I have been writing about the 39th City Council race, initially because my friend, Josh Skaller, a gentleman I have utmost respect for, was running. But by now I find I have an additional reason to write about it. One (and ONLY one) of Josh's opponents, Brad Lander, has proven himself so obnoxious (to quote other candidates in the race) that I consider him temperamentally unfit to be in the City Council. Although I suppose he would be neither the first nor last obnoxious City Councilman, but personally I would prefer almost ANY of the other candidates over Brad.

Brad's most recent obnoxious political attacks have involved the child of one of his opponents, Josh Skaller's son, Wolf. To me, this is low even for Brad, and I have written before about Brad's well-known pettiness, anger management problems and obnoxious behavior. Some people have accused me of focusing on minor points regarding Brad's personality rather than on issues (like Brad's anti-Israel positions, his alliances with homophobic and intolerant politicians like Dov Hikind, the fact that developers consider him their favorite candidate, etc.) But in some ways when a politician's personality becomes so obnoxious, it becomes an issue in itself.

Brad's attacks involving an opponent's son further convinces me that Brad's temper and personality ARE an issue in themselves in this race. Brad's attacks have brought a response from Wolf's mother, Kelly Skaller, in an email to Josh's supporters. Here is a mother's response in defense of her child against Brad Lander's attacks:

My husband, Josh Skaller, is running for City Council. We have an eight- year-old son, Wolf. By the time you read this, I may have given birth to our daughter, who is due any day now.

As you may know, Josh and I struggled to find the school that was most appropriate for our son and his special needs.

Unfortunately, one of my husband's opponents, Brad Lander, has decided to make our schooling choice an issue in this campaign. These attacks leave me no choice but to respond.

As an educator who has taught in public schools all over our borough, I have a personal investment in Brooklyn's public schools. As a mother, I have had enough of the lies and misinformation spread by one of Josh's political opponents, who is playing the same old politics as usual.

We won't make our opponents' children an issue in this campaign, because children should not be political pawns. I commend the other candidates for focusing on the issues and not the candidates' families.

Wolf's education is a private matter to us; it has everything to do with who Wolf is, and nothing to do with how we feel about public schools. Brad Lander's attacks, however, have made this letter to you unavoidable.

Josh and I could move to the suburbs to find a public school that fits our son's needs. Many families do that. But Josh and I love Brooklyn and we want to raise our children right here. We chose to stay in our community and provide for our son's special needs. We chose to send Wolf to a neighborhood private school.

Josh and I live in a one-and-a-half bedroom rented apartment. We do not have a car. We do not take vacations. We are not wealthy. We do spend money on our child's education. Like you, we make sacrifices to help our child attend a school that suits his needs.

All schools should support the different learning styles and address the challenges their students face. Wolf's school allows him to be entering third grade - in public school he would be entering the fourth grade. Wolf's school works well with him to overcome his struggles with reading. It allows him to feel positive about his abilities and his role as a learner.

Josh and I are invested in the public schools. Both of Josh's parents went to public schools in New York City. My father attended public schools here as well. My grandmother was a public school teacher in New York City for over 20 years. I attended public schools from kindergarten through high school. I have a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education. I have worked with children from PS 154, PS 249, PS 321, PS 89, PS 375, PS 231, PS 54, PS 243, PS 200, PS 399, PS 186, PS 158, PS 95, PS 152, and PS 157 - just to name a few.

My husband and I share a core value: Every child deserves a high-quality education. As a City Councilmember and the father of a child with special needs, Josh will fight to make sure that schools remain true to the developmental needs of their students and provide support to teachers and administrators so that they can teach in ways that connect to every student.

Josh is running a campaign on the issues - and he has the plan to give parents a real say in their children's schools, to reduce class sizes and end the gauntlet of standardized tests.

...I hope you will vote for Josh not because of the private and difficult choices he has made as a father regarding his son's education. I hope you will vote for him because he is the candidate most committed to improving our public schools, and the candidate who will best represent our community in City Hall.

None of the other candidates in this race--Josh Skaller, Bob Zuckerman, John Heyer, or Gary Reilly--have displayed the kind of obnoxious behavior that Brad has. And each and every other candidate in the race, or members of their campaign, has expressed to me irritation and anger at Brad and his obnoxious behavior. But making an issue of a child with special needs and his parent's efforts--at a considerable sacrifice--to give him the education that benefits him most within the neighborhood, is the worst that Brad has done so far.