(8 of 24)
BORN: April 26, 1955, Brooklyn EDUCATION: Marymount Manhattan College, B.A., 1986 FAMILY: Husband, Reginald; one child RELIGION: Protestant MILITARY: None OCCUPATION: Entrepreneur; CEO POLITICAL CAREER: None ADDRESS: 2645 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 766, Brooklyn 11207. Tel.: 718-257-8224
Smith-Parker says incumbent Edolphus Towns is a name without a face in this district, part of which has the highest murder rate in New York City. The eldest of seven children and a former single parent, she founded her own loan-brokerage firm and has twice run for Congress. A friend to tax breaks for the middle class and small businesses, Smith-Parker also says child care and senior care are paramount if socioeconomic conditions are to improve.
THE ISSUES
Budget NR Medicare NO Defense YES Abortion YES Guns YES Gays NR Bosnia YES NAFTA YES Welfare NR Medical Leave YES (For an explanation of these issues, see the front of this guide.)
QUOTE OF NOTE: "Things just don't make sense anymore. [Politicians] are dancing around the real problems. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line."
EDOLPHUS TOWNS (D) District 10
BORN: July 21, 1934, Chadbourn, N.C. EDUCATION: North Carolina A&T State U, B.S., 1956; Adelphi U, M.S.W., 1973 FAMILY: Wife, Gwendolyn; two children RELIGION: Baptist MILITARY: Army, 1956-58 OCCUPATION: Professor; hospital administrator POLITICAL CAREER: Brooklyn deputy borough president, 1976-82; U.S. House, 1982- ADDRESS: 360 Clinton Avenue, Suite 6R, Brooklyn 11238. Tel.: 718-783-0780
Towns, the son of a North Carolina sharecropper, made a name for himself in Brooklyn politics before moving to Capitol Hill 14 years ago. The former hospital administrator has worked for stricter FDA regulations and more liberal health-care benefits, and pushed a bill--passed in September--to require health plans to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay after childbirth.
THE ISSUES
Budget NO Medicare NO Defense YES Abortion NO Guns YES Gays NO Bosnia NO NAFTA NO Welfare NO Medical Leave YES (For an explanation of these issues, see the front of this guide.)
QUOTE OF NOTE: "There is no more critical issue than funding for health-care services to combat the AIDS virus."
CLAUDETTE HAYLE (R) District 11 (Central Brooklyn--Flatbush; Crown Heights; Brownsville)
BORN: Jan. 24, 1955, Kingston, Jamaica EDUCATION: York College, 1977-80 FAMILY: Divorced; two children RELIGION: Roman Catholic MILITARY: None OCCUPATION: Entrepreneur; financial and information-systems consultant POLITICAL CAREER: Delegate to White House Conference on Small Business, 1986-90 ADDRESS: 656 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn 11238. Tel.: 212-348-2467
Married and a mother of two at age 20, Hayle says her life experience will help her connect with inner-city youth and demonstrate that it's possible to make it out of poverty. But whether this will help in a district that hasn't voted for a Republican since Lincoln--and where the incumbent wields such clout, according to the Washington Times, that businesses are afraid to support Hayle--will depend on getting her fellow Caribbeans and pro-life Catholics to the polls.
THE ISSUES