The meaning behind the traditional questions for immigrants from the USSR-CIS – “Who is to blame?” and “What is to be done?” – have been transformed in America. Although “Who is to blame?” does not come up frequently, “What is to be done?” does, although the answer is fundamentally different.

In the old USSR nothing hinged on our choice. But when we approach the voting booth in the United States, this question always comes up, whether we are voting for an Assembly member or for President. And it is not entirely easy to answer this question since there is not just one party like there was in the Soviet Union (and, for all intents and purposes, as there is now in Russia – “for Putin”). There are many candidates and voters may feel an affinity for a candidate who is not from their party. Under these conditions, the question of what to do – the question of choice – becomes, as mathematicians say, multivariable and the poor voter, who usually is not a mathematician, has to solve the difficult problem of optimization.

What can make this problem easier? As our favorite song goes “I wouldn’t tell you for all of Odessa,” but I can tell you “for Little Odessa,” what Brighton Beach and the surrounding areas were called until recently, but now make up the 46th Assembly District. Two years ago, the majority of residents in this district elected Alec Brook-Krasny to the State Assembly. In the run up to a new election, we have a distinct advantage: the chance to evaluate if we did the right thing at that time. It is actions not words that are important.

In order to talk about what has been done, on September 26, Brook-Krasny met with politically active members of the Russian community from the 46th District, at the Natsional Restaurant. Mark Davidovich, head of the District’s Democratic Party, John Lisyanskiy, an aide to the City Council speaker, and employees from Brook-Krasny’s Brooklyn office also attended the meeting.

“My old friends have gathered here,” said Brook-Krasny, “and I am glad to see you again today and to thank you again for your support. This year we are faced with electing the country’s president amidst a difficult battle between Republicans and Democrats. If we are going to take practical, useful steps, the question is: Who holds the majority in the Assembly. A legislator can only give life to those projects that he considers necessary if he is a member of the majority. And the picture in the New York State Assembly is unequivocal in this regard: 108 Democrats versus 32 Republicans. I am part of the majority, so I have been able to do important things that our community needs.”

Brook-Krasny counts among his most important achievements the following: passing a law allocating $10 million to repair our beloved boardwalk, this also provided additional jobs for repairmen; allocating funds for Chernobyl survivors; and making Russian one of the official languages on election-related materials.

Noting that overall he participated in creating and passing over 100 different laws, the legislator also recalled several victories that were important for his district. These include the allocation of $125,000 for repairs to a social center in Coney Island; the allocation of $250,000 for repairing the premises of the RAJE Jewish center for young Russian speakers on Ocean Parkway; the allocation of grants for small organizations; and the opening of Brook-Krasny’s new office in Bay Ridge.

“My staff and I also worked on solving personal problems that individual families brought to our office,” he noted. “They involved Section 8, cancelling Cablevision’s Russian language service, and many other issues.”

Well, an awful lot has been accomplished in a short time. Brook-Krasny’s fellow assemblymen are even surprised that he, a newcomer, has achieved so much. Although, not everything has come off successfully, of course, we can be sure that things will happen if Brook-Krasny is reelected.

I vote in the 46th district. Like many of us, I am firm in my choice for president. But, regardless of the party I belong to, my candidate for New York State Assembly is Alec Brook-Krasny.