Two White Plains Democrats Eye Castelli’s Assembly Seat

Looking to take back a left-leaning district currently held by a Republican, one White Plains Democrat has thrown his hat in while another is expected to join the race for the 89th Assembly District.

Saying the current assemblyman, Republican Bob Castelli, is out of touch, Democrat Jeremiah Frei-Pearson is making a bid to get his name on the 2012 ballot. White Plains Common Council member David Buchwald has also filed paperwork necessary to raise funds for the race and said he is “actively exploring” a run – he is largely expected to also try for the seat.

Frei-Pearson, a 33-year-old public interest lawyer who grew up in northern Westchester, says he advocates government reform. “My intention is to work so all voices will be heard,” Frei-Pearson said.

Buchwald, also 33, is an attorney and was elected to the Common Council in 2009.

“I think it’s an important seat, and important for the district to have a strong voice for the things people in the district need and look for in government,” he said. “That’s why I’m giving it serious consideration.”

Currently employed at the law firm of Meiselman, Denlea, Packman & Eberz of White Plains, Frei-Pearson represents underpaid workers. He is also affiliated with children’s rights, having represented thousands of children in foster care and used the court system to reform what he calls “broken government agencies” on behalf of at-risk children.

“This is government reform, at, I think, its finest,” Frei-Pearson says. In the class action children’s rights lawsuit Charlie and Nadine H. v. Christie, Frei-Pearson helped to secure a win. “Before we sued the state of New Jersey, the rate at which kids were abused in foster care was four times higher than it is today. We used the courts to change a broken government system and now a kid who’s in New Jersey foster care today is four times less likely to be beaten than he was.”

In 2010, Frei-Pearson explored running for the Senate in Queens. The incumbent, Democrat George Onorato, voted against marriage equality – which Frei-Pearson has been outspoken in favor of – but later dropped out of the race. Frei-Pearson then explored running for a Queens Assembly seat that year, raising more than $129,000 before dropping out of the race. After moving to White Plains last year he began taking a look at an assembly run in the district.

“Running for office in 2012 was not on my list of things to do but the more I looked at this community and what it needs and what it’s getting, it made sense to jump in and try to make some changes. I think this district is just a really great place and there are some really amazing people and they’re not getting the representation they deserve,” he added.

Regarding Castelli, Frei-Pearson believes he “has cast some votes that are really out of touch with the people. He hasn’t done a good enough job of bringing jobs home and creating jobs in this community. There’s been a lot of rhetoric and there’s been no action. Similarly, on mandate relief, he talks about it a lot but there haven’t been any deliverables.”

Frei-Pearson said he had particular trouble with two votes Castelli took; one in 2010 regarding the possession of handguns by people charged with domestic violence, and the other his vote against marriage equality when it was ultimately passed into law.

“So apparently he believes that government has the right to tell consenting adults who they can marry, who they can be in love with. But government doesn’t have the right to tell people who beat their wives that they can’t have a handgun? That’s crazy. That’s just really out of touch.”

Castelli said it was too soon to discuss any possible opponent since redistricting has the potential to dramatically alter the race, but questioned how Frei-Pearson could say Castelli was out of touch with the district when Frei-Pearson had so recently moved there.

“I’m sure he doesn’t understand many of the 1,800 votes I have taken,” Castelli said, adding that he would eventually debate them with whomever the Democratic nominee is. “At this time, I am focused on doing the business of the 89th Assembly District.”

Castelli added that he’s been an outspoken voice for mandate relief, supporting Medicaid reform, repeal of the Triborough Amendment to the Taylor Law regarding public union contracts and Wicks Law regarding construction contracts as well as repeal of the MTA payroll tax.

“All of those things Mr. Pearson was opposed to when he ran against a well-respected Democrat in Queens just one year ago,” Castelli said.

Frei-Pearson said he disagreed with Castelli on the Triborough Amendment but that the issues Castelli mentioned hadn’t come up in his previous run.

Frei-Pearson doesn’t disagree with Castelli on everything. “On veterans issues, I think he’s been great. People who put their life on the line for this country so that we could be free, I think there’s nothing braver.”

When it comes to mandate relief, Frei-Pearson believes there are some mandates “which are 100 percent necessary,” such as those relating to basic safety and water quality and other mandates that have to be eliminated. Then, there are certain mandates that might apply to cities that don’t necessarily need to apply to municipalities.

“You can’t have Albany passing these laws that say, ‘Local government do this,’ and Albany provides no money. And as a result, taxes have to go up for folks who are overtaxed already. We’re going to knock a lot of the mandates that don’t make any sense. You’ve got to reduce a lot of the waste in government. But, water quality, that has got to be funded, no ifs, ands, or buts,” Frei-Pearson contends.

Frei-Pearson stressed the need for government reform, including campaign finance reform, to limit the power of special interests.

“I’m running for the state Assembly. You can, today, write me a check bigger than a check you can write Barack Obama,” he says. “Unfortunately, our government is for sale. Very few people are writing $82,000 checks to the state legislature out of the goodness of their hearts.”

Frei-Pearson said he didn’t feel anyone’s taxes should be raised but believed upper-income New Yorkers shouldn’t see further tax cuts.

Frei-Pearson moved to White Plains in 2011 with his wife, Karla Mosley, an Emmy-nominated actress originally from Mount Kisco. He grew up in northern Westchester and attended John Jay High School in Lewisboro. He went to Skidmore College in Saratoga; while in college he interned for Senator Ted Kennedy. After college, Frei-Pearson attended Stanford Law School, where he was a Public Interest fellow and ran a community law center for poor people.

Dr. Clifford Gevirtz, a Harrison resident and an anesthesiologist in New Rochelle, is also considering running for the Democratic line. Gevirtz, who vied for the line in a 2010 special election but lost to Westchester County Legislator Peter Harckham, said his top issues were Medicaid reform, prescription drug abuse and malpractice reform.

On Jan. 30, the White Plains Democratic Committee will decide on its endorsement. White Plains Democratic Chair Liz Schollenberger spoke favorably of Buchwald, saying he had a proven electoral track record, but said she wouldn’t endorse any candidate before the committee decides.

Democratic leaders see the 89th District as a potential gain this year, as enrollment numbers make it a tough district for a Republican to win. Castelli beat Harckham in a special election in February 2010, then topped Tom Roach, now the mayor of White Plains, by 112 votes. Before Castelli, though, the district had gone Democratic since prior to the last redistricting. Democrats in the district outnumber Republicans by around 9,500 registered voters.