Ahead of the April 24 special election, the debate between the candidates vying for the 80th Assembly District seat touched on issues of immigration, business development, and the opioid crisis, while also exploring the political divide that has swept the country.

The political spar between Democrat Nathalia Fernandez and Republican Gene DeFrancis was ripe with the theme of community authenticity. For DeFrancis, an Allerton resident who serves as founder of the Allerton International Merchants Association, being bred in the district made him the viable candidate as opposed to Fernandez, who has simply worked in the community until recently when she moved in the district, a requirement for candidates.

Fernandez, former chief of staff to the 80th Assembly District’s former seat holder turned Councilman Mark Gjonaj, countered that her experience with community leaders from all over the district has given her enough credibility to run.

The 80th Assembly District covers Norwood, parts of Bedford Park, Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, Allerton, and Van Nest. It’s been vacant since January, when Gjonaj was sworn in as Councilman for the 13th Council District.

Turning to substantive issues impacting the district, the two sides had somewhat differing takes on immigration. Fernandez supports the ideal of keeping New York State a sanctuary state—offering amnesty to undocumented immigrants—while DeFrancis, sounding somewhat dichotomous, wants municipalities to decide upon themselves whether to be a sanctuary city. He supports imposing fines on undocumented immigrants, though he wasn’t specific on whether to deport them.

On matters involving business and the steady closure of storefronts across the Bronx, DeFrancis supports a shared space business model where successful business owners transition to empty storefronts. Fernandez thinks the best approach to fixing the empty storefront issue is by creating more business improvement districts, where property owners agree to pay a special tax assessment earmarked for marketing and private sanitation services. She also proposed elected officials go out and push for the occupation of storefronts to garner interest.

The issue of overcrowding in classrooms also surfaced. While Fernandez sought to improve public schools by offering more afterschool programming, DeFrancis is pushing for the public school system to be restructured by creating more K through 8 schools instead of 6 through 8 schools.

With opioids making headlines, the two agreed that a solution to the crisis must be reached. But they disagreed on its approach. Fernandez pushed for more education on the topic, even calling for more widespread availability of naloxone, a medicine that reverses the effects of an overdose, in bathrooms and libraries. DeFrancis hopes the Assembly will pass a measure that forces drug users into treatment, a bill Fernandez denounced. DeFrancis was quick to point out the bill was proposed by Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, a Democrat. The bill is currently in committee.

One of the more vivid moments came during the subject of politics and its drop in civility when discussing the topic. Fernandez said President Donald Trump, a Republican, has stoked fears across the country with inflammatory rhetoric. But Francis pulled out a flier from his pocket, alleging Fernandez doing the same thing.

The winner of the April 24 special election will once again have to run in the September Primary and the November General Election, making the election season far from over. Polls will be open until 9 p.m. that day.

Axelbank told the Norwood News it was a “good debate.”

“[W]e got a lot of issues in, and I think the viewers have enough information now to make their choice,” he said.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.