Politics Unusual: AG nominee Komatireddy, Mayor Sayegh

Welcome to Politics Unusual, I'm Morgan Mackay. We are in the middle of summer, but that's not going to stop us from looking ahead. First up this week, we have on the mayor of Patterson, New Jersey, who just won reelection and has new plans for the city. Then we're looking ahead to November and speaking with the Republican candidate for attorney general. And then we're getting reaction from New Jerseyans on the governor's first six months in office. But first, it's the third largest city in the state, Patterson, New Jersey, also known as Silk City. So joining us to talk about his great city is the mayor of Patterson, Andre Seya. Thank you so much for being here. And congratulations. You are the first Patterson mayor to win three consecutive terms. You just won reelection in May. What are you excited about for this next chapter for you and the city? First, Morgan, I'm excited to be on the show with you today. Thank you. I can't contain my elation. And you made the trek all the way from New Jersey over here. So I appreciate it. It's not that far. But I saw a lot of Knicks fans on the way. All of a sudden, everybody roots for that team. I wonder why. But I hope people root for the city of Patterson because we're writing a comeback story. As a matter of fact, when I took office eight years ago, there were well over 2,000 vacant and abandoned properties. Now there's fewer than 200. So we've reduced it by 92%, which is also to contribute the fact that we have fewer fires. We've reduced that number by 30% as well. But it's not just about abandoned properties, about abandoned people. There are people who are really struggling in Patterson and many urban centers across the country, and affordability is a real issue. So we're trying to address it through the Financial Empowerment Center, where we help people improve their credit score, reduce their debt, buy a home, become a business owner in the city of Patterson. We have a real fixed program through Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, who won three terms himself. And we help people struggling with opioid use disorder. In fact, over 800 people have gotten treatment through this program. And we also have a re-entry initiative where people who paid their debt to society get a second chance, and we can get them gainful employment, housing, affordable housing, whatever it may be. So like I stated before, it's not just about addressing abandoned properties, but it's also helping and helping heal abandoned people. Addressing quality of life concerns was a big issue that came up in this election, and you actually helped initiate a new app allowing residents to report issues like potholes. But there are also concerns about the homelessness crisis. What are you guys doing when it comes to tackling the homelessness crisis and also quality of life concerns? So we're creating a new position to deal with the unhoused population. A homelessness coordinator, first time ever in the city of Patterson. But I want to create synergy because we want to diagnose what the actual challenge is. What does that individual need? Why is that person in that situation? So that's why I alluded to real fix. So if that person is struggling with drug addiction, we want to address that. If that person was recently released from prison or jail, we want to address that issue as well. We have community solutions, people who get stuck in the criminal justice system, and then they get lost in the system. So that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to align all the stars to help and heal these individuals that unfortunately have been forgotten. Now, public safety. That's another huge issue that came up during the election. And as you said, you launched an initiative called Patterson Community Solutions, and it offers low-level offenders alternatives to jail. How is this going? Is it up and running? How is it working? So Morgan, I've stated incessantly, ad nauseam, you cannot police all your problems away. So Community Solutions, we just had a graduation ceremony, and we had 15 people went through the program, and now they're ready for the real world. Now they're ready to be free from the criminal justice system. And now they're ready to reach the game for employment, also housing, also just get on with their lives, get back on track. That's what we're trying to do in this program with Community Solutions. Has it been working? You guys launched in December. Do you have a number? It has been, and it's expanding. In fact, like I stated before, these other initiatives, we're creating synergy with RealFix and ReEntry. We're trying to diagnose what the issue is and then prescribe the solution. And we believe that's a solution. Now, with New York City being so close to New Jersey, I feel like a lot of New Yorkers end up living in New Jersey, and vice versa. People live in New York and work in New Jersey. When you guys talk about the housing crisis, what are you doing in Patterson to increase the housing supply? Right. In the eight years that I've been mayor, we've had 500 affordable housing units. One is called grandparents raising grandchildren, which is a reality. And then there's affordable housing for senior citizens, low-income families. We're going to also focus on veterans. They are often neglected. So we want to prioritize the fact that maybe these veterans haven't had anywhere to go, but they've served our country. And the least we could do is better serve them as well. So my focus in the next term will be on creating even more affordable housing opportunities. As a matter of fact, today it was announced that my old economic development director is coming back to me, my new economic development director. And he was instrumental in catalyzing a lot of those affordable housing projects. Right now, the Patterson Police Department is under state control. I know that Governor Mikey Sherrill endorsed your campaign. Have you had any conversations with her about public safety, regaining control of the police department? Yes, we have. And I believe it's only a matter of time. But I'm proud of the work that we've done with our police department. In fact, I looked at the statistics this morning and crime is down year over year and we're trending in the right direction. So we're building a safer and stronger city as a result of this partnership with Governor Mikey Sherrill and our Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. What's next for Patterson? What is something you're really excited about bringing for the next four years of your term? So the Great Falls. It's our Niagara. It's New Jersey's Niagara. And in fact, I tell people that God gave Patterson two gifts, the Great Falls and the wisdom to know what to do with it. And so we built a riverwalk. We just opened it up this year. We opened up a new park overlooking the city and we have a city skyline, a New York City skyline view as well. We have a historic stadium, Hinchcliffe Stadium, one of only two in the country that hosted Negro League games. We have a new civil rights museum. We installed a new pedestrian bridge at the Great Falls. We have a Great Falls Center that's being built that will house a dining hall and also a rooftop restaurant. And then the Hamilton Visitor Center, because our founder is Alexander Hamilton and we want to pay tribute to him. So I see a future where tourism is a thriving industry in the city of Patterson and that we become a top-notch tourist destination for the tri-state area. Now, last question for you. I know the World Cup final is this Sunday. You have hosted numerous free World Cup watching events, but a lot of state lawmakers over in New Jersey are concerned and in New York are concerned about the return on the investment, making sure that New Jersey is getting the money back, that it's putting into all of this. Do you feel like there has been increased tourism, economic activity in Patterson since the World Cup? Do you think that Patterson got a return on its investment? So Patterson is the most diverse city in the state of New Jersey and I've seen so much elation amongst Colombians and Peruvians and Ecuadorians and Palestinians, even though they're not in, the Moroccans and the Egyptians and everybody roots for Argentina. I guess they're like the New York Yankees. From a Mets fan's perspective, it hurts me to say they're like the New York Yankees of soccer. So yes, I've seen an increase in tourism, especially at the Great Falls and we're having one last watch party this Sunday and it happens to be the day before Colombian Independence. So we have a huge celebration before with a flag raising and then we'll see who wins. May the best team win, Argentina or Spain. And we're also the home of the Cosmos. So we have Cosmos games as well. It's a legendary soccer club that started in the 70s and Pele, arguably the greatest player of all time, he was on the team for a few years as well. So we're becoming Soccer City and that has made us a draw and a destination. So do you feel like that it was worth it in the end to have all of this money going into increasing train service, increasing the free watch parties? Do you feel like that the city was able to get back in the economic revenue, in the tourism, in those tourism dollars? Do you feel like that it was worth it? I believe restaurants did very well. In fact, I just read something about beer consumption that increased as well. Not that I'm encouraging them, but I'm sure it's better for our taverns as well. I want our businesses to thrive and an opportunity like the World Cup, we couldn't squander. So Patterson was prepared and that's why we had a number of World Cup watch parties. As a matter of fact, Choose New Jersey gave my civic association a $50,000 grant to host these World Cup watch parties so that we can generate some excitement and generate more importantly, revenue. Thank you so much for making the trek here. And I really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you so much. Coming up, the race for Attorney General is just getting started. Next, we'll be joined by the Republican candidate looking to unseat Tish James. Welcome back to Politics Unusual. The race for New York Attorney General was not on your primary ballot this June, but it will be this November. New York Attorney General Letitia James is running for a third term, but looking to unseat her is our next guest, the Republican nominee Saritha Kamatireddy. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Morgan. So you have such an extensive background. You spent over a decade prosecuting ISIS and Al Qaeda leaders. You were a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York investigating terrorism. Introduce yourself to our viewers and tell them a little bit about why you're running. Of course. So you're right. I was a federal prosecutor for 12 years. I was born in New York. I came back to New York to be a prosecutor after I went to college and law school at Harvard and clerked for Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was on the D.C. Circuit. But my focus was always to be a terrorism prosecutor. After 9-11, I wanted to go after the guys who attacked us. So I prosecuted leaders in Al Qaeda and ISIS. I was asked to take over the narcotics unit. So then I shifted from terrorism to narco-terrorism and prosecuted leaders in the Mexican drug cartels, the Colombian drug cartels, even two of Maduro's lieutenants in Venezuela. And my whole dedication really was to public service and public safety. I got to be chief of staff of the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is a 10,000-person global law enforcement agency. It's five times the size of the New York Attorney General's office. I was even nominated to be a federal judge. It was a great honor for me to have that nomination. But at the end of the day, I spent all this time chasing international criminals and transnational criminal organizations. But I saw right here at home where I live, I have a family, I have four children, and right here at home, things were becoming less safe. New York has totally deteriorated under Letitia James when it comes to public safety. Crime is up. Homelessness is up. Everyone sees it. There's people who are mentally ill and drug-addicted on our streets, in our subways. And fraud and corruption is rampant in New York State. And no one's really going after that. So I thought it was time for me to focus right here at home and make sure that New York is safer. I looked around. I saw that there were no prosecutors running for attorney general, and I decided I would stand up and do it. What would be your day one agenda if elected? My overall priority is public safety. So on day one, we make sure that the attorney general's office is equipped to prosecute crime. What does that mean? Did you know right now, under Letitia James, that office, she has assigned more people to the unit that investigates cops than to the unit that investigates organized crime. It's totally backwards. We need to actually make sure that we have half the office, 350 prosecutors, dedicated to prosecuting crime. And that's going to allow us to come into places like New York City and say, listen, those crimes that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is refusing to go after, I'm going to enforce those laws. And it's going to allow us to go around the state and go to the DAs who are asking for help and asking for more resources and give them reinforcements, assign attorneys from the AG's office to be special ADAs to help these folks go after what we are seeing as a rise in organized crime in New York. You've also been talking a lot on the campaign trail about homelessness. And there's been a lot of attention recently on this sprawling homeless encampment on the West side that was up for longer than a week, reportedly. You've spoken before about how you'd want to tackle homelessness. What exactly in that situation would you have done if you were attorney general? Well, we have to clear the streets, period. I went to that homeless encampment. I talked to some of the folks there. I talked to people who were homeless and I talked to the business owners who were next door to it. Homelessness is hurting everyone. I think it is absolutely cruel to leave people on the streets when they have mental illness, when they have drug addiction. On day one as attorney general, we already had the resources to solve this problem. I'm going to use them. Did you know that right now, we have $3 billion from the National Opioid Settlement when Purdue Pharma shut down and paid out, every state got some money. New York got $3 billion. But Letitia James signed off on using that money to fund drug use through injection sites that are here in the city and are set to expand across the state. How cynical is that, that we are taking money that is supposed to stop drug use and instead we're using it to fund drug use. It's illegal too. I'm going to shut that down and I'm going to use the $3 billion to build residential treatment centers for every New Yorker who needs it. And then we're going to take a look at the homeless shelter nonprofits. The attorney general is responsible for regulating those nonprofits. It has a charities bureau just for that purpose. But Letitia James doesn't use that bureau and doesn't ask any questions. Well, I'm going to. We spent $81,000 on every homeless person. We've spent more now than we did when she started as attorney general. The funding has tripled, but homelessness has gone up 38%. Where is that money going? We know that there's corruption. Four people were indicted by the feds last month for corruption in a homeless services contract. That's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm going to audit, investigate every homeless shelter nonprofit in the state. Now, the attorney general has historically used that office at times to challenge federal policies at the federal level. And Attorney General James, she's definitely done that, I feel, in her past eight years in office, used that position to challenge certain Trump policies that threaten state laws here in New York. Would you continue to use that office? Would you continue to join lawsuits with New Jersey, for example, on certain policies that are threatening laws here in New York and would challenge the Trump administration, even though you are a Republican? My focus is public safety. The job of the attorney general is to keep every New Yorker safe and to protect their rights. And I will protect them from anyone. The president, the governor, the mayor, and criminals. Anyone. Period. It's not political. What Letitia James has done is just bring lawsuits because it gets her headlines. It actually hasn't helped New Yorkers. While she's out becoming a political celebrity, New Yorkers are suffering, right? Crime is up 26%. Homelessness is up 38%. Drug deaths are up 63%. The problem is she's been using our taxpayer money to pursue personal vendettas. What we actually need is someone who's not a partisan ideologue, someone who's just a law enforcement professional who's going to focus on keeping New Yorkers safe. Now, the last time a Republican was elected statewide was in 1994 with Dennis Vaco. How do you plan to convince Democrats to vote for you? Obviously, Republicans are outnumbered here in the state. What is your message to New Yorkers as you travel across the state right now? Well, this is not about Republican versus Democrat. This is about having a law enforcement professional instead of a partisan politician. That's actually what people want. People are tired of the crime and they're tired of the politics and they want someone who's going to solve the problems here at home. You know, if you want to play in national politics, you know, she can run for Congress. She's already had two terms as attorney general. The only reason she gets to run again is because New York state doesn't have term limits. But the reality is it's been eight years of politics. It hasn't really gotten us that far. It's time to turn the page and focus on public safety. I cannot thank you enough for your time. And we'll have you back on again before the election is over. Thank you so much. Thank you, Morgan. Now, we did reach out to Attorney General Letitia James and invited her to appear on this show. So hopefully she will be joining us in the next few months. Coming up, Governor Mikey Sherrill set to mark her first six months in office. We're hearing from Garden State residents who are weighing in on the governor's performance so far. New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill is set to mark her first six months in office next week. Highlights of the first six months include signing the record $60.7 billion state budget, freezing utility rate hikes and enacting the Power of New Jersey Act, ending a 50-year moratorium on new nuclear power in the state while increasing funding in the budget for NJ Transit, which includes plans to fully replace the fleet by 2031. Here's what Garden State residents are saying about her performance so far. I think she's doing a good job. I mean, it's hard to tell at this point, but I voted for her and I think she's on the right track. Things don't seem to have changed too much for me. I'm still waiting on apartments, so I'm still beating on doors, looking to get a place to go. So far, so good. I want to say pretty good so far, because anything hasn't really happened yet. Poor, like poor, totally poor. Rent is high. Everything is so... Miggie Sherrill, very good. Very good on my part, yeah. Next up, we're going to test her knowledge, so stay with us. We're flashing back to this week in history. On July 14th, 1853, New York City hosted America's first World's Fair known as, quote, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations. It showcased hundreds of new inventions from around the world, including one of the first designs for elevators and even the world's first quadricycle. It was held at the New York Crystal Palace in Bryant Park, which later burnt down in 1856. Finally tonight, we're testing your knowledge. Last week we asked you, what New Jersey military ammunition depot was struck by lightning in 1926? The answer, the Picatinny Arsenal. Lightning struck one of its storage units during a thunderstorm and started a fire. Thousands of tons of munitions detonated, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens. A wreath-laying ceremony marking the 100th anniversary was held earlier this month. Now to this week's question. In 1976, the Democratic National Convention gathered at Madison Square Garden to nominate which future president? Don't Google the answer. If you want to take a shot at it, scan that code on your screen. That's going to take you to our website, fox5ny.com. You can type in your answer, then check back here next week to see if you're right. That does it for this episode of Politics Unusual. If you missed any part of the show or just want to check it out again, we're now on Spotify and any other platform you listen to podcasts on. So be sure to follow us. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Morgan Mackay. Have a safe weekend. We'll see you next week.