From the start, he has supported the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to place the Gowanus Canal on the Superfund List. Skaller believes, rightly so, that the federal government - not the city - has the right tools to clean the polluted waterway once and for all.

He understands the need for community-based planning when it comes to the all-important issue of development.

Though Lander has more experience in this field, Skaller has shown a more-than-adequate knowledge of development policy, the ways in which overdevelopment harms neighborhoods, and the methods which can be used to protect communities from out-of-context, unsustainable growth.

Josh Skaller has been endorsed by Governor Howard Dean (aslo former head of DNC), Assemblyman Jom Brennan, State Senator Eric Adams, Courier Life Publications, Brooklyn-Queens NOW PAC (National Organization for Women), NY Americans for Democratic Action, New York Metro Area Postal Union (APWU, AFL-CIO), International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 237, 111 and 854, Service Employees International Union (Special Officers and Guards, Local 177), Democracy for America, the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, Democracy for NYC, and Public Advocate candidate Norman Siegel.

Here's what they have to say about John Liu for Comptroller:

There is a good reason why few New Yorkers understand the office of comptroller: it’s very complicated. The position is well defined to City Hall insiders, but not to the public.

In serving as the city’s top fiscal watchdog, the comptroller is that nitty-gritty steward of our pension funds, a number cruncher extraordinaire, the auditor of wasteful spending with broad fiduciary responsibilities that impact citywide policy on everything from education to sanitation.

In short, the comptroller is New York City’s money wizard - crusading, in theory, for the financial well being of all New Yorkers...

We need to get this one right. To do so, we need John Liu for comptroller...

By all counts, it is one of the most competitive races of the election season. Nevertheless, interviews (in some cases multiple ones) with Liu, Weprin, and Katz has made it clear that Liu is the best candidate for the job, for a number of reasons. (Yassky’s campaign did not respond to multiple requests to meet with the Editorial Board of the Queens Ledger/Brooklyn Star for an interview.)...

One of the hardest-working members of the council, Liu, in his capacity as Transportation Committee chairman, has fought for mass transit improvements and against East River tolls.

As a fully engaged City Council member, he has also immersed himself in a surprisingly broad array of issues, from affordable housing and government transparency to minority rights and education...

His ideas on how to protect and grow the city’s pension funds by carefully diversifying the city’s investment portfolio while respecting shareholder activism, are innovative and fiscally prudent.

He is committed to auditing every city agency, to eliminate wasteful spending, and to reforming the city’s contracting and procurement process, to reduce the number of “no-bid” contracts.

But these policies and others like them don’t tell the whole picture. Most importantly, and perhaps more so than the other candidates in this race, Liu understands and is committed to improving the lives of all New Yorkers, not just to protecting the assets of the wealthy and privileged. (It is hoped and believed that to live up to his potential, Liu will not lose sight of this priority).

John Liu has also been endorsed by NY Americans for Democratic Action, 504 Democratic Club (disabled rights), American Heritage Democratic Club (Bay Ridge, Brooklyn), Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan, Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (the club Joy is an officer of), Democratic Organization of Richmond County, East Harlem United Democrats, El Nuevo Caribe Democratic Club of El Barrio/East Harlem, Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democrats, Councilwoman Letitia James, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, Lambda Independent Democratic Club, Lambda Independent Democrats, Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens, Martin Luther King Democrats, Rosa Parks Democrats, Staten Island Democratic Association, Stonewall Democrats of New York City...whew, and MANY more.

And here's what they have to say about Tish James for the 35th City Council race:

The neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, and Prospect Heights need a strong and courageous advocate, an elected official who supports sustainable growth without forgetting to nourish the soul of the community.

They have one in Councilwoman Letitia James, which is why this paper is endorsing her for re-election...

Since taking office after winning a special election in 2003, James has established a reputation for personal and political integrity, guts, and hard work. With those tools, she has taken on developers, the Bloomberg Administration, and the state (over, among other issues, the Atlantic Yards project, which James vehemently opposes).

James is outspoken, but she backs it up with results.

She was the lead sponsor of the Safe Housing Act, a measure passed by the council in 2007 that protects renters by guaranteeing proper maintenance services, and is a vocal advocate for improvements to public housing.

In her capacity as chair of the Contracts Committee, James has fought for oversight of government contracts and for women and minority-owned businesses...

She is a frequent attendee and speaker at community meetings big or small, where she is well versed on the crime problem on your block, or the out-of-context luxury building on your uncle’s. James knows what’s happening, and likely has an idea - or a half-dozen - about what to do to solve the problem.

She has, simply put, a rough-and-tumble style and the right combination of outspokenness, legislative skill, and moral tenacity that fit the 35th District perfectly.

Tish James has also been endorsed by Stonewall Democrats of NYC, NARAL Pro-Choice NYC PAC, Freelancer's Union, Uniformed Firefighters Association- Local 94, United Federation of Teachers and many others.