With just one week until primary day, the two Democratic candidates for Albany County district attorney made their cases to voters at a candidate forum Wednesday, Sept. 5, that saw more than a few heated exchanges.
Incumbent David Soares and challenger Lee Kindlon touched on a range of county issues at the forum at the Holiday Inn Albany on Wolf Road, which was sponsored by the Albany County League of Women Voters, The Colonie Chamber of Commerce, the Capital District Alliance for Universal Healthcare, the Capital Area Council of Churches and Spotlight Newspapers.
Both candidates answered audience questions and challenged one another throughout the entire forum, presenting starkly opposing viewpoints with almost every answer. Soares stood by his record, while Kindlon — who at one point divulged he’d voted for Soares twice over — attacked it.
Youth crime was one of the main topics of the night. Soares said the most effective way to keep young people “off the street” is to have “programs kids want to be involved in.” Soares touted his ENOUGH program, which targets illegal guns on the street, as well as youth programs like a step team and motor cross.
“(These are) programs that are effective and are working,” Soares said. “What we have seen over the years is an immense drop in crime, and so we’ve seen less arrest in kids. One of the reasons why is because we are targeting them at a much younger age and giving them activities to do after school when it’s high time for crime.”
Kindlon, however, said he wants wholesale reform of the juvenile justice system, saying that New York is one of the last states that “treats kids as young as 16 as adults for criminal justice purposes.” Kindlon said Soares has spent $120,000 in forfeiture funds to Pastor Charlie Muller and the ENOUGH program, leaving no money left over for other communities.
On several occasions, the defense attorney presented a proposal for a “rocket docket” program to speed up trials.
“Imagine if we had actually had a criminal justice system … that sets a strong message to the gangs, the thugs and the bullies. These things will not happen anymore in Albany County because they know the District Attorney’s Office is gonna come for them,” Kindlon said. “Imagine if we could cycle through fast enough, take care of those victims, witnesses, get to the point where we’re actually putting people in prison in less than five months.”
Soares scoffed at that proposal.
“Unless he’s running for judge, I don’t know who else controls our docket. It’s the judge that sets the calendar,” Soares said.
The county’s crime rate was also discussed at length. A recent study from the Department of Criminal Justice Services found that Albany County has the second highest crime rate in New York State. Kindlon said implementing the “rocket docket” plan would help steer the numbers in a positive direction. However, Soares said the emphasis needs to be placed back into “rebuilding partnerships with the community.” He also said his office has made it a point to target more serious crime.
“I’m not going to bore you with numbers, but Albany County violent criminals are going to prison and they’re going to prison faster at any point of time in the history of our county,” Soares said. “Violent crime is the area that we are most proud of.”
Kindlon at one point commended Soares for a public outreach effort, but in the next breath accused him of making “75 blocks in Albany” his only focus. Kindlon said he would provide a “more even distribution of prosecution resources out to these smaller communities” all over Albany County.
The internal machinations of the DA’s Office were also discussed. When asked about how to curb wasteful spending, Soares said he doesn’t “believe we have wasteful spending in the District Attorney office,” an assertion Kindlon laid into.
“We had an audit last in 2008. It turned up a number of inconsistencies in the budgeting and the bookkeeping process. Mr. Soares I know promised to do his own independent audit after that one but I have yet to see results,” Kindlon said.
Additionally, Kindlon said he wants to have a “travel moratorium” and consider “cutting back on meal budgets,” minus the occasional “Subway meal deal if they’re working late.”
Both candidates were also asked about the Occupy Albany movement. Last year, Soares did not prosecute nonviolent protesters who were arrested for staying on state parkland past closing time.
“I would handle it the same way I handled it the first time,” Soares said. “I believe that Albany County set an example for the entire country, where it is possible to have peaceful coexistence … as long as there’s no damage to property or people being injured.”
Although Kindlon said he agreed with the goals of Occupy Albany, he said he never agreed with Soares’ decision to not prosecute the protestors. He said granting block immunity to a certain group is “irresponsible as a district attorney.”
“What about protestors that block the access to a Planned Parenthood? What do we tell that young woman who’s just trying to get in to get family planning? What do we do when we don’t agree with those protestors? Are the rules supposed to be the same? Or should we be the district attorney and enforce the law as they exist? We have a system of laws, not of men,” Kindlon said.
To wrap up the evening, Soares in his closing statement argued the DA’s Office can “transform lives and transform a community,” something that he said he has been doing during his administration. He said the most challenged community is the City of Albany.
Yet Kindlon disagreed, saying Soares is “running to be the district attorney of the City of Albany” while Kindlon is running to be the “district attorney of Albany County.”
“Here in Albany County we’ve reached a fork in the road. Down one path we have four more years of the same problems, same scandals, same excuses,” Kindlon said. “If we choose a new path … we have the chance to being a new with fresh ideas, a bold vision, a promise for a safe tomorrow.”
Soares, who was elected as Albany County DA in 2004, is running for his third term. Albany defense attorney Kindlon would presumptively take the office should he win the Thursday, Sept. 13 primary, as there is no other challenger.
