The New York Times reports that Richard Brown, a New York City politician with Parkinson’s disease, has been running unopposed as Queens District Attorney through the past six elections, even though he’s been quite open about having PD. The last time another candidate ran against Richard Brown was in 1991. Which was back when most of us were in grade school…(just joking!).
Critics point out that it’s not healthy in a democracy for a holder of public office to be continually re-elected with no opposition whatsoever. But apparently, Mr. Brown’s performance in office has been pretty stellar.
To wit:
But unlike Mr. Johnson [, the District Attorney] in the Bronx, who presided in a courthouse with extensive delays and was criticized for a seeming reluctance to aggressively pursue corruption cases, Mr. Brown has a solid reputation.
Statistics highlight his office’s successes. In 2014, Mr. Brown’s staff had the highest percentage of convictions in the five boroughs after arrests for violent felonies and domestic violence, a point of pride for the office. The borough’s average arrest-to-arraignment time that year — just over 18 hours — was the lowest in the city.
Even Mr. Brown’s critics have pointed to reforms that have flourished under his leadership. People with mental illnesses or drug addictions who commit low-level crimes, for example, can avoid jail time by enrolling in treatment programs. And Mr. Brown has earned points recently, supporters said, for creating a department to help immigrants who have experienced crimes. Similar programs exist in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
And is having Parkinson’s disease starting to slow this man down? Let’s quote again from the article:
The district attorney said he was looking forward to his next term, when he planned to create an animal rights unit. He said he had never considered retiring.
“My health obviously is a little troublesome, but it’s stabilized itself,” he said. “It certainly has not affected my thought process or my ability to think issues through, and that is certainly something I’m very, very careful about.”
Which gives the rest of us Parkies something to think about!
