As Bloomberg and the City Council refuse to make wealthy New Yorkers pay their share and prepare to lay off 7,000 city workers, I can only imagine how city services are going to suffer. This is the statement made by city council candidate David Galarza on Bloomgberg's proposed cuts:

Brooklyn, NY — April 10, 2009 — At a time when most City public sector workers are already doing more with less, if Mayor Bloomberg thinks laying off 7,000 workers in this economy is a good idea then he truly is out of touch with the people of New York City.

The Mayor is playing politics with the lives of workers and the professional and essential services these workers provide to millions of New Yorkers. As a Council Member, I will always fight to make sure workers are not turned into scapegoats for failed economic policies enacted by misguided politicians.

As a proud union member and a candidate for City Council, I deplore these proposed budget cuts, layoffs and unacceptable changes to the pension system. I call on the Mayor to seek responsible solutions that will not place the lives of so many New Yorkers at risk.

About David Galarza

David Galarza is a Communications Specialist for CSEA Local 1000, AFSCME, New York’s leading union representing state, county and municipal employees. He began his professional career as a journalist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Miami Herald. He went on to serve as a spokesperson for former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger and worked in the public affairs offices of the New York City Comptroller and the Board of Education. He also served as a consultant to the non-profit Children’s Aid Society. A former member of Brooklyn’s Community Board 7, Galarza chaired the Housing Committee. He is a founding member of SPAN (Sunset Park Alliance of Neighbors) a grassroots civic group that works on zoning, land use and housing issues. For more information contact David Galarza For A New Day, P.O. Box 200-004, Brooklyn, NY 11220, (718) 512-8656. Online visit www.davidgalarza.com or the David Galarza For A New Day Group on Facebook.

If we want meaningful change in this city, David Galarza is one of several good candidates we need to elect. We need the kind of honesty and people-focused politics that Galarza represents rather than more pay-to-play, business as usual crap that Bloomberg and many currently on the City Council practice.